I have often wondered who exactly this guy is and what makes him the "expert" in this category? Personally I find his video's very dull and can only make about half way through them because he keeps repeating himself so much it gets very tedious. He isn't the only reviewer I question but he's the one that is mentioned the most in the shave soap threads. I have a problem with reviewers in general because the majority are shipped product at no charge and the reviews always seem biased as the next best thing and a must buy item!! I don't think I've ever seen him do a review that was unfavorable to a vendor? I have a friend that did reviews in another industry and he found that the more favorable the review, the more product a vendor would send him for free!! For 2-3 years he never put a penny out of pocket for product and had 10+ vendors sending his free stuff monthly... This is why I question reviewers is they seem disingenuous at best and maybe thats the real reason I can never make it through one of Rud's video's!!
It's just soap?
- Thread starter cytus
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He's a youtube celebrity that reviews a ton of products and has a lot of opinions. He participates on a Reddit subgroup /r/wetshaving. He tends to review mainly the artisan soaps and likes to promote artisan soaps that people may not be familiar with. His 100-point scale is entirely subjective, but as someone that shaves with straights and as a head shaver, he places a lot of importance on slickness and post-shave feel.
He has a chart of his ratings on Google Docs. I think the lowest rating is about 70. That one was reviewed as "entirely average", post-shave is "just marginal." That was one of the Razorock What the Puck hard soaps. He also rated the Fine triple-milled soaps around 70.
Though reviews of bad movies can be entertaining, I gather that soaps that performs below-average would never make it through Ruds' review process. So, it is always a matter of saying a soap is similar, better or less good than another soap that people are already familiar with.
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I'm not familiar with the reviewer mentioned but in this era of "influencers" it's very wise to be sceptical of product reviews. If there are no negative reviews, ever, then just write that person off as part of the marketing arm of whatever product they happen to be "reviewing".
That's a bit unfair to some of the reviewers, IMHO. There are some shills, for sure, but some of the reviewers are more community-driven than vendor-driven. A lot of people on Reddit loan products to be reviewed to Ruds, for example.
Ruds tends to focus on the artisan soaps. The unspoken assumption is, these are far superior to more mainstream products. His audience is the hobbyist shaver.
I think a lot of reviewers view a negative review as a waste of time. They would rather give time to products they like or that people are asking about. It is not a question of postive or negative, it is "i consider this product to be worth trying, it is at the level of X", or "I don't see any reason to get this instead of Y".
Most soaps will get you there.
I have a bunch of soaps and keep trying new ones all the time just to see if I find 'The One'.
My 'Desert Island' soap is Tabac. Mitchell's Wool Fat is a very good soap and won't break the bank. I think Haslinger's will be in this group.
I used only Proraso from 2013 - 2018 and did not feel deprived. Still like to use the Green or Blue Cream occasionally.
Speaking of creams, Cyril R. Salter and La Toje are very good creams.
No substitute for trying the soap or cream yourself. Samplers are an excellent way to do so without investing in a full sized puck.
Hope all this rambling helps.
I'll have to take your word on Rud because I'm not familiar with him. However, it's not difficult for reviewers to disclose where products come from. If there is no disclosure, be suspicious. If everything is always glowingly positive, also be suspicious.
Just as an example, even if Rud truly likes every soap he tries, I guarantee he could complain about the price per shave of at least a few of them. The reviewers who only focus on the positives and ignore negatives aren't really helping anyone pick out a soap, imho. Nothing is perfect and there is always a downside that can be mentioned.
The types of reviews I seek out on any product are the kind that list both the positives and negatives so that I can make an informed decision.
Glad you found many soap products you enjoy. And they are affordable which is great. Stirling, haslinger, pdp are all great soaps.
On the high cost end, I personally really like MdC. It lasts a long time (lasts longer than a puck of haslinger or striling soap for me). I think price per shave, it’s a decent value. Other high end soaps may be the same. Saponificio Varesino comes to mind as well.
Nothing really compares Arko on price and functionality imo. Still prefer others though.
On the high cost end, I personally really like MdC. It lasts a long time (lasts longer than a puck of haslinger or striling soap for me). I think price per shave, it’s a decent value. Other high end soaps may be the same. Saponificio Varesino comes to mind as well.
Nothing really compares Arko on price and functionality imo. Still prefer others though.
I think Ruds does try to present both sides. The idea is that there is a scale, where does this soap fall in terms of slickness, protection and post-shave feel?
Instead of saying a soap is not that great, he'll say the soap is just OK, it is better than canned foam when you are starting out. If he really likes a soap, he'll say it's one of the top three he's tried. Or, he might say slickness is elite but post-shave feel is not that good and you'll want to use a balm.
He doesn't judge on cost, though, he'll just say "This soap costs about $35 for a 150 gram tin" and leave it to the viewer to judge.
Don't know who Rud is and don't care. If he is on YT full-time, he's making money and his reviews are biased, like everyone elses.
As for reviews and reviewers...the only reviewer I trust is myself and a handful of the guys in the 3017 thread.
As for reviews and reviewers...the only reviewer I trust is myself and a handful of the guys in the 3017 thread.
At any price does anything actually shave better than Tabac? No.
But I still enjoy LPL, SV, Valobra... If you want to pay more for your favorite scent or a laundry lists of fats for luxurious (greasy) PSF that's personal, individual, completely different from the shave.
But I still enjoy LPL, SV, Valobra... If you want to pay more for your favorite scent or a laundry lists of fats for luxurious (greasy) PSF that's personal, individual, completely different from the shave.
Of course Rud's reviews are biased. They are biased based on his preferences for loading, lathering, shaving and scent. That does not mean that he is giving preference to specific vendors or favoring vendors that send him product for review. If your preferences in soaps differ greatly from his, then his reviews won't be helpful. However, I have found that the soaps that he rates highly are also soaps that preform quite well for me. The soaps that he rates lower on the scale do not perform well for me. I have found very few products that simply won't perform at all. I can even shave with a bar of Irish Spring bath soap, but that does not mean I enjoy doing so.
Some people purchase Col Conk glycerin soap that Ruds rates as 68. It is still usable for some people, but I would never buy it. I have tried glycerin soaps and they just do not work for me. The lowest rated soap on Rud's shave score list that I use regularly is WSP Formula T which he rates at 77. It gives a decent shave, but it is does not perform nearly as well as the soaps he rates 95-100, most of which I have in my den.
There are time Ruds says soaps are not quite slick enough slick, or do not provide sufficient post-shave conditioning to be used without an aftershave product. There are times he will state that a scent is just not for him. He also relates whether his wife likes the scent or not. That type of information is quite useful to me in determining which product to purchase and which to avoid.
He may be making some money off his channel, but unlike some channels, he does not display a lot of ads. You do not have to wade through a video ad to get access to the content of his videos. Jason does indicate with some degree of frequency which products he purchases, which are on loan from friends and which are given to him by the artisans themselves. When he does receive free soaps for review, he generally has a drawing to give those soaps away to viewers of his channel.
Great conversation. For me, it depends on a several factors, as some people have mentioned. I have sensitive skin so no soap compensates for a lousy razor, which leads to an awful shave. I've tried many razors and sold them all except my Rockwell 6C. I don't agree with "it's just soap." Performance matters for me, and in my experience, there's definitely a range of performance. Gratefully, soaps like WK, B&M, Noble Otter, Caties, Mike's, CRSW, and Sudsey Soapery are all in the $20-25 range. I haven't found the need to spend >=$30 for a tub of anything.
Most of the soaps in the $25 and up do not provide a better shave than the soaps more moderately priced soaps. The difference seems to be in the post shave conditioning. If you use a post shave splash or balm, you might not appreciate the performance of some of those soaps. I have used Grooming Department Aion ($32), Wholly Kaw Siero ($30). For me, those soaps are worth the price. However, I have also used a few expensive soaps and creams that did not perform up to their price point.
And when you compare it to the price of the fancy creams in your wife’s makeup bag you will realise that shaving soap is very cheap. Even the most expensive one you can find. If you buy one and use it until it’s gone that is. If you buy more than you need or can use it can cost you an infinite amount.
One criterion that I base soaps on is the cost per shave. Some of the hard soaps, for me, last much longer than some of the artisan and softer soaps. For example, I bought some MdC soap in a group buy a number of years ago at a cost of $52. I got 258 shaves from that jar so the cost per shave was $.20. B&M Seville soap cost only $20 but I got only 57 shaves at a cost of $.28 a shave. Tabac, another fine soap, cost me $28 and I got 116 shaves with it at a cost of $.24 a shave. Another criteria I look at is the quality of the shave.
One thing I have learned, however, is to judge for myself.
One thing I have learned, however, is to judge for myself.
To me I depends on how the soap actually performs. I’ve used expensive soaps that don’t perform any better than a $10 soap. It comes down to what works for each individual.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
I think that the answer to the OPs question (are high end soaps worth the premium) depends more on the personality and values of us as individuals than the soap. IOW, there’s no and never will be, an answer of consensus to the question, whether it be wine, cars, guns, fountain pens, or shaving soap. It’s a ‘Ginger or Mary Anne’ question (I’m a Mary Anne guy myself).
For the OP, the fact that he asked the question probably means that the answer is ‘No’. I never asked the question, I just ordered a tub of Santa Maria Novella/AP/ABC whatever. No soap is expensive except relative to other soaps.
For the OP, the fact that he asked the question probably means that the answer is ‘No’. I never asked the question, I just ordered a tub of Santa Maria Novella/AP/ABC whatever. No soap is expensive except relative to other soaps.
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I'm with you on the price point, and love PDP 63. I think my absolute max would be $25, and that would have to take some convincing. But that's just me, what others do is great and I like to see people enjoying what they use.
I hate getting ripped off. It's not that I can't afford $30.00 soaps, I just would feel like a chump shaving with them. That is why I can't use Tabac, it cost 2-3x here in the U.S. compared to what you can buy it for in a drug store or market in Europe.
So, for me the expensive soaps are worse than the good/cheap ones.
So, for me the expensive soaps are worse than the good/cheap ones.
For a few years I treied to find a good explanation why I dont' use artisans and here we go. And I fell sorry for you that you can't use Tabac. It's my favourite soap
