Thread: Most underrated soap/cream under $20

I agree with you bob. I use my cheaper stuff mainly an get amazing shaves with them. An the expensive ones will take years to use up. I've wanted mdc for a good while now. But I told myself I have to use up 3 soaps in my rotation before I will buy it. Simply because 3 soaps in normal price range will pay for mdc lol.

+1 to Obies Institute Karrite soap,under 20 and its in my top 5 for performance , and coupled with its balm its hard to beat for under 20, unlike some I still like my upper end stuff better , just not much because under 20 I find I have used a lot of them , so if you haven't tried the Institute Karrite , your missing out on a high end shave without the cost YMMV tc

Before I joined the Forum Valobra Almond was the only shaving soap I used for 10 years or so....the semi soft block. Post Forum: right now I have about 10 soaps and creams scattered about.

Originally Posted by Big

Valobra tallow soaps and the Valobra stick.

My personal favorite cheap cream at the moment is "The Real Shaving Co. pro formula shave cream, moisturising skincare." Always gives a great slick effortless shave.

Originally Posted by Razorfaust

My personal favorite cheap cream at the moment is "The Real Shaving Co. pro formula shave cream, moisturising skincare." Always gives a great slick effortless shave.

An interesting one. Made by Creightons, like basically any big brand name English shaving cream. While we are at it, let us add St. James Cedarwood & Clarysage Shaving Cream 150ml by the same producer.

That said, let us come back to the original question for a moment: "cheap soap/cream". There are quite a few such products in the market. The question is, do they offer a good price/performance ratio. In most cases, the answer will be, "no, they do not." If we agree on a benchmark first, that is.

Let us skip a lot of arguments, and agree on Castle Forbes as the benchmark. Personally, I would by now argue that, but that is a different story. So, what makes CF the benchmark? It contains high quality ingredients, is not known to cause irritations, is highly efficient, and has outstanding skin care properties.

Now, are there any "cheap" products in the market which have the exact same properties? At a lower price (which would make them "cheap" by comparison)?

No, there are not. If you take a look at "high quality ingredients" first, all "cheap" products named so far fall short. Green Mountain Soap would be one product I could think of that qualifies. Le Père Lucien and Savonnerie du bon Berger would be two others not yet mentioned.

Incidentally, all three of them are also highly efficient. A characteristic where Proraso (and others, but that one in particular) fall miserably short. Proraso is not cheap. In fact, is incredibly expensive. It combines a working class scent with bad efficiency and mediocre (at best) performance. If it were not readily available, I doubt that it would sell at all.

Valobra is decent, but comes nowhere close to the three soaps mentioned above. Additionally, it leaves a smear. Some think that is outstanding lubrication or "glide", but in fact, it is just slime. Utterly disgusting.

One product not mentioned yet, and an unsung hero in my opinion, is Haslinger Soap from Austria. At least en par with Klar, and only costs a fraction.

Also not mentioned yet, Pollena Lider Classic shaving cream, Wars shaving cream (both from Poland, if memory serves me right), and anything coming from the Balkans. Their scents all scream unwashed grey masses, but their performance is commendable. All available for less than $2 if you know where to look.

But coming back to efficiency, "cheap" is a very relative term. I am currently using a soap that makes Castle Forbes look cheap. It is, however, extremely efficient, again putting Proraso and several other creams into stark perspective. Four tubes of Proraso will give me less shaves than this one soap. Shall we re-define cheap?

I think i just changed my mind. My new cheapo favorite is Van Der Hagen Luxury Soap. I just picked this up not having used it in about 2 or more years, I even threw away a puck just because it was occupying shaving bowl real estate for a better soap. It was my 6/8 Boker Silver Steel's turn today and I whipped up some of this soap and was really floored by its performance i'm convinced they either changed the recipe or maybe I used another version of this companies soap. Solid easy to produce lather you can thin this stuff with a lot of water and it still holds up. Its main ingredients are glycerine based with shea butter, mango butter and cacao seed butter for fats. Enjoyed this very much for 4.99 a puck cant go wrong.

In price order:

1. Arko
2. Stirling (the new MWF)
3. Omega Cream (with a little hint of eucalyptus)

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

In price order:

1. Arko
2. Stirling (the new MWF)
3. Omega Cream (with a little hint of eucalyptus)

I like the omega too.

Just got a tub of Omega and have to say it is very nice. Like the hint of eucalyptus very much.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Just got a tub of Omega and have to say it is very nice. Like the hint of eucalyptus very much.

Bob

Omega is awesome and for the price. I half 1/4 of a tub left. It gets used every week.

Most underrated soap in my opinion is Palmolive. That stuff lathers up like nobody's business and doesn't dissipate. It provides a thick creamy lather and smells pretty dope. Easily blends in with any aftershave.

I believe you were praising it Bob so I went ahead and ordered some.

Great stuff