Invest in... Soap?

[CoreyWoodmancy]

Too many great options at very affordable price points to chase anything around.

 

[RandySp]

That is a 100% true statement.

For the past few years, artisan soapmakers were coming out with new formulations frequently. As I am on the lookout for every better soaps, I was purchasing new soaps nearly every month. As I added better soaps to my rotation, I retired lesser soaps.

The artisan soap market seems to have matured. There will be newer formulations released occasionally, but most of the established soapmakers have now settled on a formulation and are not focusing on development of new soap formulations. They are now exploring new product lines. As a result, I have only purchased one new soap since the start of the year. It was Grooming Dept Kairos SE 2023 edition. It is the best soap I have ever used; it was even better than the 2022 edition of Kairos SE. I was not planning to purchase it, but after reading some reviews on the forum, I decided to try it. I am glad I did.

Peter of Ariana and Evans has recently introduced a new Ultima formulation. I have yet to try it, but probably will when it is release in a scent I will love. The earlier Kaizen 2e formula is one of my top soaps.

Thus, I will be adding new soaps to my collection, but my purchases will be highly selective.

What about Omnibus, Lothur, FLS 3.0, Mammoth Tusk, Wholly Kaw Siero ?

 

[The Blackadder]

You can always use them to kill zombies in case prices remain the same

 

[Roy]

I'm in uk, and some products have changed very little. I think it depends where you buy it.
Mcd is much the same as a year or two ago and proraso actually fallen on some amazon sites, post free too.
Pamolive cream at 1,50 ukp has actually fallen in my local store.
I've noticed SV has increased, but this seems to be because it seems only available in tins. Refills in cardboard box have vanished.

 

[htownmmm]

If there is a soap you enjoy and works for you with the way the market is headed, I would purchase more of that soap. I have seen too many great soaps fall by the wayside as the bean counters get involved. I have also been witness to artisans passing away or moving on from their soap adventures. If you love it, stock it because no one knows what tomorrow may bring.

marty

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Many soaps have increased in price due to significant increases in the pricing of the ingredients and fragrance oils.

Some manufacturers have taken the opposite tact. They have switched to lower priced ingredients such as coconut oil and palm oil. Unfortunately, in many instances the quality of the soap has suffered.

Some artisan soaps have increased in price as the soapmakers are using more exotic ingredients to improve performance.

I have evaluated well over 200 soaps. I currently have around 80 soaps in my active rotation. If I use an average of 4 soaps per year, my stash should last me another 20 years. By then, I will either be dead or in a nursing home whose staff won't let me anywhere near a razor blade.

Depends on the staff, Ray.

 

[Lane101]

The pandemic and related supply chain challenges really accelerated a lot of assortment rationalization across many product line that go well beyond shaving soap. Process is even more accelerated for some shaving soaps as retailers have realized that the market has shifted from "old school" low cost legacy products (e.g. Williams and Palmolive shave sticks) to those favored by hobbyists. Why fill a shelf facing with a low margin $ 99cent puck when you can sell a $5-$15 upscale offering.

Additionally all the manufacturers want to shift consumer demand from the lower margin legacy products (DE blades, shave sticks, etc.) to the higher profit items such as shaving systems/cartridges and canned gel. The pandemic accelerated this shift.

Bottom line if there is a hard soap you like that is still available at a reasonable cost one should stock up on a a few backups as the legacy products are likely to continue to disappear. In my case that has included Williams (was 99 cents at our local grocery store), Arko (under 2$ each in 12 pack) and, thanks to the temporary drop in the British Pound last fall, MWF that were under $6 U.S. each when a half-dozen were ordered. Also have a few Razorock What-the-Puck and Cyril R. Salter soaps that are excellent.

For really premium soaps I'll let others who use them recommend the best approach though a concern with acquiring reserves of soaps that cost $30-$50+ is that much of the value at these price points comes from the scent components that will dissipate over time.

Softer soaps/creams don't have the same lifespan so for those my recommendation would be perhaps one backup.

 

[Feldgrun]

While you're at it, buy the last of the tallow Tabac.

 

[Rhody]

I know it’s not realistic to say I’ll never buy another soap or cream but I try to make the interval of not buying longer. Generally speaking I doubt it’s an investment per se.

 

[Feldgrun]

I wish I would have bought more tallow Tabac & MWF.

 

[Captain Howdy]

Even if the soaps do appreciate with time, I'd doubt they'll beat the SP.500, which make it very hard to justify as an investment.

Put it into VTI or something.