Hello fello Denizens.. there is lot's of talk about shave soap/cream bases out there,and lot's of competition.we are really enjoying a golden era of top quality shave software these days ..what are your thoughts?. price/scent aside,what are your thoughts on the best soap/cream base out there at present? vintage included.. slickness,cushion,post shave,residual slickness,longivity, clean up all count.opinions will vary..your thoughts.. thank you all in advance..
For higher priced soaps PannaCrema Nuavia soap I've found to have the absolute best covering all bases of scent, cusion, slickness, and lather consistency. Another higher priced soap I've tried and liked, but didn't compare to Nuavia was Martin de Condre. Lather just didn't stay consistent. For middle of the road priced what I think to be fair would be anything Stirling, Pheonix, Fine, B & M, Chiseled Face. However some may disagree, but the absolute best in regards to lather consistency and price has to be Arko. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
If you are a fan of "old school" scents B&M is hard to beat. It's a pretty good soap. That being said, Saponifico Verisino is the best soap I've ever used. There might be a better soap out there, but if so, I haven't tried it yet. I just wish I liked more of their scent profiles. Edit: For the record, I've never tried PannaCrema, but like SV, I've never seen a negative review for them.
From my POV, there're three technical categories about shaving soaps: 1. the future (Grooming Dept Formula Nai V2) 2. the present (Saponificio Varesino Beta 4.3) 3. the past (all other great soaps with funny fats)
of the latest ones i have . paa -ck6 black label zingari man sega-navigator barrister reserve-waves a & e -kaizen declaration grooming- milksteak-cygnus x-1 all are great performers so far..
Some of the soaps/creams I own have already been mentioned. Zingari Man, PAA, SV 4.3, A&E Kaizen base, Cella, and more. Shaving Foam….hard to beat Proraso (pricey though). I might add Wholly Kaw, both the early formulation, but also the new Siero base. Both still sold (Siero base is sometimes spendy). Another would be Castle Forbes cream. I also like to peruse this thread at Sharp Razor Palace. It’s 200 pages now….. SRP - First Tier Soaps & Creams
I read both of those articles and pretty much disagree with everything there. What, no Cella? No Fine Accoutrements? No VDH Deluxe, etc. Where are the Italian products; none of them are any good (one minor mention of Proraso product)? Completely disagree with his assessment of Gillette Pure-it lathers great with a brush. Seems excessively focused on obscure U.S. artisans who sometimes are here today and maybe gone tomorrow.
I've got to throw Proraso some love. My wife got me a variety of soaps for Valentine's Day with a gorgeous display cabinet for my collection.