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Which French soaps to try?

Hi All,

My father currently lives in France, he is coming to Australia to visit in a month and I am going to ask him to get me some soaps before he leaves.

My question is apart from Pre de Provence and Provence Sante (which i have already asked him to get) are there any others people recommend I should ask him to find for me?

Cheers,

Turkey
 
Thanks Luc, seems the question has been asked a few times before :blushing:

He lives not far from Limoges, so not near Paris, he said there is a specialty shaving shop there. He said he might get time to get there before he goes. Apparently they have a brush for 200 euro
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Thanks Luc, seems the question has been asked a few times before :blushing:

He lives not far from Limoges, so not near Paris, he said there is a specialty shaving shop there. He said he might get time to get there before he goes. Apparently they have a brush for 200 euro

That's all right! :thumbup1:
 
Hi All,

My father currently lives in France, he is coming to Australia to visit in a month and I am going to ask him to get me some soaps before he leaves.

My question is apart from Pre de Provence and Provence Sante (which i have already asked him to get) are there any others people recommend I should ask him to find for me?

Cheers,

Turkey

Pré de Provence unfortunately is an American company and only available in the USA. Institute Karité, L'Occitane are french made, Plisson and Joris are French companies, but the soaps are British. I would thoroughly recommend Provence Santé.
 
My question is apart from Pre de Provence and Provence Sante (which i have already asked him to get) are there any others people recommend I should ask him to find for me?
Pré de Provence cannot be obtained in France, unfortunately. I wish it could, but no. The Yellow Pages of the French town listed on the tin do not know of a company 'Les Oliviers', and I even recall that a forum member passing through there asked the local tourist office, with highly surprised looks as the result. Whereever pdP is produced, I can only order it from US webstores.

The list of products you can try apart from the soaps already mentioned (PdP, PS, MS, MdC):

— Institute Karité (via webshop)
— La Maison du Barbier (which I found at a Cora mall, I think)
— Plisson (probably available at large stores like Lafayette; I know I saw it at Printemps in Paris; there's some speculation as to the likeliness of Plission and Joris)
 
Martin de Candre is one of the most highly regarded shaving soaps in the world. While the price may seem a little high the fact that the large jar will probably last over a year makes the cost per shave on par with other brands. If he brings you one item it should be a large jar of Martin de Candre.

Here is a link to Marco's epic review. Marco at his finest talking Martin de Candre
 
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... the fact that the large jar will probably last over a year makes the cost per shave on par with other brands....
I very much doubt this. It's still soap, which stock-standard ingredients. It therefore won't magically require substantially less than the average amount to create lather. What I do think is that many shavers when faced with the cost of the product will try to stretch every ounce of lather they get out from it, and thus 'pay extra' in terms of shaving quality.

And frankly, given that the main ingredients cost about €1 to €2 per kg in bulk, I find it very, very hard to stomach that the pricetag has been increased to approximately €200 per kg. To compare: Cella (which is attracting a very loyal following these days, with reason) uses more or less similar ingredients, and comes in at approximately €35 per kg over where I live; substantially less when you purchase the block in Italy. Marco is sure to be able to fill out the details, but I've seen prices as low as €15 in a very cursory web search. Speaking for myself, I can buy a kilo or Arko sticks for €15 at my local Turkish supermarket, and that's imported Arko. Even if these two brands lasted half as long as Martin de Candre, the economics would still be very much in their favour.

While I have no doubt that performance-wise it is an excellent product, Martin de Candre is, in the end, a very, very guilty pleasure. I don't think it is wise nor justified to argue that it's worth the ridiculous RRP: it is simply a decadent luxury item, and should be treated as such.
 
While I have no doubt that performance-wise it is an excellent product, Martin de Candre is, in the end, a very, very guilty pleasure. I don't think it is wise nor justified to argue that it's worth the ridiculous RRP: it is simply a decadent luxury item, and should be treated as such.

I have a number of Italian soap/creams and I still like Martin de Candre the best.

You drive your car:

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And I'll drive mine:

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:laugh:


OK here's the thing. His father lives in France and is coming to visit. Should he bring him A) something common he can find at any local store or B) something that is somewhat exclusive and almost impossible for him to get based on where he lives. Something special. What would he want his father to bring him from half way around the world, Arko sticks or a jar of Martin de Candre?
 
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The list of products you can try apart from the soaps already mentioned (PdP, PS, MS, MdC):

— Institute Karité (via webshop)
— La Maison du Barbier (which I found at a Cora mall, I think)
— Plisson (probably available at large stores like Lafayette; I know I saw it at Printemps in Paris; there's some speculation as to the likeliness of Plission and Joris)

La Maison du Barbier Products, are the same as Pilison with out the crazy markup, they are available in the Carefour chain of super markets.
 
OK here's the thing. His father lives in France and is coming to visit. Should he bring him A) something common he can find at any local store or B) something that is somewhat exclusive and almost impossible for him to get based on where he lives. Something special. What would he want his father to bring him from half way around the world, Arko sticks or a jar of Martin de Candre?
*sighs*.

Please do not interpret my contribution like you did; I didn't say what you think I said. I was SPECIFICALLY responding to the statement that MdC 'will probably last over a year [and make] the cost per shave on par with other brands.' In terms of your car analogy that would mean that you are arguing that the TCO per year of my Smart is equal to the TCO per year of your Ferrari because the Ferrari lasts longer before it is scrapped. Somehow, I very much doubt the validity of that statement. That's an important difference.

In fact, me stating next that the ‘Ferrari’ is a decadent luxury and should be treated as such is more or less exactly illustrated by you posting these images and subsequent explanation of the special circumstances the OP is in. Of course you could always pretend the Ferrari is a Smart, but I get the feeling that's a bit of a stretch.
 
*sighs*.

In terms of your car analogy that would mean that you are arguing that the TCO per year of my Smart is equal to the TCO per year of your Ferrari because the Ferrari lasts longer before it is scrapped. Somehow, I very much doubt the validity of that statement. That's an important difference.

Keep a Ferrari for oh 40 years and a Smart car for 40 years and see which one has the higher resell value. :sneaky2:

I must admit that my jar of Martin cost me zero (0) because my GF gave me one as a present but normally it would have cost about $50 US. Aquca di Prima cost me $62. I can see that my Cella and Velobra will not last anywhere near as long as the Martin, maybe just a third as long so to me the Martin APPEARS to over the long run cost about the same as the others. Now I will admit that Kiss My Face is dirt cheap and performs well but what would you rather tell friends, that you use an exclusive French soap called Martin de Candre or something called Kiss My Face. :laugh:
 
There is an entire line of shaving gear that sells on french supermarkets (like Carrefour and at seems also at Monoprix). It is called "La Maison du Barbier" and includes:
- Maison du Barbier badger brush (made by Plisson, but without the expensive price, cost around 20 euros),
- Maison du Barbier soap (in a ceramic bowl for 10 euros, puck only for 5 euros),
- Maison du Barbier cream (around 5 euros).

Monsavon is a very good soap (it is more like an hardened cream, like Proraso) and very cheap, between €1 and €2.

I think most supermarkets also sell the european versions of Williams and Palmolive, they are quite nice and very cheap.

And also check out this thread, it might become useful: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=167429

I higly recommend Martin de Candre also. Excellent stuff. Worth every penny.
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions :thumbup:

Would the Martin de Candre be carried by other stores or is it only online?
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Thanks for all the suggestions :thumbup:

Would the Martin de Candre be carried by other stores or is it only online?

I don't have the exact address but I saw on the French forums that MdC is carried in one store only, the rest is online.
 
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