I'm trying to prioritize my soap shopping list. I'm wanting to try Tabac, Speick, La Toja. Which are pretty inexpensive. My question, is Mitchell's and Taylor of bond street worth the money? Or could that money be better spent on a brush or some Stirling aftershaves??
The Taylor of old Bond Street in my opinion is well worth the money. You gets a good amount of product, vs how long it will last. It's easy to lather, and you have a plethora of scent options. Mitchell's on the other hand is still worth the money, at least to me. It has virtually no scent, that I can tell, but the performance is on par. Just get the refill puck, not the one in the container.
tobs is great soap/cream and well worth the $$. haven'tried the fat yet but is a staple for many folks here..
Funny how that works, I just used the fat for the first time this morning. Guess what...... When you apply it to the face, add water and a brush, it lather just like any other soap.
very cool, i am at a point where i have lots of soaps , and they all lather really well,scents have been my choosing point lately.the fat will be a future purchase though as it is an old school british soap..glad you like it so far..
Mitchell’s Wool Fat is very affordable at Connaughts in the UK. They ship to the US. It’s far cheaper to get it there than anywhere I’ve found in the states. The Fat is a wonderful, classic soap.
Of those soap you listed, I rate Tabac the highest. It does have one of those scents folks either accept and enjoy, or just can't get along with. It's a hard puck that last a long time making it an economical product. ToBS creams that I've sampled work, but I guess I haven't found a scent I just can't live without. Being creams they are "prehydrated" so you are buying soap + water. Keep that in mind if comparing price per ounce. I did try a sample of Mitchell's Wool Fat and found it acceptable, but not extraordinary. Might take a couple repeated uses to gain the love of The Fat, and like some soaps it's hindered by hard water. No experience with Speick or La Toja though they do have their fans. Considering the length of time you'd get from Tabac or The Fat, a new brush is the only item that could give longer service. When I recently purchased a new tub of Stirling soap I chose to get the matching AS so I can't say "Don't do it!". I was coerced by the calendar and limited availability of the Glastonbury scent. I'm not helping you make choices... Your AD's are your own.
I think I prefer the hard soaps and not the creams as much. And I definitely think I like old school cheaper soaps like arko, derby and Williams. I'm definitely ordering tabac and maybe the other 2 cheap ones just to try since they're so inexpensive. Maybe I'll just work on the brush and aftershave collection and enjoy the soaps I already have.
In my personal opinion if you are a DE shaver TOBS scents are great but the performance is mediocre. Really it’s nothing special and the 2 best scents again in my opinion are Sandalwood and Jermyn st. Mitchell’s Wool Fat is a great performer, but the scent is fairly boring but pleasant. It’s not something I use much but it is worth the price especially if you just get the refill. Tabac is a must have in everyone’s den. Classic scent, great performance and easy to use. Hope this helps! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I own a couple of tubs of TOBS, there scents are always amazing (grapefruit and Rose are my fav's), but the performance is nothing too special. It's perfectly good, builds a great lather super quick, but it's nothing too special. As for MWF, that stuff is great once you learn how to build a lather from it, super slick, plenty of cushion and glide, and post shave feel is pretty great. I really enjoy using MWF, especially on the days when I want something unscented. MWF will also last you a mighty long time compared to creams. Both are great choices, you can always pick up some tobs samples from maggards.
I find they're both worth the price pad for them. I like Taylor of Old Bond Street's Almond shave cream in a tub. Mitchell's is just awesome and the ceramic container it comes in (if it doesn't break) is quite good ad a collectible.
After more soaps than I care to admit; I find that I reach more for MWF than any other. Don’t get me wrong, I love TOBS, Tabac, among others, but I could easily get by with one soap, and it would be the fat. It’s a lather monster, smells great, provides the slick lather needed for a str8, and has a great post shave feel.
Curious, what are you using now? There are so many very good soaps readily available now. Connaught Shaving has MWF for around $8 for a refill puck. Tabac is slightly more. Those are both terrific, milled soaps that will outlast a tub of most of the artisan "hot poured" jars, costing considerably more. I've just recently started using creams more -- used them occasionally in the past for special conditions, like travel -- and they're quite good too. I haven't worked it out, but my guess is cost-per-shave is probably considerably more with something like ToBS over a soap like MWF. Even less expensive creams would probably be close to Tabac or MWF's Cost/Shave.
I totally forgot about Cella. It's a terrific soap and it's easy on the wallet. I used Proraso for a few years, but there's other soaps I now prefer. Too many great soaps. Too many choices!
I've been enjoying my TOBS Peppermint SC this past week, and the Fat always gives me a great shave. I have a tub of George F. Trumpers Almond coming from West Coast Shaving. I've never used Trumpers before and I'm looking forward to trying it. I'm mainly a soap guy but I really need to use what creams I do have more often. Yesterday the TOBS Peppermint SC gave me enough cushiony slick lather in my shave bowl that I could have shaved 3 times. Clayton
With Cella and Tabac you have two of the finest in my opinion. You could add MWF and be done., save the occasional impulse buy.
