Provence Sante Green Tea Shaving Soap

An excellent soap, will be missed, get it while you can. Hillarious shipping costs from the manufacturer in France (Eur 16 if I remember correctly), even to E.U. destinations, but with a group buy it can be had for reasonable value.

They are changing their line of products, will be introducing a new or improved soap after Sept. 2011 but anything discontinued has never been replaced with something equivalent or better, so get it while you can...

This is by far my favorite non tallow soap and it would give any tallow a run for it's money. Really wonderful.

PRICE:10 bucks for a refill of very hard long lasting soap. 3.5 oz puck size.
QUALITY: Very high quality. The packaging might not scream it but the well made puck loaded with great ingredients and its performance certainly does.
SCENT: Mellow and slightly sweet, the scent is quite invigorating. A little more strength would be nice.
LATHER: Dense, creamy, and rich. Easy to produce also.
EFFICACY: Top notch protection, glide, and cushion.
MOISTURIZING: Very good but not the best. MWF edges it out.

Bottom Line: Excellent soap that works exceptionally well. Buy some.

I will add my thoughts to this review. First of all, I am a big fan of Provence Sante shave soap(s). My experience has largely been with the Verlaine variety. I was introduced to this fantastic soap by our own Lathermeister, Guenron. Ron has a wonderful thread on this forum in which he reviews four or five Franco soaps. It is a must read in my estimation. Do search it out. It encouraged me to try them all and I have each one he reviewed with the exception of the Roger et Gallet which unfortunately is no longer available in the States. I also have a couple of French soaps that are not in his mini compendium and they are great as well. However, if forced to choose one Franco soap it would unhesitatingly be Provence Sante. The Green Tea variety to be specific.

Lets get to it. As you can plainly see from my rating numbers, I really like this soap. One of the very best out there. At least for me.

Price: What more could you want? Seven ruddy dollars for one of the finest shave lathers around? Unabashedly a ten.

Quality: Superb. Well molded and very attractive soap cake. The ingredients speak of quality. It just flat out looks nice and is loaded with skin friendly components.

Scent: The most ambiguous of all. I really like it. It is not quite as clean and fresh smelling as Pre de Provence but it is such a giant step up to my nose from the Verlaine. A clean, lightly powdered fresh type scent that avoids the spring water/shampoo smell of so many male toiletries today.

I am going to combine the next two into one paragraph since they are very interrelated in this soap. The soap loads so easily into the brush I almost always use too much. I face lather with this soap and it is a joy to use. I spend a good 3-4 minutes working up the lather with a few judicious additions of hot water along the way. Usually no more than three to four teaspoons total makes a brush full of super dense, creamy lather that rivals any tallow soap out there. Efficacy is almost on par with my AOS soaps which is to say it is nearly flawless. Shaving comfort is assured with only a modicum good razor technique. Taking your time with slow methodical strokes like you are supposed to use results in ultra smooth, close shaves with no discomfort at all.

Moisturising: This is where Provence Sante with its karite butter excels and leaves many other top shelf soaps wanting. The Franco soaps with shea butter almost always leave your skin feeling great but Provence Sante is in special class. When I prep correctly, and I consider lathering part of beard prep, I am almost always left with the feeling that any aftershave product would nearly be an afterthought. This soap is so grand in that regard. What is more, this trait also helps to make up for those day when you are a little lazy or hurried and do not quite pay attention to your razor technique or skimp on prep. It provides me a bit of crutch when I flub the shave.

All in all this is a superb shave soap. In my top five and will stay there. I am glad to have ordered three cakes of this soap. It is absolutely one of the all time best buys out there. As is usual, this is my opinion and may not be your experience. Provence Sante soaps work a treat with my water but other soaps do not so bear that in mind. I unequivocally recommend this soap and suggest you buy at least one cake for your toiletry locker.

Regards, Todd