New soap(s) suggestions?

I've just about finished up my bowl of DR Harris lavender and am looking for 3, maybe 4 soaps to try. Time to expand my horizons a little. I loved the DR but just want a new sent.

Right now I'm thinking about
DR HARRIS almond
GFT rose
MWF

Im thinking of one classic sent, a flowery one and then something citrus or just different. I'm open to all suggestions though. I may even be persuaded into a cream.

What would you go with? Let's hear your must haves! Only catch is the wife said no sandlewood, and I'd like to get on DRH soap since I have the bowl.

Thanks,
Chris

The almond is nice. I like it

I've left soaps - all creams now.Attachment 178419

D.R. Harris Arlington would be a good choice. I think it would fit the flowery scent well.
You should definitely consider Castle Forbes. It's a great cream and I believe every wet shaver should have a tub in their lineup.

Sounds like I need to really look into the creams. Sounds like I might be leaning towards Arlington, castle forbes lavender or lime and maybe one other. I'll have to see how far back that duo would set me back.

Majorethanolic and leatherstockiings, do you have any luck face lathering those or do you use a bowl?

Cuggach68, is that 5FDP as your sig? I'm seeing them in Knoxville in October. Amazing band.

The TOBS line is good. I also like GFT, T&H, and even Razorock.

I always face lather. With the Castle Forbes cream I swirl the brush tips in the tub to get a little cream on the brush, then face later. My Arlinton soap is in a stick so I rub the soap directly on my face.

Get the Baum Be you'll be glad you did.

Chris,

Since you have asked for soap recommendations, try these: Martin de Candre, Czech & Speak, Valobra, Institute Karite, Provence Sante, L'Occitane Cade, Le Pere Lucien, Harris range and Tabac. Trumper creams are good and their soaps mediocre.

Geo F. Trumper Violet is a wonderful shaving cream. Add a few drops of water and it generates a huge amount of rich creamy lather.

Castle Forbes lime cream
Martin de Candre original
Taylor of Old Bond Eton
Trufitt and Hill Grafton
Pre de Provence
And don't forget Mama Bear and SRD for glycerin soaps in great scents

Wow! Thanks for the outpouring of suggestions guys. I'll have to shave twice a day for a lifetime to try all of these.

I've got some research to do now. Several brands I've not heard of mentioned here.

Big ups for RazoRock, the "Classic" would be recommendation number 1. MdC is a fine a soap as you will ever use. Truefitt & Hill is as good a cream as you will ever use. If you haven't tried Cella, give that a go as well. Tabac is pure pleasure. Proraso is great if you're on a budget.

+1 for Tabac and Czech & Speake. You could also venture down the artisan road with Dapper Dragon, Wet Shave Obsession, Barrister&Mann, Petal Pusher Fancies, and on and on and o..... I would just look for a scent that is appealing by one of the brands mentioned and go from there. Many vendors have samples available that should give you a taste for what you really like.

All great suggestions s far. To complicate things even more, Stirling soaps are getting rave reviews for good reason!

I can tell this new soap adventure could get expensive really fast.

Scouthikerdad, I looked at stirling's website and was amazed at how many they had the descriptions cracked me up.

Get yah some CELLA ...not big on smell....but BIG on suds and cushion and very slick !!! And cheap too !!!

OK, let's muddy the sink some more. Here are a few of my favorites. All lather very well in my rock hard water. All are inexpensive.

Maggard Limes & Bergamot
Los Angeles Shaving Soap
Cold Water Soap Works "Original"
Stirling-Margaritas in the Arctic, Ozark Mountain are my favorites
RazoRock "Classic"-the new one only on e-bay now at Italian Barber
Tabac-always a must try
Cella-always a must try

A few inexpensive, but excellent creams:

Proraso Blue
La Toja
Speick
TOBS Avocado-does not smell like avocado's-nice fresh scent
Coate's-do a search
Palmolive-Italian menthol version

A few sticks:

La Toja
Speick
Palmolive

With all that said, you do need to try a stick of ARKO. The scent is "much debated".

Bob

Palmolive shave sticks are good and dirt cheap, the DR Harris rose cream was nice - I bought a sampler set of their cream range.
MDC is good but also relatively expensive.

And don't forget SRD glycerine soaps. They're great.

Love the Baum Be

Excellent thread... Definitely have been wanting to look at other soaps and creams. Thanks for the recommendations gents

I second Martin de Candre and Le pere Lucien as well as a lot of the razorock soaps. I am not fond of DR harris soaps but I do like the crèmes, especially the arlington

MdC for top of the line, razorock for best performance/cost ratio (IMO).

Soaps only since that's what you asked about -

Tabac lather is the very best I've experienced. Some love the scent and others do not.

If you like Lavender then nothing beats Mike's Hungarian Lavender essential oil soap. Best artesian soap I've tried and the scent is like aroma therapy - heavenly!!! Mike's other scents are great too.

Both of these are in my experience far better then DR Harris soaps for cushion and slickness. Trumper soaps should not be in the picture. They should be embarrassed to sell such a bad product. I have not had good luck with Sterling but I have not tried the latest formulation.

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Originally Posted by GC7

Soaps only since that's what you asked about -

Tabac lather is the very best I've experienced. Some love the scent and others do not.

If you like Lavender then nothing beats Mike's Hungarian Lavender essential oil soap. Best artesian soap I've tried and the scent is like aroma therapy - heavenly!!! Mike's other scents are great too.

Both of these are in my experience far better then DR Harris soaps for cushion and slickness. Trumper soaps should not be in the picture. They should be embarrassed to sell such a bad product. I have not had good luck with Sterling but I have not tried the latest formulation.

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+1 on the GFT soaps. They are horrible

You could look at Valobra, I really like their patchouli scented tallow soap and because it is so cheap and well performing Arko soap, tub or stick. The stick is pliable enough to mold into a container easily.

Bob

You guys are absolutely amazing. I'm still finding myself mixing and matching things in various carts. Only problem is I can run up a bill pretty quickly!

Looks like I may have to move razorock up in the list a bit and check out mikes soaps as well. I want to try and am afraid of tabac at the same time. Seems it's either love hate on the scent, but I'm sure it'll be by the sink eventually.

Thanks for the heads up about trumpers soaps. I'm glad I asked here and saved myself some disappointment.

I just received my sample pack of Col Conk. The Almond smells like marzipan, way too sweet for me. A lime, amber and good ole bay rum. I started on the bay rum puck this morning. Nice lather and seemed to give a pretty good shave. The scents are softer as a lather but the almond .......
I also ordered a tub of C&E Nomad that hasn't arrived yet, should be today. I'll report back with mho.

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Originally Posted by cstilt

Looks like I may have to move razorock up in the list a bit and check out mikes soaps as well. I want to try and am afraid of tabac at the same time. Seems it's either love hate on the scent, but I'm sure it'll be by the sink eventually.

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If you are looking at Razor Rock soaps I really enjoy their tallow based soaps, not that the veg based ones are bad. I am really enjoying The Freedberg, Tight Buns and Mudder Focker tallow soaps. Good slick lather and great scents.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

If you are looking at Razor Rock soaps I really enjoy their tallow based soaps, not that the veg based ones are bad. I am really enjoying The Freedberg, Tight Buns and Mudder Focker tallow soaps. Good slick lather and great scents.

Bob

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For a long time I failed to give RR soaps a try because they were non expensive and I like nice things like Martin De Candre, Le Pere Lucien etc. I just figured ya get what ya pay for so I never tried any of them. Then a nice member sent me a PIF that had RR Zi pepino in the box and I fell in love with it. So I decided to try some others like XXX, XX, X Tight Buns, Mudder Focker, Son Of Zeus, San Valentino, P160, The Freedberg, S Maria, Don Marco and I probably left out a couple. The only one of all these that did not trip my trigger was the Don Marco. Like all the rest it lathered wonderfully but I just did not care for the scent of orange. IMO anyone who has not tried RR soaps is missing out on a wonderful soap at a bargain price. Now if you really want a great lather, use one of them to make a ubelather by mixing it with a nice crème and a little glycerin. It just blows my mind every time I do it

Yea, you don't always get what you pay for in very expensive shave soaps or should I say enough of it to justify the expense. Every time I use Arko I am amazed at how very well it performs it's main task, providing a rich slick lather, for so little expense. Yes I do like it's heavy duty lemon scent too. There are many soaps that perform far better than their price point would suggest.

Bob

Great reading, thanks fellas

I'd never even seen the RazoRock soaps before, but they are nicely priced!

Has anyone used their aftershave balms?

Yes I have their XX (AdP Mirto) and XXX (AdP Colonia) balms and they're top notch. Great balms.

Cheers, Steve

Look into some artisan soap makers. They are producing great quality user friendly products. I rarely reach for any of my traditional soap makers soaps anymore.

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Originally Posted by nonick

Great reading, thanks fellas

I'd never even seen the RazoRock soaps before, but they are nicely priced!

Has anyone used their aftershave balms?

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I have King of the Castle, Zi Pepino and Cumba Cheech. They are all excellent. best balms I have ever tried. I do not like their after shave splashs though. Oh, and their soaps are really awesome

What does Zi Pepino smell like? Green Tabaco is what is says on it but that doesn't give much away! Anything similar?

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Originally Posted by nonick

What does Zi Pepino smell like? Green Tabaco is what is says on it but that doesn't give much away! Anything similar?

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It does not smell like tobacco and I am not sure what it does smell like but I like it. It is very subtle. It is the easiest soap to lather I have ever used