All of a sudden, I can make a good soap lather.

[nycalling]

Not sure what happened. Maybe I was mixing too much water, not enough water, not whisking it briskly enough, the brush had to break in over six months or so....But all of a sudden, I enjoy shaving a heck of a lot more.

I've been using VDH Luxury with (occasionally) C & O Bigelow on top for uber lather. But now that it actually lathers nice, I think I get what all the fuss is about.

So...what soap (under 2o bucks) you guys recommend next? I had gotten and tried a cream (razorock) but I didn't like it at all: now that I finally can do a good lather, I want more soaps!

 

[Mandina]

Everyone, I imagine, will recommend their favorites, but, among my 20 or so soaps, I'd say that--aside from the exceptional case of Arko sticks and other such sticks--Mike's Natural soaps are hard to beat for performance/cost.

 

[shave~extacy]

+1 Mikes is my top performer.

 

[Jcabbage]

EVERYTHING!!!

 

[redrako]

NYcalling....Lather answering.

I think it's like learning to tie your shoes as a child or learning to ride a bike, one day it happens. After that, the world is your oyster.

Congratulations and enjoy!

 

[Mick]

I'll suggest 3 of each type to make it easy for you (get them all)

Soaps:

MWF
Tabac
Arlington


Shave Sticks:

Arko
Latoja
Tabac

Creams:

Truefitt & Hill (any, you pic the scent... Grafton is my favorite scent)
Trumpers coconut oil cream
Kiss My Face, (any scent) You should be able to find this locally

 

[JCinPA]

^^^^^^^^^^
So much for the $2 criteria!

Congrats on the lather breakthrough! I am a firm believer that when people complain about not being able to lather it's because they don't have enough experience with a product, and stocking 20 of them does not help. Sticking with one product and really mastering it before starting to 'rotate' through others solves a lot of problems. When I read threads about people worrying about water hardness, using the 'Marco Method' versus the "Jim Method", a badger versus a boar, soaking the soap first, etcetera my first thought is .....


"Yeeesh! Just put on the miles! Forget all that stuff and just use this one product for a month. You'll figure it out!"

You can get OUTSTANDING results with most products, the differences between (IMNSHO) QCS, Mikes', Mystic Water, Tabac, et al, is 90% familiarity with them. I get identical quality lather out of QCS and MW, for instance, but I've spent a lot of time with both, and that's the key. It's easier to 'dial in' the QCS, in that most folks get good results quicker than with, say, MW or MWF, but you will get outstanding lather with MW and MWF if you put the time in to learn it. Some soaps are more forgiving than others in terms of the learning curve, that's all.

Anyway, great news on the VDH epiphany!


Edit: Oh yeah, on the $2 suggestion? Arko. Period. nothing else in the suggestions are that cheap. If you are in the 'urinal cake' scent crowd, buy a case of 12, and unwrap them all and let them sit open for a month. You won't be disappointed, the lather quality per dollar ratio is probably higher than any other product on the planet. Note I did not say there is no better product on the planet. But lather quality for the money, I cannot think of anything in the 2-3 dozen I've tried that comes close.

 

[Deltaboy]

Study at B&B and Practice is always the keys to improvement.

 

[celestino]

There are so many good ones.
Here some great one:
Mike's
Mystic Water
Jabonman

 

[wrinkles2]

if you want to spend $2, you could try The Regular VDH soap. (the kind that usually comes with the kits.)
if you want to spend a little more, Try Anything of mama bears.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Spend an extra $3 and splurge on Speick. Slightly better lather than Arko, and greatly better smell.

 

[Teddyboy]

I would consider the Palmolive (European) Shavestick for about $4. Great deal, trust me.

 

[goatee]

i have found in the past, my problems were from not enough water.

 

[nycalling]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I actually meant TWENTY bucks, not 2 though! I mean, I'm married and on a budget but even my wife isn't that frugal!

Not a fan of creams, if only cause of my experience with the Razorock. It doesn't warm up, it smelled terrible and I didn't like the mess of lathering it up in the container, as opposed to my VDH shave mug.

I think KcHighLife is right as to what I was doing wrong: This is my second puck since January of the VDH Luxury, and now that I'm actually getting nice, thick (and warm, best of all!) lather I notice the soap disappearing a lot faster.

I know it's the wrong board, but should I also look for a new brush? I have the VDH badger brush that comes with the luxury kit, and per my buddy he is able to whip up a good lather in almost half the time it takes me. He's using a Semogue Boar (not sure if I spelled the brush right, but I know you guys will know what I mean)

Seriously, getting a great lather was huge. I enjoyed wet shaving a ton, but I only wanted to collect after shaves. Now I want Soaps AND aftershaves.

 

[takeshi]

So...what soap (under 2o bucks) you guys recommend next?

Anything you haven't already tried.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I actually meant TWENTY bucks, not 2 though! I mean, I'm married and on a budget but even my wife isn't that frugal!

Not a fan of creams, if only cause of my experience with the Razorock. It doesn't warm up, it smelled terrible and I didn't like the mess of lathering it up in the container, as opposed to my VDH shave mug.

I think KcHighLife is right as to what I was doing wrong: This is my second puck since January of the VDH Luxury, and now that I'm actually getting nice, thick (and warm, best of all!) lather I notice the soap disappearing a lot faster.

I know it's the wrong board, but should I also look for a new brush? I have the VDH badger brush that comes with the luxury kit, and per my buddy he is able to whip up a good lather in almost half the time it takes me. He's using a Semogue Boar (not sure if I spelled the brush right, but I know you guys will know what I mean)

Seriously, getting a great lather was huge. I enjoyed wet shaving a ton, but I only wanted to collect after shaves. Now I want Soaps AND aftershaves.

Well, $20 bucks will buy a DR Harris refill puck. That is my top soap. That being said, the Speick stick is an extraordinary value- I rank it number 2.