Hi! My name is Olafurson, and I am addicted to collecting stuff for my infant son for when he grows up to be a Man. I've been prompted to ask you all for your opinions about what you consider to be the best of the best. What is the BEST shave soap/shave cream/shaving supply that you've found, that is SO PROFOUNDLY AWESOME that it's worth saving for 20 years until you can pass your wicked-sharp shaving knowledge onto your son????? Thanks, fellas. Really, thanks.
Thus far I say Tabac is the best soap. I have some Mitchell Wool Fat coming and hope it is right with Tabac but won't know until I use it.
Here are some responses that you are GUARANTEED to get, so let's get them out of the way: Tabac Mitchell's Wool Fat Valobra Shave Stick (My personal Favorites) Then the perrenial favorites (I have not tried them though): Art of Shaving D.R. Harris T&H Luxury Shave Soap Trumper's And, of course, there are the vintage soaps...Yardley, for example... And then come the creams.
Details, please. And if you have one of any of these for sale, please let me know - I bet I have a perfume in my closet that will knock your socks off.
D.R. Harris soaps are definitely favorites, not that I'd want to, but If I had to choose only one brand to use the rest of my life (given that the formulation remains) it would be D.R. Harris soaps, If I had a single scent to use I'd have to stick with Marlborough.
It is probably easier to ask what is not good. You ask for the best or favorite you are going to get 100 answers but here goes. Soap: TSD/ De Vergulde Hand/ Tabac/ Michell's Wool Fat/ Taylor of Old Bond/ Institute Kirate. Cream: Taylor of Old Bond/ Godrej/ Musgo Real/ Erasmic/ J M Fraser. Just to name a few...
I personally detested the smell of Tabac, but it has a HUGE fan base, so you would probably be well served by trying it for yourself. It is also tallow-based, which many feel delivers a superior lather. Maybe, maybe not, but many of the tops soaps are tallow-based - but many top soaps are not. The Geo. F. Trumper line of soaps are also good performers - you'll see them referred to as GFT. I personally like the Rose scent. D.R. Harris soaps are excellent - the Arlington scent is a good choice, but all of them seem to get good reviews. Mitchell's Wool Fat - pleasant, mild scent, this soap shines due in large part to the lanolin (hence the name wool fat). While many complain about this soap being more difficult to get a good lather from, if you master it, it really does deliver an excellent shaving lather. L'Occitane Cade - one of my personal favorites, it has a wonderful woodsy fragrance, and gives a nice lather. Speick soap stick - small, cheap, wonderful. Palmolive soap stick - excellent, under-appreciated soap. Nice, clean scent, very low price, excellent, slick lather. Those are the main ones I can think of. All of these are triple milled soaps. There are some excellent soaps from some of our beloved small vendors, but given that they are not triple-milled, I can't speak to how they would stand up over time, and you mentioned wanting something for your son. Soaps will lose their scent over time - I don't know how well your techniques for preserving colognes/perfumes will apply to soaps. However, even if the scent fades, the soaps will still perform well - I have used some Yardley shave soap that was at least 30-40 years old, and it had no scent, but still performed very well.
In addition to Tabac, you need to give Provence Sante a spin. If there could be only one soap, it would be Tabac. If there could be two, Provence Sante would be the other. Of course, this may change once my Irisch Moos stick arrives.
I of course agree with Tabac b/c it works great and anyone can lather it up. Pre De Provence or Institut Karite are also heavy contenders. Them French can really make a damn good soap even w/o tallow.
My goal is to teach my son to lather with a brush and soap/cream and shave with a DE. I figure he'll automatically dislike my favorite products, but then, I tend to like the "cheap" stuff. My favorite soaps are: Williams and VDH Delux. My favorite cream is: C&E sweet almond, but it's out of production and I received it in trade- I don't think I'll ever pony up $25 for a cream, no matter how good. I'm looking to try J.M. Fraser when I use up my current cream.
Since I don't expect C & E to last 4 ever. I'll go with Taylor of Old Bond Street, Institut Karite, Truefitt and Penhaligon but we're talking some serious dollars here.
For my favorite soaps? Erasmic, De Vergulde Hand, Tabac, Gold Dachs Spezial, and of course, Arko!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot start to name all, so I name 5.
Mike, Arko has been ALWAYS a favorite of mine--it makes pride and enjoyment for myself, and good shaves!
