The Obie Memorial First Tier Soaps and Creams Thread.

[nessmuck]

But you know what you doing Obie....not like the rest of us...Your the " Go To " guy around here. But iam going to pay a little more attention.

[Midway]

This thread has been a great read. It's interesting that Obie put some of the old standards a bit farther down the list, while MDC gets the first position......without tallow. I do like MDC, but would not put it in the first tier. My standard bearers are well known. MWF, Tabac, Cade and AOS Sandalwood old formulation . Mikes is a very close second. The commonality of all of these is tallow.

[Obie]

But you know what you doing Obie....not like the rest of us...Your the " Go To " guy around here. But iam going to pay a little more attention.

It's really a question of trying things and seeing what works best for you: your lather's texture, how it helps your razor glide, and how much protection you feel the stuff gives you.

After all, it's only making lather that should have the general consistency of Meringue, as in the foamy delight that crowns Meringue Pie. I think you're just making too much of the process. It reminds of a story about the great opera composer Verdi.

A young composer, visiting Verdi, went on and on about the opera he was working on, and that he would do this, he would do that, write the overture this way, the recitatives and the arias that. This went on for a while. When he was done describing his plans, he asked Verdi what he would do. Verdi said, "I would just sit down and write some music."

It's only making lather and trying different soaps and creams. The state of perfection does not exist in the shaving process, but what fun looking for it.

[Steve56]

Obie brings up some good points about making lather and I will add another, the brush. Not all brushes pick up soap and blend it with water and air to make lather equally well. In the brush threads, people usually are talking about appearance, size, face feel, but one rarely if ever sees a comment about how well the brush makes lather. If I am trying out a soap or cream and it isn't living up to expectations, I'll first try a different brush - it can make the difference between great lather and mediocre lather.

Cheers, Steve

[Obie]

Steve,
An excellent point.

[Phrank]

Found a few tubes of Musgo Real Shave creams...Lavender, Oak Moss, and Classic Scent....going to take these three for a run...IIRC, they are quite nice.

[blzrfn]

This thread has been a great read. It's interesting that Obie put some of the old standards a bit farther down the list, while MDC gets the first position......without tallow. I do like MDC, but would not put it in the first tier. My standard bearers are well known. MWF, Tabac, Cade and AOS Sandalwood old formulation . Mikes is a very close second. The commonality of all of these is tallow.

I'm fairly certain Cade is a vegetable oil only soap, but there's no doubt your standards are very popular among many users. Of those you mentioned the AoS and Mike's would be my choice.

[thebigspendur]

I opened a thread specifically about "the brush" a week or so ago on the brush forum.

I've noticed specifically with the old classic two banders (which you can't find new anymore) the lather they produce is really different from any other badger brush.

Also I've added a new caveat to my top tier soaps. If the lather doesn't last it comes off top tier and there are several that have that defect.

[Srdjan]

@Obie, I'll second your initial impressions about THB Gunpowder spice. The lather is a bit thin compared to the likes of Tabac, MdC, Mike's etc etc. However, I personally don't mind this much if the glide is on point and with THB, the glide is certainly there. YMMV, but the situation may change here with a different brush, a bit more loading, or perhaps blooming the soap, where you may succeed in getting a richer, thicker lather. On the other hand, I question the necessity for "cushion" and "protection" when using a straight, but certainly can see how it could be beneficial to a safety razor user (not sure what you used though). Just my observation, of course...

The burning skin issue is much more annoying for me, which is why I don't use the stuff anymore. For me it used to happen on the second pass and beyond. Perhaps I'll revisit it, just to see if anything changed.

[Obie]

@Obie, I'll second your initial impressions about THB Gunpowder spice. The lather is a bit thin compared to the likes of Tabac, MdC, Mike's etc etc. However, I personally don't mind this much if the glide is on point and with THB, the glide is certainly there. YMMV, but the situation may change here with a different brush, a bit more loading, or perhaps blooming the soap, where you may succeed in getting a richer, thicker lather. On the other hand, I question the necessity for "cushion" and "protection" when using a straight, but certainly can see how it could be beneficial to a safety razor user (not sure what you used though). Just my observation, of course...

The burning skin issue is much more annoying for me, which is why I don't use the stuff anymore. For me it used to happen on the second pass and beyond. Perhaps I'll revisit it, just to see if anything changed.

Srdjan, my friend,

Of course, cushion and protection are helpful in shaving whether you use the straight or the safety. After all, you have sharp steel moving against the skin. And the proper glide and slickness help the razor move across the skin even easier.

As for the burn, yes, the soap did give me some. My ultra sensitive skin can't handle burn. That's when I stop using the soap. By the way, I have placed the Holy Black Gunpowder Spice in the Third Tier. As always, all this is my opinion.