Trying to figure out how many creams/soaps I have...

[beeranon]

Came across this thread here in the Shaving Creams forum, so I thought I'd answer the question for myself by using a different cream every day for as long as I could. No samples need apply, full size packaging only. Coming off Minimalist May, I had already started using something different every day just for the heck of it, but now there's a purpose: find out what I have, what I like, and what I don't like. I'm going to use this thread to keep the record, editing this post for as long as I need to (or am allowed to), or adding to the thread.

We're selling our house and moving, hopefully in about six weeks, so what I don't like will get released into the wild. Here goes!

June 1 - RazoRock Don Marco [**] Did not love the scent, but will give it a couple more tries; great performance.
June 2 - No shave
June 3 - RazoRock Cumba Cheech [*****] Great shave, great scent. A keeper.
June 4 - RazoRock Zi' Peppino [*****] Ditto.
June 5 - RazoRock Nonno Michelino (anyone detect a theme there? ) [*****] And again. Really liked this one.
June 6 - P.160 [*****] The almond Italian croap that got me hooked on'em.
June 7 - RazoRock Boston Tea Party [****] Great shave, not completely sold on the scent.
June 8 - TOBS Avocado [*****] Used a sample months ago, and did not like it; absolutely fantastic today. I must have more mature sensibilities now.
June 9 - TOBS Eton College [*****] A favorite scent, great performance.
June 10 - No shave
June 11 - Tabac (grated stick in a wooden bowl) [*****] Always good.
June 12 - Castle Forbes Lime [*****] Good performance, good scent, great for summer here in AL. Topped with Vintage OS Lime.
June 13 - RazoRock XXX [*****] Have loved this one from the first shave with it.
June 14 - Vitos Extra Super All'Olio di Cocco [*****] Super good stuff here, and the kilo brick is very reasonable.
June 15 - Pre de Provence [****] Very subtle scent to me, but excellent performance.
June 16 - No shave

 

[beeranon]

(cont.)

June 17 - Kiss My Face Cool Mint [****] Super performance, but I'm not a big fan of the scent, although it was pretty nice for a hot Alabama day.
June 18 - RazoRock Classic [*****] Another fantastic almond-scented Italian cream. A little softer than XXX, but a great shave.
June 19 - QCS Green Irish Tweed [*****] Due to Cella May and the embarrassingly large number of soaps/creams I've accumulated, I just got to a QCS product for the first time. Great performance, great scent, great way to start the morning.
June 20 - Kiss My Face Key Lime [*****] Subtle lime scent, great performance. If I can keep SWMBO away from the tube, it's likely to be a regular.
June 21 - QCS Old Spice [*****] Man, I love this cream. Going to use the vintage puck of OS soap tomorrow just for a comparison.

 

[beeranon]

(cont.)

June 22 - Vintage Old Spice Soap [*****] Seems a smidge spicier than the QCS Old Spice, but I may just be reaching for some difference. Slicker lather than I remember. Definitely a keeper.
June 23 - D R Harris Arlington Soap [*****] Very nice scent, and super performance. Very slick, plenty of cushion. First D R Harris product I've used, and I'm impressed.
June 24 - No shave
June 25 - Valobra [****] Four stars just for the performance. The scent seemed a little 'woody' to me; if I have to give up an Italian soft soap, I think this one will be it.

 

[Vlad]

Next task is to actually finish a cream! Finishing anything except samples takes forever.

 

[CHSeifert]

I just reached the 50 mark of purchased shaving creams in full pots or tubes

Got to stop buying now.....and start shaving using a LOT of product

 

[beeranon]

Next task is to actually finish a cream! Finishing anything except samples takes forever.

You, sir, are more correct than just a little bit! (apologies to Bum Phillips...)

I'm a little embarrassed by the number of full-sized creams/soaps/croaps that I have accumulated, and the act of trying each one consecutively is intended to let me decide which I really love and want to use up, and which I can live without. Had you asked before I started, I would've said that there's no way I can last a whole month without including samples, but it's looking like I may (I didn't count before I started, just started). Off the top of my head, I know I still have Arko, Palmolive stick, Proraso white tub, QCS Queen Charlotte, Trumpers Coconut Oil, and what will be the anchor shave, the classic Proraso cream in a tube that was the first cream I tried when I started my wetshaving journey (not this particular tube; I've gone through a couple...).

At that point I'm going to either go a month at a time with what's still in inventory, or, perhaps, use'em up one at a time, 3017-style. I think I'll have to limit myself to the top dozen, but we'll see.

 

[JeffM]

its not the soaps I have that count , its the ones I don't have

 

[mftoms59]

1180 Grams of assorted Soaps, 3045 Ml of assorted Creams, I'm set for a couple of years
Soaps:
3 1/2 pucks Tabac, 2 pucks Klar Seifen
1 Palmolive Stick, 3 pucks Provence Sante Green Tea
2 pucks Muellers Brushless Soap (Meh)

Creams:
3 3/4 Tubs AOS Rose (discontinued), 3/4 Tub AOS Ocean Kelp
5/8 Tube KMF Lavender, 1 1/3 Tube Turkish Old Spice (discontinued)
2 Tubs QCS; Cordovan, Cedarwood-Lemongrass, 1 Tube La Toja
2 Tubs J.M. Fraser Oriental Spice, 2 Tubs J.M. Fraser Mosswood (both discontinued)
4 Tubes Tabac, ~13 ozs Stephan Stay Smooth Conditioning Shave Cream, Brushless & Latherless

 

[beeranon]

OK, nearing the home stretch, so bringing the list together:

June 1 - RazoRock Don Marco [**] Did not love the scent, but will give it a couple more tries; great performance.
June 2 - No shave
June 3 - RazoRock Cumba Cheech [*****] Great shave, great scent. A keeper.
June 4 - RazoRock Zi' Peppino [*****] Ditto.
June 5 - RazoRock Nonno Michelino (anyone detect a theme there? ) [*****] And again. Really liked this one.
June 6 - P.160 [*****] The almond Italian croap that got me hooked on'em.
June 7 - RazoRock Boston Tea Party [****] Great shave, not completely sold on the scent.
June 8 - TOBS Avocado [*****] Used a sample months ago, and did not like it; absolutely fantastic today. I must have more mature sensibilities now.
June 9 - TOBS Eton College [*****] A favorite scent, great performance.
June 10 - No shave
June 11 - Tabac (grated stick in a wooden bowl) [*****] Always good.
June 12 - Castle Forbes Lime [*****] Good performance, good scent, great for summer here in AL. Topped with Vintage OS Lime.
June 13 - RazoRock XXX [*****] Have loved this one from the first shave with it.
June 14 - Vitos Extra Super All'Olio di Cocco [*****] Super good stuff here, and the kilo brick is very reasonable.
June 15 - Pre de Provence [****] Very subtle scent to me, but excellent performance.
June 16 - No shave
June 17 - Kiss My Face Cool Mint [****] Super performance, but I'm not a big fan of the scent, although it was pretty nice for a hot Alabama day.
June 18 - RazoRock Classic [*****] Another fantastic almond-scented Italian cream. A little softer than XXX, but a great shave.
June 19 - QCS Green Irish Tweed [*****] Due to Cella May and the embarrassingly large number of soaps/creams I've accumulated, I just got to a QCS product for the first time. Great performance, great scent, great way to start the morning.
June 20 - Kiss My Face Key Lime [*****] Subtle lime scent, great performance. If I can keep SWMBO away from the tube, it's likely to be a regular.
June 21 - QCS Old Spice [*****] Man, I love this cream. Going to use the vintage puck of OS soap tomorrow just for a comparison.
June 22 - Vintage Old Spice Soap [*****] Seems a smidge spicier than the QCS Old Spice, but I may just be reaching for some difference. Slicker lather than I remember. Definitely a keeper.
June 23 - D R Harris Arlington Soap [*****] Very nice scent, and super performance. Very slick, plenty of cushion. First D R Harris product I've used, and I'm impressed.
June 24 - No shave
June 25 - Valobra [****] Four stars just for the performance. The scent seemed a little 'woody' to me; if I have to give up an Italian soft soap, I think this one will be it.
June 26 - QCS Queen Charlotte [*****] Always great, scent and performance. Super shave this morning.
June 27 - No shave - travel day.
June 28 - Trumpers Coconut Oil cream [*****] This stuff rocks. Tossed it in the Dopp kit for travel, and face-lathered with a Simpson Case. Great performance for the first time trying the cream.
June 29 - No shave - vacation, hanging out at the pool.
June 30 - No new shave (limited soap/cream supply on my trip, and only one full size)
July 1 - No new shave
July 2 - Trumpers Almond soap [****-1/2] My daughter brought this back for me from Switzerland. Super slick, but slightly thinner lather than I'm used to; great shave, no irritation, though.
July 3 - TFS Barbe Rosse [*****+] Lovely almond scent, absolutely fantastic lather, slickness and cushion were spot on. REALLY glad I ordered 2000ml of this one after this first shave with it.
July 4 - No shave - sorry, Vlad! Yard work, then replacing fluorescent light fixture ballast, then cookout...
July 5 - Proraso White Tub [*****] I had fairly low expectations for this croap just from sniffing the tub, but it really shone once it was lathered. More cooling than I expected, and really good performance.
July 6 - Palmolive Green Stick [*****] Good enough that it deserves its own post (see here). Great lather, nice scent, superb performance.

 

[beeranon]

Still have at least Dr. Ditmarr (another one brought back by my daughter), Arko, Palmolive, Proraso tub, Proraso tube, and (I think) Ogallala Bay Rum to go. I count 25 in the list so far through 7/3, with 18 at five stars or more. Either I'm not particularly discriminating, or I've gotten pretty good advice on what to acquire.

I'll go with the latter. Thanks to all who've posted on creams and soaps. That's a pretty doggone good batting average and there's not enough remaining to make it go down much.

 

[Vlad]

Too many No Shave days!

 

[menghai]

I've only got samples, but I can tell I'll probably build up quite the variety.

 

[beeranon]

Too many No Shave days!

Agreed, though it's been a rather unusual month with a vacation trip for the wife and I, and prepping the house for sale. Been several weekend days that I was put to work as soon as she got up, so I saluted and went to my post rather than having the leisurely shave that's more typical.

 

[ackvil]

Next task is to actually finish a cream! Finishing anything except samples takes forever.

You are right, Vlad. Even more so with soaps. I am on the same puck of MWF I bought two years ago!

 

[STJ529]

I just reached the 50 mark of purchased shaving creams in full pots or tubes

Got to stop buying now.....and start shaving using a LOT of product

 

[CHSeifert]

 

[beeranon]

Used the Palmolive Green Stick this morning for the first time, and...wow.

Background first: I bought a Tabac stick about three months into wet shaving, and used it a couple of times without a lot of success as far as lather performance and coverage. I was a bowl-latherer from the start, and since I liked the scent, I grated the stick and pressed it into a wooden bowl and started loading it like a soap/croap. It easily became a favorite in the rotation, and I just never bought, traded for, or was PIF'd a shave stick. I got mixed up in the Never-Ending PIF PIF thread and ended up with stick of Palmolive, plus Rudy sent a stick of Arko with the LE brush, and there was some Eucris in a lot I got on BST...well, anyhow, it was time to man up and try a stick again.

So I dunk the end of the stick in the warm water I'd been soaking my brush in this morning and went to town on my face, wondering how this was going to turn out. Gave the brush (Klenzo restore in my avatar; probably a little big for face-lathering a stick, but it's what was out this morning) a couple of shakes and had at it. The lather came out so fast I was sure that it would be too wet, but I kept working it, and painted on a nice coat before the first pass. It was absolutely eye-opening. Slick, great cushion, and the beard reduction seemed greater than normal for a first pass. I think I could have headed out to the office right then, but why spoil the fun? Two passes later, both exactly like the first, plus a little touch up just because I could, and I was done with D'ed Finest Shaves of all the DFSs I've recorded in my Shave Diary. All but a BBS, and I may have pushed it, but it would have been for no reason.

Makes me think I'm going to get one of those plastic screw up tubes for sticks (where do I find them?) and start carrying a stick when I travel rather than a sample tub to load from.

Anyone have any stick suggestions?

 

[Vlad]

I have become a huge fan of sticks. I grated the first ones I had, and regretted it. To make loading even easier, I put some water in a bottle cap, and dunk the stick into it to soften while I shower--this small trick has made sticks 10 times as good as before.

I think tubes are available from WestCoastShaving. My very favorite stick is Speick, but all of mine are fantastic, DR Harris (especially hard, needs the bottle cap trick), La Toja, Valobra, Lea (tallow formulation), Irisch Moos.

 

[beeranon]

To make loading even easier, I put some water in a bottle cap, and dunk the stick into it to soften while I shower--this small trick has made sticks 10 times as good as before.

Do you find the cap from an IPA or a pilsner to be more effective?

I was thinking exactly the same thing this morning..."I need a little shallow dish to stand this puppy up in to soften a little while my brush is soaking."

 

[Vlad]

Do you find the cap from an IPA or a pilsner to be more effective?

I was thinking exactly the same thing this morning..."I need a little shallow dish to stand this puppy up in to soften a little while my brush is soaking."

Too small! I use a pill bottle top, which fits them perfectly, except for Irisch Moos which is soft enough it doesn't need soaking.