What soap to get!

[AbbyW2]

For truly excellent lather and scent, Through the Fire Tinder or original TTF.

 

[BigJ]

Whenever you ask a question like this you're going to get the more mainstream popular soaps like Tabac, Proraso, etc recommended because everyone has these. Kinda like if I ask a general question: what's a good car? I'd likely get the response (Toyota, Honda, Chevy, etc).

If you change your question a bit you might get a different response. Like if I ask from people that have driven the very best high performance sports cars what is the best you've experienced. Then you might get some responses like Ferrari, Bugatti, etc.

People here are very kind and want to be helpful, so the guy that's tried three soaps will add a comment with his favorite of the three he's tried.

I've tried all of the Tabac's and the Proraso's or the world and to me they are solid but not truly exceptional. Metaphorically speaking they are the Toyota's and Honda's of the shaving soap world. After trying literally hundreds of soaps for me there's a lot better stuff out there just like there are better cars.

Here are some really excellent vendors to consider trying:
WSP Rustic - I like every scent from this maker, especially the Marrikesh. Very similar to the $65 Martin de Candre but only about $12
Los Angeles Shaving Co - great soap with some complex scents. I like woody lavender but others prefer Bespoke and Topanga Fougere which are much more complex.
Barrister & Mann - Some really excellent soap with some interesting scents. Some scents like Nocturne I love, others I don't.
Cold River Select - Excellent stuff, really excellent soap with all of the moisturizers in it. Outstanding in fact.
Captain's Choice - I'm really liking their Lime soap. Quality wise it's excellent.
Reef Point - Another great soap maker that offers reasonably priced samples. Excellent soap.
Strop Shoppe (SE w/tallow soaps) - One of my favorites, very moisturizing, outstanding stuff.
Soap Commander - Excellent as well. Offers sample packs of every scent for $14.
PannaCrema - Really nice soap and about the most luxurious thick rich lather I've encountered but the scents for me are ok.
Catie's Bubbles - Another nice soap with some great scents and some I don't care for. I really like the Baked apple, Fruit Loops, and LPV ones.
Phoenix Artisan - Excellent performing soap with outstanding bold scents. This one makes my wife say mmm, you smell good.
Tiki - Another very high quality soap. I love their The Captain scent.
Mike's - A reasonably priced very good soap that offers samples at a reasonable price.

Some of these offer samples and other's don't. Do by samples to figure out what soaps you like and what scents work or don't work for you.

Stirling is another soap that I often recommend to someone new because they offer large samples, it's slick as hell and it's inexpensive. It's more of a gel like consistency from the lather so know you're not going to get the big fluffy later from it. Still a nice soap.

Also, when you buy a new soap and use it for the first time take a plastic spoon and remove a little soap to lather in another bowl. This way if you don't like it or have a reaction to it you can sell or trade it as a new soap with one small sample removed instead of something that you took a brush to. Many here will not use used soaps for personal hygene reasons. Once you know you like it and that you're keeping it lather right on the soap from that point on. This is what I do with anything new I try.

Good luck.

+1. Good suggestions, especially about how to phrase the best question to get the information you want. I would add Haslinger to the list. I like their line.

 

[timetofly]

Whenever you ask a question like this you're going to get the more mainstream popular soaps like Tabac, Proraso, etc recommended because everyone has these. Kinda like if I ask a general question: what's a good car? I'd likely get the response (Toyota, Honda, Chevy, etc).

If you change your question a bit you might get a different response. Like if I ask from people that have driven the very best high performance sports cars what is the best you've experienced. Then you might get some responses like Ferrari, Bugatti, etc.

People here are very kind and want to be helpful, so the guy that's tried three soaps will add a comment with his favorite of the three he's tried.

I've tried all of the Tabac's and the Proraso's or the world and to me they are solid but not truly exceptional. Metaphorically speaking they are the Toyota's and Honda's of the shaving soap world. After trying literally hundreds of soaps for me there's a lot better stuff out there just like there are better cars.

Here are some really excellent vendors to consider trying:
WSP Rustic - I like every scent from this maker, especially the Marrikesh. Very similar to the $65 Martin de Candre but only about $12
Los Angeles Shaving Co - great soap with some complex scents. I like woody lavender but others prefer Bespoke and Topanga Fougere which are much more complex.
Barrister & Mann - Some really excellent soap with some interesting scents. Some scents like Nocturne I love, others I don't.
Cold River Select - Excellent stuff, really excellent soap with all of the moisturizers in it. Outstanding in fact.
Captain's Choice - I'm really liking their Lime soap. Quality wise it's excellent.
Reef Point - Another great soap maker that offers reasonably priced samples. Excellent soap.
Strop Shoppe (SE w/tallow soaps) - One of my favorites, very moisturizing, outstanding stuff.
Soap Commander - Excellent as well. Offers sample packs of every scent for $14.
PannaCrema - Really nice soap and about the most luxurious thick rich lather I've encountered but the scents for me are ok.
Catie's Bubbles - Another nice soap with some great scents and some I don't care for. I really like the Baked apple, Fruit Loops, and LPV ones.
Phoenix Artisan - Excellent performing soap with outstanding bold scents. This one makes my wife say mmm, you smell good.
Tiki - Another very high quality soap. I love their The Captain scent.
Mike's - A reasonably priced very good soap that offers samples at a reasonable price.

Some of these offer samples and other's don't. Do by samples to figure out what soaps you like and what scents work or don't work for you.

Stirling is another soap that I often recommend to someone new because they offer large samples, it's slick as hell and it's inexpensive. It's more of a gel like consistency from the lather so know you're not going to get the big fluffy later from it. Still a nice soap.

Also, when you buy a new soap and use it for the first time take a plastic spoon and remove a little soap to lather in another bowl. This way if you don't like it or have a reaction to it you can sell or trade it as a new soap with one small sample removed instead of something that you took a brush to. Many here will not use used soaps for personal hygene reasons. Once you know you like it and that you're keeping it lather right on the soap from that point on. This is what I do with anything new I try.

Good luck.

While David made some great points, one thing you will need to keep in mind - shave soaps come in many price points (cost/oz).

You mentioned that you are currently using Barbasol , one of the least expensive shave soaps on the market. Don't be ashamed, I am sure a great deal of us here at B&B have used it at one time or another - I have!!

Some of the soaps that David has mentioned are quite nice, but do come with prices that match. Keeping with David's car theme,the question becomes - do you want to drive a Toyota, Lexus, or Acura?

 

[stovepipe699]

I'd skip the mass produced stuff and get Mikes Natural soap. Similar price and better performance.

 

[Serge]

Get some samples sizes from some of the vendors that offer them. You can also start simple like Arko (an often mentioned soap) and go up from there to more exotic offerings. The choices seem endless; samples are good. seek them out. good luck

 

[numerounoo]

Arko is all you need

 

[TropicalHotDogNight]

DR Harris.

 

[dfoulk]

While David made some great points, one thing you will need to keep in mind - shave soaps come in many price points (cost/oz).

You mentioned that you are currently using Barbasol , one of the least expensive shave soaps on the market. Don't be ashamed, I am sure a great deal of us here at B&B have used it at one time or another - I have!!

Some of the soaps that David has mentioned are quite nice, but do come with prices that match. Keeping with David's car theme,the question becomes - do you want to drive a Toyota, Lexus, or Acura?

Good point. When I started out I bought a bunch of cheap soaps because I wanted to try a lot. Most of these soaps were disappointing and ended up being used in the shower or given away. So I really didn't save anything by looking for the cheap stuff.

Keep in mind that some of the soaps do last longer then others as well. For example a $10 tub of RazoRock (that most would say is a great deal and highly recommend) lasts me about a month per tub while a $30 Puck of Art of Shaving soap (that many balk at the price) lasts me about 4 months or longer. So for me the Art of Shaving soap is cheaper than the great value RazoRock soap in the long run. A $17 refill puck of Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF) will last close to six months of everyday use. A $65 dollar tub of Martin de Candre will last me about 6 months or longer so it's only slightly more expensive to use than the RazoRock soaps as well.

Most of what I recommended here is in the $15 to $25 range, I left some of the really expensive stuff off the list. Honestly, anything on the list I recommended is about as good as you're going to find anywhere going against soaps at any price.

When I was shaving with carts I would use the Gillette gel and a can would cost me about $5 and lasted me about a couple weeks. So $10 a month for shave gel is about where I'm at. Many of the soaps I listed are about equal to, slightly more, or even slightly less than the Gillette shave gel was costing me. The quality of these soaps is way better than the shave gel I was using and far far better than the Barbasol you're using now.

Here's some estimated pricing on the soaps I recommended:
WSP Rustic - $14
LASS - $18 to $30 depending on scent
B&M - $12 to $25
Cold River Select - $25
Captain's Choice - $14
Reef Point - $17 to $20
Strop Shoppe - $20
Soap Commander - $15
PannaCrema - $18
Catie's Bubbles - $20
Phoenix Artisan - small $11, large $18
Tiki - $15
Mike's - $9 refill, $12 tub, $1.50 1/2 oz sample
Stirling - $8 refill, $12 tub, $2.50 1 oz sample

If your goal is to find a great performing dirt cheap soap then just go with Arko for under a couple bucks a stick. It's an excellent performing soap with a musty lemon scent that some don't care for but I find pretty unoffensive. It smells like the thing in the bathroom at work that goes psssssstttt and makes the bathroom smell like lemons. Many will bash the scent but they can't deny that the performance is excellent.

 

[Brasso]

I'm going to suggest that your first soap be a tub of Proraso. Any scent will do, but I'd suggest the green. Most everyone likes that one.

Keep in mind that while Proraso is generally thought of as a very good soap, it's not the best. However, this is why I suggest it as a first soap:

It is very easy to lather, and creating a good lather is something that you have to learn. It will take a week or so before you figure out just what a good lather looks, feels, and shaves like. Secondly, Proraso will make a very good baseline lather for you to compare other soaps against.

Rob