I wound up purchasing some Palmolive as well and a jar of Martin De Candre. Couldn't resist but is MDC 40x better than any of those? Its good, not perfect IMO kind of dries fast but smells phenomenal. I like to test extremes in the soap world and I come to realize I'm not too fussy when it comes to most soaps they either work well or the don't for me and I haven't come across too many that were that much of a disappointment that I couldn't shave with them. i think Monsavon is a solid tallow based soap certainly more pleasant to use than most bargain brands. i am sure it will get lost in my closet full of soaps I will never finish.