Martin de Candre, Savon à raser

[norton]

Of course there is a lot of very good soap that cost half the price , but that's the same for every product.

you have to compare with other High end soaps.
Dr Harris cost 18£ for 100G in a bowl, that would make near 30£ without shipping for 170G.
Geo F trumper is also 18£, but for 80 of soap...
Nobody should buy Art of Shaving, if the price of Mdc is insane.

Martin de candre is not a Big company, with store around the world , they don't have massive production.

Otherwise the initial post was very pleasant to read , thanks Marco

It's silly how easily it lathers, but the result is thick, slick and protective, with no drying or tightness that I've noticed.

For me, it works best with a smaller badger. I use very, very little to get enough lather for a 3-4 pass shave. My Rudy Vey Travel brush in Grade A works magic with this soap.

A French Patriot was generous enough to include me in his order and ship it stateside, without insurance - this reduced the shipping costs by about 18 USD - making it around 10.

If folks lived close enough together to meet and dole out the soap without re-shipping, bundling up orders might defray it so that the cost is bearable - from the website it appears that you don't pay full price shipping for each additional item.

 

[Evbo]

from the website it appears that you don't pay full price shipping for each additional item.

That's correct. Shipping is based on weight, and I believe the cost covers up to 1 Kg of weight (though I'm not 100% certain). So you can add several products to your order without increasing shipping.

I took advantage of that & added several body soaps to my order, along with their liquid Sandalwood soap (which is very smokey & nice, btw. Not real sandalwood -- more like a fireplace -- but nice on a cold day!).

 

[Confilo]

This is the one I have, looks like cottage cheese

 

[Ignatius]

6 euro

Thanks.

I wonder what the story is behind their international shipping rates?

 

[superbleu]

Yep, I own all those soaps. Meh. Blah. I don't agree that all those provide just as good a shave as tallow based soaps. IK is an exception, but it's 25% shea and will eventually turn your expensive shave brush floppy.

What makes a good shave soap? One that keeps me coming back.

With all this fuss, someone is bound to import a crate of this stuff. Cough bullgoose cough wcs cough.

I asked Phil about this awhile back. He inquired and they never got back to him, guess they really could care less about the US market.

 

[petr]

I asked Phil about this awhile back. He inquired and they never got back to him, guess they really could care less about the US market.

Now, that seems very French.

 

[Tordu]

Thanks.

I wonder what the story is behind their international shipping rates?

Its because of the french Post .They don't overcharge the buyer but international shipping with tracking number , insurance etc... is very expensive. Also the 170G soap weigh 500G with the jar.
I don't think they can take the risk to send their product the economic way, like we do in BST transactions.

Now, that seems very French.

That's a generalization, like americans often do .

 

[LordTyranus]

That's a generalization, like americans often do .

generalization and dishonesty when you know of the products that are exclusive for US markets such as Pre de Provence and Provence Santé.

 

[petr]

That's a generalization, like americans often do .

Touché. I did make a generalization. I said it loudly while wearing my cowboy hat. You're quite right, comments like that are not warranted.

I am guessing that MdC is not a big operation and does not have the resources to export haphazardly. This could be a real opportunity for someone.

Now, they need to formulate an aftershave splash of the same quality. (You hearing me MdC?)

Maybe Marco is right, and what makes MdC so great is the quality ingredients. "Using quality ingredients" is used so much that it hardly has meaning anymore in marketing, but in this case there is something special about the soap. It's like eating fresh pasta, or drinking fresh squeezed orange juice. It is simply better.

So what do the guys inside France think about MdC?

 

[petr]

generalization and dishonesty when you know of the products that are exclusive for US markets such as Pre de Provence and Provence Santé.

What do you mean?

 

[du212]

Its because of the french Post .They don't overcharge the buyer but international shipping with tracking number , insurance etc... is very expensive. Also the 170G soap weigh 500G with the jar.
I don't think they can take the risk to send their product the economic way, like we do in BST transactions.





That's a generalization, like americans often do .

That's generalization, I agree, because the shipping to EU is expensive too

The shipping costs to Spain are 19€ and I have an address only 1 mile from the french border,....but the costs are the same,....then I use the post office in France as address, and I receipt the soap there,....and I can take some croissants and gateaux basques aux cérises

 

[du212]

I know that the person who manages the customer care was not at work during August, maybe someone did not receip answer to the mails, as me,....but Marie Amélie is come back now. I think that they have an offer based on quantities for the shipping costs, but it's only a 10% of them when you spend more than 300€

 

[drandall]

i know that rasage poulin in canada tried desperately to become a MdC reseller but was basically rebuffed.

they apparently have little interest in north america.

 

[norton]

On my list to try, but not at the price they ask. Sorry, but I know what soap costs to make. Their price is gouging plain and simple. A bet I would make is that if I made two Identical soaps and sold them under different names with one at $3 a puck and the other at $50 a puck the $50 would get significantly higher scores for performance in reviews. It seems counterintuitive, but it's simple psychology. You'd think people would be more demanding of a high price soap, but nope. The price itself instills a subconscious sense of quality. We're all very gullible in the end.

I agree with some of this, but the criticism has to be extended to soaps by AoS, Penhaligon's, Trumpers and other 'top shelf' brands. Charging 30 (or nearly 30) for a refill puck is gouging as well. Prices seem to be on the rise from many suppliers.

As for the soap experiment - I think it depends on the soap. There are good performers at much lower prices - but if you offered something similar to new formula Williams at 3 and at 50, I would think the 50 version would be panned widely even if it came in a mahogany bowl with a fancy name and embossed lettering.

Not to beat up on Pens - but their non-tallow reformulation is largely criticized on this site for lack of performance, and that puppy goes in the 60-65 range plus shipping. They have marketing and the pedigree behind it, but it's still (apparently) lipstick on a pig.

 

[joshmpdx]

​

 

[Joe Edson]

Having now tried almost all the French soaps (Cade, IK, PdP, PS, Monsavon) I can honestly say that MdC is in a league of its own.

This soap has now made my top 5 overall favorites (and is the only non-tallow in that bunch) and really is great stuff. I would not even balk at the price again for when I have to reorder.

Another excellent review Marco!

 

[LouieGrandie]

I am lucky enough to have a girl friend who recently went to Paris and picked me up two of the large jars. This is truly wonderful shaving soap. She gave them to me as her little gift to me I can see how one jar will last a year. It only takes a few swirls to build up a lot of great lather.

 

[Cuttingboard]

I am lucky enough to have a girl friend who recently went to Paris and picked me up two of the large jars. This is truly wonderful shaving soap. She gave them to me as her little gift to me I can see how one jar will last a year. It only takes a few swirls to build up a lot of great lather.

Do you remember where she picked it up in Paris? I'll be traveling there this spring.

 

[Brush_with_Fame]

Have to say, this is prob my fave soap...
Used it this morning....
And my girl is ga-ga over the scent

 

[Ronan the BARBERian]

Do you remember where she picked it up in Paris? I'll be traveling there this spring.

You can find it at
Planet Rassoir
58 Rue de Clichy
75009 Paris