Thread: Next (good) soap suggestion

My name is Milan and prefer soaps to creams. There, I said it!!!

Now that that's out of the way, here is my question. I have tried MdC (LOVE it!!!!), Tabac (close second) and MWF (it's a nightmare in ultra hard water I have). Those three, with the possible exception of Dr. Harris, usually cover all the responses to the "what soap should I buy" question.

I'm interested in hearing recommendation on soaps that are NOT those. I'm one those guys who don't mind paying a higher price, since you usually get what you pay for. What are your opinions of the aforementioned Dr. Harris (and scent), or say, Truefitt and Hill, Penhaligons, GFT, Czech and Speak, Kent or TOBS? Perhaps something I didn't mention... Again, I'm interested in good before cheap, but the nature of my question is such that there is no wrong answer.

Cheers!
-Milan

I really like the DR Harris Windsor shaving soap, great lather, and the scent is very nice, the bowl say's, "A Truly British Shaving Experience"...or something like that. To me, if you were to get a shave from a high end English Barber, when you left, you'd probably smell like the DR Harris Windsor.....

Any Harris soap, they're really great just like MWF and Tabac. TOBS has good creams, although Truefitt and Hill make better creams and no soaps. I've never tried a TOBS soap, although I have heard that their creams are better than their soaps. HTGAM makes pretty good soaps too. I have a TAOS lavender cream that's pretty good, although it's a tad overpriced.

D.R. Harris are my favorite. I have Marlborough (elegant woody smell) Windsor, Arlinghton and Lavender.
I also have TOBS soaps (sandalwood and Jermyn str.). Descent soaps but definitely inferior to D.R. Harris or MWF.

You may also want to try Italian tallow based soaps. Cella, Boelis Panama, or Valobra (the stick or the new formula soap) are top quality soaps, worth trying.

How about the new Valobra shave soap pucks. I have been using the patchouli scented version and like it. There is also the Fitjars shave soap pucks. I have been using their Slatteroy and Neroli scented pucks with satisfaction. I have Tabac, MWF and DR Harris Arlington and these compare favourably to the Valobra and Fitjars for me.

Bob

The Kent soap pucks are MWF.. branded for Kent. TOBS Sandalwood is one of my favorites and belongs in every shave den beside MWF, Palmolive, Arko, and Tabac. If you want to try some of the artisan soaps, Mike's is one of the most often recommended & the fact that he struggles to keep up with demand speaks to its popularity. You could start with his unscented to check out the soap part.. scent preferences are, naturally, highly subjective. If you want all vegetable soaps, Honey Bee (honeybeesoaps.net) are, IMO, the best lathering veggie soaps around, followed closely by Petal Pusher Fancies. Trumpers O & G is worth try too.. boy, I could go on for hours.




rs,
Tack

if money isn't an obstacle try EXPEC if you can find , and like was mentioned Mikes soaps are very good ,my wife uses the body soaps ,, and heres a third that I really like ,stirling soap co. shaving and body soap. but all of them have to sit on the counter when im on my MDC! Tc

Cella or Proraso, both excellent and affordable (soft)soaps.

If you don't mind paying less, you might order a couple of sample pucks (they are very LARGE) from Stirling Soaps. I live in south Texas with rock hard water and they do great. Rod is also great to deal with. I use several of his soaps. Two of my favorites are Ozark Mountain and Margaritas in the Arctic (my favorite menthol soap).

http://stirlingsoap.com/shave.html

Bob

Milan,
Many good soaps have been mentioned here. You might also like the following:

Le Pere Lucien, Intitute Karite, Provence Sante Verlaine, Portus Cale, Klar Seifen, Klar Kabinett, Joris, Mama Bear and Mike's Natural Soaps.