Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
The best soap depends on what type of razor that you shave with, what your skin is like, and what your beard is like. There’s no one answer.
What is considered the best and worst soaps?
- Thread starter LRod
- Start date
My best soap is a kilo of Cella or Vito's, and a stick of Arko bowl pressed, not so much to my liking is the new Williams, the vintage Williams is more to my liking, I keep a puck of Van Der Hagen Delux for travel.
Strange, I heard that Williams has discontinued their mug soaps, hasn't the company gone under or something?
Combe is still in business but yes, the have discontinued Williams as of late last year. A number of us have email confirmations from Combe confirming this. It has disappeared from local store shelves in my area.
Details on the thread below starting with post #657.
Post #657 Combe Email Confirming Williams Mug Shave Soap Discontinued
Called Combe Inc. this morning ,6/10/15.....Service rep assured me Williams has been in "limited distribution" , but has not been dumped.....I can only think that if they put some effort into reformulating the puck to what is was in the 1940's,they would not have to run "limited distribution".
www.badgerandblade.com
Back to the original question given YMMV the best and worst shave soap is a personal calculation for each of us based on our preferences, techniques, beard characteristics and ingredient sensitivities. Best evidence in the variety of responses above on this thread.
- Thread starter
- #46
I'm assuming that William's was no longer profitable. That's usually the reason for discontinuing a product.Combe is still in business but yes, the have discontinued Williams as of late last year. A number of us have email confirmations from Combe confirming this. It has disappeared from local store shelves in my area.
Details on the thread below starting with post #657.
Post #657 Combe Email Confirming Williams Mug Shave Soap Discontinued
Called Combe Inc. this morning ,6/10/15.....Service rep assured me Williams has been in "limited distribution" , but has not been dumped.....I can only think that if they put some effort into reformulating the puck to what is was in the 1940's,they would not have to run "limited distribution".
I've never used it but I know it was popular amongst the wet shaving community. I remember seeing it on store shelves years ago before I ever got into wet shaving. For those that love it, maybe they'll do a revival at some point. Sometimes a production pause reinvigorates a product. Coca-Cola did it with "New Coke" back in 1985 and it worked. You never know!
Unclear what the specific reasons were for discontinuing Williams. Suspect it was driven more by the retailers deciding that a higher priced item would generate more profit from the shelf facing. Had been buying it for 99 cents a puck at our local grocery store through last year. Glad I picked up an extra dozen last December.
Just my opinion, but you're not going to get a useful answer because your asking the wrong question.
The attributes you are asking us to ignore are exactly the attributes you should be asking about.
No one here knows what the best soap is. We only know what soaps work or don't work for us individually. And typically, the way we form that opinion, is by how well they lather, how much they cost, the quality of the resulting shave, how much we like the scent, etc.
I don't know what that best soap is, but I can tell you Saponificio Varesino and Southern Witchcrafts are the best soaps I've used so far. They are easy to lather, they have a reasonable cost to longevity, I love the scents, and the resulting shaves are fantastic.
I know that doesn't answer your question, but hopefully it's still useful information.
Now when it comes to worst soaps ever, I'm pretty sure we can all agree those would be ToBS and GFT. Haha.
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A lot of people think that Herban Cowboy is the worst shave soap ever. It's the only shave soap I can think of about which a positive opinion has never, ever been posted on this forum since I joined in 2009.
So maybe we can say that Herban Cowboy, if not the worst soap on the planet ('as if anybody could even know that, Napoleon'), is at least in the conversation.
There is no best soap on the planet. Period.
So maybe we can say that Herban Cowboy, if not the worst soap on the planet ('as if anybody could even know that, Napoleon'), is at least in the conversation.
There is no best soap on the planet. Period.
I banished a puck of Van Der Hagen soap to the shower. (I scrub with a plastic exfoliating puff, so I get my body quite clean). Of course, YMMV.
Since then, I use a Glycerine-based soap for my shaving needs. I have 3 pucks of Colonel Conk's Shaving Soap due to arrive on Monday, July 25th.
Since then, I use a Glycerine-based soap for my shaving needs. I have 3 pucks of Colonel Conk's Shaving Soap due to arrive on Monday, July 25th.
I've had good a bad shaves with Palmolive. It is still my favorite drug store soap.
Herban Cowboy smells good. Now there's one positive opinion.
The best soap is the one that has been discontinued or the
original version of one that has recently changed formulas.
Once it becomes unobtainium, everyone waxes nostalgically
about how good it was when they could get such-and-such
in tallow. The worst soap is the new version of that same soap.
original version of one that has recently changed formulas.
Once it becomes unobtainium, everyone waxes nostalgically
about how good it was when they could get such-and-such
in tallow. The worst soap is the new version of that same soap.
The same goes for the blades too. The vintage and the discontinued ones are much better than what we currently have on the market.
I think Co. Conk soaps are terrible. I think it is underperforming in slickness, it leaves my skin with a film feeling on it, doesn't lather all that well and no matter how little water I used, the lather never felt protective.
I will actually make the statement that now has never been a better time for shave soaps. There are more top-tier performing shave soaps now than there have ever been. The bases everyone has developed are fantastic. They lather splendidly, are super slick, the scents are fantastic and the overall performance is top-notch. Whether your skin agrees with it, is subjective but from a purely objective point of view, we are living in a wonderful period of time for shave soaps. You literally can't have a half-*** soap in 2022 which is why it amazes me that Co. Conk and Van Der Hagen soaps even exist...
I will actually make the statement that now has never been a better time for shave soaps. There are more top-tier performing shave soaps now than there have ever been. The bases everyone has developed are fantastic. They lather splendidly, are super slick, the scents are fantastic and the overall performance is top-notch. Whether your skin agrees with it, is subjective but from a purely objective point of view, we are living in a wonderful period of time for shave soaps. You literally can't have a half-*** soap in 2022 which is why it amazes me that Co. Conk and Van Der Hagen soaps even exist...
Not sure there's a best soap for everyone, with variables of the type of brush being used, water quality, lathering technique, and other factors. I'm nearly entirely synthetic, merely because they seem to lather oh so much better, than Boar or Badger brushes for me. - Some soaps just seem to evaporate with a natural brush, at least with my water.
I find any of the Stirling Soaps Top-Notch, as is Tabac, PDP, Soap Commander, Catties Bubbles, and Proraso. I was 'it's ok' with DR Harris, while others find it fantastic.
Col Conk pucks didn't last long for me, whereas others took forever to completely use to the point of being useless. Williams was just 'eh', as were a few other lesser known cheap brands, which don't lather or smell as good. Found the ones that work really well, and have heavenly and strong pleasant smells, and decided I wanted to the enjoy the experience.
For bargain soaps, the Razor-Rock What the Puck line is very good, yet I never really liked some of their 'croap' or softer soap tubs.
Admittedly, never tired Barrister & Mann, or some of the other more expensive soaps, which others rave about.
I find any of the Stirling Soaps Top-Notch, as is Tabac, PDP, Soap Commander, Catties Bubbles, and Proraso. I was 'it's ok' with DR Harris, while others find it fantastic.
Col Conk pucks didn't last long for me, whereas others took forever to completely use to the point of being useless. Williams was just 'eh', as were a few other lesser known cheap brands, which don't lather or smell as good. Found the ones that work really well, and have heavenly and strong pleasant smells, and decided I wanted to the enjoy the experience.
For bargain soaps, the Razor-Rock What the Puck line is very good, yet I never really liked some of their 'croap' or softer soap tubs.
Admittedly, never tired Barrister & Mann, or some of the other more expensive soaps, which others rave about.
Most of the major brands will be good enough to get a good shave, the difference will be in the scent profile, post shave feel, etc.
Col Conk gives you a satisfactory lather, a cost effective price, a good scent, but no post feel nourishment.
On the other hand, a friend send some Saponificio Varesino and it’s ”a just a ok” soap for me. I don’t know if it’s a old puck, but I didn’t like the fluffy lather, the cologney scent profile and the post feel don’t justify the cost. I tend towards a more natural scent profile OR a more innovative scents like B&M does. The post feel is good, but the sheep tallow soap from Sterling or the new B&M base is much better for my taste.
In conclusion, is the always YMMV
Col Conk gives you a satisfactory lather, a cost effective price, a good scent, but no post feel nourishment.
On the other hand, a friend send some Saponificio Varesino and it’s ”a just a ok” soap for me. I don’t know if it’s a old puck, but I didn’t like the fluffy lather, the cologney scent profile and the post feel don’t justify the cost. I tend towards a more natural scent profile OR a more innovative scents like B&M does. The post feel is good, but the sheep tallow soap from Sterling or the new B&M base is much better for my taste.
In conclusion, is the always YMMV
Best for me MdC and LPL. Worst I do not know. Only use MdC and LPL nowadays.
The best soap FOR ME- and the one I have 2kg stored up of- is Savon de Marseille olive oil soap. Yeah, it's not a shave soap but I use it quite often for shaving because it lathers fair and has superb slickness. It's the best for me, however, because I suffered with eczema and psoriasis for many years and after using this stuff as a face wash/pre shave/bath soap for 2 weeks, it all disappeared and has not come back in over a year. It did everything my expensive prescription meds and lotions didn't.
Outside of that, I really like Tabac and MWF but don't use them much anymore, along with the 40 other tubs I have hidden away.
Worst stuff is anything that burns my skin.
Outside of that, I really like Tabac and MWF but don't use them much anymore, along with the 40 other tubs I have hidden away.
Worst stuff is anything that burns my skin.
