Oy!
They're coming out of the woodwork. Talk about someone with nothing else to do.
On the other hand, Spendur, I seem to recognize the signature.
Printable View
Oy!
They're coming out of the woodwork. Talk about someone with nothing else to do.
On the other hand, Spendur, I seem to recognize the signature.
Well, don't blame me when you're at leavenworth building desks and shaving with a bic.
Someone has a lot of free time on his hands... Btw thebigspendur, that was hilarious!
Cheers.
That was, simply, priceless. Not to mentioned that I'd totally be boned trying accomplish any of that....
Gentlemen,
I have not experienced any soaps or creams recently worth mentioning. I'm always on the lookout, though.
By the way, I have dropped Green Mountain to the Second Tier, as it is a good soap but not good enough to be in the same company as the group headed by Castle Forbes.
Obie, noticed you have been giving the meisner soaps a good try n the SOTD. Has your opinion changed on this soap, I still can't get to where I can like it, but didn't give it more than 3 weeks. Tc
TC,
I tried Meisner Tremonia Pot of Milk. Although it did not burn my skin, as did the other Meisner Tremonia scents I tried, I felt the soap is nothing special, and that it is a Third Tier soap in my estimation, really. I know the soap was hyped, but after experiencing the various scents, I feel the hype was hollow. For me, this is a Third Thier soap and nothing more.
U
Obie I somehow took a wrong turn and landed up in Penhaligon's London store, (completely by accident of course) you could try one of their soaps as I see you like their creams. They had a 3 for 2 special on today which I fell for. The kind folks threw in some samples as well. The in house barbers seem to favour the Blenheim bouquet.
agree 100%.
Their new soaps are not great performers. Blenheim cream is indeed lovely, as is the oft overlooked Floris #89 cream in the blue tube. Beautiful stuff. Floris soaps, on the other hand, suffer the same reformulation "poor performance woes" as Penhaligon's soaps.
Thank you Obie, I had the same impression and after 3 weeks it went into the never to be used or passed along, keep up the stellar reviews my friend.
Thanks Andrew, I just knew it wasn't worth dying again, but I tryed to be fair, Tc
When they first came out I think I said the scents were something totally different than anything else out there. It's the type of thing you either love or hate. There is no inbetween. I like them except for the scottish. I find they perform very well indeed. They are supposed to be formulated so as to be good for the skin. As far as what tier they are in, my system is different than Obie's so to me it's a high second tier soap.
Obie's intriguing ranking prompted me to try the Le Pere Lucien soaps. I got the Le Pere Lucien Traditional and the Le Pere Lucien Rose de Pushkar. Each gave an exquisite shave. The rose soap's fragrance is amazing. I'm so glad I read Obie's post and gave this brand a swirl.
I shaved with Arko again today. Totally beats the pants off of so many others at ten times the price.
Thanks Obie. I would have them in T2 but as I did not see them in your list I thought I would ask. I still use the soap occasionally and it is ok but not T1 for me either. It is interesting how some brands are so good at the one and less so for the other. Dr Harris is better at the soaps for instance. Interesting comparison to Floris as I find it also has a great scent but let down a bit with performance
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Daro,
Yes, D. R. Harris soaps are superb. I like their creams, too. Right you are about Floris and Penhaligon's soaps; they probably do belong in the Second Tier. It's been so long since I have used these soaps.
This has been some great reading - I have spent a lot of effort in looking at the soaps in the last few weeks and like many others - only wish it was read some time ago. I have little experience in the intensity of how I approach using my soaps and I clearly haven't explored the depths of this part of the shaving process.
This will definitely point me in the right direction. Thank you for your efforts Obie - in both producing and keeping up to date.
Now - just what to do with the tier 3's and unmentioned items.
With a fresh batch of samples, I finally have tried MdC. I was leery about lavender scent, thinking I'd smell like I was shaving a flowering bush. I was wrong to have any doubts. I have a few others, xpec, St. James, Barrister Mann, and more TOBS to try. Xpec smells odd to me and haven't gathered the gumption to try it out yet. Thank you again for the wonderful list, Obie.
When evaluating soaps I say forget the name. Forget the packaging. Forget the price. Forget hype. And forget the scent. Focus on the lather. All of the soaps mentioned will get you a lather. But look at the quality of the lather and take notice of what soaps are consistently associated with comfortable shaves. For me, I've found that doing all of this has helped me weed out the soaps that were ok and zero in on the ones that were really good. And they weren't the ones I thought I'd like the most. Obviously if the scent makes you gag, pass on that one. But by focusing closely on the quality of the lather, you can rip through a lot of samples and dismiss A LOT of them quickly.
I used to have a larger rotation of soaps and creams going on, now it consists of two soaps, Martin de Candre original and Penhaligon's Bayolea.
Both produce a fantastic luxurious lather, although MDC has got to be the fattiest vegetal shaving soap I have ever tried.
Call me boring, but I may eventually just stick to one soap I like most.
On a side note, how does Martin de Candre compare to Klar in a tin?
Badgister and Druid,
I, too, am slowly reducing my soap and cream rotation. Many will not be renewed. For instance, Tabac, Mitchell's Wool Fat, Green Mountain, Lea, Mondial, Saponificio Varesino, Le Pere Lucien (this one's starting to burn my skin, for some reason), Baum.Be, among others. Castle Forbes, Xpec, Santa Maria Novella, Esbjerg, D.R. Harris Arlington, Czech & Speak, Klar Seifen and Martin de Candre will remain. In the end, some of these might go, too.
Badgister, Martin de Candre and Klar Seifen are different in their respective way, although both are superb soaps. Klar has a pleasing floral fragrance, and it lathers beautifully. The Fragrances in Martin de Candre are more earthy. Klar Seifen's after the shave feel is a wee bit more comfortable. Martin de Candre has a tendency to leave the skin slightly dry after the shave. At least it does mine. Klar Seifen is a winner of a soap all around, although I must re-evaluate the aftershave properties. I dare say, though, Czech & Speak is on the same level as these two.
Phrank,
It is the Classic. I have not tried the other ones. The Classic is exceptional.
By the way, I still like Klar Kabinett, which is no longer made. This is a rose scented barber soap that is a delight. I think I have it in the Second Tier.
But Klar Seifen Classic is exceptional. Good stuff.
@obie thank you. I was looking to get soap recently and this was exactly what I wanted. Only one readily available in Australia is the Harris. Looking to get the Arlington
Well the Penhaligon's Endymion Shaving Cream has to be one of the nicest creams I've tried in quite awhile...for some reason it had an incredibly recognizable scent, had a great presence, my wife and son both lit up right away and remarked how nice it was.
Just a little bit of this stuff goes a long way, a real full, creamy lather that burst with one of the nicest scents I've come across in quite awhile - this stuff, in my opinion, is Tier 1 all the way and will be a permanent fixture without a doubt - highly recommend.
I have a couple of Penhaligon's creams and agree with Obie that the soaps are not in the same tier as the creams. I did a super lather yesterday (both Blenheim Bouquet) and this gave a great result however so might do this until the soap is used up.
I am reluctant to buy more soaps before I use up a few T2s and below... May take a while to run these down...
I have a question concerning the Blenheim Bouquet cream for you guys that are sensitive to scented creams...Does it irritate your skin? Some scented creams light my face up. I have had Harris Marlborough cream that was very irritating and Truefitt & Hill Trafalgar felt a bit hot. Harris Arlington and Windsor soaps nor the T &H West Indian Limes cream irritated my skin.
I am in your shoes, my friend. My skin is ultra sensitive and my beard heavy. Go figure. Many soaps and creams, especially the scented ones, torch my skin. It has been a while since I have used Penhaligon's. If I recall, the cream worked well on my skin. I am going from memory, though, so let's wait for the other users to join the conversation.
So I received my tin of Klar Klassik which I tried out this morning. Superb shaving soap with a very luxurious lather and scent. The frangrance reminds me of fancy hotel soap. Highly recommended and likely to be a permanent soap in my rotation.