FRENCH Soaps

Anyone have experience with either Pre de Provence or Provence Sante? Or for the hard to find Martin de Candre?

Thanks

 

I think they're both top notch soaps. The MDC isn't hard to find; it's only available directly from them.

 

Pre de Provence is very good, but it can be a bit difficult to lather sometimes.

 

Provence Sante is a wonderful soap, as it smells fantastic and lathers easily. I believe it to be a best buy, it's quite hard for a veggie base and lasts a long time.

 

+1 on what Jeff said.

I have the Pre de Provence cream, it is a really great soap but for me can be finicky to lather.

 

I've used both the Pre de Provence and Provence Sante. Great soaps IMHO. The Provence Sante is a little light on the protection aspect to me, but not so much to be a problem so long as I don't use really aggressive razor and blade combinations.

 

Another very fine French soap worth discussing is Institut Karite.

 

I've been meaning to pick a puck up, I heard it smells faintly like Dove....

 

I have some of the Martin de Candre (scented). As mentioned above it isn't hard to find...just expensive to get (about $60 for 170 grams..half is shipping). I have used it a few times (received a .5oz sample on Monday) and have to say it is by far the most amazing soap I have tried. It is very easy to lather, in fact you only need to swirl your brush for no more than 5 seconds on soap and then within 30-40 seconds you have a rich lather that lasts for more passes than you need. Honestly, I'm not making this up. It is truly a great soap and the hype you'll read on other forums is pretty much hitting the nail on the head. It IS that good.

I plan on buying a jar of it sometime in the next few months, even though the sample I have will last for a while.

 

The PdP, PS, and IK are all decent soaps. Of the 3, if I were to purchase again, I'd pick IK. Martin de Candre is an excellent soap in all regards. The scent might be a bit polarizing but performance is first rate.

 

Luke, somebody else told me that the Martin de Candre soap is very expensive, but I never realized it was that expensive. My goodness, the most I ever paid for a soap in the past was 25,00$ CAD for Golddachs Spezial, which is an excellent German soap.

 

Like Dove? No, not to me really, but I do find a resemblance to Grey Flannel a/shave, or edt.

 

Spend $200 and a French Maid comes with it to give you a shave. But return shipping charges to get her back are ridiculous.

 

I guarantee that French maid is not as beautiful as my wife!

 

Is it required to send her back or can we elect to keep her?

 

Yeah, it gets pretty pricey. Like I said most of it is shipping. If you are in Europe I hear it is something like 10 Euros to get it shipped, but for North America, it runs you about 20-25 Euros. The good news however is that if you live in Canada you only need to spend about 1200 to get free shipping! LOL!

 

I guarantee that I will never spend again so much money for any shaving soap. My cheap soaps work just as well and give me just as much enjoyment. I can now find Golddachs Spezial for a more reasonable price.

 

I was fortunate enough to pick up a jar of MdC from a member on a UK forum, he had only used it a coupe of times. I have to admit it is a great soap, easy to lather (even with Londons hard water !!), great slip, very stable cushioning lather and a wonderful scent of lavender. Stupid price but you use very little each time so a jar would last a very long time even if you used it daily, so price per shave I guess its not too bad. I have been told they have reduced the postage cost, but you would have to check.

 

For one of their 170g jars the cost is:
$47.94
8.46 Shipping
$56.40 Total

I can get 6 of the 5.2 oz Proraso soaps for that $56.40

Now I know why I love those Italians.

 

Well, if they would reduce the price about 30,00$ and the shipping, I might then be interested in buying it, based on the reviews I've read about it. I admit it does sound like a very fine soap.