Thread: Whatever happened to....

When they changed the formula I don’t think it was as good as the old, plus I’m not a fan of the typical Italian scent of almonds.

I think the really great soaps haven’t suffered a downfall, it’s just so many new guys selling out of their garage have saturated the market that we like to try new stuff and the new guys just starting are trying everything that is made with the new have to have. It was said earlier, soap is soap, you could shave dry, the truly great soaps will always be around while the artisans fall by the way side. Xpec will more than likely be around forever too, and also you have so many who won’t talk about it because of price. Some feel that’s the key factor in quality ( which why they buy anything but Arko still gets me ). Straight razor shavers come and go so the trend will too.

But the ones who stick with it seem to use the old standbys.

100% in agreement with you, TC -- the original XPEC formula with all of those scary parabens was much easier to lather...and slightly better lather at that.

And, like you say with all the choices, why bother? I won't be replacing my XPEC.

Interesting reminder of my own journey!

XPEC is one I've never tried, but it did remind me that I have MWF and Tabac cream in my shave den storage area. Its time to pull out the MWF and give it a go. The Tabac I really didn't like. I only squeezed a few shaves out of the tube and have never touched it again. The scent bothered me, but not sure why, and it lathered the same (or worse) than many others I had. Just got a new tub of Proraso green, and was reminded how much I loved it and how easy it is to work with. Still use some of the old classics and find them to be excellent for everyday. MdC and CF are still my "treat" soaps. Maybe I just listened (mostly) to the right folks here.

I have not tried Xpec. I don't have any doubt that it is an excellent soap. However, I hesitate to spend $60 on a single shave soap no matter how good it is. I have yet to get to the bottom of a 4 oz (113 g) tub, so what am I to do with a tub of Xpec twice that size.

Competition is fierce in the shaving soap artisan space. There are established artisans and there are upstarts coming out with new formulas and new scents, frequently better than the product they sold even a year or two ago. They are developing and revising their formulas based on performance feedback from experienced shavers. Many of those new formulations have been well received in the marketplace. Even some recent additions to the market such as CBL Premium Soaps and Murphy & McNeil are putting out excellent products.

In the case of established soapmakers, many are changing their formulas based on government regulations or political and social pressure (eliminate oakmoss, eliminate parabens, etc.) or they are outsourcing their production or using less expensive ingredients to reduce costs. In many cases, feedback on these new formulations has been neutral or even negative. I rarely hear anyone claim that the new formulation of a soap that has been around for decades is better now that it was in the past.

Another XPEC fan here. I also use the unscented to cut down strongly scented creams like Floris 89 and Dior Eau Sauvage. If you’ve ever tried the unscented it truly is unscented. One person described it as the scent of the vacuum of space... Connaught has the best price I’ve seen, ~$38 and as mentioned, it’s a big 250ml tub.

I also scented an entire tub with Domenico Caraceni 1913 EdT and it turned out really well. For those that remember, XPEC used to be made by Forrester (Sp?) Milan, and they also made the long discontinued DC 1913 shave cream, which came in the same large tub.

Cheers, Steve

As I recall the original maker ceased production and whoever took it back saw a downward spiral in it but then the original maker supposedly took it back again. Of course that was all years ago.

I have the original stuff and it beats anything out there these days by a mile and that includes MDC and CF. My opinion of course.

Gentlemen,
As I recall, the original Xpec was quite good, but not the later version. I think that's probably why I stopped using it, and subsequently forgot about it. Ironic how manufacturers can take something good and turned it into a puff of mediocrity — perhaps with an eye on financial profit. OY!

I’ll have to be the dissenting opinion here, I have a good sample of the original formula from a friend, and a tub of the current version. I really can’t tell much if any difference.

Cosmetics get re-formulated from time to time, mostly because of user wishes, eliminating parabens, and the current trend by D. R. Harris and Cyril Salter away from palm oil and back to tallow in their current hard soaps. Most of the time these don’t IME really make much difference except in internet lore. None of these companies are going to introduce an inferior version of their products unless there’s regulation involved, and they have the ability to test their products well. The idea that they intentionally released an inferior version of their own accord seems unlikely.

Originally Posted by Steve56

I’ll have to be the dissenting opinion here, I have a good sample of the original formula from a friend, and a tub of the current version. I really can’t tell much if any difference.

Cosmetics get re-formulated from time to time, mostly because of user wishes, eliminating parabens, and the current trend by D. R. Harris and Cyril Salter away from palm oil and back to tallow in their current hard soaps. Most of the time these don’t IME really make much difference except in internet lore. None of these companies are going to introduce an inferior version of their products unless there’s regulation involved, and they have the ability to test their products well. The idea that they intentionally released an inferior version of their own accord seems unlikely.

You might very well have the third iteration when the original outfit went back to making it.

Could be, it gets confusing, and my original sample is not in the product packaging, but the donor is a high end soap aficionado of the first water. AFAIK, the original was made by Forrester, Milan. The current version of XPEC is made by Effimarinelli S.r.l.