One of the easiest products to lather, thick, creamy, slick and moisturizing...it's got it all.
Did I mention Slick?
My Guess... 3017
- Thread starter johnniegold
- Start date
Did I mention Slick?
Will have to look into getting a puck sometime. Have Arko and Palmolive out the wazoo. Also have other soaps as well
Yes, those darn French make a fine soap too. I
I've been thinking about a 3017 year of European soaps. Haslinger / MdC / Cella / PdP / Speick. Maybe throw in a DrH soap and CF or T&H lime cream during the summer. It would also steer me away from buying every new artisan flavor that comes along.
Will have to give it some though the next week or 2. I have most of what I need for a year of all European. Just have to pick up a couple odds and ends as the year progresses.
Do you shave every day?
Everything. It's a world class soap and one of the easiest soaps to lather that I've used.
I need to stop buying artisan soaps, my soap stash is getting bigger and bigger.
I like your self restraint, it's something I've been sorely lacking (as far as soaps go) for the past several months.
My plan is just try not to buy more soap. Use up what I have through the year and be at a comfortable place to stock up on more for 2016.
The night is young.
looking at my stash, I could build a theme around soft soaps. I'm already committed to MdC in February, but I could do Cella, a half brick of Boellis Panama 1924, Mike's Lime and Huntlee Super Smooth (Wickham Soaps).
With 8 tubes of lime cream,1 lime soft soap and 1 full tin of PdP I may do a lime/citrus themed 2015.
Or, I might just use up products by a particular manufacturer- e.g. Godrej Regular,Lime,Menthol and shaving round at a stretch or Valobra hard puck followed by the shave stick and then their soft soap.
I also worry about creams and soft soaps going bad and want to work through those quickly.
Too many possibilities so I'm just going to take it one cream/soap at a time.
Another decision I've made is, if I do buy anything next year it'll only be hard soaps. No more creams for a while.
Or, I might just use up products by a particular manufacturer- e.g. Godrej Regular,Lime,Menthol and shaving round at a stretch or Valobra hard puck followed by the shave stick and then their soft soap.
I also worry about creams and soft soaps going bad and want to work through those quickly.
Too many possibilities so I'm just going to take it one cream/soap at a time.
Another decision I've made is, if I do buy anything next year it'll only be hard soaps. No more creams for a while.
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If you're happy with your shaves, you're using enough.
You are the judge of that. Your times match mine with the RR and most go through them in a month or so. You must have soft water?
At a glance, it looks like you are using over 2g per shave. That's as much as I use (you may be using more than my average) and I get superb lather
I worry about that as well, and try to keep only one tube or tub of cream active at a time.
I never used to worry as people would always say "They last for years, no worries". Yeah right
My CF turned from thick and dense in the tub, to runny and soft. My Pens BB turned from thick and creamy in the tube, to watered down liquid soap consistency. And most recently a tub of RR Mudder Focker started to crystallize on the top and I just saw it with a work buddies soap who brought a few in to sell.
As Bob said, I'm trying to at least limit the creams I have on hand as they seem to turn quicker then soaps.
Yes, I think my water is very soft. I have a well and live in western WA. I have noticed that when I travel it can take a bit of adjustment to get a good lather in hotels. I guess the water could make a difference... I was assuming that using a different brush/bowl/jet lag... was the culprit.
I seem to always have way more than enough lather however my shave quality seems to vary due to a variety of things: skipping the pre-shave shower; teaching myself to use a straight; and when using a DE I am working my way through my sample packs of blades. I started wet shaving in may after a life of using only electric razors so I am probably still on the learning curve.
Ruckin.
My 3017 update
4 and half months ago I started the 3rd stage of my 3017 versus round. This stage pits 3 popular sticks against each other, Valobra, then Speick, then Arko. I’ve finished my stick of Arko and am ready to decide which soap wins this round! I’m really enjoying the versus format, it forces me to choose between soaps. Without the versus component, I think I would end up just saying that every soap is good, but I wouldn’t force myself to decide which I prefer.
These soaps are actually pretty different. Valobra may be the most expensive stick you can buy, Speick pricing is average, and Arko can be had for dirt cheap. They are from Italy, Germany, and Turkey. One has little to no scent, one has the scent of an obscure plant, and one has a chemical citrus scent. Valobra are the makers of some of the best soaps around even if they aren’t always named “Valobra", Speick is an 85 year old family owned business that specializes in “natural” products derived from the speick plant, and Arko is manufactured by huge corporation that sells everything from shaving gels to air fresheners.
A note on this category and Arko. Honestly, Arko comes in a clear third place compared to these other 2 soaps….. Maybe even fourth place
I’ve used Arko before and rated it very highly, so I was surprised that when I used it again this time around I was maybe a little disappointed. Arko is a good soap and a really good performer when considering how cheap it is. If this is your everyday soap, you are doing well. But, I am learning more and more that what I used to think were great performers are actually just good performers. And, the good performer segment of shaving soaps is big, even bigger than the poor performer segment perhaps, and there is only small select group of soaps that belong to the top tier category. Maybe less than 10% of the soaps we use are excellent performers. There is a noticeable jump up in quality when using a soap in this category, and Valobra and Speick are in it. These soaps are often a little more expensive, they are packed with goodies that help your skin, and tend to have little to no detractors here at B&B.
So, with Arko out of the running, only Speick and Valobra remain. Ideally, I’d like to pick both and call this a tie, but in the spirit if the versus round, I’ll pick one.
The winner is……...
4 and half months ago I started the 3rd stage of my 3017 versus round. This stage pits 3 popular sticks against each other, Valobra, then Speick, then Arko. I’ve finished my stick of Arko and am ready to decide which soap wins this round! I’m really enjoying the versus format, it forces me to choose between soaps. Without the versus component, I think I would end up just saying that every soap is good, but I wouldn’t force myself to decide which I prefer.
These soaps are actually pretty different. Valobra may be the most expensive stick you can buy, Speick pricing is average, and Arko can be had for dirt cheap. They are from Italy, Germany, and Turkey. One has little to no scent, one has the scent of an obscure plant, and one has a chemical citrus scent. Valobra are the makers of some of the best soaps around even if they aren’t always named “Valobra", Speick is an 85 year old family owned business that specializes in “natural” products derived from the speick plant, and Arko is manufactured by huge corporation that sells everything from shaving gels to air fresheners.
A note on this category and Arko. Honestly, Arko comes in a clear third place compared to these other 2 soaps….. Maybe even fourth place
I’ve used Arko before and rated it very highly, so I was surprised that when I used it again this time around I was maybe a little disappointed. Arko is a good soap and a really good performer when considering how cheap it is. If this is your everyday soap, you are doing well. But, I am learning more and more that what I used to think were great performers are actually just good performers. And, the good performer segment of shaving soaps is big, even bigger than the poor performer segment perhaps, and there is only small select group of soaps that belong to the top tier category. Maybe less than 10% of the soaps we use are excellent performers. There is a noticeable jump up in quality when using a soap in this category, and Valobra and Speick are in it. These soaps are often a little more expensive, they are packed with goodies that help your skin, and tend to have little to no detractors here at B&B.
So, with Arko out of the running, only Speick and Valobra remain. Ideally, I’d like to pick both and call this a tie, but in the spirit if the versus round, I’ll pick one.
The winner is……...
Speick!!!!!!
When I was using Valobra, I couldn’t imagine a way that Speick would beat it out of this competition. But, Speick was just ever so slightly more enjoyable to use. The Valobra scent is nice, but a little faint. Speick smelled a bit medicinal to me at the start, but grew on me quickly. Both offer excellent slickness and cushion, Speick was maybe a little easier to lather and had maybe a slightly better after shave feel.
Both truly luxury shaving options
When I was using Valobra, I couldn’t imagine a way that Speick would beat it out of this competition. But, Speick was just ever so slightly more enjoyable to use. The Valobra scent is nice, but a little faint. Speick smelled a bit medicinal to me at the start, but grew on me quickly. Both offer excellent slickness and cushion, Speick was maybe a little easier to lather and had maybe a slightly better after shave feel.
Both truly luxury shaving options
Sal, I'm sure you've answered this before, but are you considering price in your winner picks? I suspect not since there's very little commentary regarding the cost difference between Valobra and Speick.
Finished two samples of Mikes natural, Bay Rum and Lime. I call a soap quits when I have to chase the fragmented pieces around the mug or bowl.
Starting with Mugso Original sample today.
Starting with Mugso Original sample today.
Started a new sample today - EJ Sandalwood, but of course since it's a sample there's only one more shave in it.
Edit: This will get more interesting soon, since after this and the TOBS Eton, I move onto larger soap samples with maybe a dozen shaves (almost a month) each in them.
RazoRock XXX (s) 11/17/2014 - 11/24/2014
TOBS Avocado (s) 11/26/2014 - 11/26/2014
AoS Ocean Kelp (s) 11/28/2014 - 12/1/2014
EJ Sandalwood (s) 12/4/2014 - ???
Edit: This will get more interesting soon, since after this and the TOBS Eton, I move onto larger soap samples with maybe a dozen shaves (almost a month) each in them.
RazoRock XXX (s) 11/17/2014 - 11/24/2014
TOBS Avocado (s) 11/26/2014 - 11/26/2014
AoS Ocean Kelp (s) 11/28/2014 - 12/1/2014
EJ Sandalwood (s) 12/4/2014 - ???
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Yeah, good question, or at least it's a question that I also have when I read reviews.
I give no consideration whatsoever to price when comparing soaps and am not including price as a consideration when picking the winners for the reviews in this thread.
I feel like price muddies the water too much when comparing products. Tabac should perform the same whether I have just won our end of the year poker party or I have just paid for surgery bills at the vet. So, when I compare soaps I consider only the shave and post shave, and do not give any credence to how that soap made it into my dish.
This also allows me to make better choices when buying soaps. On the day I make a purchase I can decide, knowing that Tabac performs better than Wilkinson Sword blue, whether I am willing to pay the $10 more in order to purchase the better performance of Tabac. Similarly, I am more willing to purchase soap from a place like Saint Charles Shave than I am from a place like AoS, but when comparing performance that isn't a factor - it only becomes a factor on the day I decide to purchase.
Hopefully that makes sense. So, price is a consideration when deciding what to add to my basket, but price is not a factor when deciding which soap outperforms another.
