As many of you are aware I have been trying to compile my “Top 10 High Performance Soaps/Creams”…a bit of a fun project for me to pass the time until my next shave.

And as I work on my list I started thinking to myself, I said, “Self…would it be possible to create a short list of very good performing soaps for under $5?” Now I realize that the under $5 may not be the “ultimate” in high performance soaps/creams, but they may still provide a respectable shave…and for the money provide excellent value.

Now, before someone throws a soap puck at me, I would like your opinion on whether you know of very good/excellent soaps/creams for under $5.
Three soaps/creams immediately come to mind: Arko, Williams and Nivea Original Shave Cream.

I haven't bought Pyrate Cove shave soaps in awhile but they were $4 each and $20 delivered price for 4 pucks. Great performing soap for the price and all four that I bought where heavy on the scent as I like them. Glycerin based but he also adds Shea and Cocoa Butter plus he uses Essential oils and Fragrance oils which to me is a big plus as most of the FO's I have tried irritate my face and neck.

Barbon and Figaro both fit the bill, as do the remaining Coate's travel size creams! All of these are excellent.

While I consider the scent of Rose of Bulgaria excellent, I only rate it's effectiveness as acceptable. but, for $1.99, it's hard to beat.

VDH is under $4. In my opinion best bang for the buck.

One of my favorites. $3.89

. VDH and Arko are the best two examples I have used. Going to have to find and try some of the others mentioned in this thread.

Thanks for getting the thread going!

Datz da one!

this... still cant believe how good of a soap VDH luxury is...does all things that a good soap should and is cheap and readily available

Big fan of the VDH luxury soap and actually is the first soap I ever tried. Being that it is readily available and relatively cheap, I imagine it will stay in my rotation for a long time.

That price point really limits ones choices, doesn't it? I can't come up with anything not already mentioned.

Palmolive Classic Shave Stick

Love Arko. Hate VDH (one out of only two soaps that I've actually thrown away).
Go figure how this YMMV-thing works.

Nivea $3.49.

Speick stick is almost impossible to beat for performance at any price, never-mind trying to be affordable. It just so happens to be available for around $5. The only caveat with Speick is that some people don't like the scent. Personally, the scent reminds me of excellent lather performance, so I like it.

Another thing to note about Speick is that it's a pretty hard soap and it's tough to use more than 2g per shave with it. So, Speick has a low initial purchase cost, but it's really when you look at the low cost per shave that it becomes more obvious that Speick is actually one of the cheapest soaps around.

I also think there is merit for throwing Col Conk into the mix if we are looking for affordable options. Conk isn't as good as Speick, but it's still an enjoyable soap to use and I always look forward to it whenever I have a puck of Conk to burn through.

I would add C.O. Bigelow (Prorasso) from Bath and Body Works. The smaller tube is priced at $5; and there are frequent sales and volume discounts (e.g. 3 for $12). For the price, it's a well performing cream with a good eucalyptus "zip" to it.