It's been a bit since I've purchased ANY shaving soap. I accumulated a decent sized collection, but I stopped buying a couple years ago when my third child was born. My top was always Barrister and Mann, but the scents were hit and miss for me (I have some mostly unused tubs/aftershaves of Night Music and Hallows for reference.) What matches their protection and post shave feel? I like and have some Stirling and Fine soaps, but they're a step below IMO. My jar of MDC rarely gets used either. Just seeing if there's a new offering out that is comparable to B&M.
What's YOUR top current production soap?
- Thread starter wildcatstrat
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I would say that there are many offerings that match B&M. Some of them are more expensive, though.
Weirdly, since B&M increased their prices to $25/4 oz. it makes Aion Skincare (Grooming Dept.) soaps look mighty appealing at $29/5 oz. (and, it's probably more than 5 oz.). Grooming Dept. is the best performing soap IMO. He just dropped a new base (Maxima) at Top of the Chain, and coming soon to Pasteurs. they sell out quickly.
A great base for the money is Stirling Mutton Tallow, $15 for 5.8 oz.
Weirdly, since B&M increased their prices to $25/4 oz. it makes Aion Skincare (Grooming Dept.) soaps look mighty appealing at $29/5 oz. (and, it's probably more than 5 oz.). Grooming Dept. is the best performing soap IMO. He just dropped a new base (Maxima) at Top of the Chain, and coming soon to Pasteurs. they sell out quickly.
A great base for the money is Stirling Mutton Tallow, $15 for 5.8 oz.
Great analysis and answers from @Snowman94.
House of Mammoth may be worth exploring. Try not being uplifted by Alive; it's lovely.
A touch more exotic and expensive (yet enjoyable, for me) is Los Jabones de Joserra (Joseph's Soaps). Texture runs softer than B&M. Joserra is about to become my most-represented house.
House of Mammoth may be worth exploring. Try not being uplifted by Alive; it's lovely.
A touch more exotic and expensive (yet enjoyable, for me) is Los Jabones de Joserra (Joseph's Soaps). Texture runs softer than B&M. Joserra is about to become my most-represented house.
Just tried House of mammoth “Beloved” for the first time the other day and it was exceptional!
B&M is probably the best I've tried, but Hendrix Classics isn't too far behind.
Hard for me to pick between CBL (any scent) and Speick.
In my opinion, I haven't yet found anything better than PAA's CK-6 formula. When used with an Omega Premium Jade boar brush and plenty of water, it makes the thickest lather I've ever seen. The post shave smoothness has me continually feeling my face. I own & enjoy B&M, GD, MdC, SV, Canada, Mike's and many others, but the CK-6 formula has them all beat (in my opinion).
My advice, if you find a hard soap you enjoy, stock up and stock up well. They shouldn't spoil if you store them in proper conditions.
The way things are going, companies are either going under, reformulating or won't ship to certain locations due to restrictions or politics etc.
Thankfully, I stocked up on a couple Tallow favorites that are no longer available. I'm fine with limited variety in my lather product as the quality and consistency is worth using the same soap over and over if it's a 10/10. I don't rotate either, so once I start a soap I use it from start to finish.
The way things are going, companies are either going under, reformulating or won't ship to certain locations due to restrictions or politics etc.
Thankfully, I stocked up on a couple Tallow favorites that are no longer available. I'm fine with limited variety in my lather product as the quality and consistency is worth using the same soap over and over if it's a 10/10. I don't rotate either, so once I start a soap I use it from start to finish.
Missed Tabac and Astra SP. Almost missed MWF and Nuavia.
House Of Mammoth, Shire.
Declaration Grooming, Dirtyver.
Moon Soaps, Havana.
Murphy and McNeil, Ogham Stone.
Plenty of fine soaps to be had.
Declaration Grooming, Dirtyver.
Moon Soaps, Havana.
Murphy and McNeil, Ogham Stone.
Plenty of fine soaps to be had.
If limited to current production shaving soaps my top soap is Cyril R. Salter. New formula Tabac comes in a close second.
My best overall is tallow Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF) and I've enough of those to last years with my custom Van Der Williams blend (with some Arko, Dove, Ivory and Prorasso mixed in) that delivers similar core shaving performance. MWF ranks above thanks to scent, luxurious feel of the lather and post-shave feel.
My best overall is tallow Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF) and I've enough of those to last years with my custom Van Der Williams blend (with some Arko, Dove, Ivory and Prorasso mixed in) that delivers similar core shaving performance. MWF ranks above thanks to scent, luxurious feel of the lather and post-shave feel.
Spearhead and Noble Otter have really taken over for Declaration and B&M in my den. Grooming dept is great but the scents and releases are all just hard to nail down.
I enjoy and use something from each vendor you mentioned. What really struck me though was that I also have a very hard time predicting whether or not I'll like a Grooming Dept scent. While the soap performs exceptionally, the scent descriptions don't line up with my nose very often.
Edited to add: Abbate y La Mantia hard soap is my favorite right now
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Ethos and MacDuffs - love both of their bases
In a top-tier performing soap, here's what I am looking for:
- needs to lather easily (no blooming required)
- needs to be yogurty lather
- needs to be slick
- needs to be protective even with my most aggressive razors
- needs to feature good scents
- needs to be available without jumping through hoops
- needs to be priced reasonably relative to the quality and ingredients (not necessarily cheap)
- bonus points if I can get EO based scents
The soaps that I have in my den that fulfill all my requirements are:
- MacDuff
- Eufros Tallow formula (the vegetal formula requires blooming for best lather)
- Westman
- Gentleman's Nod
I do love some other soaps, too, but I could never buy multiple of them because I use them less often. For example:
- Oaken Lab (awesome scents but harder to lather right)
- Laugar (awesome mild EO scents but hard veg soap that needs blooming)
- needs to lather easily (no blooming required)
- needs to be yogurty lather
- needs to be slick
- needs to be protective even with my most aggressive razors
- needs to feature good scents
- needs to be available without jumping through hoops
- needs to be priced reasonably relative to the quality and ingredients (not necessarily cheap)
- bonus points if I can get EO based scents
The soaps that I have in my den that fulfill all my requirements are:
- MacDuff
- Eufros Tallow formula (the vegetal formula requires blooming for best lather)
- Westman
- Gentleman's Nod
I do love some other soaps, too, but I could never buy multiple of them because I use them less often. For example:
- Oaken Lab (awesome scents but harder to lather right)
- Laugar (awesome mild EO scents but hard veg soap that needs blooming)
Mike's Natural Soaps continues to be my favorite.
+1! Great advice!! There are simply too many variables to make a blanket recommendation IMO.
Moon soap has a very good base. For a vegan base, I find that the PAA ck6 base works very well, and for discreete and nice scents I would go with martin de candre.
Now I would argue that the market might actually have a lot of different bases and artisans, with soaps whose performance are on par. At the end for me the debate is more tallow/vegan, discreet/strong scent.
Now I would argue that the market might actually have a lot of different bases and artisans, with soaps whose performance are on par. At the end for me the debate is more tallow/vegan, discreet/strong scent.
My current top soap makers are:
- AION Skincare / Grooming Dept
- ETHOS Grooming Essentials
- MacDuff's Soap Company
- House of Mammoth
- Barrister and Mann
- Los Jabones de Joserra
- Zingari Man
- JabonMan Eufros
I would suggest two brands, Ethos & MdC. Give Ethos a try, top-shelf ingredients & scents with great skin food properties. And the other brand to try is Martin de Candre. Simple triple-milled soap that is the epitome of what a great soap is.
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