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Top 5 recommendations for soap beginners

I’ve been happily wet shaving for 10 years (with a little break in the middle when I was afraid of my toddlers grabbing the gear) with nothing but a Merkur, Astra blades, and AoS Sandalwood cream.

Recently I’ve been expanding my cream usage and just recently tried my first soap (which I don’t care for a ton at this point). Since it’s kind of hard to get your hands on lots of this stuff without blind ordering online, and since the choices are massively overwhelming, what are the top 5 soaps you recommend for folks new to shaving soaps? It can be brands/artisans or a specific soap from said brand. I know everyone is different and people will enjoy different stuff. But what are just some solid soaps that new folks should have on their radar when starting out?
 
I have never used a cream other than the canned stuff back when I used a cart. My first soap was WSP Barber Shop . . . the non-tallow version. To this day it's one of my favorite soaps, it lasts a long time, but it has gotten a little expensive. I enjoy everyone of their soaps that I have. For a more economical, mass produced soap it's hard to beat Proraso in my opinion. I have both the white and the green. Stirling also gets a lot of love here and has a very large selection of scents.
 
Haslinger is inexpensive and great. Schafmilch would be my top choice there, but also try their sandalwood if you have enjoyed the AOS sandalwood.

DR Harris (Arlington is my favourite so far)
La Toja
Proraso
Speick Stick

Those would be my top 5 recommendations, all easy enough for a beginner and great enough to use forever. All moderately priced.
 
Stirling Soap Co. There are many green tubs in my cabinet. There is a bewildering number of scents, but the healthy 1 oz samples are a less expensive way to try a bunch before committing to a full tub.

I’ll second Stirling. The samples are great but so are the tubs. I like Black Ice(Licorice) Glacial Electric Sheep, Sharp Dressed Man, Orange Chill. There are a ton of scents I haven’t tried yet.
 
You'll see many recommendations for Stirling and I'll have to agree. Great performance at a very good price.

For me the easiest to work with would be Proraso red in a tube or a tube of Palmolive cream. I guess they're still creams, but they're inexpensive and have a great following for a reason.

Best bang for the buck would be the hard soaps from Pre de Provence and Razorock. The RR is cheaper overall, but the PdP is a better soap and easier to work with in my opinion.

My recommendation is to go the Pasteur's shaving website and grab a tub of Stirling whose scent strikes your fancy. No sales tax and free shipping makes it a great deal.
 
Another good option nobody ever Mentions is Cyril R. Salter Soap. It has been linked to D.R. Harris at a more down to earth prices.
That's officially called Cyril R Salter Solid Soap, to distinguish it from their shaving creams. It does seem very similar to DR Harris, but with a Lavender-Barbershop type scent. There's 70g and 100g sizes, plain refills packaged in plastic wrap.
 
You might want to give folks a budget to work with, since there are some rather expensive soaps out there. There's really no consensus on what is best. That's probably why there seem to be a million artisans.

Good soaps that are less expensive:
Haslinger
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Cella Extra Extra Bio
La Toja
Pre de Provence

Great list!! Especially as you include many of my personal favorites. :a29:

I would add Sterling, Cella (red) and Speick!!
 
For a beginner, I have to recommend La Toja. This shave stick is inexpensive, and the scent isn't off putting to most people. It is very easy to make a good lather with La Toja which is one of the most important skills for a shaver to master. I also agree with those that said Stirling. Their soap lathers well and the variety is staggering. It is a great outfit to do business with and I can't think of any other Artisan's that sell 5.8 ounce pucks of soap for $15. Come to think of it, I can't think of any artisan's that sell 4 ounce pucks of soap for $15.
 
I’m pretty new to this too, and have a success rate of 2/3 when it comes to ordering full tubs. Not a very good record when tubs can be so expensive. So what I’m doing now is buying batches of samples to try so I’m getting some experience with different bases and scent profiles. When I read descriptions I realized I’ve no idea what things smell like. Some things are safe. I know I like Sandalwood for example, yet not all sandalwood soaps/creams are created equal. For example, what’s tonka bean? My tonka trucks never laid beans, so 🤷‍♂️

Well, now through June 14 Maggard’s is offering 20% off samples and $5.99 2-day fedex on orders over $29. I just received 3 aftershave samples and 9 soap samples from Barrister & Mann and Declaration Grooming. Maggard’s has other brand samples, too. My recommendation is read the scent descriptions and take a stab. Each sample should get you 4 good if slightly wasteful shaves, you may be able to get more as your skill with lathering improves. You’ll learn quickly what bases yield best results on your face, even if you don’t love the scents.

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I’m pretty new to this too, and have a success rate of 2/3 when it comes to ordering full tubs. Not a very good record when tubs can be so expensive. So what I’m doing now is buying batches of samples to try so I’m getting some experience with different bases and scent profiles. When I read descriptions I realized I’ve no idea what things smell like. Some things are safe. I know I like Sandalwood for example, yet not all sandalwood soaps/creams are created equal. For example, what’s tonka bean? My tonka trucks never laid beans, so 🤷‍♂️

Well, now through June 14 Maggard’s is offering 20% off samples and $5.99 2-day fedex on orders over $29. I just received 3 aftershave samples and 9 soap samples from Barrister & Mann and Declaration Grooming. Maggard’s has other brand samples, too. My recommendation is read the scent descriptions and take a stab. Each sample should get you 4 good if slightly wasteful shaves, you may be able to get more as your skill with lathering improves. You’ll learn quickly what bases yield best results on your face, even if you don’t love the scents.

View attachment 1470630
Oh this is going to get dangerous for me. Ha.
 
My advice would be to start with samples and go from there. Early on I would save the full tubs for products you really want to try but aren’t available in sample form. I got most of my samples from Maggards and can recommend them. They might not have a ton of hard soap samples though.
 
Sticks or samples only, don’t commit to a full tub unless you’re sure. Sticks can be sliced or grated/compacted in a mug or empty tub for brush loading.

Spieck stick
Arko stick
Tabac stick
La Toja stick

The only tub you could buy with little to no chance of regret is the PdP 63. It’s a perennial favorite and inexpensive.

As others have mentioned, Stirling sells samples and you can find other Artisan samples at Maggard’s.

Enjoy the hunt. Beware of SAD.
 
Sticks or samples only, don’t commit to a full tub unless you’re sure. Sticks can be sliced or grated/compacted in a mug or empty tub for brush loading.

Spieck stick
Arko stick
Tabac stick
La Toja stick

The only tub you could buy with little to no chance of regret is the PdP 63. It’s a perennial favorite and inexpensive.

As others have mentioned, Stirling sells samples and you can find other Artisan samples at Maggard’s.

Enjoy the hunt. Beware of SAD.

I never ever though I would be in danger of SAD. I’m exceedingly content with my Henson/Feather blade combo, but the soaps… Oh, the SOAPS!!
 
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