Family going to Europe-Help me pick out soaps

[whiskerlips]

My girlfriends cousin will be going to Europe this month. When they go out of town I watch the cat and make sure no one breaks into the house. So this time they will be gone for about two weeks and have offered to buy some shave soaps (or other good shave products) while they are away. I thought I would list the locations and the good folks of B&B could help with some recommendations for shave soaps. Here's the list......

London

Bruges, Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rostock, Germany

Copenhagen, Denmark

Gdansk, Poland

Tallinn, Estonia

St Petersburg, Russia

Helsinki, Finland

Stockholm Sweden

They told me not to be shy with the amount that I ask for. So fire away,.

 

[rm71]

Tabac, Speick and Palmolve classic shave stick for me. Cheap and good. Can't go past the three T's whilst in London.

 

[Luc]

Nice trip! If he likes beer a little, Bruges should be beautiful for that!

 

[mretzloff]

Irisch Moos is a must. Good luck getting it in the US.

 

[Ignatius]

London - MWF in its Kent form - sells for about £5 is dept. stores.
Palmolive stick, under £0.50
Ingram menthol cream, Palmolive cream and Erasmic cream.

Germany - Nivea cream in the blue tube, about 1-2 euro.

Sorry don't know about the other places.

 

[jonnyt]

You can get pretty much anything in London, but my vote would definitely be to pick up one of the last remaining Penhaligon's English Fern bowls before they re-formulate. Fortnum and Mason have some left, as do some of the Penhaligon's stores themselves. If you ring ahead and ask them, they'll put it aside for you as well.

 

[johsa]

Nothing in Sweden that you can't buy for half the price in London.

 

[galopede]

The bit I can't get over is ten countries in two weeks! They're going to spend most of their holiday travelling. When will they be long enough in one country to find shaving supplies?

Good luck to them and I hope they are having a couple of weeks holiday to get over the holiday!

Gareth

 

[Ricardo850]

When in London my suggestion would be Crabtree & Evelyn Nomad soap. £11 in a tub, £6 for a refill. Lovely stuff

 

[whiskerlips]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've been forced to cut way back on my purchases after becoming a first time homeowner so having someone go on a shopping spree for me is pretty sweet.

The bit I can't get over is ten countries in two weeks! They're going to spend most of their holiday travelling. When will they be long enough in one country to find shaving supplies?

Good luck to them and I hope they are having a couple of weeks holiday to get over the holiday!

Gareth

Yeah, I have no idea how they are seeing so many places. And I'm not really positive how long they will be gone. That's just a number my girlfriend threw out. It might be closer to a month. Either way, still a ton of places to see.

 

[cymric]

In Amsterdam there is always Vergulde Hand shaving soap, and with a bit of luck Tabac soap---but the problem is that in the centre of that city the shaving soap+bowl are tricky if not impossible to find (trust me, I've tried it myself, and I lived in that city for 5 years). You need old-fashioned drugstores which have not been enticed to become a franchise, and those are difficult to come by. The shave stick is probably the best you can hope for.

 

[chickpea]

Amsterdam, Netherlands

De Vergulde Hand (5 Euros in Kruidvat supermarket)

Rostock, Germany

Speick, Tabac

Gdansk, Poland

Lider

 

[cymric]

In Rostock she might be able to find Tüff Rasierwasser. Especially the green variety is a thing to be treasured: it's an alcohol-based splash with a very faint herbal fragrance which disappears within a minute or so. It's fabulous for use in conjunction with an EdT because the scents don't clash. If you're a splash user, then Tüff green is a must-try.

 

[Trotters]

Gareth, you can get to most of those contries within 2 hours from London by flying, some only an hour away.

Thats whats good about europe, you can go to many countries, sampling different cultures all within a short flight away.

However they can be expensive when you get there