Just a quick note to ask what everyone likes in a shave soap? In my short 1-1/2 years of safety razor shaving, I have tried various blades, razors & soaps. I have a really sensitive neck with grains in 70 directions & the razor that worked best of all was the 1974 TTO Superspeed Adjustable. The blade I like best is the Gillette Silver Blue Platinum. They cut nice & smooth, but I only found one or two soaps that really work for my ultra-sensitive ginger face. One soap is the "Van Der Hagen" luxury bar & while it lathers great, I am not crazy about the scent. It's also the only one available in stores near me to try. I also recently read that people like glycerine soaps & picked up one, but thought it was terrible. Then I found this little glycerine/aloe bar for $1 called "Clearly Natural Essentials with Aloe Vera". I am 100% happy with the glide & close shave, probably thanks to the aloe, but it carries maybe 60% of the lather of other soaps. Looking for lather, glide & great smell. I wish Old Spice still made the soaps my dad used. Thanks for reading. Walrus (1909 Comb / 1950 Tech / 1974 SSA)
I haven't tried a lot of soaps but have TOBS and Arko. I really like both of them but the Arko performs better IMO. It lathers really easily, its cheap and it's slick.
Matt, if you like Arko try the Arko Extra Performance shave cream. They have it on Amazon, it's outstanding! Thank me later buddy
Since you've had good luck with VDH Luxury, you might try something I've had success with. I use VDH Luxury unscented and add a few drops of a favorite aftershave to the puck before lathering to get the scent I want. The first time I tried it I used Old Spice and it worked so well that I've continued to always keep a puck of VDH Luxury unscented on the shelf.
I have tried a pretty fair amount of soaps, and I have a few preferences: -I like thirsty soaps. I want soaps that I can load like I stole them, and throw water onto my face between passes all day long. I HATE DISAPPEARING SOAP! -I want SLICK, shiny lather. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. - I like some scent to my soap. It doesn't have to fill the room per se, but I want to be able to smell it, and know it's there.
I'm a big fan of Mike's Natural Soaps especially their Barber Shop. Great lather, slick, and some great scents. The only one that irritated my face was the Orange, Cedarwood, & Black Pepper (given the black pepper it was not that great of a surprise). Another great option is the TSD soaps. Great lather, slick, and great scents plus it helps to support the forum.
This is kind of a can of worms. Everyone has their preference. I have tried hundreds and hundreds of soaps. Heck...i currently own hundreds and hundreds...and I have tried way more. I recommend going with ones that experienced wet shavers regard highly, and the same names seem to pop up: Barrister and Mann, Stirling soap co, Catie's Bubbles, Tabac, Klar, Dr. Jon's, nuavia pannacrema, Truefitt and Hill, Taylor of Old Bond Street, Martin de candre, and Mickey Lee soap works. There are certainly more out there, however. You should at least try 2 -3 from this list though. I am betting you will throw the vdh in the trash after.
"for me"...Saponifico Varesino and Mickey Lee Soapworks are "the best"...I agree about VDH, and think it might just be the most underrated soap around...and I just saw that SV has a new soap out that I had no idea of, so guess what I will probably be getting... but to answer your question, only you can answer that....also I have my razor, blade, and brush pretty much set (I use the same ones EVERY time) but I dont think I could every just use 1 soap.
Just used SV Cosmo for yesterdays shave, wonderful performance and complex scent. Very good stuff, but there are so many good soaps out there that you could search the forums and randomly pick up one and you would have a good chance of it working well for you.
I was just looking at this very soap on the net a while ago. It looks like it's a great soap. A little too far out of my price range for soaps but I may try it one day. I'll have to add it to my wish list for a birthday or something.
There are so many great soaps out and preference varies widely from one shaver to another. VDH is a very good soap and I have a few pucks in my den. However, with so many great soaps out there and those being recommended, experiment a bit and order a puck or two online to give them a whirl.
I recently tried, and now very much like, Mitchell's Wool Fat. It's a hard puck, but easy to lather. The scent is a little floral, but that's not a big deal to me. I also like Maggard soaps, especially their London Barbershop. HERM
Take charge, Soap Commander is hard to beat. Get your kicks, Route 66 may ruin you for anything else, so very nice lathers and scents. If I voted for Soap Commander to be very close to perfect, Route 66 would top that by being perfection but with cream on top. (Creamy perfection) I find it very difficult to reach for anything else.
I guess a better question is to ask what soap have you tried that hasn't worked for you ? Have you tried any other "shaving" soap then the Van Der Hagen ? There are lots of soap makers out there and some really really fantastic smelling and performing soaps. Dr. Jon and Stirling are two of my favorites.
Really good point. Granted I haven't tried a lot of soaps yet but I have yet to find a bad soap, or even a mediocre soap. Of the soaps that I have used, I really enjoyed Dr. Jon's. My favorite scents are 1803 by Dr. Jon, Steel by TTFFCraft, Northwoods by Mama Bear, and the fragrance used in the Charcoal Goods soap. As every soap that I've used performed extremely well, it just comes down to the scent that fits my mood at the time. I will say however that shea butter seems a magic ingredient that gives me a great post-shave feel to counteract the dryness caused by soaps in general.
There are entire forums devoted to shaving soaps. I use mostly tallow based soaps, but also have a few veggie soaps that perform well. I like Stirling soaps a lot, and Chiseled Face Groomatorium has great performing soaps with some unique scents. Both brands are reasonably priced and have samples available, allowing you to try different scents without getting stuck with a full puck of something you don't like. For mainstream commercial soaps I like Mitchell's Wool Fat, Valobra and Haslinger. It's worth pointing out that many commercial soaps are triple milled, meaning that they are much harder than artesan soaps and thus last a lot longer. This should be taken into consideration when comparing prices. I use Arko as a travel soap because the small puck packs well and it lathers well in hard water. --Bob
I'm a Stirling lover. Those soaps are my number one favorites. BUT: I also enjoy these as well, OSP Tabac Arko Erasmic De Vergulde Hand Krampert's Gold Dachs Spezial Proraso Green & White Cella Razorock One X And plenty of others!
