The Obie Memorial First Tier Soaps and Creams Thread.

[sqzbxr]

This may have been touched on already, but, I'm curious about the Baume.Be soap. Has it recently come to the market, and if so has anyone given it a go? (Not talking about the cream, the hard soap.)

Yes, and I was very disappointed by it. The lather produced was thin and dissipated quickly, much like both pucks of Trumper's Sandalwood I've tried in the last couple of years. It was relegated to the shower, then given a second chance, and finally permanently banished to the shower. The Baume.be cream is still on of my favorite lathering agents.


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[Obie]

And I assume they are all first tier ....life is too short for anything else !

Actually, I keep around a variety of soaps and creams from all three tiers. For instance, I consider Tabac a Second Tier soap — and have used it for many years. Love the clean fragrance. The same with Mitchell's Wool Fat, which I consider Second Tier, and I like it. And so on. Variety is good.

[Obie]

This may have been touched on already, but, I'm curious about the Baume.Be soap. Has it recently come to the market, and if so has anyone given it a go? (Not talking about the cream, the hard soap.)

Harry, I love Baum.Be cream; it is exceptional in every way. I have never used the soap, although some have told me it is far inferior to the cream.

[SemperFi]

Using Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet (BB) as a baseline cream, Obie and others tracking this thread I would love to hear your comparisons, recommendations, or ratings of other creams as either more or less slick than Pen's BB. BB is definitely a Tier 1 product for me.

I'm a couple days in with Baum.BE and right now, though it's very nice, it's looking a little less slick than Pen's BB for me. Maybe that will change once I have more time with the product (I have hard water and I find it takes me some trial and error with getting the ratios right).

What's driving my question is I'm about 30-days into shaving with straights, and I'm looking for other creams that are on par with Pen's BB in terms of slickness.

I've been shaving w/ DEs for years and almost all of my suds are soaps, but I'm seeing for now I need to put my soaps on the back burner for a while until I have more time under my belt shaving w/ straights.

While I can get away with a using a less-than-slick lather due to a bad soap/water mix or using a less slick soap when I shave with DEs, I'm finding it's a totally different ballgame w/a straight. Right now, I don't want to spend a lot of time fiddling w/ soaps and trying to figure out what soap/water mixes work and what ones don't for a straight while I'm also learning the ropes w/ working a straight.

Definitely appreciate any feedback you have!

[Steve56]

I believe that it is important in ranking soaps to define what you shave with. A tier 1 DE/SE soap may not be a tier 1 straight razor soap and vica versa. Straight razor users don't care much about cushion (it may be a detriment) or glide (not sure what that means), slickness is king which I believe is not universally true for DE/SE shavers.

Cheers, Steve

[Benz]

Today was my first go round with Baume be and my hard water. All I used is the little bit that was stuck in the lid and the lather exploded on my face. Thank-you Obie.

[Obie]

SemperFi,

Castle Forbes shave cream sets the standard for me by which I compare all other creams in overall quality. It has all the required properties to not only protect the skin, but also to provide a close and comfortable shave.

A good shaving cream needs the following properties to make it into my First Tier: lather, cushion, glide, and post shave feel on my skin. Castle Forbes, Baum.Be and Penhaligon's, among a few other creams, meet these requirements quite well.

As a general rule, for straight razor shaving, I keep my lather a wee bit more runny to help with the glide, whereas I feel the safety razor needs a thicker lather. Even if slightly more runny, the lather for the straight razor must still provide the proper cushion. After all, whether using a straight or a safety razor, the skin needs protection against sharp steel scraping it.

The best part of the shave for me is lathering. I spend time on it, not only because I feel my skin needs the protection, whether using a straight or a safety razor, but because I also enjoy it. That's why I spend time on my lathering routine, and I try to get the best product I can for my little bit of paradise.

[Speedster]

@SemperFi -- While I cannot comment on Penhaligon's since I've never used that cream, I wholeheartedly agree with Obie regarding the superb qualities of Castle Forbes. It's by far the best shaving cream that I use regularly. You will not be disappointed with it's slickness and skin protecting benefits. Their post-shave balm is also wonderful.

[Gasman]

I got some Castle Forbes Cream given to me about a week or so ago. I haven't used anything else sense then. I really enjoy the Scent. Not too strong and not so light that you don't smell it after the shave. The quality of the lather is just what I was looking for. I have always used pucks of soap, but now that this cream has come into my hands, I don't know if I'll use pucks any more. Top knotch Cream in my opinion! Now I got to buy all the flavors. ha.

[sqzbxr]

Jerry- Castle Forbes Lime is always in my rotation. thanks to Badgister sending me a sample with a W&B I bought from him. However, when you have the spare cash, you owe it to yourself to get a jar of Baume.be cream - you absolutely will not be disappointed.