Originally Posted by
Obie
Gentlemen:
I agree with my good friend thebispendur. The world of soaps is a great adventure and it's a shame not to explore it. Many of us used Williams and VDH a long time ago — I did once or twice — and moved on to far superior soaps. Williams and VDH, therefore, are little vignettes from my early life. I visit the memory from time to time not because I miss the quality of those soaps; rather, it's the spent period, a short one, at that, during which I used them that I miss.
Williams has a clean and fresh fragrance, but a shave soap should offer more than just that. In experienced hands, many low-end soaps can make big lather. How good the quality of the lather, the creamy structure of it, the moisture, the glide, and the cushion, that is the bigger consideration. Big lather is no indication of quality lather for the shave.
Yet, if gentlemen wish to limit their experience to only Williams and VDH, I find that acceptable. To each his own. Who am I to criticize their choice? Better Williams and VDH, I say, than some foamy substance spewed from a can that pretends to be shaving cream.
Regards,
Obie