Regarding the PIF of Beehive. I'm using no-lick envelopes and live out of town. Self isolation is um, intentional.
Martin de candre overpriced or really that good?
- Thread starter Peterv1
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I had some samples which were ok though not really sticking out but I took a gander on a jar of martin de candre fougere. The packaging is impressive - a quality cardboard box that I was loath to throw away. The biggest surprise is that the jar came filled with soap to the absolute brim. Granted, that may be exactly the quantity of soap that is promised on the label but it was still a nice thing to see that I have never seen in any other brand I can recall. When loaded from.the jar directly the ease of lathering was palpable- the best of any shaving soap I have seen so far and as god or almost as good in that quality as TOBS sandalwood that is a cream. No irritation at all and a nice scent that is all from essential oils apparently. After my first use, the level of soap in the jar seemed unchanged - this soap will last a long time !
Not as much slickness and postshave feeling maybe compared to wholly kaw siero and declaration grooming milsteak but still an impressive soap
Not as much slickness and postshave feeling maybe compared to wholly kaw siero and declaration grooming milsteak but still an impressive soap
Thankfully. Much prefer a clean fresh shave and a soap that will actually rinse off. Just another perspective FWIW.
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MdC is not the slickest soap out there and will also not have the same face feel of American artisan soaps, which have obscene amounts of additive fat.
Still, MdC will get the job done better and easier than most. The lather will be thick, creamy, slick, and protective; the scents are subjective but nearly everyone will find one that is pleasant within their range; the price per shave is on par with or below other high end soaps.
Finally, I like the fact that MdC is made in the EU (thus following the highest global standards for cosmetics production), it follows the same recipe since 1970s, it's no non-sense with only 4-5 ingredients, it's made in the traditional French way, the soaps are cured for months, and there is no additives included that are not needed to make soap
I will always keep a tub of MdC in my rotation, probably Fougere being my favorite.
Still, MdC will get the job done better and easier than most. The lather will be thick, creamy, slick, and protective; the scents are subjective but nearly everyone will find one that is pleasant within their range; the price per shave is on par with or below other high end soaps.
Finally, I like the fact that MdC is made in the EU (thus following the highest global standards for cosmetics production), it follows the same recipe since 1970s, it's no non-sense with only 4-5 ingredients, it's made in the traditional French way, the soaps are cured for months, and there is no additives included that are not needed to make soap
I will always keep a tub of MdC in my rotation, probably Fougere being my favorite.
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Yes I appreciate the lack of any irritation which I sometimes get with the american artisanal soaps.
I am one of the beneficiaries of Steve’s (@old_school) generosity. Steve sent me a large sample of Beehive Woodlands, which will last for a few shaves. Thanks, Steve! I tried it on Friday.
I definitely see the resemblance between Beehive and MdC. The lather exploded from my brush, and a little goes a long way. Beehive produces a nice, slick lather and I had a very nice shave. I did notice a difference, however. The Beehive soap seemed creamier and also a little less fluffy than MdC. When I subsequently looked at the ingredients, I noticed that Beehive has shea butter—an additional ingredient, which may explain the difference. For many people, this should be a good thing, as it should contribute to better a better post shave experience.
I’ll point out that Beehive seemed similar to me to WSP Rustic Shaving Soap. WSP purposely set out to recreate the MdC formula and also added shea butter to their ingredients list. I like WSP quite a bit as well. WSP is also a lower price alternative to MdC.
I definitely see the resemblance between Beehive and MdC. The lather exploded from my brush, and a little goes a long way. Beehive produces a nice, slick lather and I had a very nice shave. I did notice a difference, however. The Beehive soap seemed creamier and also a little less fluffy than MdC. When I subsequently looked at the ingredients, I noticed that Beehive has shea butter—an additional ingredient, which may explain the difference. For many people, this should be a good thing, as it should contribute to better a better post shave experience.
I’ll point out that Beehive seemed similar to me to WSP Rustic Shaving Soap. WSP purposely set out to recreate the MdC formula and also added shea butter to their ingredients list. I like WSP quite a bit as well. WSP is also a lower price alternative to MdC.
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I am always surprised to read "worth the money" posts. I just purchased 2 tubs of Nature (unscented) for about $100 w/shipping (I also purchased some bar soap, but I'm pretty close with that price).
While some people go a lot longer, I get 13+ months of daily shaving per tub. If you're using any other artisan soap you are no doubt paying more than $50 for 13 months worth of soap.
MdC is my near daily soap, but I use WK Pasha's Pride when I want a change. 13 months of the WK would be closer to $80 for me.
While some people go a lot longer, I get 13+ months of daily shaving per tub. If you're using any other artisan soap you are no doubt paying more than $50 for 13 months worth of soap.
MdC is my near daily soap, but I use WK Pasha's Pride when I want a change. 13 months of the WK would be closer to $80 for me.
To be clear about my post, I am not implying that MdC is overpriced to me. I own it, and I use it. I doubt that will change. I agree with @musicman1951 that a tub lasts forever, so on a per shave basis, it’s not a bad value. I like to try new things, so when Steve offered a PIF of Beehive, I took him up on it. Soaps like Beehive and WSP offer a high quality shave that is similar with a smaller initial outlay.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
According to the ‘How long....‘ thread, a jar of MdC has lasted 631 days, and it’s not done but close. At $50/jar, that’s 8 cents a shave. Note, Marty is using a Wee Scott.... Anyway, 8 cents a shave is about 1 cent/shave more than Proraso.
PIF: How Long to 3017 MdC?
ALCON, Open to all World Wide shipping Winner gets an unused and unopened full to the top tub of MdC (I’ll PM the winner with the flavors I have and the choice will be theirs) Our home was flooded in June We lost pretty much everything except what was most important: OUR LIVES We have lived...
www.badgerandblade.com
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Triple milled soaps tend to give me about 4 shaves per gram, based on previous counting exercises. A sample of Martin de Candre that I tried, yielded around the same. Therefore a 200g MdC would give me roughly 800 shaves for £45. That's £0.056 per shave. Not expensive.
However, Mitchell's Wool Fat gives me 500 shaves for £6.50, which is 1/4 of the cost, and a Palmolive shave stick gives me 200 shaves for £0.50, which is 1/20 of the cost. I also prefer the shaves with Mitchell's and Palmolive.
So in cost terms, MdC soap costs me between 4 times and 20 times what my regular soaps do, for a lesser shave. I think that shows that the economy of a shaving soap, is just as much a YMMV issue as scent, lather performance and post shave feel.
The nett result for me though, is I will never pay £45.00 for 800 shaves that aren't as good as my usual ones.
After reading this today, I decided to pair AGRUMES with my SOC Boar and enjoy a nice two pass shave. I normally follow up with Pinaud citrus musk but VIBR caught my eye. Not my best pairing but who cares 
In my opinion, MdC is an excellent soap - one of the very best out there.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
@Rustyshackelford Myrsol Agua de Limon pairs beautifully with MdC agrumes, and the lemon scent actually lasts a little while.
Glad it hear it was a good shave. Honestly I wondered if I was out in left field on this soap appreciate the reality check! Might have to try WSP Rustic now. Thanks!
Still have a couple samples of Beehive, PM if anyone is interested.
According to the ‘How long....‘ thread, a jar of MdC has lasted 631 days, and it’s not done but close. At $50/jar, that’s 8 cents a shave. Note, Marty is using a Wee Scott.... Anyway, 8 cents a shave is about 1 cent/shave more than Proraso.
PIF: How Long to 3017 MdC?
ALCON, Open to all World Wide shipping Winner gets an unused and unopened full to the top tub of MdC (I’ll PM the winner with the flavors I have and the choice will be theirs) Our home was flooded in June We lost pretty much everything except what was most important: OUR LIVES We have lived...
Wee scot is cheating. Where's the Chubby 3 "How Long"?
Also, that's not 631 shaves, right? ~5/7 of that? So he's looking at maybe 450-500 wee scots out of a jar... which are 200g if memory serves?
As a comparison, I got well, well, well over 250 shaves out of my last puck of tabac before I shoved maybe 30g that remained into a frankensoap, and I use any and every kind of brush, but almost all of what I use are "lather hogs" by most people's standards.
And Tabac is 125g iirc.
(good) Triple milleds are more efficient than MdC... but MdC generally is compared to modern "artisan" soaps, which as mentioned are typically loaded with water, oil and air, so it's 2-3x (or more) as efficient as those.
Again, I'm not ragging on MdC, great soap... but these cost/shave arguments are pretty much always seriously flawed.
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I agree and would like to add that when loading very minimally, it's very hard to get a decently protective (although good looking) lather from MdC, for me anyways. My first shave with MdC was the 10 swirls kinda vibe with barely anything visible on the brush, and was seriously underwhelmed by the lather, which had zero cushion. Then I loaded a little longer to get a decent amount of foamy bubbles going.....and got a great shave. I was also using a synthetic, so I know the brush wasn't eating the lather either.
It's still a very efficient soap but there's no way I'm getting 600 shaves from a jar, probably more like 300, which is still very cheap on a shave by shave basis.
if it weren't for the "Horrible US Artisans" you guys speak about, I would have returned to Canned Goo and be done. Dry skin = US Artisans is the ONLY way to go
herbert7890;
Don't be offended. If I go on a GD or WK thread and say great lather, scent, slick shave to bad the PSF isn't like MdC, wouldn't you think at least one person would enlighten me? Maybe someone with dry skin issues. Of course. They should and I should expect it.
Simple clean fresh soaps should stay simple clean fresh soaps. Thankfully. Let's let them be what they are instead of knocking them for not being one of the myriad of superfat facefoods like everything else. Some folk need a shaving soap.
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I generally assume that when we're talking MdC and price the conversation is about top tier soaps.
There is no question that some shavers find excellent results with inexpensive products. YMMV is always the rule of the day and we like what we like.
But if you read "favorite soap" posts, or "3 favorite soaps" posts you will always see MdC represented on many lists.
I consider it a great bargain, but it doesn't compete financially with soaps at the bottom of the price scale.
And please allow me to add that many people get great shaves without leaving the bottom of the price scale for any products. Everyone enjoy what you enjoy.
There is no question that some shavers find excellent results with inexpensive products. YMMV is always the rule of the day and we like what we like.
But if you read "favorite soap" posts, or "3 favorite soaps" posts you will always see MdC represented on many lists.
I consider it a great bargain, but it doesn't compete financially with soaps at the bottom of the price scale.
And please allow me to add that many people get great shaves without leaving the bottom of the price scale for any products. Everyone enjoy what you enjoy.
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