I see this soap in BST and hear many people say they use it, but what makes it so expensive. Does it last longer, is it slicker, is it just a cult thing.
What's the Deal?
What's the Deal?
To Quote Seinfeld "What's the Deal with this Martin de Cadre Soap"
- Thread starter tlentz
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"What's the deal with airplane food?"
Never tried MdC, so couldn't comment. But good question.
Never tried MdC, so couldn't comment. But good question.
My experience is with my first MdC purchase. It is a lightly used jar I got off BST for a good price.
So what's the deal? It's a nice soap. Very hard, the jar will last an easy 6-8 months because it doesn't take a lot of loading, just like other hard soaps. It has a very sophisticated scent. The lather is nice, slick and can be whipped into a thick yogurt. I tend to like more water in my lather so I will use it just like my other soaps, with soft peaks.
I haven't used enough of it to get a real handle on the price/use. My guess is it will come out about even with other high-end soaps/croaps like TOBS (my only other high-end reference) because it lasts longer. It will probably be +30-40% higher $/use than my favorite, Stirling soaps.
For me, and YMMV, it doesn't offer anything unique. In fact, since one jar lasts so long, I consider it a downside. I will be able to use 4-5 full pucks of Stirling, and enjoy that variety of scents, while I plod through the single scent of MdC. I will use it and enjoy it but probably won't replace it.
One final caveat about this post. I, by nature, shun anything that is "high-end." I have seen people pay far more for a glitzy name than I ever would. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate quality when it's attached to that name. My kids grew up in Oshkosh clothes (are they still high quality?) because they were great looking and wear like iron. Often one set of clothes would make it through all four kids. But I never bought them new. We found a second hand store that always had a good stock.
So what's the deal? It's a nice soap. Very hard, the jar will last an easy 6-8 months because it doesn't take a lot of loading, just like other hard soaps. It has a very sophisticated scent. The lather is nice, slick and can be whipped into a thick yogurt. I tend to like more water in my lather so I will use it just like my other soaps, with soft peaks.
I haven't used enough of it to get a real handle on the price/use. My guess is it will come out about even with other high-end soaps/croaps like TOBS (my only other high-end reference) because it lasts longer. It will probably be +30-40% higher $/use than my favorite, Stirling soaps.
For me, and YMMV, it doesn't offer anything unique. In fact, since one jar lasts so long, I consider it a downside. I will be able to use 4-5 full pucks of Stirling, and enjoy that variety of scents, while I plod through the single scent of MdC. I will use it and enjoy it but probably won't replace it.
One final caveat about this post. I, by nature, shun anything that is "high-end." I have seen people pay far more for a glitzy name than I ever would. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate quality when it's attached to that name. My kids grew up in Oshkosh clothes (are they still high quality?) because they were great looking and wear like iron. Often one set of clothes would make it through all four kids. But I never bought them new. We found a second hand store that always had a good stock.
If you adjust for shipping, fancy presentation and cost per shave - MDC is not terribly expensive.
As for performance: IMO - it's a decent soap - that has a nice provenance & simple ingredients. For me - it did not blow my socks off and I will not retain in my rotation. My takeaway was that both the love & hate for MDC is a bit over the top.
If you can get a sample - it's a worth trying. Until you do - you will remain curious....
As for performance: IMO - it's a decent soap - that has a nice provenance & simple ingredients. For me - it did not blow my socks off and I will not retain in my rotation. My takeaway was that both the love & hate for MDC is a bit over the top.
If you can get a sample - it's a worth trying. Until you do - you will remain curious....
What's the deal with corn nuts?
MdC= overpriced; overhyped; overstated in performance relative to many other great soaps; overstays its welcome (i.e., last too long).
MdC= overpriced; overhyped; overstated in performance relative to many other great soaps; overstays its welcome (i.e., last too long).
I love it. Fragrance is subtle, it lasts forever (good if you like it, and it also makes it cheaper on a per-shave basis than it seems), and it lathers well. Hey, you only live once. Splurge if you're able and check it out...
And yes, there are just too many good creams/soaps in this world. Or I'm far enough along and have sufficient skill to get a good shave from most of the stuff I have in my arsenal. It's fun to open my drawer each morning and have a lot of great stuff to choose from, and MdC is definitely part of this.
And yes, there are just too many good creams/soaps in this world. Or I'm far enough along and have sufficient skill to get a good shave from most of the stuff I have in my arsenal. It's fun to open my drawer each morning and have a lot of great stuff to choose from, and MdC is definitely part of this.
It lathers like the dickens. It wasn't for me though. I found it to lack the cushion I like. It smelled fantastic though.
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Are they corn or nuts? How can you be both?
MdC does not last forever for everyone. There were about a half dozen of us in the 3017 thread the burned through a jar in about four months time (or less). I averaged about 2 grams used per shave, which for a 200 gram jar of MdC is on the order of 100 shaves or 3-4 months for someone that shaves everyday. I'll let you do the math for yourself regarding price per shave or price per month - it ain't cheap.
Here is data and some commentary I captured for my jar of MdC. Notice that the grams/shave increased as I got nearer to the bottom of the jar. If you were to infrequently use MdC (in a large rotation of other soaps) it might have a chance to fully dry out and perhaps last longer, but I no longer buy "it lasts forever and therefore is cheap" line (I've made the mistake of claiming this in the past). Sorry, it is an expensive soap and only you and your wallet can decide if it is worth it.
Here is data and some commentary I captured for my jar of MdC. Notice that the grams/shave increased as I got nearer to the bottom of the jar. If you were to infrequently use MdC (in a large rotation of other soaps) it might have a chance to fully dry out and perhaps last longer, but I no longer buy "it lasts forever and therefore is cheap" line (I've made the mistake of claiming this in the past). Sorry, it is an expensive soap and only you and your wallet can decide if it is worth it.
me :) said:
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If I was to guess, there are two main reasons why MdC is so expensive. Both of them are educated guesses. The first is its simplicity of ingredients. It only has six total ingredients, so I would imagine that each ingredient is very high quality and therefore expensive. In cooking, if you are making a dish with only a few ingredients, you want them to be the highest quality available. The second is curing time. I don't know exactly how the soaps cure once the jars are filled, but I've read its at least six months, if not more. I would think that adds to production costs.
Of course there are other factors like the packaging and its scarcity of availability. Don't forget, there are lots of other products that are as expensive, if not more expensive than MdC. Pen's soaps in bowls, which are half the product as MdC (100g vs. 200g) is $65. Creed's shaving soap (once again 100g) is $85. Santa Maria Novella is $71 (for 250g). Acqua di Parma is around $70 for only 125g.
Of course there are other factors like the packaging and its scarcity of availability. Don't forget, there are lots of other products that are as expensive, if not more expensive than MdC. Pen's soaps in bowls, which are half the product as MdC (100g vs. 200g) is $65. Creed's shaving soap (once again 100g) is $85. Santa Maria Novella is $71 (for 250g). Acqua di Parma is around $70 for only 125g.
I won't say that MdC last forever or not as I don't know. I don't own a 200gr Jar (or any MdC jar). I might one day but right now I don't. What I can say is, by experience, I doubt that a soap last 6-12 months. If you use it once a week, sure. If you think that you started using it on date X and ended it on date Y, sure. If you actually write down every shave and count them, then you know for sure.
I had soaps that I thought would last forever and 40 shaves later, it's done. Other, around 150 shaves. As Jeremy posted above, many used it and got 100 shaves out of it. That's around 3 months and a half (30 days per month). One thing that I did notice is that a larger quantity of a product seems to be melting as quickly as two small pots of the same product (200gr != 2x100gr).
The other factor to consider is the shaver (how the lather is made? how much product is used to make that lather? is it for 2 passes or 4? etc)
Anyways, I got a stick of Arko that is lasting forever in my den... and I only used it 11 times to far...
I had soaps that I thought would last forever and 40 shaves later, it's done. Other, around 150 shaves. As Jeremy posted above, many used it and got 100 shaves out of it. That's around 3 months and a half (30 days per month). One thing that I did notice is that a larger quantity of a product seems to be melting as quickly as two small pots of the same product (200gr != 2x100gr).
The other factor to consider is the shaver (how the lather is made? how much product is used to make that lather? is it for 2 passes or 4? etc)
Anyways, I got a stick of Arko that is lasting forever in my den... and I only used it 11 times to far...
Antique Hoosier
“Aircooled”
Expensive stuff and I use it practically everyday, the Fougere. never tire of it. Enjoy the fragrance and performance. In my opinion, a vital part of my shave den. YMMV
It's very hard to get if you don't want to order directly from them. When you do order from them, it's a large upfront cost. However, you get a lot of soap that may not need heavy loading, so for some it does last quite awhile. I really liked the regular scent and LOVED the Fougere scent. However, the performance isn't as good for me as a lot of the tallow soaps. It didn't seem to get as thick and had less slickness for me. I found that I have other soaps that outperformed it so I sold mine on the BST.
Meh. Easy to lather, but not the best shave lather, IMO. Scent is personal, but I don't like the scent of MdC at all. The soap also tends to be a bit drying.
Oh, and expensive.
Oh, and expensive.
To paraphrase Monty Python,
"Because we are French!"
I love the stuff, but I also have lots of other soaps that perform as well at a fraction of the price--which doesn't bother me in the least. I will continue to buy MdC.
I think efficiency (in the economic sense) is sometimes overrated.
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It's handmade. That's not really impressive these days when half the soaps people talk about here are hand made, but five years ago, there were between zero and two worthwhile handmade shaving soaps depending on who you ask. And it's not handmade as in the smelly hippy at your farmers market makes it. It's handmade as in "Oh we are so French and fancy, you smelly people are lucky we are willing to sell you our soaps, which are better works of art than any arteest of your pathetic native countries could ever produce. We will smoke our cigarettes out of these long whalebone stems, because our throats are too delikeet for the heat of the smoke, and we will blow this smoke in your face if you question why our soap costs ten times what our competitors cost."
It performs very well. So do many other soaps. Of course there are many soaps that are close to its price point and don't perform as well. It's worth it for some and not for others.
This is the catch 22.
MdC is very fast lathering and high performing because it is Pure K-salts, this makes it an efficient soap.
MdC is very fast loading because it is Pure K-salts, this makes it a very inefficient soap.
People who use it and go "WOW! It loads in ten seconds! It's SOOOO efficient," often don't realize, that ten seconds on a MdC bowl is very likely loading more product than a minute on a triple milled puck would. Yes, arguably MdC is slightly more efficient than many other soaps. That factor however is highly unlikely to outweigh the fact that it is much more soluble than many other soaps.
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SliceOfLife, I have to say, I almost always learn something new from reading your posts.
Thanks. The tricky part is learning to distinguish when I'm being authoritative because I'm knowledgeable from when I'm just drunk.
So true. I actually think that in some ways MdC performs more like a soft soap than your more traditional soap (like Tabac) or a triple-milled soap. In terms of longevity, it is actually on par with Santa Maria Novella (a cream) or other soft soaps. Le Pere Lucien has a similar consistency, and has about the same wear factor, it would seem--tho not quite so loftily expensive--so if you have to have your fancy Frooonsch soap it might be the one to get instead of MdC.
Now if you will excuse me, I have to go blow some smoke on the bourgeoisie.
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