In a thread on another forum they are talking about soaps you would not buy again. Surprisingly, one soap frequently mentioned is one that is something of a "standard" that I thought was pretty universally loved. (That soap happens to be Cella.) Anyway, I want to put a little different twist on a thread here. I'd like to hear about other soaps that are pretty universally loved that you personally don't care for at all. I'll go first. I really really don't care for Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood. I tried it again just now to make sure my impressions haven't changed and they most certainly have not. I consider myself a sandalwood guy and and I don't like TOBS take on it at all. In fact, if it weren't labeled as sandalwood, I wouldn't think it to be that. On top of that, the scent has something "artificial" to it to my nose at least. Lather really is fantastic though. It exactly gets that viscous quality I so much enjoy, but it comes at a price. I don't feel in between pass "glide" so much as "stickiness." That is a consistent theme for me with this TOBS at least in that I find the aftershave balm quite sticky as well. It's now been about an hour since my shave and my face still feels... Sticky. It's the oddest quality and one I've experienced with no other soap or cream. On top of that, I'm now thinking I must be slightly allergic to something in this TOBS. I used to think of it as razor rash, but I'm now pretty sure that's not it. I think the prickly, itchiness I'm still feeling must be some sort of allergic reaction. It's not a huge reaction, but enough to be annoying. Bottom line, despite a stellar reputation, TOBS sandalwood will soon be going bye bye for me and I doubt I'll ever try another TOBS product again unless it comes to me via a pass around or something.
For me it was Xpec. On other sites the was allot glowing praise and talk about how it best thing since sliced bread and tallow. The scent was so-so but hey scents are subjective so no big deal. I had a terrible time lathering the soap and when I did get decent lather it wasn't slick, and not protective. For me at least it was a huge fail, it. Ow sits in a dark corner to best tested again at a later date.
I'm not in the Cella camp either. To go even further, I can't come up with a particular Italian croap that I've loved. I tossed the Proraso and every Razorock variety I've used was IMO less than adequate. Oh, and while I don't use TOBS. The samples I've used require a lot of water.
XPec and Almost any sandlewood. I didn't find Xpec to be better than cheaper creams and I could not stand the smell. I have tried many woody scents and don't like any of them. Just not for me.
No sandelwood-fragranced soap in my horde. My wife can't abide the scent. I've grown to dislike the Tabac scent so much so that although I enjoy the performance of the soap, the stink scent is not my favorite. Not likely to purchase more.
I may get rebuked for this but I posted it elsewhere ounce and I'll post it again I'm never throwing another dollar at Arko again. Does it lather, hell..yes, other than that I find it subpar in every way imaginable. I think the only reason it's still in my den is the darn colors are just so nice on the packaging.
You guys have set me free! I'm dry shaving tomorrow, and that's all there is to it. I won't replace my Arko, Le Père Lucien, and XPEC once they're used up. I'm glad I tried them. They're all OK, but there are others that I enjoy using much more. I've recently started eliminating some shaving soaps by using them as facial soap.
Another "against the grain" opinion of mine is my nonplussed attitude towards Stirling Soaps. There's a lot of love for Stirling out there, and some of the scents are nice but lather performance? Pffffft.
To me it's quite the opposite. I like the performance of Stirling soaps but don't care for most of the scents I have tried. Too strong and one-dimensional for my taste. Though my last experiment worked pretty well ... I had leftovers from both Nag Champa (too much incense, smells like head shop) and Barbershop (too sweet for my taste) samples. Mixed those two and the scent is actually pretty pleasant. Then I don't care for Sandalwood either - and I really really detest menthol (guess I have mentioned that once or twice), so no Proraso green for me
For me it's Proraso. All I have tried was White, but I ended up giving it away cause I disliked it so much. And my buddy I gave it to is having the same issues(without me telling him I didn't like it). 1. The performance was sub standard. not at all slick and when adding water would go straight from pasty to lather collapse. There was no happy medium. 2. After giving it several attempts(I really wanted to like it), I just got crummy shaves out of it between no slickness, no glide and very little cushion. 3. The scent starts out seeming okay, kinda a nice clean crisp scent. But as the shave goes on it gets more perfumy and I just want it to go away! 4. The film....oh the film! I have never had a soap that was harder to clean out of a DE's head or left a worse gunky film in my sink!!! I have come across some fairly bad soaps, but this truly took the cake! It has left me truly baffled how people swear by this stuff and consider it a regular staple in their den! I would rather shave with canned goo!
Your opinion regarding Proraso is certainly yours to have, but I can still get a 1000% better lather/shave with Proraso (green) than with any can of shaving cream that I have ever used.
Williams Mug Soap and Pacific Shaving Co Caffeinated SC are both on my won't buy again list. Neither was terrible, but neither was great either.
I've never tried Williams(isn't that a heresy on its own?), but I totally agree on the Pacific Shave Co. Mediocre shave and left my skin very dry feeling.
For me it's Williams. Gotta have it in your den? No way! It's a classic? So is a pet rock! No lather, no cushion, no slickness and no use! I have three sitting under the bathroom sink! Any takers?
