Quote Originally Posted by vthomlinson View Post
also.. am i wrong in thinking that you can use any natural glycerin or tallow based soap found in health food stores?.. my local hippiemart has a huge variety of natural soaps with great scents like lavender and oatmeal and they only run 2 dollars a piece.
Thing is these don't work like specialty shaving soap. Shaving soaps can have special additives that make them better for shaving with. Even if they are of the same ingredients as face soaps they are usually formulated to have a thicker lather or a slicker base than you would really want in a face or bath bar.

I've seen shaving soaps for $3 or less per bar from smaller makers up to $20 plus for the same size puck. Either way they tend to last months.

I was a die hard Williams ($1.99 at the drugstore) soap guy for 15 years before I discovered the good stuff. I still like Williams better then Van Der hagen (you couldn't pay me to use that) but there are few soaps out there that don't beat Williams on at least two of the many criteria you could judge shave soap by.

Specialty soaps from smaller makers are more than worth the bucks.