Thread: What would you recommend as a first soap or first cream?

I really believe that Tcheon Fung Sing is a super performer for the price. Everyone has their favorite cheap soaps, and I really dig this one. Personal preference, but I love this soap.

Tcheon Fung Sing Hard Shaving Soap Refill | RoyalShave

First - we all need to be glad that we have so many choices...it could be: Williams or VDH as our only options...

And the Proraso/Bigelow, Tabac, Spieck...all great choices.

I recently started caring a 1oz/30g container of Proraso as a travel soap and was reminded how well it seemed to work with any water/brush/method combo - as good a place as any to start.

Good luck, smooth shaving, and enjoy the ride!

Another vote for Proraso. Proraso green tub. The menthol and eucalyptus sensation and smell I still cannot shake.

Cella-I bought it and didn't realize that it smelled like almonds. Lathered well and was price point acceptable, but it smelled like my grandmother's perfume.

I had a hard start with a soap that was difficult to lather. I went to Van Der Hagen and was finally able to lather, but then I went to a soap based on a friend SRPer and haven't regretted buying the Proraso Green and will do so again.

Best wishes,

La'Toja shave stick or cream
RSC (Real shaving cream company)
Mikes Natural soaps

Higher priced:
FitJar
Martin de Candre

I use everything from Arkostick on the low end (Amazon has it for about $3) which I like for traveling, specially to Pre de Provence soap or Taylor of Old Bond Street or DR Harris Arlington cream (which is my favorite). Like others, I'm sure, I've bought about 15 of a large variety, and found it's an expensive way to experiment. Google shaving soap samples, and you find some vendors online that sell small assortments (including SRD).

Something to think about if there's an art of shaving store near you they'll give you free sample tubes of their unscented cream. Enough to try a few practice lathers with. Also some Dillard's stores have the AoS stuff and will give you freebie trials also.

That said I like their Sandalwood cream. Bought the tub and it lasts forever it seems!!!

Here's another place for samples of soap or cream. You can mix or match a selection fairly cheaply. I got 3 or 4 shaves from each sample. http://http://www.theshavedenshop.co...gory&cat_id=23

I started with the Van der Hagen premium set, which cost all of $9 and got me a bowl, a brush and a puck of Deluxe soap. It worked fine, and I'm still using the soap, as well as the rest of it. Probably will always have VDH soap around as long as I can get it cheap. I use it most often.
But if I had it to do over again, I'd go to the local equivalent of the Dollar Store, GoodWill, etc., and buy a small, cheap bowl, or scrounge one up from out of my kitchen for that matter. I'd buy a better brush and a tube of C. O. Bigelow cream. Can't say enough about the C. O. Bigelow cream.

Tabac cream
Musgo Real Original cream
Irisch Moos cream
Body Shop Macca Root cream
Musgo Real Orange Amber cream
C O Bigalow cream
Proraso soap
Truefit and Hill Trafalgar cream
TOBS Eton College cream
O Melhor cream
Martin De Candre fougere soap

(not in any order, but MDC is the best soap I've tried, Tabac is close to being the best cream)

I would suggest going to Shoppers drug mart and getting either Proraso, Real shave Co. or Nivea cream. The Nivea never gets mentioned around here but is a great product.