Shaving soaps?

I have a friend who is a DE shaver. He is into soaps. Fortunately his recommendations have been good, because I've tried a few of them:

1- Col. Conk (Almond)
2- Synergy Soaps (Lavender Cedar)
3- Proraso (Green)
4- Tabac
5- Aged Spice (Mama Bear Soaps)

This is roughly the order I purchased in, and Col. Conk is probably the soap I've used the most, but I have a few shaves on all of the others. I use Proraso with the pre-shave and the soap. Proraso works well and it isn't very expensive, but I have to be in the mood for menthol. Tabac is very nice with a subtle sent and a nice glide.

Only recently did I try the Aged Spice, I was really surprised at how soap, blade, and skin worked together. I have no idea if this is because it is hand made and bit more expensive. I've read the library info on soaps. I've read the information on the Mama Bear site as well. There is a lot to soaps and fragrances. Right now I'm interested in good shave performance, and complimentary scents for aftershave and soaps.

The only thing I've taken away from the SRP library on soap so far is that I use very low power in the microwave to barely melt the soaps to fit my cups and bowls. Two or three on the power for 30 seconds at a time seems to just melt them without much heating. Is that hurting the soap at all? Smells and feels the same pre and post melt, but what do I know...

I think I'd like to try more handmade soaps like Mama Bear Soaps. Does anyone have recommendations for handmade soaps? Also if you pair them with a particular aftershave or splash what do you use? Last I see Mama Bear uses a sample shop, I like that, any other vendors selling samples?

Best Regards,

Ed

Ed, yes I have used another soap company , Sterling soap,, inexpensive and I haven't found one I didn't like, they have samples and Rod is very generous with them tc

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Originally Posted by EdHutton

I have a friend who is a DE shaver. He is into soaps. Fortunately his recommendations have been good, because I've tried a few of them:

1- Col. Conk (Almond)
2- Synergy Soaps (Lavender Cedar)
3- Proraso (Green)
4- Tabac
5- Aged Spice (Mama Bear Soaps)

This is roughly the order I purchased in, and Col. Conk is probably the soap I've used the most, but I have a few shaves on all of the others. I use Proraso with the pre-shave and the soap. Proraso works well and it isn't very expensive, but I have to be in the mood for menthol. Tabac is very nice with a subtle sent and a nice glide.

Only recently did I try the Aged Spice, I was really surprised at how soap, blade, and skin worked together. I have no idea if this is because it is hand made and bit more expensive. I've read the library info on soaps. I've read the information on the Mama Bear site as well. There is a lot to soaps and fragrances. Right now I'm interested in good shave performance, and complimentary scents for aftershave and soaps.

The only thing I've taken away from the SRP library on soap so far is that I use very low power in the microwave to barely melt the soaps to fit my cups and bowls. Two or three on the power for 30 seconds at a time seems to just melt them without much heating. Is that hurting the soap at all? Smells and feels the same pre and post melt, but what do I know...

I think I'd like to try more handmade soaps like Mama Bear Soaps. Does anyone have recommendations for handmade soaps? Also if you pair them with a particular aftershave or splash what do you use? Last I see Mama Bear uses a sample shop, I like that, any other vendors selling samples?

Best Regards,

Ed

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Ed, some soaps will melt down just fine in the microwave, and some will be ruined. I know MWF doesn't respond well to the microwave, so I use a hand held grater then pack the shavings into an 8 ounce pyrex bowl. The whole process takes about 10 minutes and the soap seems to lather better after it has been grated.

Maggards does several different sampler packs of soaps, creams, aftershaves, preshaves etc. Also Garys sample shop has a decent selection. Always try to do a sample before I buy. Cant stand to have buyers remorse because of a scent or performance I don't like. Looks like you started out with some good soaps. Nothing wrong with that line up.:tu

Whoo's Soap is not bad at all.
Martin de Candre (MdC) is great but very pricey mainly because the only shipping option is air from France.
Mama Bear is great
I also enjoy SRD soaps India Bay and Opus X

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Originally Posted by Wayne1963

Ed, some soaps will melt down just fine in the microwave, and some will be ruined. I know MWF doesn't respond well to the microwave, so I use a hand held grater then pack the shavings into an 8 ounce pyrex bowl. The whole process takes about 10 minutes and the soap seems to lather better after it has been grated.

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+1 - After an "incident" involving a puck of soap and the microwave that went...shall we say..."sideways" I have switched to press in for the soft stuff and the hand crank grater for all the others. Pack it in layers and I found it helped shorten the MWF learning curve. The first couple of times you use the grated stuff you will pick up small bits of soap, this ends shortly.

Smooth Shaving...

Thanks! After reading a few people's comments on MWF, I thought I have to give that a try. It's on order. I'm going to try samples of other soaps recommended here too. Many years ago I did a lot of medical instrument work; which means washing your hands and wearing surgical gloves a lot. We kept a small tub of lanolin in the shop. It really kept your hands from cracking in the winter. Sounds like great stuff to put in shave soap. I will definitely try the grater approach to MWF soap and avoid the microwave.

Any other soap not like the microwave? It is really nice to have the soap fit the container perfectly and it is easy to do, but I don't want to screw up an expensive cake of shaving soap.

Best,

Ed

I've been using the Sterling soaps mentioned above. They are soft enough to simply press into a bowl or tin without heating or grating.
I have found a few "flavors" that I am not particularly fond of, but none that I find offensive. An added bonus is that they sell bath soaps in many of the same fragrances, carrying the "matching scent" of your shave to an extreme.

Lately I've been using Red Leaf Soaps. They have some different scents. The smell takes over the bathroom while shaving, but it washes right off so it doesn't interfere with aftershave or cologne afterwards. The soaps are glycerin based and samples are available.

The important thing about melting soaps is that treatment is only for glycerin based soaps. The other types will be ruined and create a big mess if you try it.

I've found just about every soap no matter how strong smelling the scent, will totally wash off once you're finished shaving. The only soap I've used that produces a lingering scent is X-pec. So, matching soap to other scents isn't necessary unless you have one of the few that does linger.

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Originally Posted by JTmke

*SNIP*
Martin de Candre (MdC) is great but very pricey mainly because the only shipping option is air from France.

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MdC is available from The Olde Town Shaving Company (you have to contact them for pricing).

I like the soaps from Queen Charlotte Soaps (they do samples!), and look forward to trying the stuff from Wm. Neumann & Co. (I love their aftershaves!).

Mike's are great soaps. If you shave in the evening I can highly recommend his Hungarian Lavender. It is made from an intoxicating essential oil and is like aromatherapy and highly relaxing before bed time.

That sounds quite nice. I have an appreciation for those who can paint pictures with words... particularly, of the experiences of the senses.

I've run the gamut on soaps, Mike's, MWF, and MdC is where I've landed.

I want to try that Michaels wool fat soap I hear it has superior glide but the fragrance is either a love or hate it type thing. So far green prorasso is my go to soap.

I really like the green Proraso. I just have to be in the mood for menthol. I use both the green pre-shave and the green soap. The pre-shave under a hot towel is just outstanding. I like it so much, I have just gone with the pre-shave, hot towel, and then used a different soap.

The small amount of soap lathers up in a hot scuttle to make a mountain of great lather. Oddly the lather must be insulating to some degree, because I have frequently seen the lather heat up and be hotter on the pass two application.

I definitely love the scuttle and hot lather, and it may be my imagination but it seems easier to whip up good lather in the heated scuttle. It is also nice to use to apply lather for a hot towel and lather beard prep pre-shave. When I return to shave the lather in the scuttle is still hot.

I am really working on getting the barbershop experience at home. The green Proraso definitely comes very close, and shave comfort is very good. I am just not in the mood for menthol all the time.

Anyone sing the praises of their other products? The price on the green pre-shave and soap is not bad for as well as it works.

Best,

Ed

RollinCoal69,

Thanks for the tip on Gary's Sample Shop. I have some samples on order. I'm looking at the rest of the recommendations too.

Thanks,

Ed

So the Mitchell Wool Fat soap came in, and I purchased the ceramic MWF dish with cover to go with it. For some reason I like the cups and dishes for the soaps and have a small collection started. Someone suggested this soap doesn't melt well and recommended grating it to fit the soap dish. So I grated up the cake and pressed it to fit in the dish. I compacted the grated soap using a bartender mulling tool. It worked great.

MWF soap for me has a subtle talcum scent with a light floral note I really can't place. It isn't particularly fragrant from my point of view. It certainly doesn't linger on the skin or compete with the after shave lotion. The scent is pleasant enough for me, but the real benefit is the glide and the lanolin soaking into my skin.

I use a scuttle. I really haven't yet found anything that doesn't lather nicely in the scuttle. MWF soap was no different. It lathers nicely. Lots of little bubbles, holds water well, thicker than some soaps, and it takes a long time to dry on my skin. I've only tried a couple of shaves now. I don't know if this a new go to brand, but I certainly like the results. It works very well.

Thank you all for the tips on MWF and the ideas for how to get it in the dish. MWF works very well indeed. I'm going through this thread and will definitely try the other recommendations. I like having different soaps to rotate through. I bet as I get more experience I'll develop more refined views of the qualities of the different soaps.

Best,

Ed

RollinCoal69,

The samples form Garry showed up. I'm working through them. Tiny shot sized bottle still seem to be enough for perhaps three shaves. This is a fabulous service. I rather like some of them just by smell and definitely don't like some of the others as well. I'm trying them on my skin as I shave to be sure. Pinaud Clubman made the cut early and is on order.

Thank you again. This is definitely the way to try out these scents. I'd hate to buy a bigger more expensive bottle of something I definitely don't like. it is interesting, I have a stronger reaction to the after shave scents. I have soap scents I like better (right now Col Conk Almond and Mama Bear's Aged Spice are my favorites), but I haven't found any soap scents I just don't care for. That has not proven true with the after shaves. Some of the more floral aftershaves are just not my cup of tea.

Someone else mentioned Maggard for samples -- anyone else have a good sample shop recommendation that hasn't turned up in this thread yet?

Best,

Ed

A recent addition to my stable is the Baum Be soap-cream really. It's top notch stuff and I pretty much have all the top soaps (C&S, MDC, Xpec, CF, etc) and I think it's at least as good as X-Pec maybe better.

I'm a huge fan of Barrister and Mann soaps. I've got most of the other high end and low end soaps often discussed here. But I'd say 3 out of 5 shaves are with Barrister and Mann soaps. The scents are great and the lather is slick and protective. I'm a big fan.

This is far down the list of soaps I'd recommend, but I've always liked the smell of Old Spice. Amazon has tubes of Old Spice shaving cream for sale. It turns out the source is India and delivery takes a awhile. Mama Bear's Aged Spice showed up in the search and I purchased that as well.

So here is the rub, Mama Bear's Aged Spice is a much nicer soap (glide, scent, and skin conditioning) than the real thing sourced out of India. The real stuff finally showed up in the mailbox from India and I gave it a try. There is nothing wrong with it, but the scent is not as strong as I remember. It lathers up fine and seems to work okay.

But all in all, I actually like the Mama Bear's product better. Now to be fair this is the first time I've used the Old Spice shaving cream in a tube. The soap I recall was a puck that came in a cup with a ship on it. The Mama Bear's product seems much closer to the old shaving cup and soap than the tube of cream sourced out of India.

Curious if anyone else has tried the Old Spice cream and found something different?

Best,

Ed

Always had good results with C&E soap although it really doesn't seem to be a crowd favorite. Go figure.....

Have to say the most consistent, forgiving, and foolproof soap out there is Cella. You just cannot go wrong with that stuff.

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Originally Posted by Phoenix51

Have to say the most consistent, forgiving, and foolproof soap out there is Cella. You just cannot go wrong with that stuff.

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Unless, you can't stand the scent of almonds. Smells like my grandmother's perfume.

That being said, I use it on barber hones and have used it with other soaps combined to produce "different" scents. It lathers well, glides well, is very affordable and doesn't "dry out" quickly.

If you can handle the scent, Cella is a no-brainer for the price.

Simon

Another Barrister & Mann fan, here. They do offer a sample pack, too.

I know what you're talking about with the Old Spice cream. It's good stuff, and worth the price, but it's just not the same as the original soap.

I love the Cella as well but like Siguy said, you have to like the smell of marzipan!

I like the Blades Grim "Smoulder" the scent is amazing but their razors are crap!