Thread: French Shaving Soaps

Ok, I gotta get that Provence Sante. Is the clay pot cool, or is so blah I might as well use an anchor hocking?

Originally Posted by loueedacat

Ok, I gotta get that Provence Sante. Is the clay pot cool, or is so blah I might as well use an anchor hocking?

I would skip the clay pot. Besides, the anchor hocking has a lid.

I actually use the clay pot myself, but agree with RayG, it's not really a value add other than being cute. I don't really dislike it, but it's relatively narrow and deep for what it is, and can be a bit constricting when lathering. On the positive side, I tend to soak my soaps, and the porous clay dries better than plastic/glass. If you're not a soap-soaker, it's no upside at all. I'd go with the Anchor Hocking.

But the Provence Sante soap itself can be had shrink-wrapped without the clay pot for about $10 last time I bought, and it's easily on par with the *very* best soaps I've ever tried over the past two years, at two to four times the price. And I've tried a bunch of them, being a soap fiend. IK and Provence Sante are standouts, the French seem to have fine soaps pretty well figured out.

If you like the scent of the Provence Sante soap as much as I do, it's called "Verlaine" (combination of vervain and linden, two plants native to Provence). It's available in AS or cologne for less than $20! I've tried the AS, and it's a bit oily because of the very high shea butter content, but the scent is heaven, and it lasts well for AS. I'm going to try the cologne soon.

L'Occitane is what I use. Pricey but lasts a Loooonng time due to the hardness. Because it has no shea butter, I add 3 drops of liquid glycerine before working up the lather. That gives close comfortable shaves with very little irritation afterward. Gotta love the smell! As soon as I put hot water on the cake it starts to smell nice. If you like juniper..my.02.

L'occitane Cade products work really good for me. Although not everyone might like them. As far as I know as a manufacturer they are really big on being environmentally friendly, so my guess would be that their products sometimes get chosen for that reason too. Also if you are in Bulgaria, buy L'occitane products online. Even with transportation they are about 40% cheaper to buy online than from the local retailers.

Originally Posted by Dups

I got a nice set of l'occitane products for christmas from my sister who lives in France. L'occitane CADE soap, Scrub and aftershave balm. All three are fantastic products! I really like the way it smells. It's so different from anything else, so I can understand when you say that you either love it or hate it. Personally I love it!

I'm going to have to try some IK next.

I only have one Pre de Provence product and it's a Green Tear splass which is one my favourite. Smells great and soothes your skin real well.

Would you mind asking her where she got those products ? I currently live in France (Marseilles), but have a hard time finding any shop which carries decent shaving products.

louee,

You realize, don't you, that you have just ruptured my soap budget? I've been doing mostly German with a mixing of a modicum of other continental creams with occasional forays across the Channel; so now the SCAD weakness requires I expand suds into French lathers.

Forever in your debt

I really enjoy French Shaving Soaps, apart from the usual suspects, ie. IK, PS, PdP and Cade, two really good French Shaving Soaps are Martin de Candre and Le Comptoir du Pharmacien. Admittedly Martin de Candre is rather pricey at 32.50 EUR plus shipping, but you do get a 170g pot for the money and it is one of the few "all-natural" shaving soaps that actually works well.
Le Comptoir du Pharmacien seems to be almost unknown. It's 7.70 EUR for a 60g puck in a metal tin, and apart from IK it is one of the most moisturising soaps I have used, really great stuff.

Originally Posted by Pachuco

Oddly enough I just purchased a puck of the L'Occitane ss yesterday and lathered it up today. It did provide a very good shave (w/a DE), and I do really enjoy the scent. So, far I've been reluctant to pull the trigger on an IK soap as the sc irritated the hell out of my face, then again most products with shea butter tend to irritate my skin to some extent. Thanks for the comparison!

Serg

IMO, the IK cream is crap, but the soap is my favorite by far. Second on my list would have to be the Provence Sante.

Wow IK sounds awesome. On Amazon it's cheap as heck! $4.50 (or $10 shipped!) for 3.4oz, and they come in different scents! Wow! Gotta try this soon!