I have been wet shaving for 30+ years. As recently as 15 years ago, mediocre to good shaves were the rule, and great shaves were rare. Today, with so many great bases to choose from (B&M Excelsior, WK Siero, A&E Kaizen, DG Milksteak, SV, to name a few), great shaves are the rule, and anything less than a very good shave is rare. I don’t think the hardware has changed much over the years, I think it’s the soaps that have made a huge difference. Thoughts?
Soap thoughts from an old guy
- Thread starter agrippas
- Start date
As someone who started shaving 55 years ago, I agree with you 100%.
Once the manufacturers started producing coated stainless blades, the quality of the blades has not improved significantly. Today's DE razors are often copies of older Gillette and Merkur designs. the multiblade cartridges were designed to put money in the pockets of the manufacturers, not to produce better shaves.
Shaving soaps, however, are a different matter. About 5-6 years ago, I decided to improve my shaves. I tried different blades, razors, etc. The biggest improvements came in getting good shaving soaps. I can get OK shaves with the soaps I used 5 years ago, but the soaps that give me the closest, most comfortable shaves were not available until the past couple of years. I could add a few names to your list, but I won't do that as I have posted my favorites elsewhere.
Once the manufacturers started producing coated stainless blades, the quality of the blades has not improved significantly. Today's DE razors are often copies of older Gillette and Merkur designs. the multiblade cartridges were designed to put money in the pockets of the manufacturers, not to produce better shaves.
Shaving soaps, however, are a different matter. About 5-6 years ago, I decided to improve my shaves. I tried different blades, razors, etc. The biggest improvements came in getting good shaving soaps. I can get OK shaves with the soaps I used 5 years ago, but the soaps that give me the closest, most comfortable shaves were not available until the past couple of years. I could add a few names to your list, but I won't do that as I have posted my favorites elsewhere.
Curious what soaps you folks have been finding work for you best 
I know its personal but am on the hunt for what I am liking still
I know its personal but am on the hunt for what I am liking still 
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
I agree 100%, but you didn’t have to wait for artisan soaps. Great soaps that can make great shaves have always been there, they just weren’t popular because of their price (but not all). But many were cheaper to use than artisan soaps.
ABC
I Coloniali
Pre de Provence
Provence Sante
Santa Maria Novella v3
Acqua di Parma v3
3P
AoS creams
Czech and Speake/Valobra/AoS hard soaps
The 3Ts, Penhaligons, and Floris in the old tallow days.
A good post shave lotion or balm helps extend that quality shave.
I Coloniali Rhubarb (it smells like guaiac wood, frankincense, and a little vanilla).
ABC balms, these are not ‘balmy’ balms except for the apricot hull.
And so on.
Quality stuff has always been there, you just weren’t using it.
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Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Curious what soaps you folks have been finding work for you best
What are you shaving with - it makes a difference.
I am 57 my profile has wrong date of birth
DE razor
is that what ya meant ? Timeless Ti .68 a Henson a older Gillette that was my dads for funkinda minimalist trying things but really just want to have a few soaps/creams I love
hope that helped answer the with ?
ultra hard water I have here also makes a difference in a bad way
but will use what I have out of tapshaving forum in the soap section purely curious to maybe go OH have not heard of that have to give it a try and see what I think was more why I was asking
and this place has been a great wealth of infoI do think anything in this shaving fun has to be used tried and given a honest shot by the user since its all so personal
So for me
been trying stirling and seems nice enough and easy to work with but the AS I am having some severe skin reactions to goes away after 30 min but freaking red irritated big time
TOBS liking the Jermyn Street the scent and most important for me how it works and no skin irritation burning allergy issues
cheap cremo works really well and not hard to dial in
proraso having allergy problems (green label) might try white
mitchels wool fat ultra hard water I was told would be a issue and kinda is
ultra narrow window of performance but really liking it for how simple the scent profile isFine Products seems to be OK and not overpowering scent that is really nice but the AS again kinda have some allergy issue with like severe sinus issues and the scent not the skin
allergies are sadly a issue of why I used to stay away from all things with scents but its fun to enjoy them
What were you using before the explosion of new products?
+2! Yes indeed! Soap quality has improved dramatically!
In contrast, there has been little progress with blades. I wish Gillette brought back their ‘Spoilers!’
I guess I'm the contrarian of the group. Like @RayClem I have been shaving for over 55 years, although some of those years I used canned cream or canned shave gel. But for the vast majority of those years I have used soap or cream and a brush. I don't find much difference in performance between old classics like Mitchell's Wool Fat, Klar, Tabac, etc. and the new artisan offerings. Today's shave, for example, was with a puck of Crabtree & Evelyn West Indian Lime shaving soap, a Yaqi Rainbow Brown synthetic brush and Classsic Shavning's Enoch AC razor. The soap lathered extremely well, provided all of the glide and cushion you could want, and left me with a cut free, irritation free BBS.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
I am 57 my profile has wrong date of birth
DE razor
kinda minimalist trying things but really just want to have a few soaps/creams I love
hope that helped answer the with ?
ultra hard water I have here also makes a difference in a bad way
shaving forum in the soap section purely curious to maybe go OH have not heard of that have to give it a try and see what I think was more why I was asking
I do think anything in this shaving fun has to be used tried and given a honest shot by the user since its all so personal
So for me
been trying stirling and seems nice enough and easy to work with but the AS I am having some severe skin reactions to goes away after 30 min but freaking red irritated big time
TOBS liking the Jermyn Street the scent and most important for me how it works and no skin irritation burning allergy issues
cheap cremo works really well and not hard to dial in
proraso having allergy problems (green label) might try white
mitchels wool fat ultra hard water I was told would be a issue and kinda is
Fine Products seems to be OK and not overpowering scent that is really nice but the AS again kinda have some allergy issue with like severe sinus issues and the scent not the skin
allergies are sadly a issue of why I used to stay away from all things with scents but its fun to enjoy them
Hard water and a DE, I’d suggest a coconut oil based soap (they work better in hard water) that builds a robust lather. The usual suspects are;
Italian croaps, I like 3P myself
Martin de Candre
ABC cream (great, and at a great price too, and by that I mean large, lol. In the US best to order form the mfg iin Italy)
AdP cream (ditto, expensive but can occasionally be found on site-wide sales)
Santa Mariah Novella
Castle Forbes
AoS creams
T&H creams
I’ll reiterate my usual soap/cream buying advice, start at the top and work your way down. Trust me it’s cheaper.
Good hunting!
The main difference I have seen with the new soaps is that they tend to be softer and are easier to lather. However, performance-wise there are some great classic soaps and some great new ones.
I agree with you on the performance, but as for ease of lathering for newer soaps, I actually don't find this at all, and I don't think it has so much to do with older vs newer. Many newer soaps haven't been particularly easy, although many have improved. Older versions of Stirling and Mystic Water have been a nightmare for many to lather and the formula of GD I have was notorious for taking forever to lather as is the B&M Reserve line. Some of those with clay and several kinds of butter and waxes can be particularly difficult and often have a narrow water band.
I imagine many improve over time, such as Stirling, which is very easy to lather now, but many others are still known for being temperamental beasts.
Most of my classic soaps and creams are very quick to lather, other than Williams and MWF, they tend to be something I would consider beginner-friendly.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Agree. I’ve noted that SV beta 4.3 is more difficult to lather than beta 4.1 (Both Asylum Colonia).
From my experience, the prep, razor and blade have made a great shave the norm. I use canned goo and have more consistent quality shaves vs. using a brush and soap or cream.
I am 57 my profile has wrong date of birth
DE razor
kinda minimalist trying things but really just want to have a few soaps/creams I love
hope that helped answer the with ?
ultra hard water I have here also makes a difference in a bad way
shaving forum in the soap section purely curious to maybe go OH have not heard of that have to give it a try and see what I think was more why I was asking
I do think anything in this shaving fun has to be used tried and given a honest shot by the user since its all so personal
So for me
been trying stirling and seems nice enough and easy to work with but the AS I am having some severe skin reactions to goes away after 30 min but freaking red irritated big time
TOBS liking the Jermyn Street the scent and most important for me how it works and no skin irritation burning allergy issues
cheap cremo works really well and not hard to dial in
proraso having allergy problems (green label) might try white
mitchels wool fat ultra hard water I was told would be a issue and kinda is
Fine Products seems to be OK and not overpowering scent that is really nice but the AS again kinda have some allergy issue with like severe sinus issues and the scent not the skin
allergies are sadly a issue of why I used to stay away from all things with scents but its fun to enjoy them
I live in a place with very hard water too. If you're looking for just one soap that will be fool proof and perform wonderfully, I'd suggest trying Saponificio Varesino.
I agree, I've gravitated to some of the older, more established soaps over the years and don't find their performance at all lacking compared to the newer artisan formulas. Some soaps are "trickier" to dial in than others, or at least require a different approach to get the best out of them.
I sometimes wonder if the newer soaps tend to reward a similar approach to dialing them in, making it easier to go between these ones (for those already used to them) but comparatively harder if you venture over to a soap requiring something different. Not convinced I'm right about this, but just a thought.
I honestly think your hypothesis is based on your own anecdotal experience and may not be true of the general shaving community. Firstly, as already stated, there are plenty of old school soaps out there that are perfectly capable of giving excellent shaves. In addition, while you may have only gotten mediocre shaves for 15 years, people have been getting excellent close shaves for decades, well before the rash of designer soaps. I agree that there are lots of new soaps out there that can provide excellent shaves, but, I just don't feel there is any revolutionary change in shave closeness because of new soaps alone.
What I meant is that softer soaps tend to be easier to lather.
I don't know. I can get amazing shaves with pretty much any type of razor and from a wide variety of soaps. I can get a perfectly good shave using canned foam, although it's not very fun for me, and I only use that if I am in a hurry. As far as I'm concerned, a simple tube of cheap Palmolive Menthol cream will do the job perfectly.
