Duke Cannon Bar Soap - Value, performance, ingredients, and (most) scents reviewed
There are a lot of reviews for Duke Cannon's Big Ass Bricks of soap to be found online. Unfortunately, too few of them address obvious questions regarding ingredients, practicality, value, and performance. Fortunately, I can help. I've tried nearly the entire line by now, and can speak toward each fragrance as well as the consistency and performance of the soaps overall. Before I get into the details, my quick review: I was given a four-pack as a birthday gift, and quickly realized Duke Cannon soap is great for my sensitive skin. My beard is particularly sensitive to soaps and conditioners, and not only has this soap not given me any problems, it actually seems to calm my face and scalp irritation better than Selsun Blue. It took just days before I started using this soap instead of shampoo or body wash, and I've been washing with it almost exclusively for months now. In other words, I like this soap a lot and would recommend it. Now, onto the important information. Size - Is it practical? Duke Cannon's Big Ass Bricks of soap are huge. You've seen the photos, so you know what to expect. For me, the size is absurd — I can't conveniently wash my hands or face with a bar that big. Instead, I cut each brick down to 1/6 size, giving me six 1.66-ounce bars that are roughly the size of travel/hotel soaps (just thicker). How to cut Duke Cannon soap If you want to cut your own Duke Cannon soap bricks into smaller bars, here's a foolproof method: 1.) Score the soap brick as desired (for six bars, score the brick every 0.75 inches) 2.) Carefully warm the brick in the microwave. 10-15 seconds, flip it over, then another 10-15 seconds should do the trick 3.) Cut the brick into smaller bars using the scores as a guide Cutting the bricks into smaller bars provides several benefits. First, you can actually use it to comfortably wash your face and hands. Second, you won't break your toes if you drop it in the shower. Third, and perhaps most fun, it allows you to cycle through the scents more quickly, instead of locking you into a single fragrance for a month. It's possible smaller bars will last longer too — more on that below. Price - Is it a good value? I know Amazon is iffy with mentioning prices in reviews, so I'll keep this brief: Duke Cannon bar soap can be expensive. It seems to cost a bit less in stores, and a bit more online. However, the online price for multi-bar bundles takes the cost per-bar down to around what a single bar costs in stores. If you want to try a specific scent and imagine you'll use the other soaps too, it's worth buying the four packs over individual bars. If nothing else, you can give the others away, as they make for nice gifts. Longevity - How long does a bar last? Going by reviews, it seems most people expect a bar of Duke Cannon soap to last about a month. Mine seem to last almost twice that long, but it may be because I cut them down to size. My smaller 1.66-ounce bars last me between one and two weeks being used both in the shower and as hand soap. Even if a small bar is basically done after a week, each brick gets me six bars — meaning it takes me between six and eight weeks to finish one. Performance - How does it feel to use? Duke Cannon soap doesn't feel like fancy boutique soaps — it's a lot more old-school. To use, it feels mostly like a tallow-based soap, with a bit of the slipperiness of glycerin. How much the soap lathers depends on how it's used. As hand soap, it lathers about as expected, but as a beard wash or shampoo, it makes a very thick lather. It makes for a decent shave soap, too, assuming you're not used to using actual shave soap. If anything, it's weakest in the shower, unless you're also using a loofah or the company's own tactical scrubber (which I am not). However, some users report that the soap doesn't lather very much, or that it leaves their skin feeling rubbery. I suspect the hardness or softness of water plays into how the soap will work for you. My water is very soft, so Duke Cannon's soap performs as expected or better. Ingredients - What's in Duke Cannon bar soap? Duke Cannon's bar soaps are all based around the same basic ingredients: • sodium tallowate and/or sodium palmate • sodium cocoate and/or sodium palm kernelate • aqua (water) • glycerin • fragrance • sodium chloride • iron oxides • pentasodium pentetate It's worth mentioning that certain soaps have additional ingredients, typically to enhance the fragrance or provide texture to the bars. More information on fragrance-specific ingredients can be found in the scent section below. Fragrances - Which scent is best? Here's my take on nearly every Duke Cannon soap fragrance. I haven't tried them all yet, so for ones I haven't used personally, I've provided extra information gleaned from the company's website. • Accomplishment - bergamot and black pepper 4/5 - Accomplishment is one of the weaker scents I've tried, but the fragrance itself is wonderful. It's understated — the black pepper gives an effervescence to what's otherwise a very subtle citrus. Curiously, though it doesn't smell like much when in use, the fragrance from Accomplishment seems to last much longer on my skin than others. Note: Accomplishment soap bars contain both oat kernel meal and activated charcoal, giving the soap something of a gritty texture. • Bay Rum - citrus musk, cedarwood, island spices 5/5 - I don't get bay rum from this at all, but the fragrance is still excellent. Out of the box, it immediately reminded me of Viking Blod mead — a blend of hibiscus and honey. It's a very sweet scent, only held back from being legitimately sugary by those mysterious island spices. This is also the single strongest Duke Cannon fragrance I've found — I can smell the bar across my kitchen, and it lasts much longer on my skin than the company's other scents. Perhaps I got a really fresh batch? • Big American Bourbon - Buffalo Trace whiskey 5/5 - Duke Cannon's Buffalo Trace soap is something special. Out of the box, it smells like a pretty gnarly old man cologne. But on my skin, it smells exactly as described — like a charred oak barrel. It's got a sweetness to it that's almost like toasted caramel. Note: Big American Bourbon soap bars contain corn kernel meal, which doesn't seem to have any affect on texture. • Big Ass Beer Soap - Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA N/A - I haven't tried this one yet. Duke Cannon says it's scented with citrus, neroli, oakmoss, and sandalwood, which sounds like it probably smells like fresh-type men's cologne. The company's website doesn't have the ingredients listed. • Big Ass Beer Soap - Old Milwaukee 4/5 - Duke's Old Milwaukee beer soap fragrance is little more than a simple sandalwood. It smells like many soaps you've likely smelled before, only much better — it's not an exciting sandalwood, but it does smell more refined than expected. As a bonus, this soap seems to lather more than the others. Note: Big Ass Beer soap contains beer. Maybe that's why it foams up so much. • Campfire - a campfire, basically 1/5 - Campfire just doesn't do it for me. It's true that it smells kinda like a campfire, which is nice, but it doesn't necessarily smell clean. It's also not a particularly strong scent, leaving little fragrance behind on the skin. • Fresh Cut Pine - fresh cut pine 3/5 - This would probably be among my favorite Duke Cannon fragrances if it wasn't so weak. It smells great — like pine, which isn't necessarily a clean smell, but is somehow clean-adjacent. But the fragrance has no presence; I can barely smell the soap when used and can't smell it at all on my skin. Maybe my bar is old? • Gun Smoke - smoke, vanilla, and leather N/A - I haven't tried this one yet, but it sounds like a banger. Will almost certainly be a very masculine scent. • Great American Beer Soap - Budweiser N/A - I haven't tried this either, but it's made specifically with Budweiser beer, and is based around cedarwood instead of sandalwood. • Leaf and Leather - tobacco leaf and leather 5/5 - Leaf and Leather is one of Duke Cannon's best fragrances. It's a great masculine scent, more heavy on the tobacco leaf than the leather, resulting something that's smells smooth and refined. It's also one their most powerful scents I've used, and certainly one of the longest-lasting. • Midnight Swim - water, air, and crisp greens N/A - I haven't tried Midnight Swim, which looks to be one of the newest fragrances. On paper, it sounds like an aquatic/green blend, which may mean that it smells a little like both Naval Diplomacy and Victory. • Naval Diplomacy - refreshing ocean scent 3/5 - Naval Diplomacy is probably a crowd-pleaser since it sort of smells like a men's aquatic cologne. It's not bad — the scent is clean without smelling like soap — it just doesn't strike me as anything special. Note: Naval Diplomacy bars contain bits of oat kernel flour, giving the soap a sort of chunky texture. • Productivity - fresh, energizing mint 5/5 - Productivity is another one of the company's obvious best fragrances. It's a fairly strong mint with something of a powdery note underneath — the softness reminds me of after-dinner mints. Great scent for the shower or for the kitchen. Note: Productivity bars contain peppermint oil, providing a skin-tingling sensation, in addition to bits of oat kernel, giving the soap a chunky sort of texture. • Victory - clean, fresh, grass 3/5 - Victory is a very green smell, coming off somewhere between fresh cut grass and seaweed. It's an unusual scent, but one that feels surprisingly well-placed in the shower — almost like if you were bathing in a river instead of a tub. Note: Victory bars contain bits of oat kernel meal, giving the soap a kind of chunky texture. Final thoughts: By and large, Duke Cannon's bar soaps are excellent as hand soap, face wash, shampoo, beard wash, shave soap, and body wash. Now that I've tried most of the lot, I'll probably return to the Buffalo Trace, Bay Rum, and Productivity in the future. However, there's one prevailing trend I've noticed with all of these soaps: The fragrances just don't last very long. They mostly smell great when used, but almost none of them leave behind a scent that lasts more than a few minutes. I don't consider that a bad thing; I enjoy the scent in the moment, then move on. But if you were hoping they'd keep you smelling fresh throughout the day, you'd be disappointed — I doubt even the strongest fragrances last more than an hour on anyone's skin. Read more
