Thread: How do you define a luxury shaving soap??????

Way too much hype and BS! It's what you define as "Luxury Soap"! No more, no less......

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

Way too much hype and BS! It's what you define as "Luxury Soap"! No more, no less......

Hmm....I'm not so sure. To someone who has been shaving with Gillette Foamy he might think Burt's Bees is the last word in soaps. But does that make it a luxury product? Is it all subjective like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder or is there something to this luxury thing?

Can we agree that for a soap or cream to be "Luxury" it has to have certain characteristics?

It has to perform with the best of them
It has to smell great
It has to lather easily and profusely and stay on yer face the entire shave
It has to leave your face feeling great after the shave

Pretty much as Glen outlined. Does price enter into it? Is there a difference between a luxury soap and a luxurious soap like I asked before?

My view is if a soap has all these qualities it is a luxurious soap. The thorny question is where does price come into the question? If you could buy a soap for a buck a puck and it did all I outlined would it be a luxury soap?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

My view is if a soap has all these qualities it is a luxurious soap. The thorny question is where does price come into the question? If you could buy a soap for a buck a puck and it did all I outlined would it be a luxury soap?

For me that would make it a shave soap that does what it should and at a buck a puck that would make it a bargain. Like I said before luxury soaps may be a marginally more luxurious but at a hugely higher price point. There are also failures at every price that are better used in the shower or just binned.

Bob

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Hmm....I'm not so sure. To someone who has been shaving with Gillette Foamy he might think Burt's Bees is the last word in soaps. But does that make it a luxury product? Is it all subjective like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder or is there something to this luxury thing?

Can we agree that for a soap or cream to be "Luxury" it has to have certain characteristics?

It has to perform with the best of them
It has to smell great
It has to lather easily and profusely and stay on yer face the entire shave
It has to leave your face feeling great after the shave

Pretty much as Glen outlined. Does price enter into it? Is there a difference between a luxury soap and a luxurious soap like I asked before?

My view is if a soap has all these qualities it is a luxurious soap. The thorny question is where does price come into the question? If you could buy a soap for a buck a puck and it did all I outlined would it be a luxury soap?

My point is simple. If you think it's a luxury soap, then to you it's a luxury soap. That's all that matters and that's all that should matter. After all, everything about shaving is a personal preference. Too many people try to put labels on things for others!

its all a luxury in this damn sport boys. cause the razors themselves are over priced even if you get one for a buck that shaves, it still cost for everything you use to continue. so really all the hype and BS is coming from just about all of you guys. i dont always agree with Nelson, but luxury vs luurious is the difference, and sometimes the bs and hype comes from those who cant afford the best or, are jealous of those who do. now before you guy get up in arms i,m not saying all of you guys, take Bob for instance, the guy really does know the difference, me myself, i take a soap for what it does for me, couldnt care less if you like it or not (i pay for it not you) i have tryed about as many soap out there as anyone cause i was always looking for what i felt is the best. get it? ME not you! so luxury is something you treat yourself to thats maybe spending a little more, Luxurious is a feeling. i get mine from MDC, Tabac< Castle Forbes, and the occasional test of some so called Artisan soaps.

and to qualify my statements, i have sent well over 100 soaps to the shower and a like number all the way to the trash can. to be honest i believe some of ya,ll just look for something to put down cause it aint yours, probably hate your neighbors to cause they got nice stuff

I only but MdC, C.F. and Tabac. I have enough SV.

I would buy a new luxurious, luxury, soap if and only if the following conditions are met:

On January 1, Obie runs naked along the Lake Michigan shoreline with a large banner bearing the name of this new soap to end all soaps.

The soap has to be vetted by one dozen of you.

I have no soap left.

Dave

Like everything else in this hobby, luxury in in the eye of the beholder. It is whatever makes you feel like you are special, like you have been pampered.

Pricing does not have to enter into the calculation unless you want it to. After I open my Christmas gifts, my soap collection will be up to around 160 soaps. In general, I find that inexpensive soaps are lacking both in the areas of scent and performance (especially post shave). They have a very utilitarian feel. Williams Mug Soap, Van der Hagen and Arko are examples of soaps in this category.

I find that several of my very best soaps are priced around $20. Declaration Grooming Massacre of the Innocents (new Milksteak base) costs $20 and is spectacular both in scent and performance.

Just because a soap or cream is expensive does not make it good. A tub of Truefitt and Hill shaving cream sells for $30, but Tabac and Mitchell's Wool Fat easily outperform it at half the price as do a number of other $15 soaps.

For those of you who have been using the same soap for years, I encourage you to try some of the new soaps. You might enjoy feeling pampered.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The thorny question is where does price come into the question? If you could buy a soap for a buck a puck and it did all I outlined would it be a luxury soap?

Lots of smoke and mirrors in 'luxury', especially as wet shaving gains in popularity.

For example, the excellent Musgo Real soap, cream and aftershave got fancy new packaging accompanied by an overnight price increase of almost 300%! True, a few extra scents were added to the cream and a/s ranges but the 'original' green Musgo soap/cream/aftershave remains in production and is the same, apart from the packaging and new price.

Originally Posted by rolodave

I only but MdC, C.F. and Tabac. I have enough SV.

I would buy a new luxurious, luxury, soap if and only if the following conditions are met:

On January 1, Obie runs naked along the Lake Michigan shoreline with a large banner bearing the name of this new soap to end all soaps.

The soap has to be vetted by one dozen of you.

I have no soap left.

Dave

Damn I’m in on that too

I spend $20 - $25 Canadian on my soap and cream.

I buy mostly based on an interesting or favourite scent.

I bought Henri et Victoria because Cognac and Cuban Cigar intrigued me, and as it turns out I like it.

I also bought Rocky Mountain Sandalwood but to my embarrassment it was because I liked the name. I really love it as it happens so it worked out well in the end.

I don’t suppose that my price point is considered luxury by many but compared to the Gillette shaving foam I was using only 3 months ago, I have taken a huge jump.

What does interest me though is your choice of after shave.

Some spend big bucks on soap but most here don’t spend more than about $10 on after shave.

I’ve always been a bit of an after shave snob and still use Quoros or JPG etc. So what am I missing. Is there something I should know about Pinaud?