A farewell letter

**Alfredo Becerra** · 02-15-2010, 01:43 PM

Dear Proraso, 3 T's, Speick, and all you great European lovers:

I would like to give you the most heart felt good bye I can. It has been a great many years of a beautiful and expensively overpriced relationship, and while I will always remember you and have room in my heart for you I must move on.

Throughout the years it has become more and more difficult to find you, and, when found, I have had to offer too much considering what you offer. Not that the years have been a waste, but I feel there are other, bigger fish in the ocean.

I was at the grocery store the other day and met someone I had heard of, her name is KMF. I wasn't expecting much considering the price but WOW! what performance, much better than you. I guess I was seduced by its local availability, price, and outstanding performance. There is no reason to continue my overpriced relationship with you when I found something much, much better at a fraction of the cost. I mean, I get 11oz for 7.95 USD while you demand several times more for a squirt (plus shipping).

Finally, Europe is a mighty nice continent but it's about time I get off this "exotic" kick and support businesses in my own country, especially when those business make top notch stuff.

To be honest, I had not been 100% happy with you ladies for a while and hung on to our broken relationship because I couldn't find a suitable replacement. I had a brief affair with Col. Conk, VHD, Williams, etc. and found them lacking. KMF, however, that's another story.

In short, my dear, it's not you, it's not me, it's KMF.

If they would kindly start making quality DE razors in the U.S. then I guess I'll also be saying good bye to Merkur, Muhle, Rooney, and such.

With Love

Alfredo Becerra

**HIT** · 02-15-2010, 01:54 PM

KMF SC's have the following ingredients Methylparaben, Propylparaben

**mmack66** · 02-15-2010, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by HIT

KMF SC's have the following ingredients Methylparaben, Propylparaben

Surely there are more than those two ingredients in there?

**kossi** · 02-15-2010, 02:03 PM

You've already said it..?????
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27977

**Bertilak** · 02-15-2010, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by kossi

You've already said it..?????
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27977

How often should one say "I love you"? Is once enough?

**xgunterx** · 02-15-2010, 02:14 PM

You can find MB in Europe but you pay €16 for it.
But I can have Palmolive for €1, Speick for €2, Tabac for €8, 1 kg of P.160 for €7, ...

It's normal for a niche market to pay a big premium for products coming from another continent.

**kingfisher** · 02-15-2010, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by HIT

KMF SC's have the following ingredients Methylparaben, Propylparaben

So what?

And if I'm not mistaken these ingredients are also included in Proraso.

**JCD** · 02-15-2010, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by HIT

KMF SC's have the following ingredients Methylparaben, Propylparaben

On its own, there are recommendations for how much propylparaben should be found in a particular product. The problem arises when a product contains multiple parabens – such as propylparaben and methylparaben – then, there are not any recommendations for an individual user.

In the pharmaceutical industry, propylparaben is a common preservative for certain drugs. As a result, it is administered to humans in several ways: injections, orally, or through suppositories. However, it is almost always in concentrations of less than 1%. WiseGeek

More shaving products I'll not try.
Thanks for the heads up guys.

**mblakele** · 02-15-2010, 04:03 PM

Just remember: kissing doesn't last. Cooking, on the other hand, tends to get better and better with age.

To beat the metaphor to death, I'm thinking about elegant combinations of scent. I find KMF scents to be a bit one-dimensional. The mint reminds me of mint chip ice cream... which might be attractive to smear on the right companion, but is not particularly welcome as part of my shave. The lavender is a little better, but still kind of boring.

**Alfredo Becerra** · 02-15-2010, 04:09 PM

Parabens parabens parabens, what's the big deal?

There is absolutely NO evidence that it does this or that, mostly mass e-mails and "wiki" articles.

Besides, you gotta draw the line somewhere. If you want to buy into the whole organic thing that's fine, that might be doable. Fair trade? not for me but, whatever floats your boat.

However, I wish you good luck trying to eliminate paraben(s) from your life.

**petr** · 02-15-2010, 05:44 PM

Interesting.

But, I dare think I would give up speick for any other.

**Haber Dashing** · 02-15-2010, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by mblakele

Just remember: kissing doesn't last. Cooking, on the other hand, tends to get better and better with age.

+100 Wow, that made my day

**DougK** · 02-15-2010, 06:05 PM

KMF works well for me, too, and I also plan on sticking with KMF for my main shave cream once my Bigelow runs out. The KMF scents are a little on the simple side and they fade quickly, but it's easy to make a good lather with or without a brush and you don't have to worry too much about the amount of water because the cream is so forgiving. It's also easy on the wallet. Works for me.

**oldblue** · 02-15-2010, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by Alfredo Becerra

Dear Proraso, 3 T's, Speick, and all you great European lovers:

I would like to give you the most heart felt good bye I can. It has been a great many years of a beautiful and expensively overpriced relationship, and while I will always remember you and have room in my heart for you I must move on.

(snip)

With all due respect, I can hardly see Proraso being lumped into the same lather bowl as the 3Ts price-wise.

I bought a bowl of the Proraso green soap in October last year for about $8 CDN and it's still going. Running low now, but if I finish this month it will be 5 months of use. Yes, shaving with it everyday 7 days a week.

I'd say it's one of the better deals out there and a great product to boot.

oldblue

**heirkb** · 02-15-2010, 06:56 PM

Hmm...dunno why Speick is on that list. Speick is really pretty affordable stuff that works really amazingly well. Everything I've used from Speick is really really effective

**troy1979** · 02-15-2010, 07:31 PM

KMF in tampa Florida 11oz $5.19 at health food store on dale mabry, got to love the stuff.

**Drubbing** · 02-15-2010, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by Alfredo Becerra

Dear Proraso, 3 T's, Speick, and all you great European lovers:

I would like to give you the most heart felt good bye I can. It has been a great many years of a beautiful and expensively overpriced relationship, and while I will always remember you and have room in my heart for you I must move on.

You do realise that just about everything sold in the US is cheaper to buy than almost anywhere else? The volumes sold and the size of the market is huge - even niche markets are relatively massive, so street $$ are low.

I could cite a million examples, but take just about any product you can get, and double the price. That's pretty much what the rest of us (non europeans at least) pay.

**HIT** · 02-15-2010, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by JCD

On its own, there are recommendations for how much propylparaben should be found in a particular product. The problem arises when a product contains multiple parabens – such as propylparaben and methylparaben – then, there are not any recommendations for an individual user.

In the pharmaceutical industry, propylparaben is a common preservative for certain drugs. As a result, it is administered to humans in several ways: injections, orally, or through suppositories. However, it is almost always in concentrations of less than 1%. WiseGeek

More shaving products I'll not try.
Thanks for the heads up guys.

I quote from the site fda.gov

"FDA believes that at the present time there is no reason for consumers to be concerned about the use of cosmetics containing parabens. However, the agency will continue to evaluate new data in this area. If FDA determines that a health hazard exists, the agency will advise the industry and the public, and will consider its legal options under the authority of the FD&C Act in protecting the health and welfare of consumers."

It is true that in the 50's-60's everyone was claiming that smoking wasnt harmful for your health. After several years the opposite was proven.

Concerning mobile phones companies claim that they are not harmful at all, however dont tell me that you would speak each day for 1-2 hours from your cell phone without using your handsfree?

Maybe Im over-reacting. Ok its just me. But I dont think I would buy products with paraben.

I liked also the word wisegeek. It is very useful for conversations. Well done

**mdunn** · 02-16-2010, 12:43 AM

its worth remembering that these parabens are only on our skin for a minute or so, its not like theyre high doses plugged into the mainline.

If you want to avoid them, more power to you - but there is 0 actual science behind it.

**mark3d** · 02-16-2010, 01:01 AM

as much as i agree with using natural ingredients in leiu of artificial crap where possible (in everything, not just food and shaving products), i think this thread was hijacked with that second post. the point of the thread was relative value of shaving soaps/creams, not directly the contents (although that weighs into value!). totally agree some are completely overpriced. and i havent even tried arko yet (it's on it's way :)).

.