Besides, if you're just buying the product - especially from a reseller rather than direct - and don't have any questions yourself, what's the big deal? I did notice that Soap Commander hosted a meet up of the regional wetshavers group and even made a LE soap for them based on the group members' scent requests, so there clearly is customer service going on there...
@Michael W since you are watching the budget, I would love to send you a cake of my homemade shave soap (my treat). I will even scent it for you, if you like. PM me if you would like this.
Morris Flamingo glycerin shave soap. $1.50 a puck from Atlana barber and supply. I order online. Great stuff. I am also a fan of Williams and Van Der Hagen.
My favorite popular-price soap sold at local retailers: Van der Hagen Luxury--not to be confused with Deluxe. It's one of my favorite soaps at any price. This soap just explodes into consistent, perfect lather with a minimum of effort and yields wonderful shaves for me every single time. I've gotten really good shaves from Yardley Cocoa Butter with Shea Butter and Vitamin E bath soap, too. It can be trickier to lather than dedicated shave soaps, but once you solve that puzzle, it's a winner! For just a buck at my local Dollar Tree, that would be my first choice if finances were dire. It's also a delightful soap for your pre-shave wash.
Van Der Hagen Deluxe and Arko shave sticks are the best cheap shaving soaps I have found. Looks like the you found them, too. Sometimes artisan soapmakers at craft fairs and farmers markets have great soaps at bargain prices. The soap quality can be hit or miss, though. It's hard to beat the Arko and Van Der Hagen when it comes to bang for the buck.
Not that it’s any of my beeswax but I’d sure be interested to know how somebody could manage to get themselves banned from a shaving forum... I’ve been on some pretty contentious forums (sports, politics and the sort) but shaving??!?
You'd be surprised. Badger & Blade bans people for practically nothing, and often without any prior warning at all.
Glad I didn’t join there, then. If I want to argue with folks (which I don’t!) there are any number of other venues to do that. TSD is great and I plan to do my part to keep it that way!
I'm on both B&B and this forum for some time now. I haven't had any issues on either. Most people seem to be fairly respectful of differing view points. Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk
It's not so much differing viewpoints as inadvertently violating some obscure rule that is inconsistently enforced, such as posting links to videos that the moderators don't like (shaving tutorials, product reviews, etc. whether they appear to promote a brand or not). It's very difficult not to violate some of their rules in some way, and it's at the point where as I understand it many are afraid to post anything.
Another to try is Humphrey's Handmade. They go for $5 a puck and are good performers with a variety of scents. Its a glycerin soap though, if that matters to anyone.
Williams! That's really all one needs to know. But, if you must, Palmolive stick and cream, also, Derby creams. If you like a string scent, none these will rank high, but if you like performance, these are all sure winners. OP, I understand being budget minded, if you would like, I'd happily send you a couple packs of Williams.
+1... I have a stick of Derby I got as a freebie from Geofatboy that I’d be happy to pass along. If you want it, PM me a shipping address and I’ll get it headed your way.
I've got three Williams pucks now from guys clearing out their dens, along with tubes of Palmolive, Old Spice, and Tabac shave cream. But thanks for the offer though. If you've extra to give away, I'm sure you can find someone who either hasn't tried it or hasn't used it in a long time.
It's because there are a couple of wetshaving forums that are seemingly run by bad apples - immature management, abusive moderators, with plenty of childish behavior and censorship all around. The root cause is usually a conflict of interest. Some forums are actually ad agencies masquerading as hobbyist forums. This pits forum management profits against open and honest discussion, which results in a really ugly situation and lots of banned people.. The end result is a lot of lingering resentment. I didn't get banned from any forums, but left two because I saw a number of members sorely mistreated. It is not only wetshaving, the fountain pen hobbyists have their own equivalent. The solution is to find a smaller, better run forum. The Shave Den is a good example, very well run, friendly, informative, and drama-free.
I got a tube each (used) of Palmolive, Old Spice, and Tabac shave cream via a den-clearing. I've used the Tabac and Palmolive, and plan to use the Old Spice tomorrow. So far I like the Tabac a lot. It's at least as good as the soap version and lathers really well.
I liked kiss my face a lot too If that is all I had in my den. I'd be okay with that. If I was on a serious budget and could afford it. I would try to get a kilo of Cella. It would last a long time.
