Found a $3 cream that is as good as a $40 cream

As I posted in th SOTD section, bought a tube of Palmolive by Mennen Lather shave cream at my local supermarket. It cost about $2.80. I was amazed at how well it performed. Lathered up beautifully and allowed the razor to glide over my face. Up until now I have been buying traditional English brands (GFT, TOBS, T&H) because I like the history associated with them. However with history comes price, and I have paid over $30 for (albeit bigger tubs) of these brands. Perhaps on reflection I've been a bit of a snob when it comes to wetshaving products. I have now vowed to try as many of the cheaper products that I can find, because it looks like, in wetshaving, cheap is not neccessarily bad.

Pete

 

Agreed 100%. I use Williams Mug, VDH Soaps and Arko sticks quite regularly and they cost around $2 USD a puck. The Arko shave creams are great for me too and also very inexpensive.

 

A lot of cheap everything in this hobby: soaps, creams, razors, blades, brushes.

I too love the Arko stick as well as Arko's line of creams, and have found a plethora of inexpensive creams/soaps besides.

When it comes to scent, though, you can't beat English!

 

If you can find it cheap try Godrej shaving cream it can be found for about $2.00 US a tube in some places, it comes in 3 scents rich foam (traditional barber scent) lime and a menthol (kind of minty) it has lanolin in it so it provides a real nice shave, I just acquired some recently and was very pleasantly surprised.

 

Though $10 sounds like alot....Frasers is really a good deal b/c is 450g ......3 times the amt of TOBS tubs. A real nice inexpensive cream. I might have to give Arko creams another try b/c so much good talk.

 

Godrej is a brand that really interests me but I have not been able to find it in Australia. I notice that TSD store stocks it and I really want to try TSD creams and soaps so maybe I should place an order.

Pete

 

Pete,did you know that TBS,GFT,T&H and TOBS are made by the same company,Creightons, and Creightons makes Natural Grooming shaving cream and Real shaving company shaving cream that has almost the same formulation than the others and cost you like 2 or 3 british pounds?
Cheap thing works.I have discovered long time ago that most of the time you dont pay the quality but the "brand".Santa Maria La Novella is another case :same formulation than old Omega shaving soap and cost you like 10 times more than Omega.
Cheap stuff works,dont let the price deceive you with its quality.

 

Another vote for Frasers here. It really is good stuff, lathers great and I love the scent too. All in a 1 pound tub.

 

I could not to agree more--a 3,00$ cream can kick a 30,00$ in the BUTT!

 

Arko Lavender for sensitive skin fits in this category. Interesting about Real Shaving Cream. No wonder Nancy Boy recommends this cream.

 

Pete,

I just came back from Europe where I bought soaps, creams, and shave sticks. The cost was everything from outlandishly expensive (Floris 89 shave soap for £25.00 [US$41.00]) to ridiculously inexpensive (tallow based Erasmic shave stick for 30p [US49¢]). Why did I do it? (1) I was on holiday and I wanted to treat myself. (2) I purchased things that I could not easily get at home. (3) Recommendations that I read about here and I wanted to try. (Jeff's [Crackstar] review of creams; Teiste's and Matt's [Truckman] talk of various shave sticks, etc.)

With the exception of the Floris and Trumper's Rose Shave Cream, most were extremely inexpensive. I had a lot of fun in the hunt!

From what I already have, my shave soaps and creams run from fairly expensive to dirt cheap and I enjoy them all with the exception of one cheap soap, VDH. Eric, and others here, sing the praises of VDH soap. Obviously, the famous (or is it infamous ) acronym YMMV certainly applies.

Have fun looking for some inexpensive creams and soaps. Most of them, from my limited experience, are very good. If one doesn't work for you then you are only out a few coppers.

 

Brand Recognition

This begs the question of how much is brand recognition worth to a product. Is it a matter of wealth, since you have the money to spend on a 25.00 shave cream?? or is there truly something different inside that 25 or 40 dollar product that is not found in the others. After all, besides personal preference of scent and skin irritation issues, how much different can something be in this type of consumer good.

 

Price and quality don't necessarily go hand-in-hand, and this is esp. true when it comes to brand names.

At present I'm wearing an all-black 350-dollar cotton long-sleeve zip-up by Armani.

It was a gift, and I've something akin to it from Banana Republic, which cost more than 300 dollars less...

I've another one of these Armani shirts, this one slightly different, and I can't wait to put it on Ebay

 

With some exceptions, I'd say not much. It's pretty much common knowledge that the high end English creams are all made by Creighton's, and only the scents are really different. This is also true of The Body Shop and The Real Shaving Company...I do really like these creams, but it's kind of sad how obvious the similarities are.

There are, however, some "premium" products that stand out. Tabac soap, for example, and for some MWF; but soaps are kind of a different game than creams--they last much longer, for one, and the scents are different. And then of course there's Castle Forbes. That cream really is something different, and really really good...but worth the massive price? Even I'm not sure of that one...but man, is it good.

 

I pretty much agree with Jim. However, I was on vacation and I was more interested in bringing home one expensive soap than five to ten refrigerator magnets. (Besides, I don't have any more room on my fridge. ) Most of my favorite creams and soaps are moderately priced. However, my very favorite soap is one of my more expensive ones, Roger & Gallet l'Homme. I think it's a fantastic product and I don't believe it is still produced. If I had not splurged on it a few months ago, I would have missed out on something I definitely enjoy.

There is room for both high cost and budget shaving products. It is up to the individual shaver to decide what to purchase and for what reason(s).

 

Does Roger & Gallet make shaving soaps or is this a bath soap you're referring to?

I've had, and presently have, some of their bath soaps - fantastic line.

 

Others have told me that another good one that is also cheap is Derby creams. I have never tried it myself.

 

Erasmic cream 99p.

I'm so pleased I will say it again.

Erasmic cream 99p.

 

Derby Creams

As a cream man myself I did not like the Derby Creams, I also do not think the brand did well here besides the blades. I do not believe it established itself like Arko did, however this is a niche market in the USA and no brush cream will ever be sold in mainstream retail outlets.

 

Hi Kaveh,

It is definitely a shave soap as you can see from the photograph. I put my Gillette NEW in front as a point of reference. The l'Homme line of Roger & Gallet also included an EdT (that I really liked), after shave balm (I think) and bar soap among other things. I have read, perhaps here at TSD, that the line is no longer produced and that Roger & Gallet has been taken over by another company. If anyone has any more information about that or where to get the EdT, I'd really like to know.

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