That SV cosmo sounds incredible. What MDC do you recommend?
My New Soaps
- Thread starter Keyvan
- Start date
I only have the Original MDC…it really does last forever. In the SV, I have the Dolomiti and the 70th Anniversary…both are great. I wouldn’t hesitate to get any of their soaps. I will put Cosmo on my list.
I don't care for strong, lingering aromas, so my soaps are limited to MdC Nature and Canada. Continuing mention of SV, however, has piqued my interest. Reading the scent profile on all the SV soaps, I'm zeroing in on Cosmo, followed by Dolomiti. I can't believe the money I've spent on unscented soaps, so SV's prices don't faze me in the least -- still, I only want to take a chance on one.
- Thread starter
- #24
I was finally able to use the Mystic Waters soaps that I received last week. It was a very interesting experience. I ordered three soaps: Jasmine, Lily of the Valley and Marakesh. When I received an email confirming the order, I found out that Michelle had generously included two samples that turned out to be Yellow Rose and Viola De Bosco.
If you like floral scents or fragrances associated with landscapes and plant-life, I would have to say that her soaps stand out in that area. Her Yellow Rose is different than both the CRS Wild Rose and the LPL Rose de Pushkar. All three have very natural scents, but the CRS and LPL scents remind me of fragrances most often associated with red roses. The MW Yellow Rose is a bit sweeter, more similar to something like a Double Delight Rose. The Yellow Rose scent is also much more persistent than the other two scents. I could smell the scent throughout the duration of the shave. In general, the scents of all of her soaps are quite pronounced. I originally ordered the soaps for the Jasmine scent, but I wound up liking Lily of the Valley, Marrakesh, and Yellow Rose even more. If you are interested in her products, I would recommend that you order samples. She sells in sets of 3 for $4. When you see the size of her samples, you will realize that you have gotten a great bargain (see attached photo). I would guess each sample would be enough for more than 10 shaves.
Out of all of the soaps that I have used, Michelle's was the most challenging to master. You need to follow her instructions precisely and the soap is very sensitive to hard water. The first time I did a test lather with a synthetic brush, things worked well. I used Reverse Osmosis Purified Water than had gone through a re-mineralization filter. That water has controlled amounts of magnesium and calcium, but would not be considered hard. I pressed a small amount of her soap into the bottom of my lather bowl and bowl lathered it with a damp synthetic.
The next day, when I tried an actual shave, I used tap water and a boar brush. That did not work very well. The lather dissipated on my face. Her soap is very sensitive to the rate of hydration and the hardness of the water. If you hydrate the soap too quickly, you won't be able to salvage the lather.
On my third attempt, I went back to the technique I used with the synthetic brush. I was able to create lather and shave with it (see photo). The shave was OK, but the lather had less slickness than I would have liked. The slickness was similar to the slickness of the lather from Proraso red. The post-shave feel, however, was incredible. She includes silk (probably silk protein) and bentonite clay in her formulation. In my particular case the post-shave feel of MW soap is better than that of Ariana & Evans and possibly equal to that of Wholly Kaw's Donkey Milk formulation.
Because I had seen YouTube reviews that touted the slickness of the MW soaps, I was still not satisfied with the lather I had generated. On my last attempt I went back to a boar brush. This time I squeezed the water out of the bristles and loaded the moist brush over the entire surface of the sample puck. That seems to be the key. Taking a small piece of the puck and pressing it into the bottom of a lather bowl is not ideal for this product. The soap needs to be loaded heavily onto a damp, not wet, brush. Once that dense proto-lather is spread over the face, it can be watered down gradually to achieve a very dense and slick lather. This technique also worked with my tap water, but the volume of the lather was reduced.
In conclusion, there is nothing middle of the road about these soaps. If you invest the time in learning how to lather them and your water is of reasonable hardness, they are top of the line in slickness, residual slickness, post-shave feel, fragrance and scent strength. Their tolerance to variation in lathering technique, soap to water ratio, and hydration rate, however, is extremely narrow. I think of Mystic Waters as the Mitchell's Wool Fat of Artisan soaps; that is meant as high praise
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- Thread starter
- #25
This post will basically conclude my summary of my experiences with the new soaps. I have really enjoyed the feedback and the suggestions and I learned a great deal from everyone's comments. Mainly, I am blown away with the tremendous number of excellent and sophisticated products that are now available on the market. There is also a great knowledge base that is available to help us make educated selections and use these dissimilar products. It's a fun time to witness the resurgence of wet shaving and the entrepreneurship of the people that are obviously very dedicated to and passionate about this area.
Based on an earlier suggestion to try European products, I decided to conclude by summarizing my experiences with two French soaps: Le Pere Lucien (LPL) and Pre de Provence (PdP). I have already described the scent of LPL Rose de Pushkar. Consequently, I will focus on describing the lather and the shaving experience. LPL lathers very easily and forms a luxurious lather that is voluminous, dense and slick. The cost of LPL is high, but a small amount of soap goes a long way and the Rose de Pushkar tin includes 150 grams of soap. Given that I purchased it with a 25% discount from Pasteur, I am very happy with the product. This is an "artisanal" soap that has been optimized to the point where its behavior is easy to control. It is as easy to lather as TOBS or D.R. Harris hard soaps. As far as slickness and protection, the quality of the lather was second to none.
I was so impressed with the LPL and thought I would push my boundaries by trying a more commercial French product. I chose the much less expensive PdP Bergamot and Thyme hard soap. I purchased this for around $10 and it normally sells for $15. You get 150 grams of a quad-milled hard soap that is likely to last a very, very long time. It is even easier to lather than LPL and the quality of the lather is just as good. It is one of those lathers that is very tolerant, goes on very dense and can take on a great deal of water. In the end you wind up with a very high volume, dense, slick and protective lather. The scent of the soap is noticeable, light and clean. I believe that the PdP No. 63 is the much more popular scent, but I am quite happy with the Bergamot and Thyme. If you ever find the PdP shaving soap on sale, I would probably suggest it over all of the other products that I have discussed. Even at full price, it is comparatively a good deal.
Both the PdP and the LPL have very good post shave feel. In that regard I would say that the LPL is on the same level as Ariana & Evans and the PdP is just a tad below that level.
Based on an earlier suggestion to try European products, I decided to conclude by summarizing my experiences with two French soaps: Le Pere Lucien (LPL) and Pre de Provence (PdP). I have already described the scent of LPL Rose de Pushkar. Consequently, I will focus on describing the lather and the shaving experience. LPL lathers very easily and forms a luxurious lather that is voluminous, dense and slick. The cost of LPL is high, but a small amount of soap goes a long way and the Rose de Pushkar tin includes 150 grams of soap. Given that I purchased it with a 25% discount from Pasteur, I am very happy with the product. This is an "artisanal" soap that has been optimized to the point where its behavior is easy to control. It is as easy to lather as TOBS or D.R. Harris hard soaps. As far as slickness and protection, the quality of the lather was second to none.
I was so impressed with the LPL and thought I would push my boundaries by trying a more commercial French product. I chose the much less expensive PdP Bergamot and Thyme hard soap. I purchased this for around $10 and it normally sells for $15. You get 150 grams of a quad-milled hard soap that is likely to last a very, very long time. It is even easier to lather than LPL and the quality of the lather is just as good. It is one of those lathers that is very tolerant, goes on very dense and can take on a great deal of water. In the end you wind up with a very high volume, dense, slick and protective lather. The scent of the soap is noticeable, light and clean. I believe that the PdP No. 63 is the much more popular scent, but I am quite happy with the Bergamot and Thyme. If you ever find the PdP shaving soap on sale, I would probably suggest it over all of the other products that I have discussed. Even at full price, it is comparatively a good deal.
Both the PdP and the LPL have very good post shave feel. In that regard I would say that the LPL is on the same level as Ariana & Evans and the PdP is just a tad below that level.
Hello there!
I want to thank you for your shave soap reviews.
I am a huge Stirling soap fan, and I freaking love their coffee too! 
Tabac...
Tabac was the first shave soap that I had tried. I was lucky enough to have been able to purchase the tallow version, before they became traitors to the wet shaving community, and switch to vegan, while no longer offering a tallow version. I found the performance of the soap to be extremely good, I'd even go as far as considering it the gold standard, for supreme slickness, and post shave feel. The scent of the soap leaves much to be desired however. If your into the smell of your grandma's purse, you might like this.
Proraso Shave soap...
Proraso was the second shave soap I tried. The good news is, the soap is cheap to buy, so those who are on a budget, could easily afford this. For the record, I also own the RED soap as well. Performance wise, I considered this soap to just be OK. Its not a high quality soap IMO, and it doesn't offer much for post shave feel. Its also tricky to get the lather consistency water to soap ratio right. In summer time, this soap dries quickly, and you need to insure it stays hydrated!
Catie's Bubbles...
Caties Bubbles was the 3rd shave soap I tried. I only tried the two shown in the picture here, but I already got the sense, that Catie's Bubbles are not good at scents. Maybe its because I lack a royal French palate of refinement, but it just wasn't for me. Performance wise, this is about the same as Proraso. I didn't find the slickness to be much better. And considering the cost of the soap, its a bit too much for this level of quality. Its also tricky to whip the bubbles out of the lather, so I see its well named, when they call it Catie's Bubbles, cause your lather, is gonna have bubbles!
Stirling shave soaps...
Stirling shave soaps were the 4th soap that I tried, and the soap brand that I fell in love with. I completely agree with you, that the price per quantity of soap that you get, cannot be beat! Stirling offers the best value there. Also, performance wise, I consider Stirling to be just about as good as Tabac, but it should, for it uses Tallow as its base, as any proper shave soap should IMO! I also feel that Stirling is king of scents, they really know what they are doing over there, and they do it well! And I too love Stirling's Executive Man shave soap as well. Its IMO, everybody should try this brand at least once, and maybe pick up some EM soap for their first one too.
Captains Choice...
Captains Choice was the 5th soap that I had tried. This is another quality artisan brand of shave soap. I feel that the Captain Scott, knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to shave soap scents, and he does an excellent job over there. Performance wise, I feel that his soaps are every bit as good as Stirling's, a real nice slick soap that does the job well. If you love Stirling shave soap, I can just about guarantee, that you will like Captain's Choice soaps as well.
Timeless Shave Soap...
I love Timeless razors, I think they are amazing, and I love my TI95. Having said that however, when it comes to the local artisan that they partnered with, to produce their shave soaps, it left much to be desired. I had a chance to try out one of their samples, the Etherea. I found the performance to be lacking, about on par with Proraso, and I didn't like the scent either. If a person is wanting to pay artisan level prices on soaps, I suggest avoiding this brand for their soaps.
Captain Joe Black Ship...
Captain Joe Black Ship is not really a soap as much as its a cream. This was the only cream that I tried from this brand. I was looking for a coffee scented soap at the time, and I ended up choosing this cream to try out. The scent of the cream, was more like a coffee that had french vanilla creamer in it. While not the most perfect match for coffee scented soap I was looking for, it was OK. Performance wise, it was real slick! Dare I say, this stuff is as slick as Tabac almost, so performance wise, one is not going to be disappointed. However, price wise, this cream is expensive for the amount that you get, I was through it in only a month!
PS: Stirling has the best coffee scented shave soap that I have since tried, its a seasonal release soap though, they call it Ice Coffee, highly recommended, despite being limited production run, in the smaller puk size tub.
Speick Shave Stick...
Speick shave sticks are awesome! If you like the scent of your kitchen spice cabinet, then look no further then Speick for your shave sticks, because this has kitchen spice cabinet scent in spades! Other then smelling awesome, I felt that the performance slickness of this soap to be on par with Stirling, and if your looking for facial lathering, combine this with a quality badger brush, and watch as that lather comes alive on your face, as you work it in with the brush.
Arko Shave Soap Sticks...
Arko shave sticks, are probably the most popular in the shaving community. These have a true cult following among a selection of folks, that don't mind the scent, of a urinal puk. HAHA, I kid I kid.
But these shave sticks do have a reputation for having a really strong citrus scent and citronella, which I can confirm. Before you even wet the soap stick, your already getting a strong dose of the scent. Once the soap is wet and bloomed into a lather, holy cow, if you don't pass out from the scent, this stuff will make a real man out of you, make you strong like the HULK! 
Performance wise, this soap is equally as good as Tabac, which I coined as the gold standard, for soap slickness. Please note however, Arko is a very thirsty soap, you will be adding more water then you expected to your facial lathering process. But once you got that creamy goodness on your face, and your razor glides like butter on your face, you will realize why your putting your nostrils through torture, for that supreme slickness you desire!
___________________________________________________________________________________
But at the end of the day, the artisan soap that became my all time favorite, out of all soaps that I have tested, was Stirling. This is because they provide the greatest cost value per quantity of soap you can get. They provide some of the best scented shave soaps your ever gonna find in the shaving world. And performance wise, they are almost as good as Tabac and Arko. You can't go wrong with Stirling, which is why Stirling is all I buy now days.
Here is my Stirling soap collection so far...
I usually buy a soap puk every month, but I didn't this month,
as I was tapped out on money, the forum will find out why
later lol.
- Thread starter
- #27
You
Part of the issue is that each soap has a bit of a learning curve. If you can consistently make a great lather with Tabac and they change the formula on you, the manufacturer has to invest the time to make sure that the end result (the lather) and the process for getting there has not changed. Given that there is variation in the brushes that people use, their lathering techniques, and local water hardness, reformulation is not a trivial task.
There are vegan soaps with performance similar to the tallow versions, but they are usually more expensive and fairly complex products. I don’t know why the classic European soap manufacturers made the decision to move to vegan bases, but some of the Artisan’s sell tallow versions of their soaps at a premium price. Wholly Kaw charges a 50% premium for their tallow versions. Maybe animal fat is just becoming more expensive.
Thank you for providing a great deal of useful information on products that I had wanted to try, especially the Speick stick. It’s interesting to me that Tabac angered so many people by changing formulations, but Haslinger seems to have made the change from tallow to vegan much more successfully.Hello there!
I want to thank you for your shave soap reviews.
Tabac...
Tabac was the first shave soap that I had tried. I was lucky enough to have been able to purchase the tallow version, before they became traitors to the wet shaving community, and switch to vegan, while no longer offering a tallow version. I found the performance of the soap to be extremely good, I'd even go as far as considering it the gold standard, for supreme slickness, and post shave feel. The scent of the soap leaves much to be desired however. If your into the smell of your grandma's purse, you might like this.
Proraso Shave soap...
Proraso was the second shave soap I tried. The good news is, the soap is cheap to buy, so those who are on a budget, could easily afford this. For the record, I also own the RED soap as well. Performance wise, I considered this soap to just be OK. Its not a high quality soap IMO, and it doesn't offer much for post shave feel. Its also tricky to get the lather consistency water to soap ratio right. In summer time, this soap dries quickly, and you need to insure it stays hydrated!
Catie's Bubbles...
Caties Bubbles was the 3rd shave soap I tried. I only tried the two shown in the picture here, but I already got the sense, that Catie's Bubbles are not good at scents. Maybe its because I lack a royal French palate of refinement, but it just wasn't for me. Performance wise, this is about the same as Proraso. I didn't find the slickness to be much better. And considering the cost of the soap, its a bit too much for this level of quality. Its also tricky to whip the bubbles out of the lather, so I see its well named, when they call it Catie's Bubbles, cause your lather, is gonna have bubbles!
Stirling shave soaps...
Stirling shave soaps were the 4th soap that I tried, and the soap brand that I fell in love with. I completely agree with you, that the price per quantity of soap that you get, cannot be beat! Stirling offers the best value there. Also, performance wise, I consider Stirling to be just about as good as Tabac, but it should, for it uses Tallow as its base, as any proper shave soap should IMO! I also feel that Stirling is king of scents, they really know what they are doing over there, and they do it well! And I too love Stirling's Executive Man shave soap as well. Its IMO, everybody should try this brand at least once, and maybe pick up some EM soap for their first one too.
Captains Choice...
Captains Choice was the 5th soap that I had tried. This is another quality artisan brand of shave soap. I feel that the Captain Scott, knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to shave soap scents, and he does an excellent job over there. Performance wise, I feel that his soaps are every bit as good as Stirling's, a real nice slick soap that does the job well. If you love Stirling shave soap, I can just about guarantee, that you will like Captain's Choice soaps as well.
Timeless Shave Soap...
I love Timeless razors, I think they are amazing, and I love my TI95. Having said that however, when it comes to the local artisan that they partnered with, to produce their shave soaps, it left much to be desired. I had a chance to try out one of their samples, the Etherea. I found the performance to be lacking, about on par with Proraso, and I didn't like the scent either. If a person is wanting to pay artisan level prices on soaps, I suggest avoiding this brand for their soaps.
Captain Joe Black Ship...
View attachment 1600941
Captain Joe Black Ship is not really a soap as much as its a cream. This was the only cream that I tried from this brand. I was looking for a coffee scented soap at the time, and I ended up choosing this cream to try out. The scent of the cream, was more like a coffee that had french vanilla creamer in it. While not the most perfect match for coffee scented soap I was looking for, it was OK. Performance wise, it was real slick! Dare I say, this stuff is as slick as Tabac almost, so performance wise, one is not going to be disappointed. However, price wise, this cream is expensive for the amount that you get, I was through it in only a month!
PS: Stirling has the best coffee scented shave soap that I have since tried, its a seasonal release soap though, they call it Ice Coffee, highly recommended, despite being limited production run, in the smaller puk size tub.
Speick Shave Stick...
Speick shave sticks are awesome! If you like the scent of your kitchen spice cabinet, then look no further then Speick for your shave sticks, because this has kitchen spice cabinet scent in spades! Other then smelling awesome, I felt that the performance slickness of this soap to be on par with Stirling, and if your looking for facial lathering, combine this with a quality badger brush, and watch as that lather comes alive on your face, as you work it in with the brush.
Arko Shave Soap Sticks...
Arko shave sticks, are probably the most popular in the shaving community. These have a true cult following among a selection of folks, that don't mind the scent, of a urinal puk. HAHA, I kid I kid.
Performance wise, this soap is equally as good as Tabac, which I coined as the gold standard, for soap slickness. Please note however, Arko is a very thirsty soap, you will be adding more water then you expected to your facial lathering process. But once you got that creamy goodness on your face, and your razor glides like butter on your face, you will realize why your putting your nostrils through torture, for that supreme slickness you desire!
___________________________________________________________________________________
But at the end of the day, the artisan soap that became my all time favorite, out of all soaps that I have tested, was Stirling. This is because they provide the greatest cost value per quantity of soap you can get. They provide some of the best scented shave soaps your ever gonna find in the shaving world. And performance wise, they are almost as good as Tabac and Arko. You can't go wrong with Stirling, which is why Stirling is all I buy now days.
Here is my Stirling soap collection so far...
I usually buy a soap puk every month, but I didn't this month,
as I was tapped out on money, the forum will find out why
later lol.
Part of the issue is that each soap has a bit of a learning curve. If you can consistently make a great lather with Tabac and they change the formula on you, the manufacturer has to invest the time to make sure that the end result (the lather) and the process for getting there has not changed. Given that there is variation in the brushes that people use, their lathering techniques, and local water hardness, reformulation is not a trivial task.
There are vegan soaps with performance similar to the tallow versions, but they are usually more expensive and fairly complex products. I don’t know why the classic European soap manufacturers made the decision to move to vegan bases, but some of the Artisan’s sell tallow versions of their soaps at a premium price. Wholly Kaw charges a 50% premium for their tallow versions. Maybe animal fat is just becoming more expensive.
Thanks for the great write-up, Keyvan! Much appreciated! Enjoy, sir!
That's a wonderful assortment of soaps, Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker, but I'm especially jealous of your collection of Stirling! Enjoy, sir! Cheers!Hello there!
I want to thank you for your shave soap reviews.
Tabac...
Tabac was the first shave soap that I had tried. I was lucky enough to have been able to purchase the tallow version, before they became traitors to the wet shaving community, and switch to vegan, while no longer offering a tallow version. I found the performance of the soap to be extremely good, I'd even go as far as considering it the gold standard, for supreme slickness, and post shave feel. The scent of the soap leaves much to be desired however. If your into the smell of your grandma's purse, you might like this.
Proraso Shave soap...
Proraso was the second shave soap I tried. The good news is, the soap is cheap to buy, so those who are on a budget, could easily afford this. For the record, I also own the RED soap as well. Performance wise, I considered this soap to just be OK. Its not a high quality soap IMO, and it doesn't offer much for post shave feel. Its also tricky to get the lather consistency water to soap ratio right. In summer time, this soap dries quickly, and you need to insure it stays hydrated!
Catie's Bubbles...
Caties Bubbles was the 3rd shave soap I tried. I only tried the two shown in the picture here, but I already got the sense, that Catie's Bubbles are not good at scents. Maybe its because I lack a royal French palate of refinement, but it just wasn't for me. Performance wise, this is about the same as Proraso. I didn't find the slickness to be much better. And considering the cost of the soap, its a bit too much for this level of quality. Its also tricky to whip the bubbles out of the lather, so I see its well named, when they call it Catie's Bubbles, cause your lather, is gonna have bubbles!
Stirling shave soaps...
Stirling shave soaps were the 4th soap that I tried, and the soap brand that I fell in love with. I completely agree with you, that the price per quantity of soap that you get, cannot be beat! Stirling offers the best value there. Also, performance wise, I consider Stirling to be just about as good as Tabac, but it should, for it uses Tallow as its base, as any proper shave soap should IMO! I also feel that Stirling is king of scents, they really know what they are doing over there, and they do it well! And I too love Stirling's Executive Man shave soap as well. Its IMO, everybody should try this brand at least once, and maybe pick up some EM soap for their first one too.
Captains Choice...
Captains Choice was the 5th soap that I had tried. This is another quality artisan brand of shave soap. I feel that the Captain Scott, knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to shave soap scents, and he does an excellent job over there. Performance wise, I feel that his soaps are every bit as good as Stirling's, a real nice slick soap that does the job well. If you love Stirling shave soap, I can just about guarantee, that you will like Captain's Choice soaps as well.
Timeless Shave Soap...
I love Timeless razors, I think they are amazing, and I love my TI95. Having said that however, when it comes to the local artisan that they partnered with, to produce their shave soaps, it left much to be desired. I had a chance to try out one of their samples, the Etherea. I found the performance to be lacking, about on par with Proraso, and I didn't like the scent either. If a person is wanting to pay artisan level prices on soaps, I suggest avoiding this brand for their soaps.
Captain Joe Black Ship...
View attachment 1600941
Captain Joe Black Ship is not really a soap as much as its a cream. This was the only cream that I tried from this brand. I was looking for a coffee scented soap at the time, and I ended up choosing this cream to try out. The scent of the cream, was more like a coffee that had french vanilla creamer in it. While not the most perfect match for coffee scented soap I was looking for, it was OK. Performance wise, it was real slick! Dare I say, this stuff is as slick as Tabac almost, so performance wise, one is not going to be disappointed. However, price wise, this cream is expensive for the amount that you get, I was through it in only a month!
PS: Stirling has the best coffee scented shave soap that I have since tried, its a seasonal release soap though, they call it Ice Coffee, highly recommended, despite being limited production run, in the smaller puk size tub.
Speick Shave Stick...
Speick shave sticks are awesome! If you like the scent of your kitchen spice cabinet, then look no further then Speick for your shave sticks, because this has kitchen spice cabinet scent in spades! Other then smelling awesome, I felt that the performance slickness of this soap to be on par with Stirling, and if your looking for facial lathering, combine this with a quality badger brush, and watch as that lather comes alive on your face, as you work it in with the brush.
Arko Shave Soap Sticks...
Arko shave sticks, are probably the most popular in the shaving community. These have a true cult following among a selection of folks, that don't mind the scent, of a urinal puk. HAHA, I kid I kid.
Performance wise, this soap is equally as good as Tabac, which I coined as the gold standard, for soap slickness. Please note however, Arko is a very thirsty soap, you will be adding more water then you expected to your facial lathering process. But once you got that creamy goodness on your face, and your razor glides like butter on your face, you will realize why your putting your nostrils through torture, for that supreme slickness you desire!
___________________________________________________________________________________
But at the end of the day, the artisan soap that became my all time favorite, out of all soaps that I have tested, was Stirling. This is because they provide the greatest cost value per quantity of soap you can get. They provide some of the best scented shave soaps your ever gonna find in the shaving world. And performance wise, they are almost as good as Tabac and Arko. You can't go wrong with Stirling, which is why Stirling is all I buy now days.
Here is my Stirling soap collection so far...
I usually buy a soap puk every month, but I didn't this month,
as I was tapped out on money, the forum will find out why
later lol.
Thank you for this really well written overview of your soap journey. Suspect this will be excellent research material for any B&B member looking for insight on shaving soaps.Hello there!
I want to thank you for your shave soap reviews.
Tabac...
Tabac was the first shave soap that I had tried. I was lucky enough to have been able to purchase the tallow version, before they became traitors to the wet shaving community, and switch to vegan, while no longer offering a tallow version. I found the performance of the soap to be extremely good, I'd even go as far as considering it the gold standard, for supreme slickness, and post shave feel. The scent of the soap leaves much to be desired however. If your into the smell of your grandma's purse, you might like this.
Proraso Shave soap...
Proraso was the second shave soap I tried. The good news is, the soap is cheap to buy, so those who are on a budget, could easily afford this. For the record, I also own the RED soap as well. Performance wise, I considered this soap to just be OK. Its not a high quality soap IMO, and it doesn't offer much for post shave feel. Its also tricky to get the lather consistency water to soap ratio right. In summer time, this soap dries quickly, and you need to insure it stays hydrated!
Catie's Bubbles...
Caties Bubbles was the 3rd shave soap I tried. I only tried the two shown in the picture here, but I already got the sense, that Catie's Bubbles are not good at scents. Maybe its because I lack a royal French palate of refinement, but it just wasn't for me. Performance wise, this is about the same as Proraso. I didn't find the slickness to be much better. And considering the cost of the soap, its a bit too much for this level of quality. Its also tricky to whip the bubbles out of the lather, so I see its well named, when they call it Catie's Bubbles, cause your lather, is gonna have bubbles!
Stirling shave soaps...
Stirling shave soaps were the 4th soap that I tried, and the soap brand that I fell in love with. I completely agree with you, that the price per quantity of soap that you get, cannot be beat! Stirling offers the best value there. Also, performance wise, I consider Stirling to be just about as good as Tabac, but it should, for it uses Tallow as its base, as any proper shave soap should IMO! I also feel that Stirling is king of scents, they really know what they are doing over there, and they do it well! And I too love Stirling's Executive Man shave soap as well. Its IMO, everybody should try this brand at least once, and maybe pick up some EM soap for their first one too.
Captains Choice...
Captains Choice was the 5th soap that I had tried. This is another quality artisan brand of shave soap. I feel that the Captain Scott, knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to shave soap scents, and he does an excellent job over there. Performance wise, I feel that his soaps are every bit as good as Stirling's, a real nice slick soap that does the job well. If you love Stirling shave soap, I can just about guarantee, that you will like Captain's Choice soaps as well.
Timeless Shave Soap...
I love Timeless razors, I think they are amazing, and I love my TI95. Having said that however, when it comes to the local artisan that they partnered with, to produce their shave soaps, it left much to be desired. I had a chance to try out one of their samples, the Etherea. I found the performance to be lacking, about on par with Proraso, and I didn't like the scent either. If a person is wanting to pay artisan level prices on soaps, I suggest avoiding this brand for their soaps.
Captain Joe Black Ship...
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Captain Joe Black Ship is not really a soap as much as its a cream. This was the only cream that I tried from this brand. I was looking for a coffee scented soap at the time, and I ended up choosing this cream to try out. The scent of the cream, was more like a coffee that had french vanilla creamer in it. While not the most perfect match for coffee scented soap I was looking for, it was OK. Performance wise, it was real slick! Dare I say, this stuff is as slick as Tabac almost, so performance wise, one is not going to be disappointed. However, price wise, this cream is expensive for the amount that you get, I was through it in only a month!
PS: Stirling has the best coffee scented shave soap that I have since tried, its a seasonal release soap though, they call it Ice Coffee, highly recommended, despite being limited production run, in the smaller puk size tub.
Speick Shave Stick...
Speick shave sticks are awesome! If you like the scent of your kitchen spice cabinet, then look no further then Speick for your shave sticks, because this has kitchen spice cabinet scent in spades! Other then smelling awesome, I felt that the performance slickness of this soap to be on par with Stirling, and if your looking for facial lathering, combine this with a quality badger brush, and watch as that lather comes alive on your face, as you work it in with the brush.
Arko Shave Soap Sticks...
Arko shave sticks, are probably the most popular in the shaving community. These have a true cult following among a selection of folks, that don't mind the scent, of a urinal puk. HAHA, I kid I kid.
Performance wise, this soap is equally as good as Tabac, which I coined as the gold standard, for soap slickness. Please note however, Arko is a very thirsty soap, you will be adding more water then you expected to your facial lathering process. But once you got that creamy goodness on your face, and your razor glides like butter on your face, you will realize why your putting your nostrils through torture, for that supreme slickness you desire!
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But at the end of the day, the artisan soap that became my all time favorite, out of all soaps that I have tested, was Stirling. This is because they provide the greatest cost value per quantity of soap you can get. They provide some of the best scented shave soaps your ever gonna find in the shaving world. And performance wise, they are almost as good as Tabac and Arko. You can't go wrong with Stirling, which is why Stirling is all I buy now days.
Here is my Stirling soap collection so far...
I usually buy a soap puk every month, but I didn't this month,
as I was tapped out on money, the forum will find out why
later lol.
I have B&M Le Grand Chypre. To dial in the soap-to-water ratio, this is what I do: Measure a level 1/8 tsp of soap and mash it into the bottom of the lathering bowl. Add 2 tsp of warm water. With your finger, swirl the soap and water until the soap becomes a slurry. With a slightly damp synthetic brush, begin to SLOWLY agitate the slurry until it starts to thicken. Then speed up the agitation. In about 1-2 minutes you will have a fantastic lather with lots of sheen. Once you start face lathering you can add more water as desired. This method has worked very well for me. Give it a try.
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- #32
I definitely will.
Just for the record, 1/8 tsp is equivalent to a DASH. You can buy smaller measuring spoons at a specialty kitchen store.
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- #34
I just wanted to let folks know that Pre De Provence shaving soap can be purchase on Amazon for about $8 at this particular moment. They have a 40% discount for subscribe and save and Prime membership shipping is free. This turned out to be one of my favorite soaps. It is very easy to produce a slick and abundant lather. Even at full price, it is a good value. The discount seems to be specific to the No. 63 version.
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- #35
I recently tried a new soap that does not seem to get a great deal of attention, but it is excellent. Pasteur was selling Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite for half price, so I decided to give it a shot.
The base on the fine soap is the easiest to lather compared to any of the artisan soaps that I have tried. The lather starts out sparse and becomes thick and creamy as you work it. It can take on a good amount of water and has good slickness and residual slickness. It’s not temperamental like lot of artisan soaps. Like the Razorock soaps, it’s easy to use.
Now, Snake Bite is not for every man. It will freeze your skin and clear your sinuses, but it is a fun soap that I enjoy. It’s perfect for a heatwave. I would describe the post shave feel, but for a few moments I was not sure that I could feel my face!
Although Fine soaps are soft, they are also very dense. A small amount is soap will make a large amount of lather. I am a little surprised that Fine doesn’t get more attention. Perhaps the behavior of the soap is too well refined for those that expect a certain temperamental behavior from the artisan offerings.
The base on the fine soap is the easiest to lather compared to any of the artisan soaps that I have tried. The lather starts out sparse and becomes thick and creamy as you work it. It can take on a good amount of water and has good slickness and residual slickness. It’s not temperamental like lot of artisan soaps. Like the Razorock soaps, it’s easy to use.
Now, Snake Bite is not for every man. It will freeze your skin and clear your sinuses, but it is a fun soap that I enjoy. It’s perfect for a heatwave. I would describe the post shave feel, but for a few moments I was not sure that I could feel my face!
Although Fine soaps are soft, they are also very dense. A small amount is soap will make a large amount of lather. I am a little surprised that Fine doesn’t get more attention. Perhaps the behavior of the soap is too well refined for those that expect a certain temperamental behavior from the artisan offerings.
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- #36
I tried your method and it created abundant and excellent lather. I made a mistake and added 3 tsp of water, but was able to give it structure by working it longer. The amount of water that this soap can take on is quite amazing.
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- #37
I also have two follow up questions regarding this approach:
1. Have you tried this 1/8 tsp soap to 2 tsp water with any other soap brands. With other soaps where I am not directly loading the brush from the container, I think that 1/8 tsp soap is fairly consistent with what I have used historically. In the past I have usually started out with less water and probably stop before I reach a full 2 tsp. I am wondering if BM takes on more water than other Artisan soaps.
2. The BM container holds 4 oz of soap which is equivalent to 24 tsp. Using 1/8 teaspoon of soap per shave would mean that the container is good for 196 shaves. That indicates that someone who shaves every other day would use less than one container of BM in a year. Does that seem realistic? If so, I am going to have to sell a lot of my unopened soaps.
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- #38
I have been using these soaps for a year now. A few months ago I decided to focus on a single soap and finish one puck. I have been using Mystic Waters Lily of the Valley and I probably have about 10 shaves left to finish the puck. You learn more about a soap when you focus on it for a bit. What I learned is that my previous advice on using Mystic Waters was too complicated. The only thing that you need to do with this soap is the following:
1. Use a damp synthetic or a badger brush after most of the water has been shaken out.
2. Bloom the soap.
3. Load very heavily. If you normally load a triple milled puck for 30 to 45 seconds, load this soap for 90 seconds.
4. Add water very slowly until the consistency changes from sticky to slick.
If you use a boar brush, use one that is not very dense and be prepared to load significantly more soap. Boar brushes devour the lather this soap creates.
In the end it comes down to loading heavily and adding water sparingly. It's different than the classic triple milled soaps and it does not follow the rules of the modern artisan soaps (loading sparsely). Its behavior is somewhat unique.
I still have about 1/5th of the VDH/ Arko/ Proraso/ DMC recipe @Lane101 gave me. I don't want to finish that off. I turn to it as a way of saving a shave when something goes wrong with a new soap
1. Use a damp synthetic or a badger brush after most of the water has been shaken out.
2. Bloom the soap.
3. Load very heavily. If you normally load a triple milled puck for 30 to 45 seconds, load this soap for 90 seconds.
4. Add water very slowly until the consistency changes from sticky to slick.
If you use a boar brush, use one that is not very dense and be prepared to load significantly more soap. Boar brushes devour the lather this soap creates.
In the end it comes down to loading heavily and adding water sparingly. It's different than the classic triple milled soaps and it does not follow the rules of the modern artisan soaps (loading sparsely). Its behavior is somewhat unique.
I still have about 1/5th of the VDH/ Arko/ Proraso/ DMC recipe @Lane101 gave me. I don't want to finish that off. I turn to it as a way of saving a shave when something goes wrong with a new soap
