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Thoughts after first shave with MdC

Martin de Candre is one of the best. It's a shaving soap, it's not a pre-shave, soap and balm all in one as many of today's super fatted artisan offerings are. Its a classic shaving soap, not some new age creation.

As I have oily skin anyway, I don't need a balm, let alone delivered via my soap. In my opinion, it is an elite SOAP, one of the best for sure. It's not a 3-1 as the artisan soaps are and I applaud it for that. I can find a pre shave if I need on, I can find a balm if I need one, I don't want it included in my soap.

It lasts a very long time too. Much lower cost to run than the $25 Artisan croaps.

So very true! Well said. MdC is an outstanding product. I couldn’t agree more.
 
You should write Martin De Candre at least once in your post, I had to google it. A lot of us are not familiar with every acronym under the sun.

A very good point indeed, and one which might call for its own thread. I often find myself scratching my head and trying to figure out what is meant in various product discussion threads.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Ok I think I understand what he meant better now after reading your email. So the better comparisons to mdc would be soaps like MWF and TOBS?
I would think so. Some, like me, may prefer it to the artisan superfats, but I think it's in a different class (not in a good or bad way - but different).

I like slickness and I find it slick enough, though I'm sure some others are slicker. It's not the slickest I've used, but it's a great effortless lather, comes in several great scents, enough so that just about anyone can have a scent they like.

Most "traditional" shaving soaps were created to shave well enough to be competitive in the market place for long term sales.

The artisans are in a highly competitive market. In the US, there is virtually no barrier to entry, so anyone can mix up a batch, throw up a website with a paypal button and be an artisan. Doesn't mean they are, but that's how it is.

Now of those doing that, some make very good soaps. It's competitive and as they try to beat the competition they are driven to extremes to make the slickest, the most moisturizing and so on. And to an extent they reformulate to generate sales as many buyers by one and have the been there done that view. By coming out with a different base every so often, I believe some artisans are trying to overcome the "been there done that". So between competition in the market place and with a soapmaker just trying to push the envelope on the craft there is a lot of change going on in that space.

Established brands like MdC, Tabac and others don't reformulate very often or at all. After a long enough period of time that in itself can be a strength.

In a way it's funny how tradition bound wet shavers use soaps that today, are anything but traditional.
 
Would some of you folks mind adding how you would explain the scents of the Fougere and Vetyver?

Also, as some who has never used a rose scent before, does the scent work fairly well for guys in the soaps? Also, what kind of aftershaves would you use with a rose scented soap? Don't mean to offend anyone by those questions but I am genuinely curious since I have never had a rose scented .. well .. anything.

To me, the Fougere is one of the classic scents in wet shaving. In terms of fougere scents, it tends to be less bright and skew stronger towards the moss/fern side pf the scent profile. I wouldn't have thought that description would appeal to me, but it does.

MdC Vetyver is also a great smelling soap, taking on almost a nutty quality to me. Many vetiver scents are overly dark ans earthy, but this one is not like that.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
I just looked up the price on this stuff. It's my first sticker shock experience with wet shaving.
 
I would think so. Some, like me, may prefer it to the artisan superfats, but I think it's in a different class (not in a good or bad way - but different).

I like slickness and I find it slick enough, though I'm sure some others are slicker. It's not the slickest I've used, but it's a great effortless lather, comes in several great scents, enough so that just about anyone can have a scent they like.

Most "traditional" shaving soaps were created to shave well enough to be competitive in the market place for long term sales.

The artisans are in a highly competitive market. In the US, there is virtually no barrier to entry, so anyone can mix up a batch, throw up a website with a paypal button and be an artisan. Doesn't mean they are, but that's how it is.

Now of those doing that, some make very good soaps. It's competitive and as they try to beat the competition they are driven to extremes to make the slickest, the most moisturizing and so on. And to an extent they reformulate to generate sales as many buyers by one and have the been there done that view. By coming out with a different base every so often, I believe some artisans are trying to overcome the "been there done that". So between competition in the market place and with a soapmaker just trying to push the envelope on the craft there is a lot of change going on in that space.

Established brands like MdC, Tabac and others don't reformulate very often or at all. After a long enough period of time that in itself can be a strength.

In a way it's funny how tradition bound wet shavers use soaps that today, are anything but traditional.
I agree with pretty much most of your thoughts through the two posts you have made here. I am originally from India and have oily skin as well. Soaps with a 'heavy' post shave would not be a good fit for me with that. Also, the lack of post-shave does not bother me as I use an after-shave plus CeraVe with all of my soaps.

MdC seems to check a lot of boxes and is a real good option for people who would just 'fire and forget'. Its a premium soap which costs more to buy but evens out in cost per shave over time. It does not use animal fat which along with its premium nature puts it in a special group. By far the quickest lather I have been able to build in my short experience.

However, if you are interested in trying different scents it may not be the best option since it has limited options. Though it is really good with how it lathers, I felt some of my other soaps lather thicker and slicker. The high sticker price off-the-bat could most definitely be a concern for some.

In the end its really about what one wants in their soap. To me, using or not using MdC, would be little about the cost but more about variety and scents that I am interested in.
 
I just looked up the price on this stuff. It's my first sticker shock experience with wet shaving.
It doesn’t have to be expensive. I try to buy samples exclusively where possible. The slow feed dog bowl is brilliant for lathering whether you prefer face or bowl.
 

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Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
I just looked up the price on this stuff. It's my first sticker shock experience with wet shaving.
Maggards has samples and they last a long time for samples.

In the end its really about what one wants in their soap. To me, using or not using MdC, would be little about the cost but more about variety and scents that I am interested in.
If you want stronger scents or a huge variety, they don't have that. I guess why I think they are good is they don't really have any polarizing scents like Tabac or Arko. People may not be over the top with MdC scents, but I don't think they'd bother anyone either.
 
Maggards has samples and they last a long time for samples.


If you want stronger scents or a huge variety, they don't have that. I guess why I think they are good is they don't really have any polarizing scents like Tabac or Arko. People may not be over the top with MdC scents, but I don't think they'd bother anyone either.
Absolutely nothing wrong with that. They are catering to people who like what they produce. They are not going to experiment and produce new scents. They offer samples so that people can try them and decide if it is for them or not as well. The buy-in without that could be tough for sure.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
If your expectations from MDC is to compete with the top artisans, you will be disappointed. @Chandu does a great job in the post above calling out that while all of these products are soaps by name, they are quite different in purpose/formulation.

The better comparison to make would be with other hard or triple milled soaps. I use Tabac as my benchmark. MDC falls short of the performance of Tabac in my experience. I regard Tabac as excellent so I’m notsaying MDC is horrible, just not excellent. I would call it pretty good.


Allow me to politely offer a rebuttal. I have tried most of the top artisans and MdC is absolutely my #1 soap. The only other soap I'm currently using is Pasha's Pride by WK, which is a close second.

While the MdC has a higher price tag, it lasts three times longer than the WK, making it actually cheaper in use.

If you check the "favorite soap" posts you will always find plenty of MdC answers from the people who use top shelf soaps.
 
I would think so. Some, like me, may prefer it to the artisan superfats, but I think it's in a different class (not in a good or bad way - but different).

I like slickness and I find it slick enough, though I'm sure some others are slicker. It's not the slickest I've used, but it's a great effortless lather, comes in several great scents, enough so that just about anyone can have a scent they like.

Most "traditional" shaving soaps were created to shave well enough to be competitive in the market place for long term sales.

The artisans are in a highly competitive market. In the US, there is virtually no barrier to entry, so anyone can mix up a batch, throw up a website with a paypal button and be an artisan. Doesn't mean they are, but that's how it is.

Now of those doing that, some make very good soaps. It's competitive and as they try to beat the competition they are driven to extremes to make the slickest, the most moisturizing and so on. And to an extent they reformulate to generate sales as many buyers by one and have the been there done that view. By coming out with a different base every so often, I believe some artisans are trying to overcome the "been there done that". So between competition in the market place and with a soapmaker just trying to push the envelope on the craft there is a lot of change going on in that space.

Established brands like MdC, Tabac and others don't reformulate very often or at all. After a long enough period of time that in itself can be a strength.

In a way it's funny how tradition bound wet shavers use soaps that today, are anything but traditional.

Thank you for that very informative explanation. So the traditional soaps provide a stable marker of excellence in what is a very fluid market where new artisans come up all the time and some may even stop operating and new soap bases come out seemingly every year.
 
MdC is on my top list of super buys [I have fougere and rose]. Great lather, feeling [during and post], ingredients, and super long longevity. Scents are simple and appealing - nice to have subtle lingering. I have done several orders from Shave Dash that really help with my main rotation collection. So glad to have gotten MdC from there first and then got the full sizes. MdC is a hallmark IMHO in the shaving world.
 
I didn’t love it at first. But I was following those YouTube videos that said swirl 5 times in soap and you’ll have enough for multiple passes. I thought it lacked slickness and I thought I wasted my money.

then I did some research and found some folks that said load away and use plenty of water. Totally different ballgame IMO. All of a sudden I loved it. Plenty slick.

one of my favorites and I have LOTS of soaps in the den.
 
I didn’t love it at first. But I was following those YouTube videos that said swirl 5 times in soap and you’ll have enough for multiple passes. I thought it lacked slickness and I thought I wasted my money.

then I did some research and found some folks that said load away and use plenty of water. Totally different ballgame IMO. All of a sudden I loved it. Plenty slick.

one of my favorites and I have LOTS of soaps in the den.
As someone who just got into this shaving hobby a few months back, I have learnt that it is better to load more than less, for me anyway. I think the key I saw in one video was 'little bubbles'. As I face lather, I keep on loading the brush till I see a good amount of lather in the container but make sure there are only 'little bubbles'. The few times I skimped on the loading (mainly lack of knowledge and/or laziness) it led to poor shaves and lots of weepers. That is irrespective of the soap I used.

I find MdC a very interesting soap. It lathers quick and lathers well but definitely is not as slick as the likes of my DG or B&M soaps. I still have not finished my MdC original sample but liked it enough that I ordered the Vetyver and Fougere samples as well. And I still have the Argumes sample from my original order. I am 99.9% sure that when those samples run out I will be ordering one of the tubs.
 
I love MdC. It is wonderful for all the attributes Chandu, fistfullofbeer and others describe. It is an exceptional shavng soap literally world class and I could never imagine being without.

Martin de Candre shaving soap. Ingredients; Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Aqua, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Parfum, Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool

Beehive shaving soap. Ingredients; Stearic Acid, water, coconut oil, shea butter, potassium hydroxide, glycerin, sodium hydroxide, castor oil, fragrance.

Sold my MdC to replace it with Beehive. Same niche. No regrets. $20 for 6 oz.
 
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I just looked up the price on this stuff. It's my first sticker shock experience with wet shaving.

It‘s one of the cheapest soaps I have because it lasts much longer than most others. Saponificio Varesino and D.R. Harris products are others, which last a very long time. Tabac is more expensive. Every single artisan soap out there is even more expensive.
 
They are terrific soaps, probably my second highest rated soap in my den. I have Original & Fougere. It is top tier in all areas except post-shave, as we all already know. What I realize is that what MdC does is focus on making the best soap & leave the post shave to the post shave camp of products. What I do is use Ethos Skin Food as my splash & I have a top drawer post shave with the MdC. A less costly option is to use Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm & use 7 - 10 drops in your hand & also splash some of your AS splash of your choice into your hand. Rub the mixture together then apply to your face. Both methods provide great post shave feel. And, of course, YMMV!
 
I didn’t love it at first. But I was following those YouTube videos that said swirl 5 times in soap and you’ll have enough for multiple passes. I thought it lacked slickness and I thought I wasted my money.

then I did some research and found some folks that said load away and use plenty of water. Totally different ballgame IMO. All of a sudden I loved it. Plenty slick.

one of my favorites and I have LOTS of soaps in the den.

I had the same issues. A five swirl load will make a lather that “looks” good, but that’s about it. Nice soap when loaded and lathered right....unless you’re a guy that can shave with water, then load lightly I guess, save some soap!

☺️
 
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