I love Razor Rock soaps, they are a great value, and truly under rated.
Loving cheaper soaps!
- Thread starter Roy
- Start date
I’ve found quality at both the low and high end. I don’t mind shelling out a few more coins if a product gets consistently good reviews by our members. I’m also very pleased with a few value offerings I’ve come to enjoy.
My staples had been in no particular order, MWF, DR Harris Arlington, Cella and Tabac. All excellent for me and none terribly expensive.
Out of curiosity, I decided to try a 130g size of MdC in a glass bowl. I have so enjoyed it and rarely use my other soaps. I’m about 160 shaves into it and don’t anticipate using anything else before it is used up except when traveling. Additionally I have bought a Brain Bowl which should last close to a year. After I finish the 130g bowl I suspect that I will rotate (8 days with each) through my old staples and then determine whether I continue to rotate soaps regularly or make the MdC the predominant soap as it has been for the last six months.
The great choices available are plentiful and many reasonably priced. MdC, considered expensive costs significantly less than $2 a week for daily shaves, not a bank breaker.
In my view, if your budget allows, it is worth trying a higher priced soap or two or three to see what it is all about. Because I have so enjoyed MdC, trying SV or Ethos or Nuàvia among others is not in my short-term future.
Out of curiosity, I decided to try a 130g size of MdC in a glass bowl. I have so enjoyed it and rarely use my other soaps. I’m about 160 shaves into it and don’t anticipate using anything else before it is used up except when traveling. Additionally I have bought a Brain Bowl which should last close to a year. After I finish the 130g bowl I suspect that I will rotate (8 days with each) through my old staples and then determine whether I continue to rotate soaps regularly or make the MdC the predominant soap as it has been for the last six months.
The great choices available are plentiful and many reasonably priced. MdC, considered expensive costs significantly less than $2 a week for daily shaves, not a bank breaker.
In my view, if your budget allows, it is worth trying a higher priced soap or two or three to see what it is all about. Because I have so enjoyed MdC, trying SV or Ethos or Nuàvia among others is not in my short-term future.
Thanks for the heads up about the sale.
Placed an order for the 4 WTP soaps. Look forward to to giving the black, gold and green the sniff test. To see how my nose ranks them compared to the blue.
I don’t pay much attention to the price of shaving soap. A good soap is critical for a good shave. I buy the best soaps I can find and limit my expenditure by only having only a few on hand. The cost per use of any soap is so small that it makes absolutely zero financial impact in the grand scheme of things. I prefer to focus my attention on bigger items to save money. My face is worth a few extra pennies a day.
That said some of my favorites are not all that expensive. Speick cream is the cheapest in my den and it performs as good as anything else for me. The tube is small though and you use a lot of it so it’s not quite as cheap as the price tag would suggest. Great product though. Worth every penny.
That said some of my favorites are not all that expensive. Speick cream is the cheapest in my den and it performs as good as anything else for me. The tube is small though and you use a lot of it so it’s not quite as cheap as the price tag would suggest. Great product though. Worth every penny.
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I'll admit, I'm a rabid PAA, WSP, and Stirling user, but if push came to shove, I could most definitely shave daily with La Toja stick (cut and pressed into bowl). La Toja is a great soap...good scent and very good performance/dollar....definitely my favorite low cost option.
Between Stirling and Southern Witchcrafts, I'm set. Really like Osma, as well, but it's kind of an outlier compared to the other two.
Not really looking to shave (ha!) pennies in this particular area of my life.
Not really looking to shave (ha!) pennies in this particular area of my life.
I grated a La Toja stick, and mixed in a tablespoon of Glycerine. Amazing!
I doubt I've tried much more than 20 different shave soaps, and maybe a dozen creams, ever. Proraso white, Tabac and Haslinger have long been favorites, but somehow it seems wrong to have no tallow-based favorites. I'm not a "tallow disciple", but I do believe in tradition. So, maybe Stirling will take a regular spot in the rotation.
A cream I've been really enjoying very much and way up there in performance and scent is Jack Black "Supreme Cream Triple Cushion Shave Lather". Very comfortable, slick, soft cream. It has three plant based oils among the ingredients. Macadamia nut, soybean, Jojoba. At $20 for a six ounce tube, it's a bargain. I have found that I literally use a drop the size of a single peanut. Since I found out from Marco here that the most important part of Lathering is "Lots" of water, My whole game has changed. I used to have every kind of shave problems one could experience, when my lather was Too dry or dense. Thanks Marco!
I agree and tend to be in the value camp. Being in Australia makes this difficult though. Stirling might be cheap in the USA, it is absolutely not cheap here. Only one shop sells them and he sells the samples (I belive they're $3 a piece in the USA) for over $10 AUD. Ultimately, value is what you make of it. I don't really care how nourishing a soap is, as long as it isn't drying I will be happy. Slickness is paramount but frankly I'm yet to use anything which isn't slick enough (it is nicer to use more expensive products which feel slicker though). Scent is important too. I can't use something that I don't like at the end of the day, regardless of its price. I think the fact I don't have a big collection of soaps, creams and other consumables makes the prospect of overpaying substantially easier. Like, even if I were to spend $40 on around 120g of shave soap/cream...thats around 4 months of daily shaves. I can afford $10 a month.
One I have been using more and more and is working really well with PHX water here is the Razor Emporium house made brand by them in house !
Maybe is made here by a local perspective ? No idea on that but one of my fav scents along with Jermyn street being a fav and bourbon vanilla cremo being a fav scent but for me performance over scent its fast climbing my ranks as my fav
I have yet to spend on high end $60 and so soaps ? Will one day but with how good some perform to others and reading that like anything in this its all personal
really loving this barber shop scent and performs better than almost anything else
Maybe is made here by a local perspective ? No idea on that but one of my fav scents along with Jermyn street being a fav and bourbon vanilla cremo being a fav scent but for me performance over scent its fast climbing my ranks as my fav
I have yet to spend on high end $60 and so soaps ? Will one day but with how good some perform to others and reading that like anything in this its all personal
really loving this barber shop scent and performs better than almost anything else
+1 I absolutely love and look forward to the menthol and eucalyptus scent of Proraso. I also absolutely enjoy, the fresh laundry scent of Arko. I like the scents of most soaps and aftershaves. I think after doing this 10 years, The scent of Palmolives' soap stick and Pinaud's Lilac Vegetal are the only soap and AS I don't care for. And I have used most.
I just don't want to spend money on the more expensive artisan soaps when there are so many cheap ones that smell and perform great.
But if anybody wants to give me some? I am absolutely sure, I would enjoy them.
I recommend: Mike's Natural Soaps and Haslinger. Mike's is truly excellent.
It has been discontinued 2021. Wilko had it for 75 pence, but that stock has gone.
I am one of those guys that prefers MDC and Ethos, but at the recommendation of @Hannah’sDad I tried Stirling’s Glacial Electric Sheep 
and I really like and have made it part of my 9 soap rotation, it is a fun soap.
and I really like and have made it part of my 9 soap rotation, it is a fun soap.
I’m sold on ARKO. Probably the cheapest soap out there and outstanding performance.
I’ll just say that even though the cella brick is cheap as chips…it punches very high tbh ..I’ve used up one slice out of ten and to me it’s around the same goodness as Stirling (but Stirling comes out on top for me pretty much in all areas but not by a massive amount) it is a exceptionally good cheap soap …in fact if I had no others I’d be happy myself I also love the almond and cherry scent it’s intoxicating
I’m from aus …google artisan arcade
he mainly stocks Stirling and is great to deal with it is $29 for a tub and he has lots of other goodies to ...just incase your interested..(ps there are 3 more soaps but i got them at a later date )
