Best and Worst High End Soaps

[1Vader]

Best:

Acqua di Parma. Performs great and I love the scent.

I also enjoyed DR Harris, specially the Windsor scent.

Saponificio Varesino, hands down is my favorite.

Notable mentions: Tabac, AOS Tallow, Sir Irisch Moos, MWF, TOBS (cream), St. James of London cream

Worst:

I don't think they are bad, but these probably gave me the least satisfaction among the high ends.

MdC. Post shave is it's weakest link in my opinion. It's a tad drying. I guess I appreciated the others more.

Nuavia. The 2 scents are great, very complex, very refined, in the perfume world these are on Amouage tier, namely Blu and Rossa however the performance is not among those that I found to be remarkable.

I Coloniali. I like the scent, it's very unusual, and the packaging is beautiful however performance for me is just alright.

 

[tonich]

Best scent + performance - Darwin!

 

[Laird]

I don't know if Tabac is high end but it's the best one I've tried. G.F. Trumper Eucris hard soap in the black wooden bowl was terrible. I loved the scent but was unable to create a usable lather with any technique.

 

[dpm802]

I found T&H Luxury Shaving Soap to be nothing more than Williams Mug Soap in a fancy wooden bowl.

Same appearance. Same scent. Same lather. Same shave.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

 

[FL shaver]

MdC is the most expensive soap I've used. Full jar. Enjoyed it all.

I've been most disappointed with Trumper's Lime. Really tough to get a usable lather.

 

[OkieStubble]

La Toja and Haslinger. High end soaps with a low end price.

 

[Porter858]

Best: Czech & Speake No.88 - Very easy to get an incredible lather, great cushion, and slick with a pleasant scent.

Worst: Caswell Massey Sandalwood - mediocre lather, mediocre cushion, not very slick, with a decent sandalwood scent.

 

[ackvil]

Best: Czech & Speake No.88 - Very easy to get an incredible lather, great cushion, and slick with a pleasant scent.

Worst: Caswell Massey Sandalwood - mediocre lather, mediocre cushion, not very slick, with a decent sandalwood scent.

I agree with CM. Horrible lather.

Never tried 88. One on my list.

 

[1Vader]

Best: Czech & Speake No.88 - Very easy to get an incredible lather, great cushion, and slick with a pleasant scent.

Worst: Caswell Massey Sandalwood - mediocre lather, mediocre cushion, not very slick, with a decent sandalwood scent.

I agree with CM. Horrible lather.

Never tried 88. One on my list.

Same here; One on my list.

 

[Tokyospike]

This is an interesting thread. See, part of my problem (just ask SWMBO!) is that I almost never look at the price of anything. (And no, I am not independently wealthy . . . actually, I'm in hock!). This is a bit easier for me since I can walk to Pasteur from the office - much easier to ignore price tags than when ordering online.

So I'm not sure what of my stuff is 'high-end' - possibly all of it, it sounds like.

I can say the I Coloniali Mango (RIP) is probably the best performing soap I've used. I have not used an American artisan tallow soap that I didn't like (CRSW, Mike's Natural, B+M, TTFFC, Stirling, Mystic Water - all good).

 

[Bridgelover]

My experience has been that most soaps are at the very least serviceably good. The one notable exception was the Joshua Tree Lime I bought.. that ended up being shower soap after 1 use.

I use a variety of soaps, a couple of which would be considered higher end (Dr Jons and Halsinger), some mid range soaps (Proraso and a few of the less expensive Razorocks), as well as one cheap brand (Col Conk, my wife buys it for me on Xmas). Although I can definitely tell the difference between, say, Halsinger and Conk performance, I'm still happy with both. There is no soap out there that doesnt benefit from a post-shave balm or some skin moisturizer IMHO.

One other thing: Once I switched to face lathering from bowl, I noticed that most all soaps are easy to lather. Bowl lathering seemed to point out the deficiencies of some soaps from a water/ratio perspective. At least for me, I've found almost all soaps are easier to get right (and therefore get a good shave) when face rather lathering than when bowl lathering.

 

[Aaron83]

Czech and speake 88 [emoji16][emoji16]

 

[ackvil]

Czech and speake 88 [emoji16][emoji16]

Did you buy the case, too? If not, how do you store it?

 

[Porter858]

I couldn't stomach the $160-ish price tag for the aluminum bowl/soap kit. I ordered the refill ($34) and a bowl from BullGoose shaving ($15) They made the bowl with a flat bottom to fit the MWF and C&S. The soap fits pretty well, and I saved a fortune!

 

[ackvil]

I couldn't stomach the $160-ish price tag for the aluminum bowl/soap kit. I ordered the refill ($34) and a bowl from BullGoose shaving ($15) They made the bowl with a flat bottom to fit the MWF and C&S. The soap fits pretty well, and I saved a fortune!

View attachment 810729
View attachment 810730

Thanks. I agree.

 

[Porter858]

Cheers Jim, let us know if you try it/like it

 

[Aaron83]

Did you buy the case, too? If not, how do you store it?

I buy these to store soaps.

Black plastic cosmetic jar

 

[ackvil]

I buy these to store soaps.

Black plastic cosmetic jar

Very nice. I have been using Anchor glass containers but I would prefer something that won't break if droppe.

 

[migralda]

Don't know about the high end but our local Asda(Walmart) sell Palmolive shaving sticks for 50p.
Grated into a bowl it gives a fantastic lather and smooth cusioned shave, basic soapy smell but I use after shave anyway!

 

[jaxstraww]

I found T&H Luxury Shaving Soap to be nothing more than Williams Mug Soap in a fancy wooden bowl.

Same appearance. Same scent. Same lather. Same shave.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

Being a shaving forum let's use perfume on a pig.

Sent from my S8+ using Tapatalk