Thread: Pre de Provence Shave soap

I Have been using this for about 6 months. It has been my first and only. In my opinion not bad has a good smell to it. Always leaves my face in good shape. I Have little experience about purchasing soaps and am overwhelmed by the amounts of choices that exist. Has anyone used this soap? I'm considering trying the " Taylor of Old Bond street" ( Lavender/ Sandalwood) brand and the " Fitjar Sapekokeri" brand. I'm simply looking for a thick moist lather that will last long, Smells good and helps me get the closest, comfiest shave I can get. The more natural the soap the better. Any recomendations??

i have taylor's cream in the tub and love it.. i use the almond scent.. i plan on trying pre de provence when i get a chance.. i love the smell of sage.. my family is native american and sage is often burned in our house and at other times.. how would you describe it's scent? the soap that is.

also... our good friend obie has recommended provence sante verlain.. i look forward to one day trying that as well as the provence sante green tea.

soaps i have in my rotation are d.r. harris, trumpers, and soaptopia.. i recommend them all.. although many people have problems with soaptopia desolving fast on their face... i don't really have that problem.. but i have never heard a bad word spoken of the d.r. harris or the trumpers.

Originally Posted by vthomlinson

i have taylor's cream in the tub and love it.. i use the almond scent.. i plan on trying pre de provence when i get a chance.. i love the smell of sage.. my family is native american and sage is often burned in our house and at other times.. how would you describe it's scent? the soap that is.

also... our good friend obie has recommended provence sante verlain.. i look forward to one day trying that as well as the provence sante green tea.

soaps i have in my rotation are d.r. harris, trumpers, and soaptopia.. i recommend them all.. although many people have problems with soaptopia desolving fast on their face... i don't really have that problem.. but i have never heard a bad word spoken of the d.r. harris or the trumpers.

Thanks, best way I can describe the scent is Citrus with a flowery hint. Perhaps due to the Rosemary. Scent is subtle and wont linger on you. Is there A significant difference between soaps and creams? If yes which is the better of the 2?

I personally use TGQ shave soaps exclusively. Mama Bear also has a large following here as well.

I find Institute Karite very similar to Pre de Province--different scents, but I believe they both use shea butter in them, so they're very moist.

Mitchell's Wool Fat (Kent) is wonderful as well, as is Tabac, though I'm told a lot of guys prefer those two only in the winter; I use them year round.

I also enjoy Dr. Harris soaps; I currently have the Arlington scent, which is a bit fruitier than I normally like (as is Province, actually), but I got used to it, and quite enjoy it now.

I've used Pre de Province. While it is not the best stuff I have used it works well and smells nice. I find my prefer shave creams. There are one or two out there that are very good and won't break the bank. I good source of information on what people are using can be found in the SOTD posts. Feel free to ask questions of the people that post. PM's are also a good method to get suggestions from the SOTD posts or posts to this and other threads.

Good luck.

Personally I rate Trumpers soaps higher than TOBS, but thats just my personal opinion and YMMV.

I also would recommend MWF and Tabac soaps, which are both excellent. Castle Forbes creams are great too, and Mama Bears soaps are another I would recommend.

I'm working on my second puck of PdP. I agree with those that recommend MWF and Castle Forbes. Completely different, but very, very good.

You may also want to try an Arko shave stick. Great lather.

I like PdP, but I generally swear by the hard English shaving soaps. Art of Shaving also makes an excellent soap in the English tradition and only uses natural essential oils. Try their sandalwood or lavender. Sometimes if you shop, you can find them for less than full retail. Enjoy experimenting.

Jordan

Originally Posted by vthomlinson

i plan on trying pre de provence when i get a chance.. i love the smell of sage.. my family is native american and sage is often burned in our house and at other times.. how would you describe it's scent? the soap that is.

I don't know why people say that Pre de Provence has a sage-like smell to it. I've been fortunate enough to try it and it smells divine to me, but sagey it is not. The most I saw was some extract of rosemary listed in the ingredients. I often cook with these culinary herbs (mortar and pestle used more often than food processor or blender) and it smells like neither. It has the gentle fragrance of early morning spring floral garden. The freshness of it, not a heady nectar smell, it is, to me, a fantastic scent. The OP was very lucky to have this as his first shaving soap.

There's about 4-5 major genes that control for sense of taste/flavor/smell, this from an article or two I've read. For reference: I don't like the smell of Tabac (but don't hate it), I love Proraso, I like Mama Bear's "Awakenings", I love Crabtree & Evelyn's "Nomad", and even enjoy Wilkinson blue bowl. Oh, and I really like Straight Razor Design's "Sandlewood", I know someone who has a very old Caswell-Massey extract of Sandalwood and SRD was very loyal to it.