Monsavon Bol à Raser

I have sensitive skin and have been DE shaving for about a year and half. I tried many shaves soaps at first some shave creams. I've noticed that tallow bases soaps and creams work usually better with my skin but still it was impossible to find a soap or cream that would give me consistent good results; good shave, minimal nicks, no burns and redness at each shave as I always go for a BBS.

This was until I came across Monsavon. My barber in Switzerland was using Monsavon to shave his customers. He advised me to buy a tub and try it out. I would call this soap a croap, between a soap and a cream. It's basically a really soft soap making it easy to load on the brush and lather (I face lather).

I don't like the sent but all rest is amazing. Easy to lather, thick and it consistently gives me a great shave with minimal razor burn or anything, considering I go for a BBS every time. Its my go to soap and it became for a while my only soap because of the consistent good results. Since, I've tried other creams that lather really well, used by professional barbers but still, I don't get as good results as Monsavon and it is the cheapest soap I own so for. So, if you are in a french grocery store at any time absolutely get it, you won't be disappointed.

I vacationed in Sint Maarten last week. My wife wanted to go grocery shopping on the French side of the island so we stopped at the Super U in Marigot, where I first spotted Monsavan Bol a Raser. I had never heard of it before, but for that price how could I not pick one up to experiment with? It's a vacation, you have to try new things!
While I was on the island I was using an Edwin Jagger 87 (that's a safety bar razor) with Feather blades and a very cheap, pedestrian boar hair brush. It's my second-string set up, I am on vacation and don't worry too much about close shaves when I am on the beach all day. But when I used Monsavan I was pleasantly surprised by the voluminous lather, the closeness of the shave, and how my skin felt afterward. My wife said it smelled like Irish Spring or Listerine, with some lavender thrown in. She gave it the thumbs up and I was impressed enough by it that I dropped by the Super U to pick up two more.
When I got back to the States and my usual, first-string set up - Fatip Piccolo (open comb) with an Astra and my Tweezerman badger hair brush - holy crap it was quite possibly the best shave of my life! My wife was amazed at how my skin felt and how close the shave was.
I am loving this cream right now! Normally I am a Proraso Green guy, but I am sticking with Monsavan for the foreseeable future. The skin of my face has noticed the difference in the past week.
My only "con" is the fact the tub is extremely cheap and thin plastic. Proraso has stronger plastic and the top snaps onto the tub; Monsavan has cheaper, thin plastic and the top just sits on the bowl - it's a fairly tight fit, but I made sure I used a rubber band to keep it closed when I put the tub I was using in my shaving kit for the flight home.
The smell? Whatever, to each their own. It smells good enough to me, and it becomes milder after washing everything off and using my alum block. And as I said above, if the wife is fine with it, I'm fine with it.
For less than $2 it is a must buy, you have to try this out. I would probably pay up to $10 for this in the States without blinking an eye. For more than $10, I would probably pause. Maybe another, more available tallow cream would be a better option.
But I encourage you to go to France or the French West Indies to pick this up, there are lots of these just sitting on the shelves and they are so cheap!

Introduction

At the beginning of this month I visited Paris for one weekend and next to the sightseeing I also planned to buy some shaving stuff that is only sold in France.

So one off these products I bought in France was Monsavon shaving soap, which is sold very cheap in France supermarkets for less then € 1,50. And today I decided to start using the Monsavon shaving soap, which brings back memories from Paris .

First impression packing and smell

The plastic bowl where the shaving soaps comes into looks very simple and kinda boring.
It doesn't even contain the brand name on it, it says only in France "Bol a raser and Authentique" which means shaving soap and authentic and it tells the weight of the shaving soap inside.



Mine first impression off the scent was a strong parfum smell which I couldn't really give a place.
But when I smelled again I could smell lavender and it doesn't smell bad at all to be honest.

The Shave

I had mine Balea Men pure badger shaving brush soaking in warm water while I was taking mine shower.

After I finished mine shower I started mine shave with the Monsavon shaving soap. I found the quality of the lather really very good and to be honest I'm not able to write anything bad about it.



The lather is very slick and protects the skins good and also the shave was very good and I have to say this is just the way it should be.

I only estimate that this shaving soap will not last a long time, but that doesn't really matter as its really cheap if you can get it in France, but if you looking for a soap that lasts long then Monsavon is probably going dissapoint you.

I find the smell during the shave really relaxing and not overpowering at all. I think the smell from this shaving soap is comparable with Speick shaving cream/soap which also smells like lavender.

Used safety razor and DE blade

For those who want to know it, I used an Edwin Jagger DE89L safety razor and a Gillette bleu extra de blade.

Conclusion

I really find that this shaving soap offers a lot value for your money and if you happen to be going to France? Then Monsavon shaving soap is really a must have to buy. This shaving soap also proofs again that a good shaving soap/creme doesn't have to cost much at all.

At the beginning of November 2013 I visited Paris for one weekend and next to the sightseeing I also planned to buy some shaving stuff that is only sold in France.

So one off these products I bought in France was Monsavon shaving soap, which is sold very cheap in France supermarkets for less then € 1,50. And today I decided to start using the Monsavon shaving soap, which brings back memories from Paris .

First impression packing and smell

The plastic bowl where the shaving soaps comes into looks very simple and kinda boring.
It doesn't even contain the brand name on it, it says only in France "Bol a raser and Authentique" which means shaving soap and authentic and it tells the weight of the shaving soap inside.





Mine first impression off the scent was a strong parfum smell which I couldn't really give a place.
But when I smelled again I could smell lavender and it doesn't smell bad at all to be honest.

The Shave.

I had mine Balea Men pure badger shaving brush soaking in warm water while I was taking mine shower.
After I finished mine shower I started mine shave with the Monsavon shaving soap. I found the quality of the lather really very good and to be honest I'm not able to write anything bad about it.



The lather is very slick and protects the skins good and also the shave was very good and I have to say this is just the way it should be.

I only estimate that this shaving soap will not last a long time, but that doesn't really matter as its really cheap if you can get it in France, but if you looking for a soap that lasts long then Monsavon is probably going disappoint you.

I find the smell during the shave really relaxing and not overpowering at all. I think the smell from this shaving soap is comparable with Speick shaving cream/soap which also smells like lavender.

Used safety razor and DE blade

For those who want to know it, I used an Edwin Jagger DE89L safety razor and a Gillette bleu extra de blade.

Conclusion

I really find that this shaving soap offers a lot value for your money and if you happen to be going to France? Then Monsavon shaving soap is really a must have to buy. This shaving soap also proofs again that a good shaving soap/creme doesn't have to cost much at all.

Monsavon soaps are something of a French institution, the way Dial and Old Spice are in the United States. Recently the brand was purchased by Unilever from Sara Lee, but not much sems to have changed with regards to quality.

Their "Bol à Raser" tallow shaving soap is found pretty much everywhere, from the largest hypermarché big-box stores to the neighborhood dépanneur down the corner. And, befitting a time-tested institution, the little plastic bowl with the blue and white label gives a pretty darned good shave.

Price: Unbeatable. In Paris - where everything is more expensive than it should be - Monsavon holds the line at about €1.50 to €2.00 a puck. I'm sure it can be had for less elsewhere in the country, but even so, that's cheaper even than a can of foamy gunk, so no more needs to be said on that point.

Quality: Well, in terms of packaging and presentation, don't expect the world. Served up in a small, thin-walled plastic bowl, you get a soft white puck that shrinks a bit once it's opened as it dries out. Overall, it feels inexpensive but not cheap, which at this price point is about all you can ask.

Scent: Not great. Best described as lavender-scented industrial detergent with undertones of cherry and sweet almond. It's not an offensive scent - to the contrary, it's quite pleasant, really - but it is entirely lacking in any subtlety. But then again, when you're in the "three-buck-puck" territory, anything that's better than the bug-spray nose of Williams is a winner.

That said, it is a nice, clean, soapy smell. It just punches you in the nose with it.

Interestingly, since Monsavon shave soap has been sold for so long, it has a reputation quite similar to Old Spice in that it's what everyone's father and grandfather used/uses. So if you're looking to snag a Frenchwoman with a bit of an Elektra complex, you could do worse for a bait

Lather: Very nice. The brush lathers up really easily, and the lather is nice and slick. Great cushioning to it, as well, though it does seem to dissipate a bit faster than I'd like. Still a strong performer, through.

Efficacy: No complaints here, aside from the fact that you do seem to have to put a bit more effort into loading the brush than one would expect from a soft-ish tallow soap. Still, this is a no-nonsense, gets the job done kind of soap.

Very good protection from nicks and cuts. Better than some soaps that sell for 10 to 20 times the price.

Moisturizing For me, this is where Monsavon falls flat; I find that it tends to dry my face out rather harshly. Nothing that a liberal application of aftershave balm can't fix, but it does seem to be the weak point of this soap.

Monsavon has something of a special spot for me, since it's what I used when I was a poor young man during and just after college. You might be poor, but that's no excuse to be poorly groomed. In that vein, if you're looking for a soap that's not too fancy and not particularly refined, but gets the job without any drama or fuss, Monsavon is your stuff. There are better soaps, and there are cheaper soaps, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better cheap soap.

This soap was gifted to me by a friend. I don't have much to say of the price, other than it is expensive to obtain in NA, but very cheap in France.

This soap has a very intense lavender-spice fragrance that is pleasant and overall very nice. Reminds me of DR Harris Lavender. The lather it produces can be a bit temperamental as sometimes I can feel my razor "sticking" to my face. You need a lot of soap so load your brush well.

I also find the soap to be a bit drying, but that's nothing some AS lotion can't fix.

Overall a decent soap, I like it more than not but wouldn't go too far out of my way to obtain. Once I'm through my gifted pucks I'm not sure I'd replace.

Another French excellent product at a terrific price, readily available in country of origin.

I picked up some in BST transaction and now I'm looking for more!
It's easy to whip up nice slick lather.
I found the scent nice. I can't decide what it smells like.
The mositurizing was good. Better than a lot of soaps I regularly use.

Hate to be the only one to go against the consensus here, but that is what reviews are for. If in the US, this stuff is hard to come by and costs $10-12. It comes in a flimsy plastic bowl. What was most off-putting to me is the scent. Smells like Vicks or something similar. I understand that everyone is different for their sensory glands, but I didn't really detect any lavender in it. If it smelled like lavender I would have rated this much higher.

It lathers fine, but nothing magical and it isn't the greatest at moisturizing. For the price, I would much rather buy cella or valobra stick. YMMV

I go to France regularly but this is the first time I picked up a bowl. Should have done that years ago; I think that when you live in France and can get this stuff for less than a Euro and a half (I've seen prices from 1.28 to 1.30) there is not that much reason to look any further. The scent is a classic soap scent mixed with herbs, lavender mostly. It is kinda 19th century so when you are into Florida Water and 4711 you should really try this one.

It lathers very well but the lather has IMO not the same quality (=less protection/glide) as a couple of other bargain tallow soaps like Cella, P.160, Arko and EU Palmolive. It also has a tendency to clog my razor (not a real issue) so all in all it behaves a lot like Tabac in my book except that it is more friendly to the skin.

For a relative soft soap you don't need much product so I think a bowl will last a decent time but after a dozen or so shaves I decided to pick up 3 more of these. Paying $10 is too much for this one though, except for curiousity reasons. It is good, but not that good. It did push Tabac another place down the stairs in my den so definitely recommended but not at all costs.

It's Interesting how people can be so different in their sensory perception.

I don't see how this scent could be considered "off-putting", "the weakest point", "citrusey", "middle of the road", "don't love it", etc.

To me, it smells spicy, lavenderey, French, and expensive. I guess I'm just crazy. BTW, it shaves like a million bucks.

This review was done using very soft water


I bought a puck of Monsavon a little while ago and used it in my rotation here and there. I decided to use it for a full week to do a good review. I never had any problems with it and I always loved it.

Price: Quite cheap if you buy it directly in France. With shipping to get to me, it's still not so bad comparing on how much I spend on soaps. Very reasonable for what you get!

Quality: Yup, it's there. You feel that this is something that works well!

Scent: I will do my best to describe the scent but no expert here. I would say something like Lavender/Rosemary and a bit of citrus in the background.

Lather: Explosion of lather every time!

Efficacy: No worries soap!

Moisturizing: Yup, my skin feel refreshed and ready before I apply the aftershave. I wouldn't skip the aftershave but it feels good right after!

Conclusion: I will buy this again and make sure it's part of my rotation!

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Updated review

This review was done using hard water.

This is my second review of the product. The first one was with soft water. This product worked really well with soft water but with hard water it's difficult.

The lather is okay but it needs a lot of work to get something decent. If I take Martin de Candre, it's much easier and it's a better lather.

The scent is nice and could be compared to a distant cousin of MdC.

I used this as a shave stick for around 15 shaves, it wasn't awesome, thin lather, took twice the time to get something okay.

I then used it as a puck (like it was intended) and it was a tiny bit better but still not great.

If you have soft water, yes, try this. If you don't, skip it.

I bought a puck of this from a fellow B + B member recently and tried it today. I hadn't heard of this soap until recently, but was intrigued based on reviews I had read and the fact that it is a tallow soap.

The experience today was surprising. The consistency is a soft soap and the scent is of a fairly strong spicy lavender which I found pleasant. I loaded the brush right in the chincy plastic tub it comes in. This was quite awkward because the plastic is so thin that it isn't rigid while you are swirling on the puck surface. I transfered the puck to an apothecary mug for future use.

The lather was definitely unimpressive compared to other great soaps I have used. After I loaded the brush and built the lather on my face I felt it was a bit on the thin side and braced myself for a disappointing and uncomfortable shave. The lather, however, did have somewhat of a tallow-like (solid, stiff) body to it.

I ended up, however, with a wonderful shave, up there with some of the better soaps I have used (AOS, Tabac, Cella). My usual 3 pass shave was easy and the lather was very protective giving a close, comfortable shave. My face has felt great all day. From what I understand, this is somewhat of a "budget" soap in France and this definitely blew Williams away. The price isn't great in the States. The lather was unimpressive, but I am not one to argue with results and this soap definitely delivered. Since this soap is so soft, I don't think it will last too long and I intend to use it all up. If the quality of the shaves keeps up I might consider buying it again.

Overall: nothing fancy or luxurious, but delivers outstanding performance...good value and good daily shaver, especially if you can get it in France for cheap

EDIT: I fixed the lather problem by lathering in a proper apothecary shaving mug with wide and deep walls. This allowed me to get a lot of soap on the brush and I was rewarded with a very thick and creamy lather. I recommend transferring the puck to a similar container rather than loading the brush in the cheap plastic container it comes in.

I got in on the group buy from Cookie Junky and have been using this for a week. Smell is indeed distinctive but not unpleasant. Almost reminiscent of the Noxema brushless cream I used to use, but not really the same. With the brush properly loaded the lather is really nicely opaque and cushioning. I can't beat the shave quality.

It doesn't look like this puck's going to last very long, and at $10 a pop through another person to the U.S. it's a little on the expensive side.

Still, I'm glad I got it and may buy it again, depending on my future trials of MWF and P.160.

Can only back up what others have said. Very easy to use and get good results - almost as good as Proraso. At under 2 euros they are practically giving it away. Will pick up more when I'm in France. It isn't really worth tracking down in the US though for $10...

I have used this soap twice so far, and should really devote a week to it to get a good handle on it. My firast shave I missed the water:soap ratio and it was a bit frothy. Second time - I nailed it, and got a great, thick, slick lather.

The scent is a bit off-putting at first, but I'm getting used to it.

Price was decent - $8 a bowl.

My face has been nicely moisturized after using Monsavon.

It's Fench, so its extra -cool

I think the Monsavon is a good addition to my tallow-based soaps: Tabac, Palmolive, Cella.

This is a good soap, nothing special. The price is good I bought mine for $8.00. Better than average lather, efficacy and moisturiziing but the scent, while not unpleasent, was the weakest point. This is a tallow based soap, but it is no Tabac. Still for the money, it gives a very good shave

I like Monsavon. I am a big fan of the palmolive shave stick and this stuff is pretty much in the same league. The major downside is getting it at a good price in the US. It runs about $15-20 and that is not as good a value as the shave stick. However, at this price it is still a good buy. In addition, the scent is nothing special.

Price (8) : A little on the high side, but still a good value.
Quality (9) : Good stuff, well made.
Scent (5) : Middle of the road, don't love it or hate it
Lather (10) : I haven't found a better lather
Efficacy (10) : Nothing better in this department
Moisturizing (9) : Good performance

For the price it's one of the better soaps available, in France it's very easy to find. It works perfect, good lather, excellent fresh scent. I have bought recently an arko stick...and I have to say that Monsavon is the wannabe of cheap soaps and Arko is in the other side, bad package, horrible smell,...Arko is cheap and low quality .... Monsavon is cheap but performs well. And is very soft for he skin,

I'm surprised not to hear more about Monsavon, even among us tallow fans.
I suppose it is cheaper in France and can be acquired for about 10 bucks in the US.
It is sort of a soft tallow soap, but not as soft as Cella. It comes in a plastic tub that is sort of squishy but does the trick.
Monsavon lathers easily with a thick, creamy cushiony lather. It has a citrusy clean smell and it provides a nice, close protective shave.
Nothing fancy but it does well what a shaving soap is expected to do.