Anything similar to L'Occitane CADE soap (but cheaper)

Gentlemen,

A little over a month ago I bought some of L'Occitane's CADE shave soap. I really like the stuff, particularly the scent. But it's kinda pricey and also it seems to be disappearing pretty quickly (and I don't even shave every day).

Any quality alternatives for less?

Note: I've been shaving with a DE razor for about 6 months now. Only recently did I manage to "perfect" my technique. So now I'm looking to try some other soaps. The only other soap I've used aside from the CADE is the Van Der Hagen Scented Luxury (which I think is decent).

Thanks!

Pre De Provence original and No. 63 are great French made soaps. Provence Sante is another good one. None of these soaps have the same scent as Cade but they're great performers.

xillion said:

Pre De Provence original and No. 63 are great French made soaps. Provence Sante is another good one. None of these soaps have the same scent as Cade but they're great performers.

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Thanks!

I'm not really looking for something with the same scent as the CADE (or even close to it). Mainly I'm looking for great performing soaps.

Then check out Pre de Provence, if you like Cade you won't be disappointed. It's a great soap, though it does cost more than a Cade refill puck.

PdP original scent:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0026DWB7Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1430450201&sr=1-5&pi=SL75

Pdp No.63:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00T72RDWA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1430450557&sr=8-1&keywords=no.+63+shave+soap

Provence Sante Verlaine:
http://www.amazon.com/Provence-Sant...30450932&sr=8-3-spell&keywords=provence+snate

Provence Sante Green Tea:
http://www.amazon.com/Provence-Sante-Green-Men`s-Shaving/dp/B004PI2JXE

http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Provence-Sante-Green-Tea-Shaving-Soap-Refill_p_388.html

Cade refill:
http://usa.loccitane.com/cade-shaving-soap,82,1,29221,283018.htm?newversion=true&

I never want to tell anyone how to spend their hard-earned money, but at $12 for a hard puck of soap, something that will last you for months, the Cade is not an expensive soap. If you think of it in terms of cost/shave, it is literally pennies. If you like it, I would stay with it. Speaking from personal experience, you will waste more money trying to find something else that you like as much. On the other hand, if you simply want to try something new and different, have at it.


There's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they always come out tender.
― W.C. Fields

Here's another vote for Pre de Provence.

rodmonster said:

I never want to tell anyone how to spend their hard-earned money, but at $12 for a hard puck of soap, something that will last you for months, the Cade is not an expensive soap. If you think of it in terms of cost/shave, it is literally pennies. If you like it, I would stay with it. Speaking from personal experience, you will waste more money trying to find something else that you like as much. On the other hand, if you simply want to try something new and different, have at it.


There's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they always come out tender.
― W.C. Fields

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Yeah, having only been DE shaving for about 6 months, soaps are something I hadn't really looked into extensively. After spending some time on Amazon I now see that they can get pretty expensive. So the $12 L'Occitane is pretty reasonable now that I look at it.

Have you considered or tried the plethora of artisanal soaps available? Some of them are superb!

Another great French soap I forgot to mention is Savon du Midi, Savon a Barbe Shaving Soap.

It is a great performing hard soap. I've been using them in my rotation for a few years and they never seem to get smaller.

There are two scents Santal, sandalwood, an Vetyver. Both smells great I like the Santal in the Fall/Winter and Vetyver in the Spring/Summer.

They also make a soft soap in a tub but they are not the same as the hard puck.

http://www.royalshave.com/p/422-037/savon-du-midi-savon-a-barbe-shaving-soap-santal.html

Clavius85 said:

Yeah, having only been DE shaving for about 6 months, soaps are something I hadn't really looked into extensively. After spending some time on Amazon I now see that they can get pretty expensive. So the $12 L'Occitane is pretty reasonable now that I look at it.

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Proraso shaving soap can be found for around half the price of cade, I am not going to say that it performs better than cade but it performs admirably for the price, that being said a puck of cade will last longer than a tub of proraso

rodmonster said:

I never want to tell anyone how to spend their hard-earned money, but at $12 for a hard puck of soap, something that will last you for months, the Cade is not an expensive soap.

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+1
Having always considered L'Occitane to be a high-end and pricey store, I was sort of shocked that the shave soap was only $12. Considering the scent, which I love, I couldn't afford *not* to buy it. The ASB and possibly the EdT are now on my wish list.

As mentioned, Pre de Provence is a great alternative. Another good hard soap is D.R. Harris...but both cost a tiny bit more. I will say that one cannot truly assess the value of a soap based on the initial cost. Cade (~$12) and Pre de Provence (~$15) are really hard soaps that will last for several months (well over 100 shaves per puck). Softer soaps may cost less than $10 but they are practically gone after 30 shaves or so...making their overall value much lower.

Hey all,

Thanks for the recommendations! I've got them all saved to a wishlist on Amazon so that I won't forget them.

I just ordered some of Mitchell's Wool Fat (just the puck/refill) based on the reviews on Amazon and also after reading reviews for it here on B&B. And I think after the Wool Fat I will give the Pre de Provence No. 63 a try as the scent sounds intriguing.

Thanks again!

Great choice. You can't go wrong with the fat.

In addition to being a great performer, PDP No. 63 smells fantastic. If L'Occitane were to make an Eau Des Bavx shaving soap I think it would smell just like PDP No.63.

I was amazed to find that the refill puck of Cade was only $12. In a L'Occitane shop I would expect soap of this quality to sell for about 3 times that amount, putting the price in line with the AS balm and EdT. In addition, this appears to be a triple milled soap that will last a while.

I find it comparable in quality to Pre de Provence, both regular and 63.

--Bob

rodmonster said:

I never want to tell anyone how to spend their hard-earned money, but at $12 for a hard puck of soap, something that will last you for months, the Cade is not an expensive soap. If you think of it in terms of cost/shave, it is literally pennies. If you like it, I would stay with it. Speaking from personal experience, you will waste more money trying to find something else that you like as much. On the other hand, if you simply want to try something new and different, have at it.

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+1 - Cade is a favorite of mine and I haven't found anything else that is remotely close scentwise. Performance is very good. I got almost 4 months of daily shaves out of a Cade puck earlier this year. It easily could have gone more if I wasn't loading it 3017 style.

Cade is probably in a league of its own if you have a L'occitane store near you in terms of availability, price, and quality. Nothing else will perform as well or have a nicer scent at such a reasonable price point while being readily available at many retail stores across the country.

Most any other soap that's really worth it is going to cost at least $15 as in the case of MWF plus shipping charges. Get the Cade.

Today I received the Wool Fat I had ordered. I'm tempted to go ahead and try it (it certainly smells amazing). However, I still have about half of a puck of the Cade left... and I ordered a puck of D.R. Harris in the Windsor scent. So I want to try that one too!

Clavius85 said:

Today I received the Wool Fat I had ordered. I'm tempted to go ahead and try it (it certainly smells amazing). However, I still have about half of a puck of the Cade left... and I ordered a puck of D.R. Harris in the Windsor scent. So I want to try that one too!

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Now you are in real trouble......What started out as a search for an inexpensive replacement for the Cade is quickly degenerating into an obsessive search for the Holy Grail of soaps. SAD in so many ways!! Cade, Harris and MWF are all excellent but somewhere out there in shavedom is an even more outstanding soap. You are hooked. Resistance is Futile. Time to put Maggards on your speed dial list!


You've Got to Go Out on a Limb Sometimes, Because that is Where the Fruit Is.
-Will Rogers-

Here's another vote saying, and in the general scheme of things, Cade is not that expensive.