I keep coming back to the classics.

[MichiganRob]

I've had lots of different artisan soaps, balms, and aftershaves. All of them are great and I have not one complaint about any of them. But I find myself enjoying proraso soap or cream, with either proraso aftershave, pinaud clubman, or old spice more than the artisan stuff mostly. I get good shaves with anything really, but those mentioned give me the perfect shave, feel, and aroma. I even splash pinaud clubman or old spice at night before bed. Anyone else try tons of stuff just to return to the basics?

I was in the same boat but then I tried some of the recent offerings from Barrister and Mann, Wholly Kaw and Declaration Grooming, and I'm telling you, the difference is crazy. These products are just head and shoulders above nearly all of the others in the field......at least to me!

 

[sugardaddy]

3. Some traditional soaps do not smell good, nor do they perform. ..... Williams is too hard to lather and even when lathered still is not that great for slickness, cushion and post-shave.

Williams requires quite work to lather properly. And I'll also agree that it is not equipped with post-shave features.

And while I do recall reading a lot of wisdom from you in this forum, I do want to point out that Williams is as slick as absolutely anything out there, new or old.

Some haven't found that slickness, and creaminess, because it takes work to get there . But it's there.



Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

 

[RayClem]

Williams requires quite work to lather properly. And I'll also agree that it is not equipped with post-shave features.

And while I do recall reading a lot of wisdom from you in this forum, I do want to point out that Williams is as slick as absolutely anything out there, new or old.

Some haven't found that slickness, and creaminess, because it takes work to get there . But it's there.



Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

With my best soaps, 30 seconds worth of bowl lathering with create a smooth, bubble-free lather. With most soaps, I can achieve the same in less than 60 seconds. With Williams, I will lather for up to 2 minutes and then quit. I am not going to spend longer than that to lather any soap. To me, it is just not worth the effort since there are so many soaps that are easy to lather.

At two minutes, I rate the slickness of 8 of 10. My elite soaps are 10 of 10. I rate the residual slickness of Williams as only 6 out of 10. I like being able to use buffing strokes, even with my sensitive skin, in order to achieve BBS, but Williams is not slick enough to buff without applying additional lather. At two minutes, I rate the cushion as 6 out of 10. Perhaps if I a lathered a lot longer that might get better. The last time I rated post shave, I rated it 8 out of 10, but with some new soaps now on the market, my standards for post-shave have changed, so I suspect it would now rank only 6 or 7 out of 10.

 

[blstrge]

I was in the same boat but then I tried some of the recent offerings from Barrister and Mann, Wholly Kaw and Declaration Grooming, and I'm telling you, the difference is crazy. These products are just head and shoulders above nearly all of the others in the field......at least to me!

I may have to try those sometime.

 

[Pepin]

So true, I also find that the classic's work better for me. Tabac, GFT, Proraso, Truefitt & Hill, TOBS, Arko, Pinaud Clubman, Myrsol, Floid.

 

[Mr. Scruffy]

There's are reason those brands have been around for so long.

 

[Fred D]

With my best soaps, 30 seconds worth of bowl lathering with create a smooth, bubble-free lather. With most soaps, I can achieve the same in less than 60 seconds. With Williams, I will lather for up to 2 minutes and then quit. I am not going to spend longer than that to lather any soap. To me, it is just not worth the effort since there are so many soaps that are easy to lather.

At two minutes, I rate the slickness of 8 of 10. My elite soaps are 10 of 10. I rate the residual slickness of Williams as only 6 out of 10. I like being able to use buffing strokes, even with my sensitive skin, in order to achieve BBS, but Williams is not slick enough to buff without applying additional lather. At two minutes, I rate the cushion as 6 out of 10. Perhaps if I a lathered a lot longer that might get better. The last time I rated post shave, I rated it 8 out of 10, but with some new soaps now on the market, my standards for post-shave have changed, so I suspect it would now rank only 6 or 7 out of 10.

You could always add 3 or 4 drops of glycerin to the Williams and see if that helps. I bought a bottle for about $3, and that will last for years.

 

[sugardaddy]

With my best soaps, 30 seconds worth of bowl lathering with create a smooth, bubble-free lather. With most soaps, I can achieve the same in less than 60 seconds. With Williams, I will lather for up to 2 minutes and then quit. I am not going to spend longer than that to lather any soap. To me, it is just not worth the effort since there are so many soaps that are easy to lather.

At two minutes, I rate the slickness of 8 of 10. My elite soaps are 10 of 10. I rate the residual slickness of Williams as only 6 out of 10. I like being able to use buffing strokes, even with my sensitive skin, in order to achieve BBS, but Williams is not slick enough to buff without applying additional lather. At two minutes, I rate the cushion as 6 out of 10. Perhaps if I a lathered a lot longer that might get better. The last time I rated post shave, I rated it 8 out of 10, but with some new soaps now on the market, my standards for post-shave have changed, so I suspect it would now rank only 6 or 7 out of 10.

Thanks for the explanation.

I'm satisfied now that future readers know that your test limit is 2 mins. and they've also heard me say that Williams has amazing slickness , but it is definitely found passed a two minute mark.

I definitely understand why you might set a time limit , since, as you said, we have so many great options these days.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

 

[SavageMatty]

First off, I’m glad you found products that you love, and give you a quality shave! I’m a bit of the same way. Always will have a soft spot for proraso Green in large part because it was my first shave soap. Usually I’ll find myself using a Stirling soap and switch up the AS. Hence, sometimes I’ll roll with Stirling, other times I’ll reach for Clubman Pinaud or Clubman Classic Vanilla because of nostalgia. You can’t ever really go wrong with a good rotation.

 

[ateace]

Yeah, to me, the classics are "can't go wrong" products. Proraso red and Trumper coconut are very enjoyable in the winter months.

 

[Raven Koenes]

Dolomiti sounds good to me.
I’ve read good things about Salter. Can you tell me more?

Cyril R Salter creams are just solid performer that beats out Truefitt & Hill and TOBS imo. It has a very impressive lather. It's rich and usable without requiring lots of water. It is very slick, and the post shave feel equals many of the modern artisan vegie soaps like Wickham 1912. It's a non-tallow veggie soap that uses natural ingredients and the finest essential oils. The scents are true to form. If you get Rose it's Rose, Mint it's Mint, Sandalwood it's Sandalwood etc. The scents are pronounced from the tub, and they bloom out even more when lathered. The UK company has been around since the 1950's, and a 165g tub is around $13.00 US

 

[Stubblebum]

my favorite classics:

Super Speeds and Flare Tips
Gillette Techs

Tabac
(is Fine a classic, since it is a Tabac clone?)
honorable mention: Williams Mug Soap

Pinaud Clubman
vintage Avon

 

[RayClem]

Thanks for the explanation.

I'm satisfied now that future readers know that your test limit is 2 mins. and they've also heard me say that Williams has amazing slickness , but it is definitely found passed a two minute mark.

I definitely understand why you might set a time limit , since, as you said, we have so many great options these days.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

There is one YouTube video where a guy lathers Williams for 12 minutes. I am retired, but I still have better things to do that to spend 12 minutes generating a lather when there are hundreds of soaps that will lather far more easily.

If the quality of a Williams lather was better than other soaps even after 5 minutes of lathering, I might be willing to use it. However, even if I were confined to using traditional hard soaps (which I am not), I much prefer Mitchell's Wool Fat or Tabac. I find them to be far slicker and provide greater cushion and better post-shave. Yes, they do cost more than Williams, but the lather is worth the difference in price.

 

[steveclarkus]

I've had lots of different artisan soaps, balms, and aftershaves. All of them are great and I have not one complaint about any of them. But I find myself enjoying proraso soap or cream, with either proraso aftershave, pinaud clubman, or old spice more than the artisan stuff mostly. I get good shaves with anything really, but those mentioned give me the perfect shave, feel, and aroma. I even splash pinaud clubman or old spice at night before bed. Anyone else try tons of stuff just to return to the basics?

Yes