Thread: My current American soap top five. What are yours?

I haven't tried every shaving soap on Earth, but my shave den is definitely an international tour of the world. Italy, Finland, France, Australia, England...all are represented. But many of my favorites are homegrown American. Here's my Top Five local soaps...

#5 Stirling Soap Company - Arkansas
Because I use a scuttle to warm-lather shave, I don't buy a lot of tallow soaps. Often, the heat breaks down the beef fat and makes more of a mess than a lather. Having said that, when I cold-shave on a hot day, I always reach for Stirling. Their scents are on point, as is their wide range of products. They have converted me to tallow bath soaps exclusively and I love their pre-shave oils. Great stuff.

#4 Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements - Arizona
I don't think you can find a company that makes wet shaving more accessible than these guys. I have eight of their soaps and, while their scents are all over the map (in a good way), the quality of the lather is impressively consistent. If wet shaving is supposed to be fun, these guys are leading the charge.

#3 Catie's Bubbles - New Jersey
When I first starting shaving with a straight, Catie's gave me my very first epic shave. The shave that turned me into a lifer. Now, when a beginner asks me what's a good soap to start with, I still give it up to Catie's Bubbles. I know creams are supposed to be easier to lather, but if you can't get a giant, slick, cushiony lather with Catie's Bubbles, you need to have your wrist looked at. Purple Grapefruit is a Hall of Famer.

#2 Country Club For Men - Alabama
What can I say? Massive, ridiculous lather. Interesting, wonderful scents. Some a little too subtle, but others are home runs. For the last two or three months, their store has been totally sold out, but they have some product in there now, including some new tallows. I shaved with Love Tractor today. Perfect shave.

#1 Los Angeles Shaving Soap Company - California
Like the previous artisans mentioned, LASSC has their lather dialed in to a T. What puts them at the top of the pile for me is their interesting, thoughtful, adventurous scents. When you take a whiff of a tub of LASSC, you know there was a lot of thought, effort and premium ingredients that went into it. The massive, slick lather is a bonus.

What American soaps are you loving that i need to buy?

I like Stirling and Catie's soaps. Have not tried the others.

I think Caties is good. I also like the Stroppe Shoppe which sadly is no more. I hear great things about Route 66 but my cupboards are overflowing.

PAA is a controversial topic to some, and some are very passionate about it, but they make good soap IMO. I have the Dapper Doc's and Cavendish. Both have scent I absolutely love. Dapper Doc's is a very nice Lilac and Fig, and Cavendish is a powdery pipe tobacco. For those who have no experience with it, it performs exactly like Catie's Bubbles...... YMMV.

I also have tried a dozen of Catie's Bubbles and found I didn't like any of the scents, but I haven't tried any of the popular ones. I do own the LPV and love it though.

I would have to add Green Mountain Soap - have the Lavender and Grapefruit and to me there is no better performing triple milled soap anywhere

All of them are Stirling's!

Barrister & Mann have some of the best/most interesting scents.

I am very new to straight razor shaving.

I have been wet shaving all of my life using a brush but I am amazingly ignorant.

I had always used Williams.
I recently thought that I could save money by placing slivers of bath soap in my bowl, not knowing the fundamental difference between bathing soaps and shaving soaps!

The closest that I can come to a favorite five is to tell you what I currently have in stock.

In my bowl at the moment is Col. Conk Bay rum
I have a 3 pack Williams in stock along with
Gentleman Jon Sandalwood and
Caria Menthol Shea Kokum Peppermint & Lavender from Turkey.

No real experience with American soaps/creams except for Williams, which I would rate just slightly better than nothing, and Lucky Tiger shave cream which I quite like.

Bob

Mike's, Mickey Lee, and Cold River Soap Works are all great.