Thread: French Shaving Soaps

In response to Lynn's challenge to flood SRP with "soft stuff" reviews, I'm going to start a set of reviews of all those dang soaps and creams I've been accumulating, and do it by category (French, Italian, UK, Artisan, German, Turkish etc.). I'm hoping others will fill in with the other items from the categories that I don't have, and add categories.

So on with FRENCH SOAPS - I have Institut Karite, L'Occitane CADE and Pre de Provence.

Institut Karite



IK is special stuff - maybe my favorite shaving soap. The lather is a little thin - I can't get bushels of creamy lather. But the performance is incredible. The 25% shea butter content shows - the face feels great afterwards. And I get a very slick, comfortable and close shave. I think this is one of the best shaving soaps for straight razor shavers period. The scent is a neutral soapy scent. Not a tallow soap (for those who, unlike me, care).

Certain Vendors: shavingessentials.net, tryphon, amazon, others.

Pre de Provence


I'm not in love with this soap. The scent is wonderful - a nice clean sage scent. It has shea butter, but not in the same concentration as IK. Face feels nice afterwards, but not as nice as with IK. I have a hard time getting a protective lather with this, and I find the shave to be just fine, but nowhere near as close as I get with IK. So I prefer the scent of PdP to IK, but the performance of IK is superior (for me). Not a tallow soap.

Certain Vendors: shavingessentials.net, tryphon, amazon, others.

L'Occitane CADE



This stuff is great. I find the lather to be dense, very slick and protective, and I get a very close shave. The scent is very cool - a unique juniper based scent - but you love it or hate it. I find it doesn't make my face feel as good afterwards, certainly not as good as IK does. There is no shea in the CADE soap. But it is a great soap, particularly if you like juniper. NB - the CADE shave cream is awful and makes me and many others break out, but the CADE soap is a totally different animal and much better IMO. Not a tallow soap.

Vendors: L'Occitane website and stores.

French Soaps I'd like to try when my wife isn't looking:

Provence Sante
Roget et Gallet
Monsavon

any chance you could reduce the middle pic a little. I really love the Pre de Provence soaps they are among my favorites!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Doc

any chance you could reduce the middle pic a little. I really love the Pre de Provence soaps they are among my favorites!!!!!!!!!

I took the middle pic out because I'm a technical idiot and couldn't figure out how to reduce it. If someone can insert a pic of the PdP at normal size, please do. I tried.

I am on my second puck of IK soap and it is the best soap i have ever used. I could get by very well on this soap for the rest of my life. I have a touch beard and sensitive skin and this works better than anything else i have tried.

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

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.

PdP aftershave balm is awesome by the way.

You are a man of taste on the IK. It's great, thanks for the review

My favorite shaving soap used to be Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet, along with Mitchell's Woolfat when I could dial in the lather correctly. Then Penhaligon's changed the formulation, and I was back-ordered for six months. I got fed up, and tried some of the French soaps. I'd heard good things.

Institut Karite is outstanding. It lathers as easily as Tabac, and smells better to me. If you like IK, you will love Provence Sante, they're like cousins. It lathers like Tabac, but also has the glide/slickness of Mitchell's Woolfat but less finicky, smells great like IK, and is inexpensive like IK. I liked Provence Sante when I was DE shaving, and like it just as much or more since switching to straights.

The French shaving soaps got me started on the awesome French bath soaps like Doux, but that's a whole other thread.

Great reviews! I'll have to dig around and post some. I have dozens of soaps and creams laying around.

I haven't tried the IK soap, but would like to. I like PdP. I'm not too hot on L'Ocitane.

I have the Roget & Gallet (wanna buy it? ). I don't think it's that great. It has a pretty heavy scent and doesn't protect very well. Not particularly moisturizing either. YMMV.

Jordan

Great start to the reviews! I love French soaps as well. They perform great, are as hard and longlasting as any other triple milled soap, but they are not as "heavy" feeling (for lack of a better description) on my face as the tallow soaps.

My experience has been a little different. I prefer the Pre de Provence to IK, as I seem to get a thicker, more protective lather with it. I also like the scent.

Just to add to the review, my favorite (by a very small margin) of the Frenchies is Provence Sante. Performance wise, like the other french soaps, but it is the only one that has a "powdery" feeling on my skin, and the scent is just so light and fresh. Very subjective, I know, but that is what sets it apart for me. Plus the fact that it is the least expensive of the lot, and available at t brick and mortar store in the next town (Madison, for anyone this side of CT). If you are planning to get one, skip the clay pot it comes in. The puck fits perfectly in an old spice mug.