Expensive shave soaps, do they work any better?

[Neffarious]

Good morning Gents,

I've been mulling this over in my mind as I see guys laying out $30-40 for artisan soap.

I've spent a lot on razors, they are a durable good, and will go the distance, and they do most of the heavy lifting. Once i get it dialed in, the blade doesn't really matter to me, save longevity. . I've acquired some expensive brushes and some inexpensive ones. I have forgone most of my badgers and all of my boars in favor or synthetic. They hit all the right spots for me.

I also don't buy the super high end software as the RazoRock, La Toja, Prorazo, Stirling, Etc. price range items are fantastic, I can't see that the others are worth the sometimes significant up-charge. I think it's like a good scotch, rum, or whiskey. The "standard" good version is very good, to say the least. Take Macallan 12, it's fantastic (if you like scotch). Next is line I believe is the 10 year old which is 30% more. Is it 30% better, meh it's better, but 30 %, not sure. Then the 18 year old at 400% more. That one I don't think is worth the extra. Next you start hitting the limited runs, special casks, and the 20, 30, 40 year olds, etc. Now we are talking hundreds to thousands of dollars a bottle. Is it worth it? I have no idea, my wife would kill me if i spent that kind of money on alcohol LOL. That's just my two shillings anyway.

So what I would like to know is do they make the shave better in any way other than scent? Scent is completely subjective, and honestly way to personal to even consider it as a factor for the purposes of this discussion. I like my AS and EDT, but I wouldn't spend 100's of dollars on those either . It's scented alcohol after all.

 

[BigJ]

Difficult question!

Your Scotch analogy is helpful but only to a point. With Scotch you get (roughly) the same number of drinks/similarly sized bottle. This is not the case with soaps. An inexpensive ‘melt-and-pour’ soap will not last nearly as long as a triple-milled hard soap that may be much more expensive per ounce. An ‘expensive’ package of MdC lasts a long time, so that cost/shave is not all that different from some less expensive soaps.

 

[Neffarious]

I was reading some of the other threads on this and that point is well taken. I have an old 8oz tub of caties bubbles, pre price hike. It's going on 5 months and there is a lot left. That being said, he changed his model and now you only get 4 oz for the same price. I have a lot of soaps right now. I won't be buying new anytime soon because I honestly don't want them to go bad before I use them. Then there are the creams LOL.

So, the answer depends on how long it lasts. As a daily shaver, I think a year's supply of edge gel is $36 @ $3 a can. A years supply of arko is less than that. How long, assuming daily shaves how long does a portion of McD last? I didn't look up the size, just saw it was roughly $80/serving.

 

[Vineeze]

Some people feel good spending big money (Im not one of them)

They feel that a higher price means premium quality. Those same people are probably iphone users also.

But I agree with you that soaps from Stirling, Razorock, B&M are excellent performers and some very fancy and designer scents available. More than enough to satisfy me especially when I consider that 95% of men are using canned goop like Barbasol (poor schmucks)

Ive got alot of nice soaps but none cost more than 15$ per tub. If I splurge on anything I think it should be on aftershaves, colognes and balms since they "come to work with me" where as the soap and hardware stays at home. I am referring to the scents that they come to work with me and others can smell it.

Also I read that you can grate Arko or Derby soap and mix it with a little bit of boiling water and the fragrance of your own choosing to create Frankenstein soaps. I will be making a thread about it (Similar to the way guys change the scent of Williams)

For example I can cut a stick of Arko into 4 pieces and create 4 different Frankenstein soaps, just imagine the variety of different fragrances one can create, literally HUNDREDS. We all like variety.

Next week I am making Derby soap with Davidoff Cool Water cologne. It will be a real treat

 

[Neffarious]

I agree on the come to work with me angle. I don't really want the soap to last as I always have another scent to use afterwards.

 

[GearNoir]

I think I’ve seen as a general consensus that yes, for most cases higher priced products from reputable companies do perform better. Folks seems to regularly place higher priced soaps in their top tier for performers. Often though the performance improvement is slight - a little more slickness, a little better post-shave feel, etc.
As you notice though, some budget friendly soaps that have been around a long time do make pretty good showings! I’d be perfectly happy with my La Toja and Proraso the rest of my shaving days!

 

[Gamma]

It's only worth it if it's worth it to you. If soeone else thinks soap xyz is worth it or not worth it, their pov really shouldn't matter all that much to the next guy. Everyone is different and everyone sees things in a different light. With soaps, I'f found that any discussion is bound to be largely subjective and open to a very broad interpretation. Everytime someone tries to put an objective scientific spin on it, their numbers do not line up with mine so I am always making up my own mind about stuff like this.

I've had a number of 'pricey' soaps. From a purely practical standpoint - none of them were 'worth' the upcharge. There are plenty of very cheap soaps that will give anyone a great shave. So does a $50 soap give a $48 better shave than a $2 stick of Palmolive...? Personally, I have not seen that happen. But I do own a couple of soaps that cost more than a few dollars.

For me - when I add in other factors, sometimes those posh investments pay off, it becomes a personal thing. No one should judge anyone for making a decision one way or another.
Value, like beauty, can very much be purely in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Neffarious]

Far be it from me to judge anyone, even Fusion users. My razor collection is not insignificant, and I think most people would think I am a looney knowing how much some cost. My knife collection is worse. There is a difference but some of my $20 bakelite razors do just as good a job as my $200ish SS models. At the end of the day i really care about performance. That being said i am not going to pay $100 for a puck of soap just because it costs $100 and a $15 works almost as well, even if it lasted only half as long. Much like my scotch anaology above, there is a point where is really good is good enough. In a blind test, could I tell which Macallan is which? No. Could I tell which I like the best? Probably. Could I tell them from JW red or black? Probably, especially black . If someone whipped perfect lather from the most expensive unscented and let's say unscented Stirling, could I tell the difference? I am pretty doubtful.

 

[MisterGrain]

I've read good things about Acqua di Parma's shave soap.

Not that I'd ever go so far as to buy an AdP product.

 

[shavefan]

IME, price does not dictate performance...

 

[Jaidmaster]

So far, in my experience, once you get over about $20-25, I have not seen any real increase in performance.
My tub of Nuavia was one of my most disappointing shave purchases ever, and I ended up selling/trading it.
YMMV, and scent is more important to some than others...

 

[njpaddy]

It's all personal preference. I've spent as much as $80 on a soap, but my favorite soaps and best performers (Harris Almond, Captain's Choice & Stirling) are all under $20. With my well water and preference for a drier lather some high end soaps that require a wetter lather, like MdC, just don't work for me. For those with softer water, who like a wetter lather, the performance and longevity of MdC may justify the cost. I'm also getting older and starting to avoid soaps with strong scents or certain fragrances that irritate my mild rosacea. These also factor into my choice of soaps nowadays.

 

[Neffarious]

my rule for scent: as long as it's not disgusting and my wife doesn't hate it it's ok

 

[emwolf]

The most I spent on a soap was about $40. I haven't used it yet, so I have no idea whether it performs well or not. The least I've spent (other than free) is about $1. Some of these $1 pucks are great, some are not.

 

[LoveTheSlant]

I take the OP’s point on the premium he’s willing to pay for a razor. Constructing a razor out of premium metals such as SS or Ti is difficult and expensive, especially in relatively small batches where there aren’t economies of scale (even so, Razorock seems able to eke some efficiencies out and offer beautifully crafted SS razors for $50). As far as soaps are concerned, I’m not a chemist, but it wouldn’t seem to me that there is a vast manufacturing difference between soaps. So unless the soap has a base of Holestein beef tallow (assuming that would make a major difference, which it is safe to assume it wouldn’t) or has a scent based on something as expensive as distilled white truffles (assuming you love the scent), chalk the premium pricing up to the theory of conspicuous consumption (the premium in pricing in itself makes the product more appealing). For me, I can’t imagine a soap performing better than Tabac, whatever the price.

PS: agreed with @BigJ; the analogy to Scotch isn’t quite right. The difference in pricing predominantly is a function of aging and rarity, but there certainly is a difference among the different vintages of a given Scotch. Whether the price differential is worth it, only one’s palate and wallet are to say. But I am not aware of any soap that is engineered to be at its peak in 25 years from its date of production.

 

[DEdestroyer77]

My answer to the op is yes and no. Largely the cost of $20+ American made soaps is expensive scent components. Add some additional cost for premium components like donkey milk, multiple butters and you are around the 23-26 range.

So, do premium priced soaps work better? A difinitive answer does not exist. I've tried everything under the sun, literally, and here is my experiences.

When I first started wet shaving over 4 years ago I got irritation from everything, and said my skin is just sensitive like every newcomer. Well 4 years later, turns out, my skin is on the sensitive side. Old school soaps, like the Euro milled pucks simply don't pass muster. DRH, T&H, current Pen's, Spieck, etc all have less than great slickness, cushion is poor and postshave is downright awful for ME. They leave my skin very tight, I get red blotches and visually dry skin. Scent aside, Tabac is passable only in slickness and cushion. Musgo classic pucks, for whatever reason, are great for me, not sure why. SV is one thats also very much excellent. It's the most expensive of what I listed here but yeah, to me it's 'worth it.' I get no irritation, no blotches and my face actually feels hydrated. Proraso, not so much

American artisan soaps - making a broad statement, they all have butters and moisturizers the 'old stuff' just doesn't. I think SV is an outlier in the Euro market because they actually tweak their formula to actually improve the soap - using the same formula for 100 years is great for tradition but not so much for actually shaving with my skin. That being said, some of them don't pass muster either but my face generally feels more hydrated after shaving.

Case 1 - Stirling soaps. Generally simple scents, I own alot and use regularly. Moisturizers, lanolin, butters equal spectacular lather, great slickness and cushion and good post shave.

Case 2 - My well known favorite - Wholly Kaw donkey - premium ingredients, premium complex scents. For my skin, post shave is unsurpassed without question, soft, supple and very hydrated. Slickness is on par with L&L, cushion is tops. Worth the extra 10 bucs over Stirling? For me yes, based on a combination of cologne type scent and better performance. Disclaimer I love wearing fragrances.

Case 3 - Sudsy Soapery. Very rare vegan soap I can actually use. 90% of vegan soaps burn my skin for some reason. Anyway, ticks all the same boxes as Stirling, also reasonably priced but only knock is scents. Would I pay 20-25 for Sudsy? Yes despite the simple scents, it performs that much better than everything else. DRH is 18 for a refill and that left me with an underwhelming shaving experience and red blotches everywhere.

Point in all this is what works for you. I know there are artisan purists and old school puck purists and I see each talk down about the other. I'm an equal opportunity shaver, I use old school like SV and Musgo classic pucks, both are at opposite ends of the price spectrum but they are both awesome for me. Artisan soaps, I use Lisa's Natural (very cheap) and I use $26 tubs of Wholly Kaw. Is WK better shaving experience, absolutely, but Lisa's is in my usable range and has scents I really enjoy. Moral of the story, there is no definitive answer, scents and performance varies person to person and ymmv!

 

[vtmax]

Wholly Kaw (tallow is all donkey milk now) and GroomingDept are a bit more expensive than a lot of artisans and underpriced imo. The rest are shave soaps...these two add extraordinary skin care to match their intended purpose as shave soaps.

 

[vinnychampionmd]

I guess if you focus on the pure task at hand of getting hair of your face without inflicting damage then my answer would be no, they do not. If you take into consideration quality of ingredients including fragrance/essential oils and how nurturing it is for your skin then I would have to say yes, in general, higher price means better. How much better? Tough question to answer but for me, enough to justify the extra cost.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OldSaw]

I think I’ve seen as a general consensus that yes, for most cases higher priced products from reputable companies do perform better. Folks seems to regularly place higher priced soaps in their top tier for performers. Often though the performance improvement is slight - a little more slickness, a little better post-shave feel, etc.
As you notice though, some budget friendly soaps that have been around a long time do make pretty good showings! I’d be perfectly happy with my La Toja and Proraso the rest of my shaving days!

This is about the best answer. There will always be outliers on both ends of the spectrum. So for those outliers to give a definitive opinion is only marginally helpful to the OP.

From what I’ve seen and experienced, people will gravitate toward the lower priced products in the beginning because they want to try as many as possible. As time goes by, they may settle on a few favorites and once past the early accumulation phase, the cost is less of a factor, because they are all pretty cheap per shave, except for maybe some of the really high end ones.

As for me, the two soaps that I repurchase the most are Tabac and Mitchel’s Woolfat. These are both very reasonably priced. I usually also have at least one expensive one and a cheap Arko stick in rotation, but I could easily survive with these two.

 

[sarimento1]

Good morning Gents,

I've been mulling this over in my mind as I see guys laying out $30-40 for artisan soap.

I've spent a lot on razors, they are a durable good, and will go the distance, and they do most of the heavy lifting. Once i get it dialed in, the blade doesn't really matter to me, save longevity. . I've acquired some expensive brushes and some inexpensive ones. I have forgone most of my badgers and all of my boars in favor or synthetic. They hit all the right spots for me.

I also don't buy the super high end software as the RazoRock, La Toja, Prorazo, Stirling, Etc. price range items are fantastic, I can't see that the others are worth the sometimes significant up-charge. I think it's like a good scotch, rum, or whiskey. The "standard" good version is very good, to say the least. Take Macallan 12, it's fantastic (if you like scotch). Next is line I believe is the 10 year old which is 30% more. Is it 30% better, meh it's better, but 30 %, not sure. Then the 18 year old at 400% more. That one I don't think is worth the extra. Next you start hitting the limited runs, special casks, and the 20, 30, 40 year olds, etc. Now we are talk...

great thread!

what is your most expensive scotch? shave soap?