I've been DE shaving for about seven months and so far have used MWF soap, which I find produces a great lather and is easy to use, and D. R. Harris Arlington soap, which is ok but not quite as good. A fancy trying a good artisan soap for a change, and was wondering if anybody can make recommendations on ones that are readily available in the UK. Some of the US-made ones do sound good, but the time and potential complcations involved in getting them look a bit daunting.
UK soaps
- Thread starter Cumberland Sausage
- Start date
I'm not sure if TOBS qualifies as artisan - but their soaps & creams are worth trying. If you're willing to expand the search to the continent: Tabac, Palmolive, Arko, Haslinger all get good reviews. MDC is both artisan and fancy (if you ignore the price/performance). Panna Crema is another artisan+exclusive choice (but has limited avail).
Having said all that - IMO given that you're getting good results with MWF (and think DRH is just ok) - you're unlikely to be blown away by the other choices. You should certainly try out other options - but I'm betting MWF will stay your top performer.
Yep, the grass is always greener on the other side!
you can easily spend the next three years just trying and using great soaps from GB!
Floris, Pens, C&S, GFT, DRH, TOBS, CF, Scottish Soaps, EJ, T&H, Simpsons, Creed (UK?), who have I missed??
And you only need to take a walk around St James square to try most of these!
you can easily spend the next three years just trying and using great soaps from GB!
Floris, Pens, C&S, GFT, DRH, TOBS, CF, Scottish Soaps, EJ, T&H, Simpsons, Creed (UK?), who have I missed??
And you only need to take a walk around St James square to try most of these!
IMightBeWrong
Loves a smelly brush
I want to try Floris No.89 at some point, just to feel like James Bond for a while.
From the looks of your hardware, you're already there!
Why does Floris 89 make someone feel like James Bond?
Floris 89 is mentioned by Fleming as the fragrance James Bond uses.
- Thread starter
- #8
My father used Floris 89 for decades up to the time of his death a couple of years ago. What puts me off trying it is that I'm sure I've read that it's been reformulated and is no longer as good.
Aha so....had no idea!
I've never used the old Floris soap formulation, but I can say that the current formulation is quite good both in performance and scent.... and the cream is nearly heaven to shave with..... the scent of the cream is just "THAT GOOD". I don't know why the cream smells so much better to me when I'm using it for a shave compared to the Floris No. 89 EDT..... but it does. Maybe it's because I find the drydown of the EDT a little bit strange and floral.... and I don't get that in the less complexly scented cream. Anyway, the Floris soaps are quite good IMO..... maybe not what they once were..... but I've never used the old stuff so I don't know what I'm missing
.Ben
Contact Floris in London and ask for some EdT samples...they sent me some @ n/c, paying postage to boot. I still have the bottles they sent...Special # 127, #89 and Elite. The samples sent are packaged in 2ml bottles. FWIW, there is mention (notes on the card) of Winston Churchill being among the devotees of Special #127
I've yet to purchase any of Floris's EdT's but one day will. I'm getting OT but I noticed reading one of Shamu1's reviews of a Floris EdT, one of the 3 I have, he mentioned picking up notes of cigarette butts in an ashtray...fancy that!, I got the same too and thought I was dreaming, and as odd as it might seem, that note is a good thing (think Tabac!=
Speaking of scent noir and who wore what...I've heard it repeated more than once Creed developed Green Irish Tweed for none other than Cary Grant yet GIT was released in 85', one year later Cary Grant died at age 86?!? Why would Creed develop an EdT for an aging actor<that's a rhetorical question>
others may have better and different ideas
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
I've yet to purchase any of Floris's EdT's but one day will. I'm getting OT but I noticed reading one of Shamu1's reviews of a Floris EdT, one of the 3 I have, he mentioned picking up notes of cigarette butts in an ashtray...fancy that!, I got the same too and thought I was dreaming, and as odd as it might seem, that note is a good thing (think Tabac!=
Speaking of scent noir and who wore what...I've heard it repeated more than once Creed developed Green Irish Tweed for none other than Cary Grant yet GIT was released in 85', one year later Cary Grant died at age 86?!? Why would Creed develop an EdT for an aging actor<that's a rhetorical question>
others may have better and different ideas
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
- Thread starter
- #12
One of the UK-made soaps my Internet trawling has come up with is the stuff from Arran Aromatics. Not quite artisan, maybe, but looks quite interesting. Just wondered if anybody on B&B has used it.
i have read good reviews of the 'scent from heaven' sold by bodytreatz on ebay, though i've never tried it myself... they have some nice sounding scents too!
English artisan soaps...likely the death of the pocketbook...
