Soap thoughts from an old guy

[RayClem]

I include the following soaps in my top ten (or 11 if you wish) super-elite category. This list was developed after trying well over 100 soap and cream formulations. Because I have very sensitive skin, I want a product that can give a close shave (three passes plus a clean-up pass) with zero irritation and leaving my face feeling great for a minimum of 16 hours. Some of my top ten will last a full 24 hours. Here is my list in alphabetical order. If your skin is not sensitive and you do not value the post shave and post post shave feel, then you may not agree.

Ariana Evans Kaisen/Kaisen 2
Declaration Grooming Milksteak
Grooming Dept Kairos, Lamb Tallow, Mallard, and Nai
House of Mammoth Tusk
Oaken Lab V3
Wholly Kaw Siero
Zingari Man Sego

There are another 15 soap formulas I have tried that are nearly as good as these. However, the post-shave fades before the 16 hour mark. I still get a great shave from them, so they are still part of my rotation which currently includes about 70 soaps. Another 130 soaps are not good enough to make my rotation, but I might use them occasionally

For those who might question the absence of Ethos Grooming Essentials in my list, I have tried a sample of the soap, but was not impressed with the post-shave performance. I am sure that those who use the Ethos post-shave products along with the soap get a great shave and great post-shave. With the soaps I listed, I find no need for pre-shave or post shave products.

 

[Burundian Hawk]

Probably a flint or bone razor and oil or fat as a lubricant. Old school!

Traditionally, they hold the blade by hand. The one foto with razor is the most "technologically advanced" version. Lubricant can be a bit of water or milk or nothing, according to what is available. It is a ritualistic shave. If there was fat, the skin would shine, because it would be oily.

 

[Gamma]

Not convinced Aritisan soaps 'saved the day'. I shave with vintage soaps mostly and while I do try new products out all the time I keep going back to old-school. I will semi-regularly use Barbasol in the red can too.
I like the fact that there are myriad choices out there, and the constant influx of new 'artisnal' soaps keeps things interesting. Sure. I have had good results with several different artisan soap makers. I think the first 'artisnal' soap I bought was back in 2000 from someone on an auction site. I use Crowne & Crane Northwoods semi-regularly, I like it a lot.
But I have a puck of D.R. Harris that delivers 100% and if it was the only soap to buy I'd be just fine with that. Had some TOBS not too long ago, was darn good. Soaps like Cella, Palmolive, and so on have been around forever. All good stuff.
I never think about soft soaps being 'easier' - I mean, it's soap sudz. Making lather has never seemed to be a labor-intensive or difficult task. Unless we're talking about Lightfoot's Pine, that stuff isn't even soap IMO.

 

[RayClem]

Not convinced Aritisan soaps 'saved the day'. I shave with vintage soaps mostly and while I do try new products out all the time I keep going back to old-school. I will semi-regularly use Barbasol in the red can too.
I like the fact that there are myriad choices out there, and the constant influx of new 'artisnal' soaps keeps things interesting. Sure. I have had good results with several different artisan soap makers. I think the first 'artisnal' soap I bought was back in 2000 from someone on an auction site. I use Crowne & Crane Northwoods semi-regularly, I like it a lot.
But I have a puck of D.R. Harris that delivers 100% and if it was the only soap to buy I'd be just fine with that. Had some TOBS not too long ago, was darn good. Soaps like Cella, Palmolive, and so on have been around forever. All good stuff.
I never think about soft soaps being 'easier' - I mean, it's soap sudz. Making lather has never seemed to be a labor-intensive or difficult task. Unless we're talking about Lightfoot's Pine, that stuff isn't even soap IMO.

That is the YMMV part of shaving, especially shaving soaps. I rate DR Harris soap as 40 points out of 60 for me. That is a failing score of 66%. I consider it to be difficult to load and to lather. If it takes more than 60 seconds to load and lather the soap, I consider that to be more work than necessary. The slickness is not as good as I would like, especially the residual slickness. It does not provide enough cushion to give me an irritation free shave. The post-shave feel is lacking. The only thing I like about DR Harris is the wooden bowl.

I rank TOBS shave creams slightly higher that DR Harris soap only because creams are easy to load and lather. Otherwise, the performance is still lacking.

I realize that your criteria are significantly different than mine. However, with 200 soaps in my den, I do not have to use inferior soaps.

 

[Gamma]

Harris loads in, like - maybe 10-12 seconds for me. Enough for a full shave. When I use the stick I put a few swipes on my skin, one in each major spot and hit it with a hot/wet brush - I have lather almost instantly.
Maybe Harris isn't inferior but my lathering skills are superior? :0)
Its a tongue-in-cheek rhetorical comment.

Anyway, when I read about someone having issues with Harris it's just baffling to me. But, after being around for a while, I see this sort of thing almost across the board with all types of gear, and not just in shaving. But in shaving forums, some cant' lather Williams, some can't lather the Fat, etc - and people literally fight about it. Meanwhile, those using Fat or Williams or whatever the poobahs have determined to be 'subpar' are shaving happily. The best part is when that guy gets a spreadsheet going to 'prove' who's right or wrong...

At any rate - I get good lather from Harris real easy and I shave real well with some pretty intense edges. I just can't imagine how anyone could find it difficult to lather. But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter since it has nothing to do with my original point.

BTW I always laugh at the 'residual slickness' thing whenever I read it. I prefer soap to be soap, and leave skin clean. Def not leave a greasy residue. I dislike that 'lotiony' feeling I get from B&M and some others, it skeeves me out tbh. It's like when guys add a lot of glycerine to AS, I don't get into that either.

But of course, yes - everything is subject to any one person's preferences. This is why so many brands exist. Everyone will not like everything everyone else does and so on. Even so, if OP thinks Artisans have saved the day - that's fine, cool for him or whoever else does. He asked how others felt and I don't see it that way. My opinion is as valid as anyone else's, same for everyone. None of the artisan soaps I've bought over the last 20 yr (the number of pucks is not important, suffice to say it's significant) have been a make/break product for me. I've been happy as a clam with mass produced soaps for the most part. Crowne & Crane Northwoods is an exception due to the fragrance; the soap itself is very good but not so good that it's made any sort of shaving difference. The pine scent is super nice for me though. But someone here will say that stuff is subpar and that I have to try D&Gs new walrus blubber tallow base made with real jackass milk and hooker sweat.
And the beat just goes on and on and on, lol..... Anyway, I am going to go shave with Marlborough now and it's going to be awesome. Happy shaves....

 

[RayClem]

Harris loads in, like - maybe 10-12 seconds for me. Enough for a full shave. When I use the stick I put a few swipes on my skin, one in each major spot and hit it with a hot/wet brush - I have lather almost instantly.
Maybe Harris isn't inferior but my lathering skills are superior? :0)
Its a tongue-in-cheek rhetorical comment.

Anyway, when I read about someone having issues with Harris it's just baffling to me. But, after being around for a while, I see this sort of thing almost across the board with all types of gear, and not just in shaving. But in shaving forums, some cant' lather Williams, some can't lather the Fat, etc - and people literally fight about it. Meanwhile, those using Fat or Williams or whatever the poobahs have determined to be 'subpar' are shaving happily. The best part is when that guy gets a spreadsheet going to 'prove' who's right or wrong...

At any rate - I get good lather from Harris real easy and I shave real well with some pretty intense edges. I just can't imagine how anyone could find it difficult to lather. But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter since it has nothing to do with my original point.

BTW I always laugh at the 'residual slickness' thing whenever I read it. I prefer soap to be soap, and leave skin clean. Def not leave a greasy residue. I dislike that 'lotiony' feeling I get from B&M and some others, it skeeves me out tbh. It's like when guys add a lot of glycerine to AS, I don't get into that either.

But of course, yes - everything is subject to any one person's preferences. This is why so many brands exist. Everyone will not like everything everyone else does and so on. Even so, if OP thinks Artisans have saved the day - that's fine, cool for him or whoever else does. He asked how others felt and I don't see it that way. My opinion is as valid as anyone else's, same for everyone. None of the artisan soaps I've bought over the last 20 yr (the number of pucks is not important, suffice to say it's significant) have been a make/break product for me. I've been happy as a clam with mass produced soaps for the most part. Crowne & Crane Northwoods is an exception due to the fragrance; the soap itself is very good but not so good that it's made any sort of shaving difference. The pine scent is super nice for me though. But someone here will say that stuff is subpar and that I have to try D&Gs new walrus blubber tallow base made with real jackass milk and hooker sweat.
And the beat just goes on and on and on, lol..... Anyway, I am going to go shave with Marlborough now and it's going to be awesome. Happy shaves....

As I stated, your preferences are significantly different than mine. That is OK, we do not have to like the same things.

I do find that those who use a single soap on a daily basis or as part of a small rotation tend to do better with soaps like DR Harris, Williams Mug Soap, Mitchell's Wool Fat, etc. that I do. I currently have a rotation of about 70 soaps, so it takes me 3-4 months to go through all the soaps. Traditional hard soaps are bone dry by the time I get back to using them again, so it make them very difficult to load and lather.

Because of the sensitivity of my skin, I prefer using soaps that have a lot of conditioning ingredients. I have difficulty getting a close, irritation free shave without those ingredients. I am glad your skin does not need to be pampered the way mine does, but I am also glad that soaps are available that allow me to get an awesome shave, in spite of my skin.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Arko good.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I started shaving with Williams or Palmolive and a boar or nylon synthetic brush in the mid 1970s. I started with a Gillette DE but soon switched to a Trac II. I use a DE again today, and I still use a Trac II for travel, which I did quite often prior to March 2020. I still use Williams and Palmolive today; not on a daily basis, but frequently. I get much better shaves with both soaps today than I did in 1975. Until I discovered the internet I'd wet my face, load the brush for 10 seconds, slap the thin coat of soap on my face, and shave it off in one pass. I'd wet specific areas of my face with my fingers for a touch up after the pass was finished. A puck of Williams might last for nearly 6 months of shaves 5-6 days a week. I didn't use a lot of soap. Today I hydrate and prepare my skin much better, I build a better lather, I let the lather sit on my face for 3-4 minutes before shaving, and I methodically follow a 2 pass process of shaving. As a result, I get much, much better shaves today than I did 40 years ago using the exact same hardware/software.

 

[SHAVEWIZARD420]

Gotta admit, even though I’ve also been shaving as long as you (hey, does that AUTOMATICALLY make me an OLD man? ), I have NO clue what all these “bases” mean (mliksteak, serio, etc.).

(BTW, love the title of the thread! I could imagine some older gentleman, in a bar, wearing a raincoat and a fedora, nursing an “old fashioned,” while standing next to a piano, reminiscing about shaves of old. )

Hahaha I know right?! The names of some of these soap bases are redicoukois and don't really say much about the product other than vol.1 vol.2 vol.3 etc. And most of the newer bases are getting softer and softer.

 

[Abz88]

One thing reading this thread that sticks out to me is that most of the classic soaps that get a lot of praise are European. Were these soaps readily available outside of Europe 30 odd years ago? If not that would help explain why there is a perception by some that great soaps are a relatively new thing.

 

[Barbarian80]

Before i discovered the internet shaving world my lather was horrendous. I never understood the concept of bowl or face lathering, rather, thought a lather was made right over the puck and applied to the face. The concept of dialing in lather is probably not understood by a lot of gents- i was one of those. When i fixed my lather i got far better shaves, but by that point i had moved on from AoS sandalwood and did a deep dive to artisan soaps- which I see listings of super elite, elite, blah blah- but the fact is none of it is going to save you unless you understand what it takes to build a good lather- that's what i got from the internet.

 

[Owen Bawn]

One thing reading this thread that sticks out to me is that most of the classic soaps that get a lot of praise are European. Were these soaps readily available outside of Europe 30 odd years ago? If not that would help explain why there is a perception by some that great soaps are a relatively new thing.

Not that I was aware of- certainly not in any readily accessible retail locations in North America. Places like NYC's Pasteur's Pharmacy, or Cambridge Massachusetts' Colonial Drug may have had some European soaps, and a few posh men's clothiers or haberdasheries might have carried some, but in general, they were unavailable.

 

[dabrock]

Not that I was aware of- certainly not in any readily accessible retail locations in North America. Places like NYC's Pasteur's Pharmacy, or Cambridge Massachusetts' Colonial Drug may have had some European soaps, and a few posh men's clothiers or haberdasheries might have carried some, but in general, they were unavailable.

I remember shopping with my mother in the 70's for my grandfather's shaving supplies and he would buy Bic blades and Old Spice soap (I have his mug now). I remember seeing Williams, Old Spice, and Proraso cream and that was pretty much it.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I remember shopping with my mother in the 70's for my grandfather's shaving supplies and he would buy Bic blades and Old Spice soap (I have his mug now). I remember seeing Williams, Old Spice, and Proraso cream and that was pretty much it.

Proraso? You must be in Canada?

 

[dabrock]

Proraso? You must be in Canada?

You got it.

 

[Owen Bawn]

You got it.

Well let me be the first to wish you a Happy Canada Day!

 

[dabrock]

Well let me be the first to wish you a Happy Canada Day!

View attachment 1289950

Cheers!

 

[SydneyShaver]

I don't think so to be honest. I mean outside of north america who actually uses artisan products other than hobbyists. Pound for pound, they do NOT trump a lot of other great non-artisan products because of the huge price discrepency due to tax and import costs and retailers putting on their markup. I'd argue almost every mass produced product is at least good and many fall into the great and excellent categories. If something is lacking, many of us simply use a pre-shave and/or post-shave product when required. I've yet to find a product that is actually difficult in any meaningful metric. 1min here or there doesn't mean much to me.