yep soap is cheap, my last box of cigars cost over 500$, and they wont last as long as a good soap. my way of testing a soap is different though,, I take it into the shave den, get a brush going and I do half a dozen or so lathers in my palm, I can find out it best water ratio and see what I think about the cushion and ability to maintain a good lather over time, when you have it in your hand you just know. plus I go ahead and see how much it makes from a certain number of swirls in the product. then a couple of weeks shaving with it to see what I think. I may have had over 120 soaps in my time, I just recently have it down to 4 in my den Tc