your soap collection

Discussion in 'Shave Soaps' started by toughluck, Dec 19, 2010.

  1. toughluck

    toughluck New Member

    List your current shave soap collection and your thoughts on each one. Mine is small but getting bigger quickly.

    The Shave Den - Signature Scent
    My favorite soap in my collection, great strong spice scent, awesome for winter. Lathers very nicely. Been trying to think of what the scent reminds me of and I finally got it. That old "clove" gum, maybe im crazy but thats what comes to mind. Mmm

    Mama Bear's - Grapefruit w/menthol
    Smells great, would appreciate a bit stronger scent and menthol. Still great though, my go to soap if I really need to wake up in the morning. Good summer soap, lathers nice.

    Mama Bear's - Cabin in The Woods
    Very nice woodsy scent, also a bit light on the scent for my taste. Good year round soap.

    Proraso - Green
    First soap I used, lather is awesome. Again I enjoy strong scents however.
     
  2. Xezmer

    Xezmer Active Member

    This is from memory:

    -AOS Sandalwood: My favorite. Always an easy latherer with a good scent.
    -Tabac: Depends on the brush, but always a top rate shave.
    -MWF: My most fun to use. One of my favorite scents.
    -Arko: Easy no fuss shave. So easy to lather directly on face. Not huge on the scent, but don't dislike it by any measure.
    -Palmolive: Killer lather and excellent scent. Average shave.
    -Cella: Also a fun one with dense lather and great smell. Matures nicely.
    -P160: Smells too sweet. Matures to Cella. Good shave.
    -L'Occitane Cade:
    -SCS Coconut, Blue Line Menthol, Sandalwood, Dagger, Pumpkin Pie: Love the scents. By far the best artisan soap i've used to date besides mama bears. (Haven't tried QED, TSD)
    -HBS GIT, Sandalwood: OKAY all around.. some skin irritation. Like the scents though.
    -Proraso White: I'm yet to use it.
     
  3. Sodapopjones

    Sodapopjones Well-Known Member

    • Trumpers Almond, which is a superb and unbeatable soap
    • Trumpers Violet, a great floral
    • P160. Tipo Duro, it speaks for itself
    • Proraso Green Tea & Aloe
    • VDH, by far the best soap per penny and rivals many a soap
    • Spieck Stick, good scent, decent lather
    • Irisch Moos Stick, great scent and lather
    • Valobra Stick, my favorite stick period
    • Arko Stick, it works
    • L'Occitane Cade, its not bad still prefer C&E Sandalwood

    I think my baby girl is buying me a new C&E puck, she won't let me near the store :happy102

    In the end though it really boils down to scent, once you figure out lathering you can shave well with just about anything.
     
  4. ChemErik

    ChemErik Mr. Personality

    Mitchell's Wool Fat - You'll see based on my signature that this is my personal favorite. Only way it could be improved would be to make the scent slightly stronger.

    TSD Iced Signature - TSD soaps are IMHO the best "glycerin" type soap available. The Signature scent is one of my favorites of JoAnna's. If it has a weakness, it's in the "residual slickness" though it still has some. It also does such a good job softening the beard I typically don't need the extra touch-up anyway.

    Speick Stick - This stuff smells fantastic and makes super-thick protective lather. Only weakness here would be in skin care and it's not too bad on that.

    Provence Sante Verlain - This what I use when I want to feel luxury. Very relaxing scent and the lather just feels nice. Not as protective as some others, so I don't use it with aggressive razor/blade combos.

    Williams - Serviceable. Good protection and slickness. Weak on skin care and scent. Really benefits from super lathering with KMF.

    Palmolive Stick - Only two things different than Speick. 1) The scent doesn't impress me nearly as much (citrus + citronella + a little spice) 2) protection is good but not the great level Speick reaches.

    I've tried many others, but feel those I currently own are sufficient for this thread.
     
  5. PanChango

    PanChango Not Cute

    Most of the time I mug lather using a couple sticks of Arko crammed in an old spice mug.

    Arko - It is a nice inexpensive tallow based shave stick. It lathers very easily, provides a nice amount of glide and leaves the face feeling good. I enjoy the scent, but many do not. For the price, it is well worth trying.

    Speick Stick - I like the Speick stick. It would be nice if they released in a puck form, but the stick works well. It has a nice scent, cushion and glide.

    Palmolive Stick - Similar to the Speick, but the scent is meh. Inexpensive and works well.

    Valobra Stick - Nice almond scent. I get a nice shave from it, but I don't think it has as much cushion or glide as the others I use. It is also one of the more expensive shave sticks.
     
  6. Tom Ford

    Tom Ford Member

    Tabac - Great lather, if not one of the best. Used seasonally as the scent is certainly suited to winter IMO
    Cella - Superb
    Santa Maria Novella - Superb
    Castle Forbes (Lime) - Superb
    MWF - Clean, fresh and provides a great lather and shave
    CADE - the best vegetable based soap going around IMO. Scent is great and the shaves are always first class
    D.R Harris (Arlington & Lavender) - Brilliant soaps, last forever, have terrific scents and provide great lather and shaves
    AOS Sandalwood - An amazing soap. Lathers like a dream and the scent is brilliant.
     
  7. BassTone

    BassTone Well-Known Member

    Crabtree & Evelyn Sienna: Warm heavenly scent, lathers easily, lasts a long time has plenty of slick and cushion. Face feels well cared for after use though sometimes I feel a little sting from the fragrance I think, but very slight.

    Speick stick (grated into a nice glass bowl): Fresh spirited scent, ridiculous cushion and glide. Face feels well cared for here too.

    Pre de Provence: Gentle all around clean pleasant scent, takes to boars better than my one pure badger Omega. A little harder to get the lather going but once you got it, you've GOT IT. Slick and cushiony!

    Prairie Creations, Cool Spring (a fern scent): gives a little sting from the fragrance from me, but the scent is wonderful, conditions the skin well and provides excellent easy lather, good slick and cushion

    Williams: Pleasant old school scent, never irritates my skin, always slick as can be, never have an issue with it besides it being difficult to get going and I only use a boar with it for this reason.

    Cella: Love the scent of this sweet almond gem, it sometimes irritates my skin for some reason and I don't find it nearly as slick as I find it cushiony.

    Of course, this is all my opinion and must be taken with a grain of salt, and I have hard water, just so you know. Also, they're only roughly in this order - it changes a bit.

    For me, the slickest of the lot would be Williams, C&E and Speick, but the others aren't too far off.
     
  8. markb

    markb New Member

    I have way too many to list them all but here are the ones that have been getting the most use lately..

    Prairie Creations - I have several of these and they're all top performers. One of the best bargains out there. The lather is very slick and cushioning and the three I have with lanolin (Mayan Magic, Dragons Blood & Wild Wild West) leave my skin very soft. The others that I have are her "Old Spice" & "Clubman" scents and a Nag Champa shave stick.

    Queen Charlotte Soaps "Celestial Woods" - Another great hand made tallow soap that performs as well as the Prairie Creations soaps.

    Art of Shaving / Czech & Speake / Valobra stick - I listed these three together because they're all made by the same company (Valobra) and are my absolute favorite soaps that I've used in all the time I've been doing this. The lather, scent and efficacy of all are great. I have the Lemon and Sandalwood AoS soaps and No.88 & Oxford and Cambridge in the Czech & Speake line.
     
  9. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    I don't even know where to start...
     
  10. poppi

    poppi Well-Known Member

    Got just a few so here goes:

    Colgate Cup Soap - vintage tallow based hard soap that I find wonderful. Love it.

    Charismata Barber Shoppe - tallow based aritisan soap. Works fine and I like the scent

    Seaforth SS - another vintage tallow soap that I like. Hard to find but worth it

    Trumpers Coconut Oil SS - smells nice, works ok, irritates my face. The wife got it for
    so it gets used occasionally

    BathHouseSoaps - several scents, the only non tallow soap I use regularly.

    Williams Mug Soap - have some vintage stuff that I need to try out.

    Currently I am using some samples of Queen Charlotte Soaps. So far they are proving to be fantastic and will probably take a coveted spot in my rotation.
     
  11. DragonBoy

    DragonBoy Team Player

    I would like to comply but I think my keyboard would melt if I had to write a comment of 150+ soaps - sorry!
     
  12. Art Vandelay

    Art Vandelay Active Member

    I'm new to wet shaving, so I only have two soaps:

    Colonel Conk's Bay Rum: I LOVE this stuff, and I know it's a midgrade soap, so I can't wait to try the better ones. I find myself just sniffing it forever.

    Caswell Massey: I bought it because it came with a cool bowl, in the gift shop at the Gateway Arch. Total crap.
     
  13. crackstar

    crackstar Israeli Ambassador to TSD

    If I start now, I'll be here all night! :happy102
     
  14. Dandaman

    Dandaman Member

    AoS - wonderful every time. can't miss.
    Prairie Creations - very, very good and cheap. Wish the scents were somewhat more noticeable. would always keep this.
    Trumpers: Always works great. Great scents (though Violet a bit much)
    Speick - slickest lather there is for me. Love it. Why can't I have a puck? Alas, for me it has next to no scent.
    Provence Sante - very nice shave w/ a very nice scent
    Pre de Provence - lather is lighter than I'd like, but still lathers easily & gives good results.
    Mama Bear's Dragon's Blood, Cypher Rose - scents to die for. works well but glycerines usually not in my top tier
    QED - more scent than almost anything, some irritate/burn my skin. A once in a great while change of pace
    MWF - when the stars align, good lather that's nice to my skin. More trouble than most, and scent is blah
    DR Harris Arlington - great scent! a soap I really wanted to like. Alas, it gives me no cushion and little glide. I have no use for it.
    Palmolive stick - My mileage DID vary. Not even average.
    Valobra stick - SHOULD have been very similar to AoS. Didn't impress. I do however need a two day beard for hard sticks to stand a chance of working well.
    Cella - works well enough but I dislike sweet almond fragrance
    L'Occitane Cade - works reasonably well, nice scent, lather a bit lighter than I like.
    Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet - nice scent, good shave.
    Tabac - one of my favorite scents. copious lather that is distinctly middle-of-the-road for slickness/protection. Kept for it's scent.
     
  15. 1OldGI

    1OldGI New Member

    My Meager Rotation

    Core (year-round)
    VDH Deluxe- This one was a shoe in, available locally, affordable and works great, what's not to like
    Arko shavestick: Bought a big load of these in the spring so I'm set for the forseeable future. Again, affordable, and a damn fine soap
    C.O. Bigelow Cream: Nice menthol kick, affordable, very effective and available locally

    Rotational (seasonal in and out)
    Speick Shavestick:Just finishing one of these up, a great soapstick that will undoubtedly enjoy future appearances
    Omega Soap: Only one or two shaves left in my tub this really is a very enjoyable soap that produces lots of great lather however, due to its similarity to C.O. Bigelow, it is unlikely to do an encore.
    Mitchell's Wool Fat:For years I listened to the chubby chasers hype this stuff and the haters hate it (as haters are prone to do). I've only done four or five shaves on this stuff and am proud to say I'm a chubby chaser, this stuff is the bee's knees.
    Ogalla Bay Rum Sage and Cedar: Tomorrow will be my second shave with this stuff so it's still kind of early for a definitive word. The smell is amazing but seems to not have much linger time (ditto for the cologne) but the lather seems a couple notches above good enough and it seems pretty easy to use
    TSD English Fern: Also a new arrival, maiden voyage will occur Thursday and Friday of this week. Practice lather suggested a fantastic smell and (as is the Queen's standard) gobs and gobs of glorious lather

    On Deck for Spring/Summer
    TSD Coconut Lime Verbena:This is the return of the defending champion of summer shaving soap. No doubt this one is epic and a must try.
    TSD Tommy Bahama Type:Staying with the tropical theme of the season, this one will challenge the champion. If nothing else, it will go great with a flowerdy shirt and a big brim panama :D
    TSD Pink Grapefruit:Been eyeballin this one for quite a while. I'm sure by the time the weather warms up that curiousity will kill the cat.
     
  16. DLreno

    DLreno Well-Known Member

    Current
    Arko Stick: Extremely effective for the price. Will probably try other stick brands when this is gone.
    Arko boosted TSD Bourbon Vanilla: Great blend for super lather.
    TOBS Traditional: This little sample has lasted forever. Makes very good lather.
    Tabac: The king of the hill currently.

    On Deck
    TSD Blue Juniper: Great smell.
     

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