Provence Sante' Shave Soap

I enjoy this soap quite a bit. The scent is light, but fresh and nice and nothing else I have really smells like it which is a plus. I found the aroma very subtle, but natural and can't imagine anyone having much issue with it. It whips up creamy lather without much trouble. I have found it can dry out if you get the water ratio wrong, but this is a similar problem with most soaps I use. The cushion was good and the moisturizing properties seemed adequate. I did not splurge on the bowl, but I stuck mine in a Le Creuset ramekin (keeping it French ). It fits perfectly, has nice weight and works very well for something I picked up at Marshalls for a couple bucks. Cheers!

I've been using this soap for a month and been very happy and satisfied. Before this soap I was using cream. And once I loaded my brush to create lather on my face, I put the cream in a storage box. First of all, it produces lather with ease. I use an artificial badger brush and it has no trouble creating thick, sleek, protective lather. But the best part is how it leaves my face moisturized and soft. The scent was puzzling at first because it was familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it until my wife said that the smell reminds her of soaps in hotels we visited. So the scent is not masculine but "flowerly". I think this is a great soap for beginners who are starting out on a shaving soap for face lathering.

Provence Santé is my favourite soap. It's not too expensive, and has a lovely scent. It creates a great lather, protects and delivers a smooth shave. My face is left soft, smooth and moisturised. French Shea butter soaps are in my opinion the best performers, and Provence Santé is the leader.

I finally got through my puck of Institut Karite and got a chance to fire up the Provence Sante. It's been waiting a year! The IK stuff lasts.

I am a fan of French soaps and PS isn't going to change my mind. This is an awesome soap. It seems to lather better than IK or Pre de Provence - in fact better than any of my other soaps. A few swirls with my Omega pro boar and I had lather all over the place. It was sort of a mess and I will have to go easier next time. The lather is thick and slick and does it's job superbly well. The scent is great too.

This is what a shaving soap should be. Get it.

There are several soaps that I would never want to be without - MWF, Tabac, AOS Sandalwood, L'Occitane Cade - but Provence Sante has quickly become my favorite.

Basically, it does everything very well: lathers easily and consistently (my only gripe with MWF is the occasional water:soap miscalculation that means having to start over), provides terrific cushion and lubrication and is perfectly moisturizing, and for the outstanding quality of the product $10 for a puck is a bargain (West Coast Shaving). This soap has definitively ended the debate about tallow for me: it is as protective or better than any tallow soap I have used.

I personally appreciate the fragrance of the Verlaine soap, but agree with others who have contributed here that it is more "flowery" than "masculine." Nevertheless, if this is a problem try the Green Tea version (altho' I find the scent to be a bit too subtle on this one).

Same as most others - I love this stuff. The scent is a bit strong but I actually like it. It actually smells French to me! It works great and lasts forever...a winner in my book. Try it.

Its one of my favorites; Pretty much not more I can say, more than its already been said. Great lather and shaving quality, but it is a much different feel than the English, Italian or German soaps. If this soap can speak, it would only speak French. I love the shaving bowl, however I wish it had a lid, it would have looked a lot cooler. Also, I always get paranoid about bugs getting stuck on my soaps. I love the scent, it has a nice clean hubby tubby smell about; when I first opened the package, my bathroom had that scent for about a month. A lid would have retained that intensity. Anyways my only complaint is no lid, all my shaving bowls have lids. Silly I know, but no lid!!!

I have enjoyed this soap as a winter soap with very nice lathering, moisturizing & overall great shaving qualities. The scent is mild but pleasant. It lathers like a dream. The ceramic lather bowl is very simple & also hold some of the other French made soaps perfectly. This is good stuff & I highly recommend!

My favorite soap, smells lovely, the lather is out of this world, for me it takes a while to build up but all of a sudden my brush explodes with thick lather that does a great job, the bowl is very nice and certainly makes you realise this is a top quality product, an absoultely stunning soap that everyone should own.

Provence Sante is a great soap. If you like Institut Karite or Pre de Provence, you'll like this one. The scent is strange - to me it smells clean and slightly floral. It's not my favorite scent, but it's not bad either and it's light --- fades quickly. It produces a great, thick, dense lather in no time and shaves very nice. Good bang for your buck at $11.

I just received this and had a first shave with it this morning.

Price - from Touch of Europe, $15 (including the redware bowl) - a great deal
Quality - great presentation, good hard soap.
Scent - it is floral but not overpoweringly so. A good spring time scent.
Lather - some in the bowl but very good on the face.
Efficacy - a very smooth, trouble free shave
Moisturizing - I gues the shea really does work - no problems there.

I now have both Pre de Provence and Provence Sante. I'd almost swear that othe than scent, they are the same soaps (not surprising, given the make up of each). If you like one, you'll like the other in terms of quality, laterh, and moisturing. Only the fragrance is different. Highly recommended.

Price- I purchased a refill puck for about $12 and milled it into a new container. The refill price is excellent.

Quality- Excellent. This is really top shelf soap.

Scent- I find it to be mild and subdued. I left it open for a few days and that seemed to knock the strength of the scent down somewhat. Either way, I find it to be unoffensive.

Lather- It's a champ. A few swirls of a BB or Boar will create mobs of rich lather.

Efficacy- This will afford you one of the most pleasant shaving experiences available. It cooperates with most any razor/blade combination and provides a smooth, close shave. I've never had any problems with irritation.

Moisturizing- Excellent. It contains a good amount of shea.

Final thoughts- So far, the only soap I like more is Tabac, but it's a really close call. For the price, this soap is a winner.

I was initially underwhelmed by this soap. It was a quality product at an attractive price, but that was about it. I relegated it to the closet for a while as the scent was pretty strong and I had other soaps that were more satisfying. During that time, two things happaned. The scent of the soap toned down to a very nice level and I discovered the secrets of lathering MWF. I brought the soap back out for another try. This time I was rewarded with very thick, slick, wet lather that performed up there with the best of my other soaps including MWF, Tabac, Valobra, and vintage Yardley. I also enjoyed the scent that was now not so overpowering.

I have the red ware bowl, which is very nice, but my price rating pertains to the refill. This rather generously sized puck retails for $10, putting it in Tabac range for value in the triple milled catagory. Highly recommended.

Great soap. Great shave. The only soap I use that I don't need to apply an after shave balm or moisturizer when I'm done shaving. Has the extra special benefit of now being available locally, which means that shipping is reasonable and fast.

This is a somewhat soft shave soap. Not as soft as say a glycerin soap, but softer than most triple milled soaps. More like a shave stick, say ARKO or Speick.

It has plenty of lather and it seems to leave my face soft and moisturized.

But the smell !! It is very perfumy and smells a little feminine. It is a great soap, but would be better if they used a more masculine scent.

I find the scent to be more "clean" the "cologne" which is very suitable to me.

Great by itself. This was my first lather of any kind in my transition to wet shaving and it is still one of the best. I like cremes better, but this one is still in use in my kit. Mixed with a creme it is adds slickness. Smells much stronger in the bowl then on your face.

You can get just the bars as replacement without buying the redware bowl every time.

Usually available at Central Market stores and some HEB.

Next to my Cade soap, this is the most moisturizing soap. I bought the refill from drugstore.com on a whim, and have no regrets! Unlike Todd, I like the scent. It's different, although don't ask me to describe it! Any brush I use with this fills with lather, and there is plenty of cushion for the razor. I now have the brush that matches the "pot" that the soap comes in, but have yet to use it. I'll stick with the soap!

Randy

I was introduced to this soap by our own Lathermeister and what a gem it is. I will address what I feel is it's only shortcoming first. Scent. Okay, the most subjective part of all but on first opening, this one knocked my head off. VERY sweet/floral and powder. Overwhelming to my nose. I have let the bowl sit with the soap uncovered since I've owned it and the scent has abated dramatically.

Now for the meat and potatoes. There are only a handfull of lathers I've tried which really standout as the best of the best on ME. Tabac hard soap, CF lavender cream, QED Mocha Java stick, and maybe one I'm forgetting. This Provence Sante is on that list. No need to elaborate, read the other reviews. Yes, it's one of the most creamy, smooth shaving, and moisturizing lathers around. A real 10 of a product. Leaves your skin feeling incredible.

Regards ,Todd

I really can not add any more to what has already been said. I would give "Moisturizing" an 11 -OR- 12, if I could. Yup, it is that good. The scent, however, is quite a bit flowery and overpowering to ME. However, once lathered up, the scent is not that bad and has finally grown on me. This is a very decent soap. I especially love it for straight razor shaves.

Give Provence Sante a try. I am sure you will like it.

Great soap!

It is slick and rich (like Tabac!), but actually leaves my face noticably moisturized after the shave.

I don't know if there's something wrong with my skin; but VERY few soaps or creams have this much of a moisturizing effect on my.

Love the fragrance as well. Green and "floral" (to me) mixed together. It is a bit pricey; but like many of the top-shelf soaps out there, should last damned near forever in any decent rotation. I have to believe you could shave with this stuff daily for 6 months before you used it up (and that's conservative).