Brand newbie, needing shave soap wisdom and suggestions

[SharptoothC]

Hello folks. First time poster here, and a relative newbie to DE shaving. I find myself searching for my first real shave soap and, to be honest, rather overwhelmed by the vast possibilities. Thus far, my shaving lathers have consisted of a tube of Old Spice lather from India, and a tube of CO Bigelow. I don't find that either provides the level of slickness and protection that I would desire. And, while protection is key, I am also a sucker for old school scents and I am not afraid of challenging my olfactory senses. I'm slowly entering this whole scene, and trying not to overspend. I want a nice shave on a blue collar budget. I am ok with my current brush and razor. I just need advice on soaps. I have been considering Tabac, Taylor Of Old Bond Street, MWS, Ginger's Garden tallow soaps, RazoRock...which, in your experience, would provide the best starting point? Or are there better options?

 

[AJMiami]

I suggest 2-3 soaps max to start. Once you learn how to master those you can incorporate more. My suggestion on what could be a good starting point is tabac, palmolive stick, speick cream or soap, arko. These are very reasonably priced

 

[Lightcs1776]

Welcome to B&B. Half the fun is exploring the various products out there.

 

[angelbuffguy]

I suggest 2-3 soaps max to start. Once you learn how to master those you can incorporate more. My suggestion on what could be a good starting point is tabac, palmolive stick, speick cream or soap, arko. These are very reasonably priced

+1

 

[BSAGuy]

Hello and welcome. Great to have to have you here on B&b.

For a wide variety of soaps, look at the Stirling website. Very good soap and the samples are the largest around so that you get several uses from each and a good trial. Lots of great scents as well.

 

[captp]

In my experience, most of the major soaps will provide an excellent shave. You just have to know how to make lather. TOBS is Excellent, as is MWF. Others to consider are D. R. Harris, Cella, Arko, any of the Artisinal soaps offered by out own Vendors, like Mama Bear, Stone Cottage Soap Works, Cold River. There are, literally, hundreds of soaps to choose from, and most of them will provide an excellent shave.

 

[Jcan88]

Buy a stick of Tabac and/or a stick of Arko. Both will "challenge your olfactory senses" but will be great shaves and easy on your pocketbook

 

[SharptoothC]

Thanks for the suggestions! After looking at some of the suggestions I was not familiar with, I ordered some from Cold River and couple of samples from Stirling. Now the wait begins...

 

[Shiloh]

Welcome to B&B! Soaps are always a hot topic (actually, there are a lot of hot topics!). You are among kindred spirits!

In a fit of shameless self-promotion...look at this.
-
I am a Tabac fan-boy...it's my go-to soap, always easy to lather and gives me a great shave without fail. Since you said you are "...a sucker for old school scents and I am not afraid of challenging my olfactory senses..." you might like its scent...it can be polarizing here...personally, I like it. Highly recommended.

Also a winner and another classic is Cella. It's a little softer ("croap"?) and gives a great shave. It's marzipan/maraschino scent is a favorite of many.

Mitchell's Wool Fat ("the Fat") rivals Tabac, and actually replaces it at the top of my list frequently. For me it's a winner in cold dry weather..great post-shave feel.

My only "artisan" soap is Stirling Barbershop. Stirling has an insane variety of fragrances...this is the only one I have, and I love it. Also a frequent list-topper...easy to lather, great performance, and excellent skin-care ingredients.

So...my "holy trinity" of soaps is Tabac, MWF, and Cella...with Stirling waiting on deck. My other top-tier soap is DR Harris Windsor...another great soap which gets infrequent use by me, just because I tend to get in a rut with the 3 (or 4) mentioned above.

All these are reasonably-priced.

My $0.02...hope this helps...a lot more opinions and advice will surely be coming your way!

 

[xxvaleria]

One of the best bangs for your buck is Stirling soap because they have a wide variety of wonderful scents, provide stupendous protection and slickness, and are one of the least expensive soaps per ounce that you can find.

 

[MAntM]

Welcome! I'm still relatively new here compared to some people but I can tell you it took ~2 years before I found the "perfect" soap for me. Right now that soap is Pre de Provence, but I have also had good luck with D R Harris and L'Occitane Cade. As stated above part of the fun is definitely trying out a bunch of stuff!

Also ive come to realize as I've been moving around the last couple years (I'm a grad student) that the water you shave with makes a big difference with some soaps. Not to over complicate things, just to give you an excuse to try a bunch of different soaps!

 

[alex2363]

Thanks for the suggestions! After looking at some of the suggestions I was not familiar with, I ordered some from Cold River and couple of samples from Stirling. Now the wait begins...

Keep us updated on your new gear

 

[Epitome]

I'm going to have to say that Tabac is an excellent, classic choice. Just used that today

I personally really enjoy soaps made by Barrister & Mann, Catie's Bubbles and Mike's Natural Soaps. They are all very easy to lather for a beginner and perform well, just like Tabac!

 

[adamchur]

Hi, welcome to B&B

 

[margor64peroez]

Welcome and greetings from Copenhagen.

Try a stick of Arko - it's a good benchmark against which you can judge all others.

After that I suggest a stick of La Toja

 

[SharptoothC]

Will do!

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[sandstone]

Welcome to B&B!

 

[BigJ]

Welcome! Two suggestions:
1. Read through the wiki as it has a ton of useful information.
2. Limit your purchases for awhile while you focus on technique.
You will get there!

 

[ackvil]

Welcome to B&B.