Thread: better soap.. mwf or pre de provence?

i have to start out by saying how much i love my sister.. turns out she has been spying on me at srp and noticed my soap fixation.. as a surprise she ordered me a puck of both pre de provence and mwf.. i knew nothing of this till 3 days ago when the package showed up at my door.. my god i love my sister... there was no special occasion or anything.. simply a lovely gesture from the kindness of her heart.

anyway.. after two days of mwf i busted out the pre de provence for tonight's shave.. and i've got to say.. i loved it.. it is seriously the best soap i have ever used.. way better than my dr harris or trumpers.. and you know what.. i even enjoyed it more than the last two days of shaves with mwf..

perhaps i'm not using mwf to it's full potential.. but i facelathered both soaps with my wee scot and both times i enjoyed a great shave.. seems to me that the pre de provence leaves my face quite a bit smoother, softer, and moisturized. i'm wondering who else out there has both soaps in their rotation and which they consider to be the better of the two?

Hello, Victor:

Pre de Provence is a fine soap. It is loaded with shea butter and has a pleasing floral scent. Both soap and cream version provide luxurious lather.

Mitchell's Wool Fat is also a fine soap. I have found the lather not to be as luxurious as that of Pre de Provence, but glide and cushion are excellent. I also like the scent.

These are different soaps, and work in different ways. Which is better is an unfair question. Which works better for the individual shaver is what the question should be.

I like both, and use both. Yet neither is the top of the line of soaps — for me — and once done I will not replace them.

Regards,
Obie

You should definitely be grateful to your sister, it is nice that she gave you a present that you really appreciate. My take on your question, especially since you have both soaps, is that you should let your own experience determine your preference. Whichever works best for you should be the "winner", after all, you are the one shaving with them. Feedback from other members in invaluable but you deal with your own personal set of variables (brush, water, technique, etc.). I am glad to see that you are now using excellent shaving products, this should have a positive impact on your shaves.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by Obie

Hello, Victor:

These are different soaps, and work in different ways. Which is better is an unfair question. Which works better for the individual shaver is what the question should be.

Regards,
Obie

This is a great answer. Soaps and Creams vary with the individual's experience, and even the water you have. I've tried many, and as Obie said, There are some I will not buy. MWF is a good soap, it has very pleasing Lanolin fragrance, very fresh. Xpec is an awesome soap, the best I've tried, but it thinks it's a cream. SRD's soaps are top notch, especially the Bulgarian Rose Otto. It's one of my favorites, great lather, even better fragrance. I too have tried both the "Provence" and MWF and feel there are better choices out there for me....

P.S. I love the MWF bath soap. it's awesome.....

thank you for the replies gentlemen. i was very surprised when the pre de provence provided such an amazing lather.. i've been reading up on a few soaps for quite awhile and had expected mitchell's woolfat to be this amazing jesus of the soap world.. and although the lather it provides was amazing.. it was the feeling after the shave that really told the tale of the better shave.. as of now i am in love with the pre de provence.. i'm going to enjoy a few more shaves with it.. then dedicate 2 weeks to mwf to see if i can maximize it's lather potential.. i also really look forward to superlathering it with some c.o. bigelow.

MWF is very strange stuff.
The more consecutive days you use it the better it gets. It doesn't like not being used. Also it needs to be kept in a sealed container, it doesn't like contact with the air between shaves.
Also I find that it likes a dribble of water on it a few minutes before it is used.

These soaps will be very sensitive to the brush and water that you are using. Change one or both of these and you will get different results.

I started off with MWF and struggled making a good lather with it at first (which is common with mwf). During this time I was getting better shaves with kissmyface shaving soap and so stuck with that.

After seeing so much love for mwf, I decided to give it another shot. I experimented a bit until I was able to build a good lather with it. My trick is to let the soap and brush soak while I'm in the shower, then when I go to make my lather give the brush one light flick to get rid of some of the water, and the water left in the brush is the perfect amount to make incredible lather.

Now its my favorite soap. I love the fragrence and lubrication it provides. It also seems to last forever.

To me, MWF is the better soap.

although i have faith in mwf and i'm sure with some practice i can optimize my results from it.. the more and more i use pre de provence.. the more i appreciate it.. i have even started to distinguish it's scent.. at first it just smelled like soap.. then i started to notice some lemony citrus... then begin to notice the cloves and finally i identified some rosemary.. i'm sure more will come as i use it.. and i'm hoping the same will happen once i get started experimenting with the mwf.

Originally Posted by BruceOnShaving

MWF is very strange stuff.
The more consecutive days you use it the better it gets. It doesn't like not being used. Also it needs to be kept in a sealed container, it doesn't like contact with the air between shaves.
Also I find that it likes a dribble of water on it a few minutes before it is used.

These soaps will be very sensitive to the brush and water that you are using. Change one or both of these and you will get different results.

+1 to this, The brush plays a big role is lather building. I can use the same soap or cream with different brushes, and get different results...

I have Rooney, Thather and Simpson, Lately, I'm really liking the Simpson...Thather is a great brush, and Rooney, well, it's a lather hog....