Penhaligon's

[sffone]

I just finished shaving with Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet soap, and it was a real disappointment. I'm an old guy who has been wet shaving for about 50 years, and being of modest means, I tended to use the less expensive soaps. However, after a number of years, I reached a point where I could occasionally try a higher-end soap, usually in the $12-$17 range. But I decided to go all-out recently and plunked down $30 for a puck of Penhaligon's. For that amount of money, I was expecting a soap of great fragrance and lather -- sadly, it was niether. Sure, it was better than the Williams that I used for many years, but it was not nearly as good as many of the soaps that I've used that cost half as much. So, I have to ask, what is it about these "top of the line" soaps that causes people to continue buying them? Is it just snob appeal?

 

[rockviper]

I haven't tried the soap, but the Pens BB cream is, quite simply put, awesome!

 

[djh]

Sadly, Penhaligon's (like some other producers) have re-formulated their soaps to appease different interest groups. Unfortunately, shavers weren't one of the groups involved. The new soaps do smell fantastic, but are very much sub-par when it comes to shaving performance.
I'm not sure how much shaving soap they sell, but anyone who has used a puck of their old tallow formulation would be mighty disappointed using the stuff produced these days.

 

[Mick]

I have found that there is a cost/benefit threshold that ends around $20 for soap pucks. Over that amount and the benefit decreases in respect to the cost.

I wonder if grating a new formula soap with an excellent scent and blending it with a grated exceptional tallow no scent soap would be a good option to get an "exceptionable nice scented soap"?

 

[vocalistbob]

I also had a hard time with Penhaligon's BB soap, but I do like their creams a lot.