French battle: L'occitane Cade vs. Provence Sante vs. Pre de Provence

Hi guys,

I've searched this expansive and mighty forum, but i want an answer in one topic!

Which of the above soaps do you rate the best? Note: i don't care for the price (or best price/quality-relation), i just would like opinions on performance and lather.

I've got the L'occitane Cade CREAM (really nice scent), but it burns my face and is hard (if not impossible) to create a decent lather out of. I was looking to buy the Cade soap (with that lovely dish), but last night Cade (cream) burned my face like crazy and i'm worried that the soap will do too.

Thanks in advance!

I voted for PS. I have the green tea scent and its nice.

I got rid of my lovely smelling Cade soap cause it dried my face out like crazy

L'Occitane Cade cream is an abberation given the quality of the soap. There are many gents here who swear by it. So basically we're talking products which are literally in different leagues.

As for the poll comparison: unfortunately Cade soap didn't agree with me as well as I had hoped, so for me it is the least of the three. Provence Santé is a damned fine product, and a prime example of the notion that soap needn't contain tallow to be really good. Pré de Provence is my favourite despite having a love-hate relationship with it. When it performs, it leaves my face smooth and slick as a billiard ball (not kidding here), but since it achieves this by miraculously allowing me to cut deeper than any other product I've come across, it also means I'm straying exceedingly close to the boundaries of the land of Razorburn. For me the devil is truly in the details with this soap, hence my stubbornly sticking to it to find out how I can use it best. It's worth having itching skin for that.

Also pretty good is Institute Karité's offering (which you didn't mention). This too required some figuring out, but once it did, it came very close to Provence Santé.

I've used them all and while they all perform well I my opinion the other two can't hold a candle to Pre de Provence. It's the only french hard soap in my permanent rotation.

The French have some excellent soaps to enjoy. Haven't tried the Cade but of the three I use, I would put them in this order. PS, IK, PdP. You just can't beat the green tea from PS.

They are all good, but I give the edge to Provence Sante. You can't go wrong with any of these three, nor with Institut Karite, another fine French soap.

L'occitane Cade soap got my vote, although they are all comparable.

I have and use both L'Occitane and Pre de Provence. Haven't gotten around to Provence Sante. But between those two I find that for me L'Occitane edges out PdP. But both give great shaves.

Thanks for the replies so far, guys.

Are there people here that got "burn"/"sting" (not the redness after a shave) from the Cade cream but not from the soap? That's what i'm worried about, with the Cade.

Both are great soaps.. good lather and great scent.

Gentleman said:

Thanks for the replies so far, guys.

Are there people here that got "burn"/"sting" (not the redness after a shave) from the Cade cream but not from the soap? That's what i'm worried about, with the Cade.

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Sorry but no. I don't have very sensitive skin. My wife on the other hand, has the most sensitive skin on the planet but she's never used my soaps. I could go hold her down and rub...uh...never mind.

I have all three and Cade gets my vote. They lather similarly, but Cade's scent gives it the edge.

There must be something wrong with my sniffer because I get practically no scent from Cade. Even PdP smells more strongly than Cade.

PS GT is the only one with a really distinctive scent (I haven't tried the Verlaine). PdP is just so clean and fresh smelling that I will stand firmly in its camp today!

I have tried them all and I'll go for Pre de provence.Its lather is not as thick as the one I can get from Provence Sante,but its a pretty slick lather and I really love,adore its skin scare properties.Institut Karite used to be my number one french triple milled soap choice,but now that place have been taken by Pre de Provence.

I will vote for PS Green Tea and IK which you have not listed, but others have mentioned it. It's hard for me to choose between them, both are great. After that would be CADE and PdP. I like the scent of all the french soaps.

I thought I read somewhere that there was a B&B buy a while back on the Provence Sante Tea. Did any of you perhaps overbuy and have a couple of pucks you'd be willing to trade?

Any more thoughts?

Anyone had the cade soap burned/stinged them?

Gentleman said:

Any more thoughts?

Anyone had the cade soap burned/stinged them?

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I have problems with other soaps causing irritation with my skin. I have Cade, use it frequently (two or three days a week) and it does not bother my face. I don't even experience the dryness that most talk about afterwards.

However, I've never used the cream so can't compare between the two.

PusherMan said:

If I had one though I would say PdP. Some find it difficult to lather to his fullness because of the travel tin and small surface area. I just messy with it though and swirl away making to add water as I go. It also is the hardest of all 3 soaps as well which kind of hurts when you are lathering with a silvertip.

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Once I got the hang of it, I found that PdP produces excellent lather--thick, slick, creamy, cushioning--and a very satisfying shave.

I use a "dry" brush (meaning dipped in water or placed under a running faucet and shaked almost dry), swirl it in the tin for about a minute in order to load the brush, then face lather by swirling the brush on my face, after swirling, I dip the brush in water and then paint the lather on my face.

The minute of loading the brush on the tin may take shorter or longer depending on the brush used. I use either a Simpson's Commodore X1 (best) or an Omega 10065; the Omega takes less time.

All good soaps, but hands down for me Provence Sante is the best soap of the lot (the original scent, not the green tea). It's one of the best non tallow soaps I've tried. The lather is similar to Tabac lather in my experience.