Being someone who tends to assume price = quality, this definitely clears up a lot for me. I haven't had the opportunity to pick up a soap yet, but I do want to give one a try soon. Would you say Van Der Hagen's is the easiest to learn to create a lather with?

Not necessarily regarding VDH, VDH's shining grace is like I mentioned before, its cheap, readily available and works about as good as triple milled soap; in all fairness I think the majority of Italian soft soaps are easier to use, Proraso cheats and uses detergents but its more like a cream paste, however.

I'm using Proraso cream right now and I'm a fan so far. What would be the downfalls of using detergents?

Nothing really as long as it lathers, its one of those "Purist" things haha.

I agree with Aaron here there are some very good creams that are cheap ie Wars and Lider classic from poland both ive tried and withexchange rate work out at 65p !! and work great.
Also Jeff (crackstar has some great reviews on shave creams and soaps that are very helpfull to try and make up your mind)

I'm still undecided. I only started wetshaving in May with soaps but recently have tried creams and really like the AoS lemon cream.

I have basically been a soap guy, I have used creams irregularly. The Shave Cream theme week has aided me in learning and appreciating shave creams.
Previously I could not get shave creams to lather consistently. This week I have worked on the water ratio to make my shave cream lather better.

End results have been great I have had some really nice lather from the various shave creams I have used this week. For those skeptics that do not fell shave creams earn a spot in you rotation try shave creams for week. You will have a deeper appreciate for shave creams and why they deserve a spot in your rotation.

I've always been a soft soap and cream junky and bowl lathered. I can't pull myself away from RazzoRock soft soaps and XXX.

I just recently tried QCS (QC scent) and was about to toss it after a couple of times trying to bowl lather when I decided as a last-ditch try I would face lather. Geez, lather started coming out of my ears right away....go fish. I was so used to getting great lathers from RR soft soaps and bowl lathering that I figured something must be wrong with the QCS.

I guess my advice is don't give up on a soap or cream right away if it isn't working out. The Shave Gods may be trying to teach you something.

I use soap 95% of the time and of that, 75% is MWF, 20% Cella, and 5% other soaps. I use creams maybe once per week or once every other week and I have always taken creams with me when I travel, but that may change since I have been introduced to shave sticks.

in my biased opinion, cremes are easier to get a decent lather from, but soaps give a slightly better lather if you put in the effort. Of course my current favorite is a soft soap, so *shrug*

I too am curious about what people like better soap or cream. But I'll add a little to this query. For someone with sensitive skin would you pick one over the other?

I voted soap although I use both (Proraso and EJ sandalwood cream) but I really like VdH Deluxe soap. It lathers very well with both a boar brush (the VdH that came with the soap and a bowl) or my EJ super badger, smells GREAT (that's subjective, of course), and does an excellent job for its intended purpose.

I'm sure I'll be a couple of pucks of high zoot somethingorother at some point, just to see or get a different scent, but I don't feel compelled to find a spendier soap at this point. I melt it into the VdH bowl using the microwave and load the brush then lather in a separate, larger bowl or directly on my face.

At the moment I'm more of a cream guy for the simple fact that it was easier for me to procure & to lather in my hard water. However, I'm quickly moving over to the soap side with the addition of Cella (thanks again Johnny!) to my den not too long ago. I love the stuff. This morning was my first shave with De Vergulde Hand soap from Holland and it was AMAZING! I still need to work on the water/product ratio, but man I was impressed. I'll be using the shave stick version tomorrow morning. Oh yeah, I just rembered that I also have Arko & it's a fabulous soap as well...

Looks like I'm going up to vote for soap after thinking this through a bit. However, I will say my creams were/are great. Lots of options & they work easily even with hard water. My main creams are Proraso/Bigelow, Speick, Musgo Real, & Omega.

Josh, something I plan on doing my next trip to Atlanta is to visit one of the many Indian markets & look for Godrej cream. If you know of any there in Marietta it'll definitely be worth checking out. If they carry it you'll be getting a good quality cream for <$5 a tube!

i have been using Williams soap for years with a cart. razor .Now that i have started wet shaving I bought some Cello cream and it great.I can't wait to try some others.

Well I'm definitely using my soaps more lately. I have since added MWF, Provence Sante, RazoRock XXX (soft soap or hard cream or croap), and yesterday I picked up a puck of L'Occitane Cade. I'm actually making some trips to neighboring Krogers looking for some cheap Williams today. I'm really liking my soaps for their glide and lubricity (if that's a word)!

On another note from my previous post I did make it to a couple Indian markets while in Atlanta and picked up 3x Godrej creams and a Dettol Cool cream. I haven't even used the Godrej yet, but the Dettol provided an excellent lather and a nice result.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that

Just teasing of course, to each his own. I used Colgate and Williams for about 5 years before I switched off of carts because I didn't know there was anything else. Got trapped in "it's all I can find at the store" mode. Now you can't even get Colgate locally....

i wish i would have known then what i have found out in the last 4 days .I could have saved a bunch of money and had way better shaves.

I've been preferring creams lately, I suppose I should order a batch of soaps like MWF and TSD to rekindle my interest - I just like the tubes right now for convenience of travel.

Luckily Williams is cheap!