Having read many comments singing the praises of L'Occitane Cade shave soap, I decided to try it myself. I was not disappointed. Overall: (9/10) L'Occitane Cade is an outstanding shaving soap, among the best that I have ever used. With a good razor and blade combination, the result is fantastic shaves. Ease of lathering: (9/10) This soap is very easy to lather. Varying the amount of water does not seem to affect its lathering ability much, and it consistently performs well. Life span of lather: (9/10) The lather lasts a long time, and worked very well even when I took my time shaving. L'Occitane Cade lather definitely has staying power. General skincare: (8/10) This soap does not have incredible skincare, but it is also not bad. It left my face feeling a slightly dry after the shave, although that might just be some astringency in the soap. Other than that, the skincare is good. Lubrication: (10/10) The lather from L'Occitane Cade is quite slick. It is not the greased teflon slickness of some other soaps, and a little astringency is present. While this might not seem good, it turns out to be excellent and makes for a superlative shave. How protective: (10/10) The lather is a full-on, two thumbs up, outstandingly protective. I had absolutely no irritation, nicks or cuts while using this soap. When it comes to protection, the L'Occitane soap is second to none. It is very easily 10/10. Scent: (9/10) This soap has a pleasant scent, in which rosemary seems to be the dominant note. The scent is fairly light, which suits me just fine. Price: (9/10) A 3.5 oz. / 100 g cake was $12 at the L'Occitane store. Given that the soap is so good, it is a bargain and offers excellent value for the money. Would you buy again: (10/10) In a heartbeat. Brush used: Dovo 918 052 pure badger My water hardness: 57 ppm as CaCO3 (soft) Soap ingredients: Potassium Palmate - Sodium Palmate - Potassium Palm Kernelate - Aqua/Water - Sodium Palm Kernelate - Glycerin - Parfum/Fragrance - Juniperus Oxycedrus Wood Oil - Fusanus Spicatus Wood Oil - Helichrysum Italicum (Flower) Oil - Cera Alba/Beeswax - Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract - Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil - Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil - Hordeum Vulgare Extract - Sodium Chloride - Octyldodecanol - Palm Kernel Acid - Cocoglycerides - Pentasodium Pentetate - Tetrasodium Etidronate - Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate - Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate - Tocopheryl Acetate - Magnesium Sulfate - Sodium Benzoate - CI77891/Titanium Dioxide Manufacturer's website: www.loccitane.com Miscellaneous: L'Occitane certainly knows their shave soaps, and their efforts to make a top-notch product are evident. The puck is about 3 inches in diamter, perhaps a little more. It was too wide to fit into my shaving mug, so I trimmed the edges off with a kitchen knife and stuffed the whole lot into the mug. It works perfectly well that way. The ingredients list was taken from the label on the soap. The water hardness was taken from my utility's latest water quality annual report. The scale below was used to correlate water ppm to the soft/hard rating, and is from the US Geological Survey website. Water hardness scale (as CaCO3): 0-60 mg/l: Soft 61-120 mg/l: Moderately hard 121-180 mg/l: Hard Over 180 mg/l: Very hard mg/l is milligrams per liter Some utilities give water hardness in parts per million (ppm) 1 mg/l = 1 ppm (not exactly, but very, very close) July 2, 2013 Update: I have been using this soap on a daily basis for four months and it is about half gone. By that measure, each puck should last for eight months. I might try one or two more shaving soaps, but I think L'Occitane Cade will become my mainstay.
Great review! I like the scent of Cade very much. I find it's a bit finicky with our hard water, so it's one I lather up with bottled water.
I went into a Salon that sold L'Occitane looking for some Vetyver edt, they had none :-( but I walked out with their last puck of Cade Shave soap which was on clearance......... $6
today they have a 1 day free shipping from them online...i decided to buy my first puck of cade with free shipping.
I'm lucky, I have a L'Occitane En Provence shop fairly close by. L'Occitane Cade is a great soap, and with free shipping, it's a great deal.
Nice review. There is a L'Occitane store nearby. I will have to keep this one on the wish list for the time when I finish up some of the other products in my cabinet.
Hey now, don't put your soap acquisition disorder on me, I just pointed out that the free shipping is spiffy. It is an excellent soap with an excellent scent, and $12 is less than many other soaps out there of lesser quality. I think you'll be happy with your purchase.
Wish I could use it. I'm allergic to juniper. You can see that juniper oil is actually pretty high up on the ingredients list.
Cade is a type of French juniper, so it's not surprising that juniper oil is high up on the list of ingredients.
just got my cade soap today in the mail from them...larger diameter than the wooden bowl i had saved for it...might have to cut and mash. the scent is super nice....one of the nicest soaps i've smelled....makes me want to keep smelling it. i will shave with it tonight and check it out.
I ordered a 5 pack online a couple of years ago to save on shipping, but due to using them as popular stocking stuffers I am now down to my last puck way ahead of schedule. Must reorder soon. Cade's OD is too large for my mug too. To make a nice-tight fit I grate the OD until it loosely fits, put half the gratings evenly on the mug's bottom, insert the Cade, and use the other half of the gratings to fill the gaps between soap and mug. Makes a nice uniform, slip free fit, and eliminates the need to grate the entire puck.
Bump. Liked it, but didn't love it. With time, figured out how to make it work. Lather with vigor! It is now up to $14. And it is now in my top three.
I like this soap very much. The lather is not the best. Its scent is not powerful and long-term. But when i use this soap, my shaves are very comfortable and smooth. Its performance is between MWF and TOBS for me. Very close to TOBS. Easy to reach Cade product line from L'occitane local stores in Turkey. It will be in my den anymore.