Martin de Candre - maiden voyage

[ruebis]

With arrival on Saturday from France I felt compelled to bring the Martin de Candre into my rotation. I loaded up my Muhle with a new blade, grabbed my chubby 2 and off I went.

Impressions:

170 grams of the stuff is a lot. I know price is a nasty factor with this soap. I suppose if it is any consolation you do get a heap. Filled to the brim.

The lather is explosive. Like on another level. Thick, easy, and unctuous.

The scent is nothing special imo. Nice. Not too strong. I pick up a little lavender and faint rosemary. They say mint.

Zero skips. Perfect gliding ability.

Felt great on the skin. All and all, an Excellent shaving soap. Easily the best I've used thus far.

Is it worth the price? Well. To each their own. This never going to be dollar-for-dollar the best shaving soap one can find. But it is absolutely amazing stuff to be sure.

 

[_MementoMori_]

I think it's well worth the money, and I'll continue to buy it for as long as those wonderful rural French folk continue to make it.

 

[Blix]

I love it as well, and that fresh and rich natural scent of it keeps growing on me.

 

[Fairchild86]

I would love to try this stuff as I have heard nothing but good things about it. The shipping price is killer though.

 

[ruebis]

I love it as well, and that fresh and rich natural scent of it keeps growing on me.

Since the shipping was a sunk cost I decided to order the unfragranced version as well. Party time. I don't mind the smell of the original. I may learn to love it.

 

[Marco]

Martin de Candre? I will never be without! I wholeheartedly love it!

 

[BigRich]

I'm almost done (1 - 2 shaves left) with a generous sample I got and I'm absolutely in love with this stuff!

 

[kingfisher]

Allow me to be the voice of dissent in the love-fest. MdC does make a nice, rich lather and provides for a smooth shave. However, I don't think the lather is significantly better than what I can make with a Mama Bear soap, to be honest. And the scent of MdC is not pleasant at all to my nose. I allowed my wife to have a sniff of it and she recoiled from it. Said it was foul.

So, I guess my point is that not EVERYBODY thinks MdC is the bees knees.

If they made it in a nice scent and the price were more reasonable, I'd buy it and use it.

 

[jhclare]

Allow me to be the voice of dissent in the love-fest. MdC does make a nice, rich lather and provides for a smooth shave. However, I don't think the lather is significantly better than what I can make with a Mama Bear soap, to be honest. And the scent of MdC is not pleasant at all to my nose. I allowed my wife to have a sniff of it and she recoiled from it. Said it was foul.

So, I guess my point is that not EVERYBODY thinks MdC is the bees knees.

If they made it in a nice scent and the price were more reasonable, I'd buy it and use it.

I agree - it's a very nice soap, but Arko (yes, Arko) performs a tad better on the lubrication side, and I get no irritation at all when I use Arko. I also get a couple of nicks with MdC. I find they both dry more than the Shea soaps.

Since discovering Arko, it is now my benchmark, and no amount of fancy packaging/scent/brand image/etc can distract me from the most important aspect of any soap - its performance.

John

 

[du212]

MdC it's "the soap", fast, thick, lubricant lather,...and I can stay in the same room because I like the scent,....I have a problem with Arko...it smell as the detergent used for the floors, very synthetic and strong for my taste.

But for some people Arko is the best, dirty cheap, decent perfomance, thick lather (a bit dry for me)....for me it don't last very longer but at its prices it doesn't matter

 

[MoJoe]

At first, I was no fan of the MdC scent. Over time it has grown on me. What has been consistent has been the performance. Always easy to get mounds of thick, rich lather and it's very slick stuff that gets better with each pass. Overall, it is one of the best soaps in my rotation which also includes Tabac, MWF and Cella. Then there's value. Sure, it costs a lot to procure but you do get a lot and you cannot see the difference one shave makes in the jar. Or ten for that matter. A jar will last a very, very long time.

 

[Lando]

I just received my jar, I love the scent right off the bat. It has a similar scent to two of my favorite grooming products, Kiehl's ultimate body scrub bar and Nancy Boy shampoo. You can never have enough lavender and mint in your life

 

[ruebis]

You can never have enough lavender and mint in your life

Fact.

 

[J.K.T.]

MdC it's "the soap", fast, thick, lubricant lather,...and I can stay in the same room because I like the scent,....I have a problem with Arko...it smell as the detergent used for the floors, very synthetic and strong for my taste.

But for some people Arko is the best, dirty cheap, decent perfomance, thick lather (a bit dry for me)....for me it don't last very longer but at its prices it doesn't matter

This is probably the funniest thing I have seen especially on a shaving forum!!!!! NICE!!!!!

 

[bkfist]

I do have to say one thing about MdC... When you order, they certainly keep you informed on the status of your purchase! I think I've gotten 7 or 8 emails from them already... order accepted, being processed, welcome, packaged, getting ready to ship... lol

 

[Gone Gray]

I would love to try this stuff as I have heard nothing but good things about it. The shipping price is killer though.

Try a sample from Garry's sample shop in the Vendor section. That's where I obtained mine and it sold me on the soap.

 

[ackvil]

Great product. One of my favorites. And it lasts a VERY long time.

 

[bkfist]

Try a sample from Garry's sample shop in the Vendor section. That's where I obtained mine and it sold me on the soap.

Unfortunately, gary has been out of that for quite some time.

 

[Gone Gray]

Unfortunately, gary has been out of that for quite some time.

I just looked...too bad for others. I'm happy I got a chance to try it because I would never have bought it otherwise. I just love this soap.

 

[MaxP]

Hmm. A member here was kind enough to PIF me a sample. I used it this morning.
No scent at all. NADA.

And the lather was too thin. That, however, was my fault for not shaking out the Shavemac a second time. Nice shave even with the thin lather.

However, the fragrance of the cream or soap is a large part of the shaving experience for me. Since MdC is zippo in the scent department, I'll move on.
It was nice to have a try at it.