Ethos Grooming Shave Soap Review - Is The Hype Real?

Summary

In this grooming video, Jackie House reviews Ethos' unscented shaving soap, highlighting its ethically sourced, high-quality ingredients and the company's commitment to environmental sustainability. Despite the soap's excellent performance, creating a dense lather and offering great slickness, Jackie shares the frustration of Ethos' ordering process, which lacks organization and a user-friendly website. The video provides a detailed shaving demonstration using a wolfman WR2 razor and a decoration B6 brush, concluding with a recommendation of the soap for those willing to navigate the challenging buying experience.

Takeaways

• 🎥 The video is a shaving product review by Jackie House for Ethos Grooming's unscented soap.
• 🌱 Ethos Grooming is highlighted for its ethically sourced, high-quality ingredients, a key selling point for the company.
• 🧼 The soap is described as very soft with a putty-like texture, and it comes in a plastic jar, although the company plans to switch to a more environmentally friendly glass jar.
• 📦 The ordering process for Ethos products is criticized as frustrating and disorganized, with no website and a reliance on email communication.
• 💦 The soap is tallow-based with grass-fed beef tallow and duck fat among its ingredients, and it is suggested to load the soap in a bowl for best lathering results.
• 🛒 Despite the excellent product quality, the lack of a streamlined ordering process may deter some customers, though the reviewer still recommends the soap.
• 🚀 The soap is praised for its ease of lather, slickness, and overall performance, but the immediate post-shave feel is described as average.
• 💰 Ethos soap is priced at $39 for approximately seven ounces, which is considered expensive but comparable to other high-quality shaving soaps on the market.
• 🔪 The video features a shave using the Wolfman WR2 razor with a Darwin handle, noted for its efficiency and blade feel.
• 🍂 The reviewer's choice of brush is the Decoration B6, and the soap is used in a pottery bowl by Heather, a gift from Carve Shaving.
• 👍 The video concludes with a positive recommendation of the Ethos soap, with the caveat of the challenging buying experience.

Q & A

Who is the host of the virtual groom video?

The host of the virtual groom video is Jackie House.

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is a review of an unscented shaving soap from Ethos Grooming.

What is unique about Ethos Grooming's sourcing of ingredients?

Ethos Grooming's unique selling point is that they source their ingredients very ethically, ensuring high quality.

What is the current packaging of Ethos Grooming's soap?

The soap currently comes in a plastic jar, but the company is planning to switch to a glass jar for environmental reasons.

What is the texture of Ethos Grooming's tallow-based soap?

The soap has a soft, pliable texture, similar to putty, which makes it easy to work with.

How does Jackie House recommend lathering the soap?

Jackie House recommends lathering the soap by loading it in a bowl and then creating a face lather with it.

What is the name of the sister company of Ethos Grooming?

The sister company of Ethos Grooming is called Dragon's Beard.

What is the current ordering process like for Ethos Grooming products?

The ordering process is currently a nightmare, with a lack of organization and no website, requiring customers to order via email.

How does the soap perform in terms of slickness during a shave?

The soap performs excellently in terms of slickness, providing a very slick shave.

What is the immediate post-shave feel like after using Ethos Grooming's soap?

The immediate post-shave feel is average and may require the use of an aftershave product for better hydration.

What is the price of Ethos Grooming's soap, and how much product does it include?

The soap retails for $39 for about seven ounces, which is considered expensive but offers a similar price per ounce to other products on the market.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to Ethos Grooming Shaving Soap Review

Jackie House introduces the video by welcoming viewers to the Virtual Groom and announcing today's focus: a review of Ethos Grooming's unscented shaving soap. The company is highlighted for its ethical sourcing of high-quality ingredients, a key selling point emphasized by the owner, Frank. Jackie has used the soap multiple times and is now ready to share a detailed review. The soap comes in a plastic jar, but there are plans to switch to a more environmentally friendly glass jar. Ethos is a New York-based company, and despite not having a website, they have a reputation for quality products. However, the ordering process is described as a 'nightmare' due to a lack of organization, with personal anecdotes illustrating the frustrations encountered when trying to purchase their products.

05:01

🧼 Ethos Shaving Soap's Lathering Technique and Performance

The paragraph delves into the specifics of using Ethos's tallow-based shaving soap, which includes grass-fed beef tallow and duck fat among other high-quality ingredients. Jackie shares her preferred method of lathering by using a bowl and a dry brush, cautioning against using too much water which can lead to boll lathering. She also discusses the soap's soft texture and how it's easy to lather, highlighting its slickness during the shave. The soap's performance is praised for its ease of lather and slick feel, but its post-shave quality is criticized as being less impressive, suggesting the need for an aftershave product to complement it.

10:02

💧 Advanced Lathering Techniques and Soap's Shaving Experience

Jackie explains her advanced lathering technique, emphasizing the importance of hydrating the lather quickly by adding water to the base of the brush rather than the tips. She finds that this method is efficient and creates a dense, low-structure lather that provides great protection during shaving. The soap's performance is again commended for its ease of use and quick lathering capabilities. The video also features a shaving demonstration using a Wolfman WR2 razor, showcasing the soap's slickness and protection, and ends with a discussion on the soap's price point and value for money.

15:04

🔪 Shaving with Ethos Soap and Post-Shave Experience

This paragraph describes the shaving experience using Ethos soap, noting the soap's excellent performance and the efficiency of the Wolfman WR2 razor. Jackie compares the Wolfman to the Card razor, highlighting the former's increased efficiency and the latter's superior comfort. She also touches on the importance of blade feel and how the soap's dense lather provides a smooth surface for the razor. The immediate post-shave feel is described as average, suggesting that while the soap performs well during shaving, it may not leave the skin feeling as hydrated as desired after shaving.

20:10

🌿 Ethos Soap Recap and Final Thoughts

In the concluding paragraph, Jackie recaps the video's content, reiterating the high performance of Ethos's unscented soap and the frustrations with the purchasing experience. She recommends the soap for its quality and performance but advises viewers of the potential difficulties in ordering. Jackie also discusses the use of an aftershave splash to enhance the post-shave experience and praises the Ethos skin food splash for its quality. The video ends with a reminder of the products used and a thank you to viewers for watching.

Keywords

💡Ethos Grooming

Ethos Grooming is the company being reviewed in the video, known for its high-quality, ethically-sourced ingredients. The company prides itself on sourcing ingredients ethically, which is a key theme of the video. For instance, the script mentions that the owner of Ethos Grooming takes pride in the ethical sourcing of ingredients.

💡Unscented Soap

Unscented Soap refers to the specific product being reviewed, which lacks added fragrances. This is significant as it caters to users who prefer or require products without artificial scents. The script describes the soap as having 'a bit of an ingredient smell' but being genuinely unscented.

💡Tallow Based Soap

Tallow Based Soap indicates that the soap's primary ingredient is tallow, which is traditionally derived from rendered animal fat. In the context of the video, it signifies the use of natural and high-quality ingredients, with the script mentioning 'grass-fed beef tallow' as a component.

💡Lathering

Lathering is the process of creating a rich foam from the soap, which is essential for a smooth and effective shave. The video emphasizes the ease of lathering with Ethos Grooming's soap, highlighting its performance as a key aspect of the product review.

💡Slick

Slick, in the context of shaving, refers to the soap's ability to provide a smooth, slippery surface that facilitates a close and comfortable shave. The script describes the soap as 'very very slick,' indicating its effectiveness in providing a smooth shave.

💡Post Shave

Post Shave refers to the condition of the skin immediately after shaving. The video discusses the soap's performance in terms of post-shave skin feel, noting that while it provides great lather and slickness, the immediate post-shave feel is average, suggesting room for improvement.

💡Wolfman WR2

Wolfman WR2 is a specific model of safety razor used by the reviewer. It is mentioned to provide context on the shaving experience with Ethos Grooming's soap. The script describes it as efficient and smooth, contributing to the overall shaving performance.

💡Bowl Loading

Bowl Loading is a technique where the soap is placed in a bowl and water is added to create a lather. The video emphasizes this method as the preferred way to use the soap, discussing the process in detail and its benefits for the shaving experience.

💡Dragon's Beard

Dragon's Beard is mentioned as a sister company to Ethos Grooming, indicating a connection between the two brands. This provides additional context about the company's background and their association with other brands in the shaving industry.

💡Shaving Experience

Shaving Experience encompasses the overall process and sensation of using the shaving soap, brush, and razor. The video focuses on the shaving experience, discussing the ease of use, lathering, and post-shave feel, which are critical to evaluating the product's performance.

💡E-commerce Website

An e-commerce website is a platform for conducting online business transactions. The video mentions the lack of an e-commerce website for Ethos Grooming as a significant drawback, suggesting that having one would streamline the ordering process and improve the customer experience.

Highlights

Introduction to the Ethos Grooming unscented soap review by Jackie House.

Ethos Grooming's unique selling point is ethically sourced high-quality ingredients.

The soap comes in a plastic jar with plans to switch to a more environmentally friendly glass jar.

Soap is tallow-based with grass-fed beef tallow and duck fat among other high-quality ingredients.

The soap has a soft, pliable texture, unlike traditional hard soaps.

Best method to lather the soap is by bowl lathering to avoid damaging expensive brushes.

Ethos is a New York-based company known for its sister brand Dragon's Beard.

Lack of a website makes the ordering process for Ethos products frustrating.

Despite organizational issues, the quality of the soap is highly recommended.

The soap is very easy to lather and creates a dense, slick lather.

Immediate post-shave feel is average, suggesting the need for a post-shave product.

Ethos soap retails at $39 for approximately seven ounces, comparable to market prices.

The soap's performance is excellent, but the buying experience could be significantly improved.

Use of a website and e-commerce platforms is suggested to streamline the buying process.

The video demonstrates the shaving process using the Ethos soap with a Wolfman WR2 razor.

The post-shave product, Ethos Skin Food splash, is recommended to enhance the shaving experience.

Final thoughts on the overall quality and performance of the Ethos soap and shaving setup.

Transcripts

[Music]

hello and welcome to the virtual groom

my name is jackie house and today i'm

bringing you another shaving video

and we're going to be reviewing from

ethos grooming this is their unscented

soap

i should have another soap from them

which it should be a scented soap

and i'll get into why i don't have that

yet um let's talk to you

about the company then so i think the

biggest

usp the unique selling point to ethos is

the way they source their ingredients

very ethically sourced um ethically

sourced high quality ingredients

that's certainly what frank the owner of

the company prides themselves on

the soap as a whole i've used it about

five or six times

at this point um which which is why i'd

say it's more review as opposed to a

first impressions i've used it i've

tried it in a few different ways

i think i have a good grasp on how to

get a decent lather out of it as well

the soap as a whole comes in this really

nice jar

this is a plastic jar unfortunately i

have been told however frank is looking

to go to a glass jar

which is better better for the

environment you know how i talk about

that quite regularly i am

very much a believer in the fact that we

should be going away from plastics

and he is he's taking that step going to

a glass jar which i think is fantastic

um the ingredients in this this is a

tallow based soap it has a grass-fed

beef tallow

duck fat um loads of other really good

high quality

uh super fat ingredients so that's the

soap the soap is

very very soft um you can see i've used

quite a bit already

very soft like not so much crop like

because it

has almost like a putty type texture

it's

definitely pliable so the way i like to

lather this and what i've come to the

conclusion which is the best way

i put it in a bowl and i lather i

load from the bowl and then make a face

lava with it

uh the company out of new york uh also

under the name of dragon's beard if you

if you can't recall

oleo did a collaboration with a company

called dragon spirit and this is

this is dragon's beard sister company so

that's that

uh i do have to tell you that before we

do proceed

ethos don't have a website um and i'll

be quite honestly honest with you the

ordering process is a nightmare

um

[Music]

it's not so much that ordering over

email is a is a terrible thing because i

imagine we've all done that at some

point in our lives

it's mainly the lack of organization if

you can look

if you can ignore the level of

organization there

and just look at the product as a whole

it's a phenomenal product

i've used it quite a lot and i can say

that as a package

it's it can be quite frustrating i'll be

completely honest with you

um for example a friend of mine

bought me a soap i paid him for the soap

supposed to be sent separately so

the soap was supposed to be well really

the soap was supposed to be sent to him

and then he

my friend would send me the soap um that

didn't happen

the the owner of ethos forgot to put it

in the package to send to him

and then my friend said to the owner of

ethos okay

if you didn't send it to me just send it

directly to jack and i'm not i'm yet to

receive it i don't even think he's yet

to ship

um that amongst a myriad of other things

makes it a frustrating process to order

from him

being entirely transparent with you

is that enough for me to not recommend

the company no because once you have the

soap

you'll see how good it is um but please

be aware

that if you do go through this this will

be a problem i'm almost certain of it

i'm of the opinion that can be remedied

easily with just the creation of a

website

and it's not like it was 10 years ago

it's actually really easy to make an

e-commerce website now

loads of platforms woocommerce shopify

just make a website and sell

your stuff to the website

make it an easy buying experience for

the customer you have but

that that's it so what we're going to

talk about the metrics of the so how i

think it performs

me in building the lava today i'm gonna

be using one of my favorite brushes i

own which is the decoration b6

as always when i load from a bowl

i want a dry brush i don't want a brush

that has much water in it

so pretty it's damp but

what you'll see here once i'm loading

i'm not

there's no lather being made it's just a

load of the soap

what ends up happening and what i found

with a lot of people struggling with

this method of lathering

is they go in with two wet a brush and

then they just end up boll lathering

that's not what i'm trying to do

i'm loading from the bowl bowl loading

it's a it's mr freezeburg cooler but

that's what i'm doing

so as you can see there's no lather

actually being generated here you know

when you see a

like a proto lather on the top on the

top of a tub of soap that's basically

what's happening here

so i'm just getting as much as i can

what i will occasionally do

if you can see this i'm literally just

dropping

some drops in here means i pick up a

tiny bit more but

then again i'm also not creating a

lather in the bowl so you see

it won't really change the amount of

proto lather being made

it won't start lathering in the bowl

that's not what i want because if i do

that

it hinders the amount of soap i can pick

up with the the bristles of my brush

so that's my advice to you if you want

to if you want to do that the reason i

do this

is because of the if you have a look

here the opening of the tub

is actually quite small and something

if you have like these expensive

hand-tied knots

i found treating them poorly will make

them shed

this is a 28mm knot spreading this all

over here

might make hairs fall out i don't want

to do that not only that but it's a very

soft soap

and i prefer not to add water so

doing it this way is definitely a way of

getting over that so

we're just going to keep loading here uh

with this method i like to load a little

bit longer than i typically would

just because you're not i'm still not

100

sure how much shop i'm picking up if i

pick up too much then i pick up too much

fortunately the soap is very very easy

to land on

and you'll see that when we start

lathering this might be a bit of a

longer video

i don't care um

i've been away about a week so

and still pick up a bit more soap here

i'm just adding drips to the top of the

the soap here just just like that

there's not really not much water being

added at a time so i'm not making a bowl

either

that's not what i want to do i'm also

focusing solely on the

surface of the soap i've put into the

bowl i'm not

kind of swirling around like you put a

bowl out there i'm just focusing on that

surface

okay i think that's enough soap um if

not we can go back that's not a problem

at all

okay let's get the face work and uh

we'll get to lathering up

so there are two aspects of this shaving

soap that i think

it excels in

the aspect of the aspect number one

is ease of lather as i previously

mentioned i think it's incredibly easy

to lather

uh it lathers faster than pretty much

i mean it's it's one of the fastest

lathering setups i've used which is

pretty crazy um quite honestly i don't

think it's something artisans focus on

enough

nowadays

there's a there's a few that really care

about it but aside from that not not

really

so and all i do is i rinse out my bowl

and i put upside down for the water to

try now and then once the water's

drained out

i can turn it back up and it works just

as fine so

okay let's get to landing up here so

let me talk to you a bit about the

performance of the soap i think i have a

brush here somewhere it doesn't matter

there we go so let me talk to you about

the performance of the soap

so as i said very easy to lather um

as far as just general metrics when it

comes to lathering this up

i would say what it's very good at is

slickness it's a very very slick soap

as is everything pretty much nowadays

the the place it let

gets let down for me is its post shave i

don't think it's pose shave is very good

or at least it's immediate post shave uh

it leads

leaves a little bit of something to be

desired so to speak

um it

creates a nice dense lather not the

densest but

quite frankly having an incredibly dense

soap isn't

entirely necessary anyway to be

completely honest with you

i mean just as it's dense enough

to provide a decent bit of protection

that's really all that matters

and it's not airy

so yeah lathering that way with this is

what i would recommend

it's a very soft soap i

also don't think the the tub is solely

is made for a lot of lathering

um well he's loading

so learning from a bowl and building the

lather on your face because you can see

after i loaded the soap

the the process is exactly the same as

me face lathering it's really not

different

what i'm doing is squirting water into

the base of the brush

why am i not dipping the tips and why am

i squirting water into the base of the

brush well

i found that if you can get water closer

to the base

once you splay

it hydrates the lather faster

so i would say the soap is near and

ready to to shave with frankly

just just based on my experience with it

but what we're going to do here is we're

going to love that we're going to give

it another couple minutes

it's a very very easy lettering salt

and as far as i'm aware that's almost

definitely something frank has

considered when making the soap

how easy is it to use

very nice okay what i'm going to do here

is get water and just sprinkle it on the

brush so we can paint a bit more water

and once you've done that the soap is

ready to shave with in my opinion so

so if you've watched my previous videos

what i look for with this

is a free-flowing brush so

it doesn't feel like it's sticking to my

skin

and what do i mean by sticking well

sticking will generally occur

when the lather underneath the brush

isn't hasn't been hydrated enough

frankly

voice voice died there forgive me

and it's not been hydrated enough so we

still got that really gloopy texture

this however it's really nice

could still add a bit more water to it

so i'm going to

i'm in absolutely no rush today if you

don't want to watch me lather then

you're more than welcome to skip ahead

there we go that's really nice and you

can see now

peaks are a bit stiff

i don't like stiff peaks stiff peaks

mirror indication of not enough water

being added

i want peaks that fall on themselves

this this soap lathers very very easily

very well

creates a nice dense leather the sort of

leather that i enjoy building

okay so we'll test this now there we go

it's falling into itself if you see so

i'm happy with that and we can get to

shaving now

so let's draw the lines here

at least to the best of my fancy

okay so

this as an unscented soap this is

genuinely unscented

i i say it has a bit of like an

ingredient smell but the ingredient

smell really isn't strong

oh okay

try this because it drives me mental

our razor today just like last time was

our wolfman wr2

with the darwin handle and the 1.15

blade gap

let's get to shaving

great protection

phenomenal slickness

this retails i believe for

39 dollars for

about seven ounces of soap

you might think what 39 yes if you can

if you think about the price is just a

generic price

and for sure it's expensive but the

amount of server you're getting price

per ounce is pretty similar

to most of what you'll see on the market

nowadays

and this sort of product at the moment

really appeals to me because i'm not

using as

as many varieties of soap

very easy

create a lather very quickly

so the soap itself is great

um it's very good the experience of

buying the soap is

frustrating to say the least

so if you can see through the

frustration then you're gonna

you're gonna get a fantastic product

if you want that really easy buying

experience then i don't think you're

going to get it with ethos at the moment

it's my understanding that their

intention is to create a website

eventually because that would be the

smart move

business-wise but uh

right now that doesn't exist and there

are definite

different shortcomings in the customer

experience i would say

you know i'm like guys i tell it like it

is

oh i've also been asked um

what do i prefer of the wolfman in the

card

so the way i would describe it

i would say the wolfman has

more efficiency when considering the

amount of blade feel

however i don't think it's anywhere near

as comfortable

so if i have like

three or four days growth

this wolfman is a really good option

for a daily shaver for me i still favor

the calf

i've not been shaving daily recently

i've not really had the need to

i've been shaving every two to three

days let's go cross grain

watermelon is very smooth

very efficient

this specific plate has just about the

right amount of blade feel for me

reminds you it's there but not too much

and this soap is very dense

low structure dense kind of as soaps

nowadays are

provides a great surface for the razor

to just

glide

incredibly easy the thing i do like

about this wolfman

is it gets me closer to my idol shave

much faster than the car because of the

increased efficiency

is it's comfortable no in my opinion

but it's certainly more efficient i

don't think that can be denied

would i say it's not as comfortable that

doesn't mean it's uncomfortable by the

way

i mean it's just not as comfortable

directly comparing it

and you can i know i probably get

fanboys with both

i'm not a fanboy of anything i like

things based on merit

not based on law company loyalty i don't

work for that company anymore

and frankly when i did

i've always loved that razer

still continue to love it

so on the face i mean on the neck

just doing a second cross grain shave

don't need to go against the grain with

this it's efficient enough to not

need to go across

grain which saves my skin

quite a lot of stress to be honest

an ethos is just kicking out it's a very

very good performing setup i have to say

cool happy with that shave

yep that's where i need to be okay let's

get this from here

let's get that on the face um

[Music]

let me clean up the gear and i'll see

you back to the first shape and final

thoughts

bear back

okay guys post shave time

so the immediate post shave on this i

have to say is pretty average

um it feels quite a lot like

um the italian vegetable soaps um it

feels a bit like

saponificio vadasino it feels a bit like

a battery element um

i would use a poche product with this

guaranteed i don't think the post shave

is good enough to

warrant using it by itself quite

honestly um

however the good thing about that is

they offer a very very good pro shape

product

um this is their skin food aftershave

splash

as you can see here it does contain

alcohol

but it's a very low concentration of

alcohol i've not found

just directly applying it to skin here

um just like this

hardly any burn

it exists i believe predominantly as a

preservative

but overall it's a very good aftershave

splash

and uh stays true with the brand in

terms of high quality products etc

okay so that's our post they've done let

me do a recap of the products and i'll

let you guys go so our soap of choice

today

which we bowl loaded was ethos clean

uh this is that unscented soap would i

recommend this to you i would recommend

the soap

solely reminding you that the buying

experience won't

just won't probably won't be easy if it

is then you're a luckier person than

myself but

it felt like i was jumping through hoops

a little bit to get this to get this to

me

once it's here you don't need to worry

once it's with you obviously you don't

need to worry because you've got the

soap you wanted but at the same time

i believe a big step forward for ethos

as a company

would be to make that buying experience

better for the customer

and quite honestly at the moment that's

lacking quite a lot uh the soap however

is excellent

um the overall performance of the soap

post shaver side is as good as anything

that people put in very high steam on

the market at the moment

it's very slick it creates a really nice

dense lather the ingredients have been

sourced really well

very high quality pretty much all

organic

as far as i'm aware you can't really go

wrong with the the soap

the post shave does leave a bit

something to be desired in my opinion

i don't think for as high quality

ingredients there is

it doesn't translate enough to the

immediate post shave with the product

i haven't yet like kind of let it last

on my skin and kind of see how it felt

by there

however in my opinion if i was to do

that i would probably need to use bomb

because it doesn't feel as hydrated as

i'd want it to be but that is what it is

um i'd recommend it absolutely if you're

willing to go through that

painful buying experience um it's it's

worth it once you have it

the razor of choice today was the

wolfman wr2 which i am very much

enjoying using

very efficient very smooth pretty much

everything you'd want in a safety razor

i can't complain my brush of choice

today was my trusty old reliable

um decoration b6 this is the jefferson

and the handle style in colorway is

called autumn glory i think it was a

one-off and my pear shaped product today

was the matching ethos splash skin food

splash very very good splash

uh definitely definitely

boosts the overall experience of the

product

and i lathered in this uh pottery by

heather

given to me by carve shaving um

really nice ball hope you guys enjoyed

the video today if you have something

direct experience for the ethos tell me

how it is tell me how

the ordering process was for you if it

was good for you also please put in the

comments below because i think the

people watching this would benefit from

that

but yeah uh great shape today guys thank

you for joining me my name is jack your

host from the virtual green room

wherever you are in the world have a

wonderful day

and goodbye for now