Thread: Soap / Cream Recommendations

Originally Posted by errnest

I'm going to agree with above post and say Castle Forbes, it seems expensive but a little goes a long way and it lathers very easily.

Alraz's the bomb is also very good but a little harder to lather.

Soap wise so far I like SRD, TGQ, and Mama Bears. I might get lynched for this but I did not like Tabac.

No worries here, I'm a Tabac fan, but it doesn't bother me. Hell unlike most other people that are into this stuff I can't stand the smell of rose scented anything. I'd really like to try The Bomb sometime, I've heard great stuff about it, that and some of Mama Bears Aged Spice or something. I need to watch my acquisition disorder right now though since I just blew a boat load on cigars

By the way anybody who likes Tabac may appreciate Geoffrey Beene's Grey Flannel cologne, smells a lot like it IMHO and isn't too expensive either.

I'd recommend any of the soaps or creams I have:

- Tabac soap
- Any of Mama Bears soaps. I've got five of them, and they are all excellent!
- Trumpers sandalwood soap
- As above in cream!
- Mitchells Wool Fat soap
- Castle Forbes lime cream

I think all of these are excellent products that give high quality and slick lather. You wont be disappointed with any of them!

I’ve used George F. Trumper Glycerin shave soap in a wooden bowl for years. It really produces a thick later that doesn’t go dry. It comes in various scents. I prefer the Almond scent. It a great soap and a re-fill last for months so a very good value.

In my rotation I have Castle Forbes, a couple of Wholly Kaws (love King of Oud),Glide Morning Ghost, Oleo Irving Park, DR Harris and I love them all

I've settled into a few things I like:

Mama Bear's Aged Spice
Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood soap AND cream, and I like their Cedarwood cream as well.

Some brands not mentioned that I have found to be excellent are: Cold River Soapworks, Captain's Choice, Barrister and Mann (especially their reserve line), and Wet Shaving Products Formula T. If you like creams, Truefitt and Hill makes some some great ones, even better than TOBS imho. I have the Trafalgar and will purchase another when it runs out.

You know, I just *love* the orange Van Der Hagen soap. It's friendly for beginners and still awesome for veterans. Of course, you can get yourself a very expensive soap and call it a day but the great advantage of this soap is that it's cheap enough, behaves like a champion and the scent is mild so even if you don't like it (which is an unlikable scenario) it won't bother too much.

EDIT
And Tabac, you just can't go wrong with it

Col Conk has Glycerin Shave soaps that are not expensive. Personally I always come back to Feo. F. Trumper Almond Shave soap. It comes in a wood bowl but you can just get the Re-fill and use your own Mug or bowl. If you have a good badger brush, the Trumper Soaps produce a thick lather that will not dry on your face. I get 8-9 months out of a re-fill so if you consider that it’s very inexpensive. I recently tried Trufit and Hill and wouldn’t hit a pig in the butt with it.

As someone above said, you'll get 30 different answers from 30 people so this is a personal thing. That said, I have a case of Wool Fat soap that I use primarily. My wife loves the smell and I like the rich lather it makes. Like all soaps it'll dry out if you take too long to shave a part of your face, but that's easy enough to fix with another wipe of your hot lather filled brush. Initial outlay is a bit high if you get the ceramic bowl and lid (I think it's worth it) and you'll want a half dozen pucks on hand as well, since one tends to run out at the worst possible times. I'll use many other soaps just to see what's out there, but Wool Fat is my go-to. Extra benefit is sometimes my wife will take the bowl and brush with her into the tub and use it on her legs. Somehow that translates into her being more understanding when I drop another $200 on more blades.

I have been recently experimenting with some other soaps and honestly some are superior to Geo. F. Trumper. I have tried D.R. Harris Sandalwood, Taylor of Old Bond Street, Lavender, Fine American Blend. I have some Trumper Coconut Cream I have not tried yet. The Trumper soap is really a nice soap but it takes longer to build a thick later even with a very nice brush. First you get nothing but suds and bubbles and you have to keep stirring until you work through that until you get a thick lather with no air bubbles. With the other soaps I mentioned this was not the case. Of those I just mentioned I like the Harris and the Fine equally well. I have ordered a few other soaps and creams. I will never know what its like to use Xpec, Castle Forbes, Czech and Speake or anything that cost $50 or more. I can afford it I just refuse to pay $60 bucks or more for a puck of soap or tub of cream. To each his own. I have been shaving with a straight razor since 1983, long before there was internet, youtube, shaving stores etc. Of course I now know that Thater for example has been making shave brushes since 1913 but how the heck would I have known that in 1983? My wife's Father and Grandpa were Barbers and owned an old school barbershop. I asked them to help me learn to shave with a straight razor. Grandpa gave me one of his personal razors that he purchased prior to WWII (the big one). My Father in law gave me his first strop from when he started Barbering in 1956. He gave me a Barber Hone and showed me how to strop, and how to tune up the razor on the Barber Hone. That is all I had until I first got internet in 1995. Even in 1995 there was very little information about straight razor shaving. But I did discover an internet based store in Atlanta that sold Men's grooming stuff. I ordered Col Conk soap a Silvertip Badger brush with a Col Conk logo, no idea where or who it was made by. I discovered Geo F. Trumper products especially Coral Skin Food which I will never be without. There was no information about Japanese water stones, Nortons, Naniwas, Shaptons or any of that stuff. Later, I found Lynn Abrams on the internet, this was prior to Straight Razor Place and way before Straight Razor Designs. I talked to him several times on the phone and he helped me with my honing, stropping and advised me where I could pick up some supplies. I am forever grateful; to Lynn. Good Luck and Good Shaving!