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Underrated and Hidden Gem Soaps

These are always fun to read and bad for those of us with SAD. Which soaps would you considered underrated or overlooked, the hidden gems and the secret weapons? Maybe it's the soap you don't tell others about in case it sells out.

My choice for an overlooked soap is The Copper Hat Shave Soap. It's a hard puck by a Canadian artisan and as such is a point of pride for me to use whenever I do. The ingredient list is pretty nice and their scent offerings are great. The soap lasts a long time and performs beautifully for me. Twisted Lime and Shaved Ice will certainly be in my rotation this summer.

An additional mention goes out to the Fendrihan soaps, particularly Robusto and Coconut & Vanilla. Don't knock the house brand soap, it's terrific. When they restock the latter I will be purchasing more.

Lastly I want to mention Henri et Victoria. I'm fortunate enough to live very close to Gatineau, QC where this artisan is located and as such their excellent products are never out of reach. This is another case where I have yet to find a scent from them that I do not like. The formula is simple, but the soap is tremendous. I do wish the prices hadn't been raised on this soap but such is life, it's still worth the money to me.

My soap tastes tend to stick with the classics and the mass produced stuff (man cannot live on Arko alone but he does try), but every now and then it's nice to break out the artisan soap to switch it up. We're spoiled for choice friends, it's a wonderful world of soap out there.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
Just began using Duc De Santal by Henri et Victoria, another Canadian artisan soap maker. Its a tallow base with lanolin and shea butter, triple milled and smells great. They have an interesting variety of soaps with veg and non veg bases. Worth a look?
 
Just began using Duc De Santal by Henri et Victoria, another Canadian artisan soap maker. Its a tallow base with lanolin and shea butter, triple milled and smells great. They have an interesting variety of soaps with veg and non veg bases. Worth a look?
Duc De Santal might be my favourite scent by them, it's a toss up between that and C&CC. Coeur de Vetiver is also quite nice.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
Duc De Santal might be my favourite scent by them, it's a toss up between that and C&CC. Coeur de Vetiver is also quite nice.
As much as I'm tempted to try some of their other offerings, I just have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to soap. Rotating a handful of triple milled soap, it seems like the pucks are just frozen in time. The above mentioned Canada has been attacked with vigor yet looks unused still. I'm pumping the brakes...lightly.
 
I know what you mean, I've seen someone on here in the past refer to PdP pucks as rocks that lather and that's certainly been my experience as well, milled soaps just don't seem to quit. Anytime I use creams I appreciate seeing the dent that I make in the tube or tub over time, but hard soaps appear largely untouched as if to melt would be a show of weakness. I'm convinced my puck of No. 63 is holding fast out of spite.

I've been trying to pump the brakes as well but the car seems to inevitably stop in front of a vendor!
 
Just began using Duc De Santal by Henri et Victoria, another Canadian artisan soap maker. Its a tallow base with lanolin and shea butter, triple milled and smells great. They have an interesting variety of soaps with veg and non veg bases. Worth a look?
There's been some debate in the forums as to whether Henri et Victoria's soaps are really triple milled. I know HeV claim their soaps are triple milled, but their soaps, however great they may be, are not hard pucks (e.g., PdP 63, TOBS, RazoRock WTP). Does anyone know on what basis HeV claims their pucks are triple-milled? For that matter, can anyone provide a standard/industry definition for the term "triple-milled" re soaps?

Thanks!
 
There's been some debate in the forums as to whether Henri et Victoria's soaps are really triple milled. I know HeV claim their soaps are triple milled, but their soaps, however great they may be, are not hard pucks (e.g., PdP 63, TOBS, RazoRock WTP). Does anyone know on what basis HeV claims their pucks are triple-milled? For that matter, can anyone provide a standard/industry definition for the term "triple-milled" re soaps?

Thanks!
I've been wondering that as well, especially given that the triple milled soaps are quite a jump up in price, they do appear to be just harder and more concentrated versions of the flagship soft soaps. They don't appear triple milled in the conventional hard uniform puck sense.
 
Is the Peter from Canadian Shaving Soap, @Scritchnscrub who was making wonderful soaps here at one time?

If you see this Peter, sorry I forgot your last name.
 
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Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
Currently available:

On the cheap end, La Toja And Pre de Provence. As far as performance goes, I could shave with any of these forever.
Mid Range, Martin de Candre, Castle Forbes (very concentrated and economical), Santa Maria Novella (twice as expensive but twice as much).
High end, ABC cream, Acqua di Parma. There’s nothing quite like them at any price. Worth the difference from the cheap end? Up to you!
 
There's been some debate in the forums as to whether Henri et Victoria's soaps are really triple milled. I know HeV claim their soaps are triple milled, but their soaps, however great they may be, are not hard pucks (e.g., PdP 63, TOBS, RazoRock WTP). Does anyone know on what basis HeV claims their pucks are triple-milled? For that matter, can anyone provide a standard/industry definition for the term "triple-milled" re soaps?

Thanks!
Triple milled simply means run through the milling machinery three times, so I guess you could say that’s the standard.

Most Artisans don’t own the expensive milling machinery. The process they use is an entirely different approach. There’s really no comparison.
 
I would love everyone to try Murphy and McNeil. My standard soap that never disappoints (well, not counting the rare scent).

Soaps I look forward to trying that may not be as popular (*looking at my notes*):
Lothor
Oaken Labs
House of Mammoth
Southern Witchcrafts (by all accounts, a fantastic soap--the polarizing issues are the scents)

and fwiw, I've never tried Cella but should.
 
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