The Obie Memorial First Tier Soaps and Creams Thread.

[Paulbuck]

Obie's my guy but Saponificio Varesino is a top tier soap all day every day and twice on Sunday...

I agree with this. My first high-end soap was Manna Di Sicilia and I could not get over the smell. Heavenly. Great lather. When I read Obies review I was surprised; second tier!?! There's better??? After now having several of the first tier rated soaps listed here I've yet to find anything that smells better and performs better except for....their 70th Anniversary soap (their newer formula). Not the amazing smell as di Sicilia but the performance is exceptional in every way. What's fun about this thread is the great variety of opinions on soap; to each their own. I'm half Scottish and throwing anything that works away is tough for me so I'm still suffering Czeck and Speake no. 88; a truly awful smell but a decent lather. Others love it.
Great thread Obie!

[Obie]

Mjb and Paul,

If I recall, the reason I put Saponificio Varesino in the Second Tier was because I felt it lacked sufficient cushion. The glide and moisture were good. Also, the soap gave me a bit of a burn. The fragrance of Saponificio is intoxicating, and I love it, but because of the soap's one important shortcoming — the ideal cushion — I could not see putting it next to Martin de Candre, Czech & Speak or D.R. Harris Arlington or Castle Forbes. Don't forget: this is only my opinion.

[Druid]

I agree with this. My first high-end soap was Manna Di Sicilia and I could not get over the smell. Heavenly. Great lather. When I read Obies review I was surprised; second tier!?! There's better??? After now having several of the first tier rated soaps listed here I've yet to find anything that smells better and performs better except for....their 70th Anniversary soap (their newer formula). Not the amazing smell as di Sicilia but the performance is exceptional in every way. What's fun about this thread is the great variety of opinions on soap; to each their own. I'm half Scottish and throwing anything that works away is tough for me so I'm still suffering Czeck and Speake no. 88; a truly awful smell but a decent lather. Others love it.
Great thread Obie!

This points up how different we all are!

I just used Saponificio Varesino the other day, and was yet again underwhelmed, but if it were not for Mitchell's Wool Fat, I could use Czech & Speake "88" every day!

[GeorgeX]

Stumbling across this thread, I have tried a few of the second tier and third tiers...what intrigues me most is I have not tried any basement or top tiers. Time to create a shopping list (second and top tier only) once a I complete reading the entire post and reviews


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[jmercer]

Performance wise you will not beat First & Second Tier. I have a couple 3rd & 4th tier soaps in my rotation because I personally like them.

[Newton3108]

Stumbling across this thread, I have tried a few of the second tier and third tiers...what intrigues me most is I have not tried any basement or top tiers. Time to create a shopping list (second and top tier only) once a I complete reading the entire post and reviews


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I was in the same place until I found this post, having mostly 2nd tier soaps in my den. Since then I have tried a good sampling of Obie's 1st tier opinions (Castle Forbes, I Coloniali Cream, Penhaligon's, Baume.be, Esbjerg, LPL, and Alvarez Gomez) For me the recommendations are spot on as I have found all of these a cut above in all around performance. At this point if I was forced to make a choice of one soap and one cream to shave with for the rest of my life it wold have to be:

Le Pere Lucien
Alvarez Gomez

For me those two represent a new category "crazy good".

[Daro]

I was in the same place until I found this post, having mostly 2nd tier soaps in my den. Since then I have tried a good sampling of Obie's 1st tier opinions (Castle Forbes, I Coloniali Cream, Penhaligon's, Baume.be, Esbjerg, LPL, and Alvarez Gomez) For me the recommendations are spot on as I have found all of these a cut above in all around performance. At this point if I was forced to make a choice of one soap and one cream to shave with for the rest of my life it wold have to be:

Le Pere Lucien
Alvarez Gomez

For me those two represent a new category "crazy good".

All of Obie's tier 1's that I have tried have been awesome. There are some I will finish but will not buy again just because the scent is not to my taste. Xpec cream, Esbjerg cream, Baum.Be. cream

The others are really good in my view
Martin de Candre soap, Castle Forbes cream, Le Pere Lucien soap, Czech & Speak's Oxford & Cambridge soap, D.R. Harris soaps, Alvarez Gomez cream, Penhaligon's cream, Klar Seifen soap

I have not tried Abbate y La Mantia soap, so that is on my future list

[Obie]

Gentlemen,

From time to time I adjust the rankings of products in tiers. After using Abbate y La Mantia soaps for a while, I am less enthusiastic about their moisture content and aftershave properties. What's more, even the Krokos gave me a bit of a burn. So now this Italian soap goes in the Second Tier. As always, please don't forget that this is only my opinion.

[Pithor]

As always, please don't forget that this is only my opinion.

It's good to reiterate that sometimes. This thread is an invaluable source of information by a bona fide aficionado, but still one man's observations. My tier line-up would look quite different, if I would bother to keep track like you do (I am occupied with merely finding the best of the best for me, which is mainly why I don't). For starters, it would include fewer products on the whole .

Still, good show, Obie, good show.

[Thug]

I recently imported some Barrister & Mann soaps for myself and have to concur that it's a very good soap. My next import will be some Meiβner Tremonia through a friend visiting Germany in December.