I have always been a tallow based soap fan. And the vast majority of my shaving soaps are tallow based. Products like Cella, P.160, Valobra stick or MWF (just to name a few) would surely not be the same without that “magic” ingredient, that I wholeheartedly love, called tallow. The only vegetable soap that was close to a tallow based one for quality, lather and performance was, for me, Valobra, Crema di Sapone Purissima. This is a top shelf Italian soft soap that I’ve been using for years. And until a few months ago my experience with high quality veggie soaps was limited to this one. During the 2010, however, I discovered several other exceptional shaving soaps without tallow. The first huge surprise was Martin de Candre, from France. In March a friend coming to Rome from Paris brought me a small jar of this fabulous gem. I was so impressed with it that I immediately ordered two big pots and have added MdC to my regular rotation of top shelf soaps. The second huge surprise was in May, with the new Acca Kappa 1869. This, although technically described as a shaving cream, is a traditional Italian soft soap. And it’s also one of the very best. AK 1869 can certainly compete with the finest Italian tallow based soaps. The third huge surprise came in July, while I was in vacation in Spain. I intentionally avoided bringing with me any of my trusted shaving soaps because I wanted to test something new, that was unavailable in Italy. And I did find it. It is called La Toja. This fantastic stick gave me so wonderful shaves that, during the whole two weeks I was in Madrid, I did shave exclusively with La Toja (following up with Floid Mentolado Suave). The fourth and last huge surprise came in September, when it was opened, here in Rome, the new boutique L’Occitane. I found it fortuitously and I immediately took a Cade soap with the Aluminium bowl. It was a marvellous experience, from the first shave. In November I also joined the Cade challenge here on B&B and really loved shaving with this great French veggie soap. In conclusion, my friends, never stop testing, even the most experienced wet shavers can find new, outstanding soaps. And do not underrate vegetable soaps, some of them are truly excellent. Or, if you prefer, some of them are as good as your beloved tallow based soaps.
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