Soaps can be expensive such as MdC or Czech & Speake or cheap, such as Arko. Think of all the high-end soaps you have tried. Which ones did you find the best - and which ones were disappointing? Reasons, too.
Best and Worst High End Soaps
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Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
XPEC scented, because of the scent!
Cheers, Steve
Cheers, Steve
Does modern AoS count as high end?
I recently scored some Pre de Provence no 63, maybe not real high end, but sure is a great soap.
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At $30 for a refill and $50 for the works, yes.
Tried more than a few. Didn't care for GF Trumper (Lime/Coconut). Had slickness/dragging issues, tried several methods but nothing really panned out. I gave them to my relatives and they seem to like them. Castle Forbes Lime and Maggards soap samples were also mediocre, same issues.
I don't think price is synonymous with quality. None of these are high end, but my best would be Proraso Green/White (didn't respond well to red/blue), cella is good but there's only one way to use it, and the european version of Palmolive is pretty good. TOBS Sandalwood is really nice. I also liked Godrej Lime, it was very easy to work with.
I don't think price is synonymous with quality. None of these are high end, but my best would be Proraso Green/White (didn't respond well to red/blue), cella is good but there's only one way to use it, and the european version of Palmolive is pretty good. TOBS Sandalwood is really nice. I also liked Godrej Lime, it was very easy to work with.
Them my worst would be AoS, and my best would be SV for performance and Pannacrema for scent profile. Never tried MdC though.
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I agree. My two favorites are MdC and Haslinger. One is expensive and one is not.
+1 to this - price and quality are not the same. Disclaimer: the water in my region is pretty hard, so it could very well be that YMMV.
I really like hard triple-milled tallow based soaps, and of these I think H.D.Harris is my favorite brand. However, I recently was very pleasantly surprised by TOBS sandalwood - is spite of it being a herbal one.
Now on the other hand, I have heavenly scented Floris No.89, and it just can't deal with the hard water - making atrocious bubbly foam that can't last any more than half a cheek.
Of the soft soaps I discovered lately Spanish artisan Jabonman and his Eufros tallow based soaps. It's not a well-known first tier brand "appointed to her majesty" etc. etc., but I swear his creations are absolutely unique in olfactory department and give you perfect smooth and steady lather as well.
I really like hard triple-milled tallow based soaps, and of these I think H.D.Harris is my favorite brand. However, I recently was very pleasantly surprised by TOBS sandalwood - is spite of it being a herbal one.
Now on the other hand, I have heavenly scented Floris No.89, and it just can't deal with the hard water - making atrocious bubbly foam that can't last any more than half a cheek.
Of the soft soaps I discovered lately Spanish artisan Jabonman and his Eufros tallow based soaps. It's not a well-known first tier brand "appointed to her majesty" etc. etc., but I swear his creations are absolutely unique in olfactory department and give you perfect smooth and steady lather as well.
Pick up a gallon of distilled water at target, it'll set you back about $1, and keep a smaller bottle (with a bowl you can fill/heat up for about 45 seconds and use while shaving) it'll improve your situation. I do this with most of my soaps and creams and it's pretty good. Plus the water is hotter than tap, it always feels nice.
My best:
MdC
Nuavia
My worst:
DR Harris (which really isn't high end...)
MdC
Nuavia
My worst:
DR Harris (which really isn't high end...)
Best: Czech and Speake and MDC
Worst: Midnight and Two, Citrus Island. Didn't like the scent, found it average performance wise and at $35 though it was overpriced.
Worst: Midnight and Two, Citrus Island. Didn't like the scent, found it average performance wise and at $35 though it was overpriced.
The best high end soap I've used is the MdC fougere, which smells superb as well as producing a slick and stable lather with little effort. The worst is Floris no89, which does smell good but is a very average performer indeed in terms of the poor lather it rather reluctantly produces.
Best MdC. Not sure that I have had a 'high end' soap that was really bad.
Not sure if you want to include creams and croaps. Xpec is my favorite for performance. I have only used the unscented because of everything I've heard about the scented version's scent. If it has to be a hard soap it is harder to pick, but I would probably say ABC by a hair over SV.
As Paul Simon wrote, "One man's ceiling is the other man's floor." These things are relative. To the man who uses Arko & Williams all the time, a tub of Proraso green is a high end soap. The most expensive soaps I've ever bought are Razorock's Santa Maria del Fiore at about $20 and a Valobra stick at just under $10, if I remember correctly. Both are incredible soaps in their own very different ways!
I was able to check out the scents on quite a few high end soaps at The Old Town Shaving Factory a few weeks ago. I was completely underwhelmed by all of them (including MdC). While I haven't actually used any of them, there's no way that there is a large enough performance gap to make up for the underwhelming scent profiles.
The one that I've tried is NOS AoS Lavender. It's good, but performance-wise I don't think it's any better than the incredibly affordable PdP.
I'll stick to my Stirling, WSP, and Mystic Water.
The one that I've tried is NOS AoS Lavender. It's good, but performance-wise I don't think it's any better than the incredibly affordable PdP.
I'll stick to my Stirling, WSP, and Mystic Water.
Hard to argue. I give Xpec a little edge in post shave skin feel, but other than that Stirling and WSP are just as good, and maybe a little better than SV and MdC, plus they have great scents. They also beat the expensive guys on aftershaves.
The only high end soap I ever had was TOBS St. James cream. I LOVED the scent. But I almost always got a nick or 2 when I used it. Post face feel was awesome.
IMightBeWrong
Loves a smelly brush
Taylors Jermyn St couldn't stay lathered on my face. Was dry and flaking off halfway through the first pass in soft water. Worst ever. May have been a bad puck since I've never heard of others having this issue.
MWF is a great soap, but it isn't what I was expecting from it based on other reviews. The post shave and slickness are excellent but the protection/cushion aren't great at all. Find myself having to be more careful and slow when using it.
Tabac and C&S/Valobra were both soaps I waited too long to try and totally blew me away.
MWF is a great soap, but it isn't what I was expecting from it based on other reviews. The post shave and slickness are excellent but the protection/cushion aren't great at all. Find myself having to be more careful and slow when using it.
Tabac and C&S/Valobra were both soaps I waited too long to try and totally blew me away.
