What's the best and worst soaps you have used?

Best for me is TOBS almond scent. It's amazing stuff. It smells good enough to eat, and the lather is fantastic.

Worst would be Williams puck. Smells like mosquito repellent and lather is thin and anemic.

Best (so far): D.R. Harris Arlington

Worst (by far) Caswell-Massey 1752 Almond; but to be fair I bought it on closeout and probably new old stock.

My best so far has been Modder Focker, with Cold River Barbershop not far behind.

My worst, and I'm sure I'll get blasted for this, MWF. LOVE the smell but can't lather it. Out of 15 soaps its the only one I can't get results out of.

Best Soaps:

MWF
Martin de Candre
Cella

Worst:

Caswell Massey

Frank

best would have to be MWF

worst.......I guess would be Williams, if only for the difficulty in lathering. given enough time, I can coax a shaveable lather out of just about any soap/cream I have used. the "worst" factor comes with how hard I really want to work to get it. I don't want to work as hard as I need to for Williams.

also, the knock off "vintage" Williams stuff (cant remember the name) lathers fine, but the smell is horrible. I had a migraine for the rest of the night after I test lathered it.

Best (in no particular order):
1. Martin de Candre
2. Petal Pusher Fancies Coconut
3. Strop Shoppe SE Baker Street w/Tallow
4. RazoRock P160
5. RazoRock XXX tallow
6. Petal Pusher Fancies Black Tea
7. Strop Shoppe SE BarberShop w/Tallow
8. Cella
9. RazoRock Mudder Focker
10. Le Pere Lucien

Worst:
VdH Deluxe - thin lather and not a great scent.
I've also tried many that the performance was average to above average but the scents weren't for me at all.

GeauxTigers89 said:

My best so far has been Modder Focker, with Cold River Barbershop not far behind.

My worst, and I'm sure I'll get blasted for this, MWF. LOVE the smell but can't lather it. Out of 15 soaps its the only one I can't get results out of.

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I wouldn't call MWF the worst I've tried, but it's really quite overrated in my book. Scent is very nice, lather isn't as protective as many others. Cold River does indeed outperform it in my opinion, as do many of the other top soaps listed here.

For me, the best is a toss up between a bunch of artisan soaps. LPL, MdC, Cold River, B&M, Mike's, Stirling, PPF, Synergy...

Worst would probably be a puck of TOBS Jermyn Street. I am pretty sure I got a bad puck because it was literally unlatherable. It was like trying to shave with a bar of Kirk's bar soap using just my hands to lather. Couldn't get anything stable out of it.

GeauxTigers89 said:

My best so far has been Modder Focker, with Cold River Barbershop not far behind.

My worst, and I'm sure I'll get blasted for this, MWF. LOVE the smell but can't lather it. Out of 15 soaps its the only one I can't get results out of.

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No need for blasting. Variety is what makes this place awesome.

Best:

Strop Shoppe SE Barbershoppe (currently, and it's only the best by splitting hairs)

Worst:

TOBS Lavender

Right now, I am loving Tcheon Fung Sing Bergamotto Neroli, a great combo of wonderful performance and addicting scent. It edges out Trumper Rose and D. R. Harris Almond, but who knows whats next?

Worst? I tried four different "artisan" soaps, and I relegated all four to shower duty. The aromas were all "off," and the performance spotty. They all had high levels of bentonite clay, which I feel is an easy way out for too many soap-makers. I won't name them; three are obscure, and the other one is so popular here on B&B that I must be wrong.

Best: MdC
Worst: Mystic Water

Vespasian said:

They all had high levels of bentonite clay, which I feel is an easy way out for too many soap-makers.

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Can you elaborate on this? Do you mean bentonite clay is what ruins lather? I have no knowledge of what this ingredient actually does although I've seen it listed a few times for certain soaps and I'm curious as to what you mean.

Best for me I would have to say Catie's Bubbles. I have the purple grapefruit scent which I enjoy.
Worst for me is MWF. I've tried everything in the world to lather this soap up but to no avail. Just too much effort is needed when there are so many other good soaps to be had out there, plus the ingredients list for MWF is not very clean, but the scent is amazing IMO.

Bentonite clay is used as a scent fixative and a dry lubricant.

Can someone spell out MWF for me? It's very interesting that that one has been mentioned so much in this thread and I have no idea what it is.

It's also rather interesting (to me anyway) that no one has mentioned Tabac.

TOBS Jermyn cream is wonderful stuff, in my opinion. I've never tried the puck though.

alden said:

Can someone spell out MWF for me? It's very interesting that that one has been mentioned so much in this thread and I have no idea what it is.

It's also rather interesting (to me anyway) that no one has mentioned Tabac.

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Mitchell's Wool Fat. The greatest shaving soap known to mankind.

alden said:

Can someone spell out MWF for me? It's very interesting that that one has been mentioned so much in this thread and I have no idea what it is.

It's also rather interesting (to me anyway) that no one has mentioned Tabac.

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Mitchell's Wool Fat

So far the best is a toss up between Tabula Rasa & Al"s Shaving Products - Auguri

The worst would be Crabtree & Evelyn Nomad

alden said:

Can someone spell out MWF for me? It's very interesting that that one has been mentioned so much in this thread and I have no idea what it is.

It's also rather interesting (to me anyway) that no one has mentioned Tabac.

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My best: TABAC (works every time without fail)
My worst: Williams (tried half a dozen times and threw it out)

WORST: Erasmic stick without tallow
BEST: Many great performers out there. My favorites are La Toja, MWF, Cella, old AOS, MdC...

I can't say about "the best" but it would have to be in this group: Tabac, MWF, Stirling, Arko. Truly too many "greats" to pick just one.

The worst is easy: Herban Cowboy. Some sort of organic, vegan version but it doesn't lather, just terrible.