What is your favorite soap / cream / stick - why?
- Thread starter JKaboom
- Start date
Trumper Limes is mine. It was my first tubbed cream and all I used for years after switching to a brush.
I remember being excited upon discovering it was available (online) in the U.S. from Enchante.
I remember being excited upon discovering it was available (online) in the U.S. from Enchante.
While soap scents are not that important to me because they are fleeting, I do still like soaps & creams that are going to be decent smelling while shaving. Trying to find the very top on soap performance isn’t that important to me either.
While I want it to lather, I don’t find that it has to be billowing clouds of lather to get a good shave. Somewhere between copious and flat is just fine for my tastes. And while all shave soap should be slick, it doesn’t have to be the absolute slickest for me either.
I mean, ‘slick is slick’ right? I have never understood things like, “ slicker than others” or the “slickest soap out there.” Slick is slick. Most soap is slick when you add water. Same thing with ‘Cushion.’ What is that? “Cushion?”
I like slick and I like scent, but I don’t chase after or seek out anymore the best of the best despite finding ones that are quite suitable. When I first started I jumped on the stuff back then that everyone raved about in reviews. I got the kilo brick of Cella. Great soap with lather and scent. Story has it, it didn’t need to be stored in the refrigerator, a dark cool cabinet or closet would do. So I cut out a shaving bowl sized square from the kilo and stored the rest.
If I only used Cella every day it might have been fine. But I was new? There was a world full of other shave soaps to try? So while rotating thru just a small rotation of 3 or 4 soaps, I went to my bowl of Cella one day and it smelled like rancid animal fat? I thought, I’ll just go cut some more from the brick I have stored in my cool, dark closet
That kilo was rancid also. So while I enjoyed using cella for the short time that I did? I threw that rancid kilo away that cost me 40 bucks and never looked back. Or bought Cella again. Too much trouble to store in a refrigerator when you have a rotation of soaps.
Some important criteria for me anyway, is not just lather and scent. Is it user friendly? Does it store well? Is it expensive? It doesn’t have to be cheap, but it does need to be reasonably priced? However in saying this, can I get cheap soaps that perform and smell good and meet my user friendly criteria just as well as an expensive soap?
MWF was reasonably priced when I first tried it years ago. Lathered and smelled good too. And while it didn’t turn rancid by not using it every day like Cella, it did dry up, then cracked, then crumbled and turned to dust if I didn’t use it everyday. When I threw it away, it was just a ceramic MWF bowl full of soap dust.
Not very user friendly at all.
A good soap for me, needs to be able to easily store while I work a rotation of other soaps. MWF and Cella did not qualify.
Now the French soap L’Occitane Cade is a puck of soap I can get behind and support. It’s not cheap or expensive. It’s triple milled hardness not only lasts forever to get thru which makes it even cheaper and worth its price, but it stores forever in absolutely every environment.
It took me 10 years to get thru my first puck using it in a rotation of only 4 or 5 other soaps! 10 years! It’s Juniper scent while light, is excellent. As I said before, I don’t need, want or look for a knock me down Cologne strength scent in my shave soaps. It also lathers well and it’s soap? So it’s plenty slick for me also.
Soap sticks. I hear plenty of folks complain about the scent of Arko yet they would rave about Palmolive? I was totally opposite. The overbearingly strong detergent scent of Palmolive literally made my eyes water. It was just way too strong and overwhelming to put on my face and shave with. Yet Arko’s lemony, citronella scent? I find I miss it when I haven’t used it in a while. The stick is user friendly, it stores well, travels well, smells good and has insane lather? And it’s cheap? It slides right into my wheel house for what I look for in a soap. My favorite stick is the Spanish La Toja. Love the mineral salts in it. While I have a gallon sized zip lock bag full of about 30 sticks of the old formula? I have a few of the newer vegan formulation and I love it also. That’s a rare thing. I loved the old Tabac. I tried the new Tabac. It’s not bad, but it’s not the same. I can’t tell the difference between the new and old La Toja. I can’t tell the difference between the new and old Haslinger’s Schafmilch. I can with the new and old Tabac. I’ll still buy Tabac cologne spray for the scent, but the soap is in the past for me. I hope the MWF fans out there don’t find this to be the conclusion with their new formula.
Cream. I don’t use or purchase a bunch of creams anymore. I have some old Kiss My Face stuff still around in squeeze tubes for traveling, but the one basic cream I keep around as a standard for hot humid muggy summers is Classic Proraso Green. I love the cooling lather and the old world Italian barber scent. Never tried the soap because the cream just works. I always could go to a bath & body works and pick up the tubes of C.O. Bigelow 2 for $10, which was just rebranded Proraso, but C.O. Bigelow discontinued selling it so I just get Proraso brand.
The only new soap in the stable right now is Acho Brito Mogno. Cheap, lathers great, stores well and a scent to die for? But the jury is still out on this one, cuz I’m not quite sure yet if it just might slightly irritate my skin a bit. While I have read rumors of this, I could have just had a bad shave. We will see.
While I want it to lather, I don’t find that it has to be billowing clouds of lather to get a good shave. Somewhere between copious and flat is just fine for my tastes. And while all shave soap should be slick, it doesn’t have to be the absolute slickest for me either.
I mean, ‘slick is slick’ right? I have never understood things like, “ slicker than others” or the “slickest soap out there.” Slick is slick. Most soap is slick when you add water. Same thing with ‘Cushion.’ What is that? “Cushion?”
I like slick and I like scent, but I don’t chase after or seek out anymore the best of the best despite finding ones that are quite suitable. When I first started I jumped on the stuff back then that everyone raved about in reviews. I got the kilo brick of Cella. Great soap with lather and scent. Story has it, it didn’t need to be stored in the refrigerator, a dark cool cabinet or closet would do. So I cut out a shaving bowl sized square from the kilo and stored the rest.
If I only used Cella every day it might have been fine. But I was new? There was a world full of other shave soaps to try? So while rotating thru just a small rotation of 3 or 4 soaps, I went to my bowl of Cella one day and it smelled like rancid animal fat? I thought, I’ll just go cut some more from the brick I have stored in my cool, dark closet
That kilo was rancid also. So while I enjoyed using cella for the short time that I did? I threw that rancid kilo away that cost me 40 bucks and never looked back. Or bought Cella again. Too much trouble to store in a refrigerator when you have a rotation of soaps.
Some important criteria for me anyway, is not just lather and scent. Is it user friendly? Does it store well? Is it expensive? It doesn’t have to be cheap, but it does need to be reasonably priced? However in saying this, can I get cheap soaps that perform and smell good and meet my user friendly criteria just as well as an expensive soap?
MWF was reasonably priced when I first tried it years ago. Lathered and smelled good too. And while it didn’t turn rancid by not using it every day like Cella, it did dry up, then cracked, then crumbled and turned to dust if I didn’t use it everyday. When I threw it away, it was just a ceramic MWF bowl full of soap dust.
Not very user friendly at all.
A good soap for me, needs to be able to easily store while I work a rotation of other soaps. MWF and Cella did not qualify.
Now the French soap L’Occitane Cade is a puck of soap I can get behind and support. It’s not cheap or expensive. It’s triple milled hardness not only lasts forever to get thru which makes it even cheaper and worth its price, but it stores forever in absolutely every environment.
It took me 10 years to get thru my first puck using it in a rotation of only 4 or 5 other soaps! 10 years! It’s Juniper scent while light, is excellent. As I said before, I don’t need, want or look for a knock me down Cologne strength scent in my shave soaps. It also lathers well and it’s soap? So it’s plenty slick for me also.
Soap sticks. I hear plenty of folks complain about the scent of Arko yet they would rave about Palmolive? I was totally opposite. The overbearingly strong detergent scent of Palmolive literally made my eyes water. It was just way too strong and overwhelming to put on my face and shave with. Yet Arko’s lemony, citronella scent? I find I miss it when I haven’t used it in a while. The stick is user friendly, it stores well, travels well, smells good and has insane lather? And it’s cheap? It slides right into my wheel house for what I look for in a soap. My favorite stick is the Spanish La Toja. Love the mineral salts in it. While I have a gallon sized zip lock bag full of about 30 sticks of the old formula? I have a few of the newer vegan formulation and I love it also. That’s a rare thing. I loved the old Tabac. I tried the new Tabac. It’s not bad, but it’s not the same. I can’t tell the difference between the new and old La Toja. I can’t tell the difference between the new and old Haslinger’s Schafmilch. I can with the new and old Tabac. I’ll still buy Tabac cologne spray for the scent, but the soap is in the past for me. I hope the MWF fans out there don’t find this to be the conclusion with their new formula.
Cream. I don’t use or purchase a bunch of creams anymore. I have some old Kiss My Face stuff still around in squeeze tubes for traveling, but the one basic cream I keep around as a standard for hot humid muggy summers is Classic Proraso Green. I love the cooling lather and the old world Italian barber scent. Never tried the soap because the cream just works. I always could go to a bath & body works and pick up the tubes of C.O. Bigelow 2 for $10, which was just rebranded Proraso, but C.O. Bigelow discontinued selling it so I just get Proraso brand.
The only new soap in the stable right now is Acho Brito Mogno. Cheap, lathers great, stores well and a scent to die for? But the jury is still out on this one, cuz I’m not quite sure yet if it just might slightly irritate my skin a bit. While I have read rumors of this, I could have just had a bad shave. We will see.
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Effectiveness for ensuring a close shave: Kiss My Face
Most enjoyable overall - scent, comfort, consistency - Gillette Pure
Safest play when rolling the dice on a vintage, unfamiliar or otherwise unusual blade: Cremo
Best for its almost curative properties when shaving on a morning I'd rather be dead: Arko
Most enjoyable overall - scent, comfort, consistency - Gillette Pure
Safest play when rolling the dice on a vintage, unfamiliar or otherwise unusual blade: Cremo
Best for its almost curative properties when shaving on a morning I'd rather be dead: Arko
I was looking into La Toja, for it's ability to lather with hard water. I read it's "reformulated", what do you think of the new stuff?
I've used soaps and creams, and do prefer creams, the two favourites are:
Proraso Wood & Spice Shaving Cream
Proraso Sandalwood & Shea Butter Nourish Shaving Cream
Proraso Wood & Spice Shaving Cream
Proraso Sandalwood & Shea Butter Nourish Shaving Cream
