Hello all, Hope everyone's been enjoying their New Year. I'm looking at getting either Catie's Bubbles or Soap Commander Soap. For now, I can only get one, as they will both somewhat expensive (for me) with shipping to Canada. Specifically, I'm thinking about slickness and protection; how do these soaps compare to each other in both categories? For now, we can leave scent out of it, I'll face that "challenge" when it comes. Cheers, Porter
I have Catie's Bubbles, it's a fantastic soap! From all the reviews I've read you won't go wrong with either one.
I'll second what RaZorBurn said. I haven't tried Soap Commander but Catie's Bubbles is first rate, IMO.
I have both and they are both great soaps so you can't really go wrong with either one. I am using Soap Commander as my soap for the 30 day January challenge. A couple of things with Soap Commander. I have both the Confidence (older version mush/vanilla) and Passion. In both cases it took the scent of the puck when first opening was one dimensional. After several uses the scents became richer and rounded out. I have found both Catie's Bubbles and Soap Commander very easy to lather and both provided me a good slick protective shave. By a very small bit, I prefer the after shave feel of Soap Commander. Being a harder soap it looks like Soap Commander will last a little longer but the Catie's ships more in the tub. In the end, they have both proved to be great soaps for me.
I have both. For me, Catie's Bubbles edges out Soap Commander across the board. It is very soft, almost cream like. You do not need to load very much. The CB jars are 8 ounces, Soap Commander is 6 ounces, both very generous jars! Both are good soaps.
I haven't tried Soap Commander, but Catie's is a very good soap and it has some very nice scents, especially, the LPV one. You could see if there are any other wet-shavers in your area to go in on the order with you to help with shipping. Good luck, fellow Canadian.
Thanks for all the tips! I just ordered a tub of Catie's Bubbles Glace Herbe, mostly for the scent description, considering both these soaps seem pretty close in performance. Excited to see what it's like! @celestino, I made the order before I saw that post, but great idea for the future! I'll probably end up getting some Soap Commander in the next few months, it'll be interesting to see how they compare.
I'm sure you'll enjoy it. You really couldn't lose when choosing between the two. They are both very good.
I am waiting on my order of Catie's Bubbles “Le Piment de la Vie”, it sells out quick. I ordered it from italian barber.
I was torn between LPV and Glace Herbe. I always hear great things about LPV but the scent description sounded like it might set my face off, and the GH scent description intrigued me, so I went that route. They certainly do fly off the shelves.
Received my order of LPV on Friday, unfortunately I had already shaved. But it's Monday now and I will give it a whirl and see if it's all that folk say it is!
Just got it in. First Impressions: As everyone says, it's quite a soft soap, with the lather sticking to your fingers if you push them into the soap. Lathers with very few swirls (probably because it's so soft) and I got a fair amount of lather from the little I loaded. It took a little bit of time for the lather to fully form, but it wasn't hard to make it form (not finicky). The menthol in this soap (Glace Herbe) is about the same as proraso, and is an interesting combination with the grass scent. The lather ended up being nice and thick; the razor glided nicely along my face, so the slickness is pretty good. Not Stirling level, but still pretty good. Post shave feel: Can't really say, because I only did a quick one-pass shave just for test purposes, and no prep before the shave. I'll save a full evaluation for later. My one hang-up is the scent; I've never had a vetiver soap before, and hear this one was earthy/grassy. The smell I get is almost slightly perfumed type of grass (almost potpourri-ish), with a little nutiness mixed in. It's not immediately my favourite, as I'm not a fan of that blend of scents, and thought it was going to be a little more earthy. This isn't a knock on the scent, as I don't have any reference for what vetiver smells like, so I might just not be a fan of Vetiver. That being said, I'm going to hold off before making any final decisions, as so far the scent is the only thing I have reservations with. I'll put in further info once I've had a full shave with it.
Catie's Bubbles LPV review: When I opened the box and saw the size of the container I was impressed by the size, 8 oz filled to the top. When I opened the container the strong scent hits you, it's sweet, spicy, earthy. The consistency is soft and creamy. Using a damp, hydrated brush I loaded it for about 20 seconds and got a full brush. Face lathered for about a minute and half, wow, easily brought it up to a great thick lather. I used a WTG, XTG, ATG and a clean up pass, with each pass the consistency was as slick as the first, I achieved that BBS. The scent was strong but not overwhelming and faded as the day went on. Finished up with alum block and aftershave balm. Side note, the first time I used it my face burned a bit, after I thought about it and realized that I used my Nivea facial wash which has menthol in it and it reacted with my skin. The second time using it I used a different facial wash, bingo no burn. I really enjoyed the journey in using my first artesian soap and looking forward to the next.
Porter, if that's the Herbe Glace that you don't care for let me know. I love the stuff and would be happy to work something out with you.
