Lavender soaps

Hi,

I'm curious what you all think of the following Lavender soaps
(perhaps compared across performance, cushion, glide/slickness, scent,
and price).

RazoRock Essential Oil of Lavender
Barrister and Mann Lather Lavender
Cattie's Purple Grapefruit
Fine Lavender Pour Homme
others?

many thanks,

Don't forget what may be the best lavender soap of all. Czech & Speake Oxford and Cambridge.

Scentwise, the best lavenders (IMO) are MdC Regular, Mike's Hungarian Lavender, and Vulfix Lavender. Opinions vary wildly, though. I like a darker, earthy lavender. Others just want a straight up 40/42 EO.

Well i haven't tried the lavender soaps you are writing.
My best lavender soaps though arer selby,barrister and mann black label lavender and yardley black label.

snowman said:

Don't forget what may be the best lavender soap of all. Czech & Speake Oxford and Cambridge.

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Isn't Fine's lavender soap supposed to be a copy of that?

LASS Dark Lavender
MW Jeff's Lavender
Mike's Lavender
Dapper Dragon Lavender Lizard
DR Harris
CRSW Savon #1

I also love Stirling Bergamot lavender, C&S O&C and the speick stick but they're not pure lavender.

I haven't tried the new version of AoS but the old tallow lavender is awesome.

captnelson said:

Hi,

I'm curious what you all think of the following Lavender soaps
(perhaps compared across performance, cushion, glide/slickness, scent,
and price).

RazoRock Essential Oil of Lavender
Barrister and Mann Lather Lavender
Cattie's Purple Grapefruit
Fine Lavender Pour Homme
others?

many thanks,

Click to expand...

In order of overall performance:


Barrister and Mann Lather Lavender
Fine Lavender Pour Homme
Cattie's Purple Grapefruit
RazoRock Essential Oil of Lavender

I'm a big fan of Mike's Natural, so Hungarian Lavender.
D.R. Harris Lavender shave soap.

In the Unobtainium category if the shaving Gods are smiling on you:

RazoRock's King of the Castle Lavender Hard Puck.
RazoRock King Louis Lavender

TropicalHotDogNight said:

Isn't Fine's lavender soap supposed to be a copy of that?

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I haven't tried Fines yet. I believe the scent is suppose to be close but based on ingredients I think the performance will differ. O&C is a fantastic scent and performance is excellent. I hope to try Fines new soap in 2017.

The only lavender scented soap I've tried is Monsavon Bol A Raser from France.
It's a soft soap and can be temperamental when face lathering so my best results were "loading it like I stole it" and mug lathering
The scent can be a little sickly and cloying sometimes, so I only use it in the evening

I've tried a lot of soaps, likely more than most here including about all of the ones people have listed above. Some recommendations are solid and list some above average soaps like Czech & Speake and Cold River Soap Works. Others I might not have mentioned like Dr. Selby (not impressive), DR Harris (a large following but just average for me), and Mystic Waters (a very good soap but way too hard to lather). Mike's makes a decent lavender soap that I'd take over Dr. Selby and DR Harris but for me it's another about average soap. I did expect that one to show up in the recommendations though.

About the ones you mentioned:
RazoRock Essential Oil of Lavender - an average soap but doesn't make it into my shave den.
Barrister and Mann Lather Lavender - haven't tried it but Barrister & Mann makes some very nice soaps.
Cattie's Purple Grapefruit - lots of grapefruit in this one, performance is average.
Fine Lavender Pour Homme - Fine soaps perform average to slightly above, but again not a spot for it for me.

A lot of other soaps that have been mentioned are a mixture of Lavender & something else. I wouldn't recommend them when you're asking for a lavender soap as I suspect they are quite different from what you're looking for. I really enjoy a great lavender soap myself and I've tried most of what's listed above. I've added some information about a couple at the end of this reply as I wanted to separate them from what I suspect you're really asking for.

My recommendations for a really excellent lavender soap (that you can easily purchase now) would be:

Midnight & Two - Provence - This one smells excellent and performance is in the top 5 or so of the 400 plus soaps I've tried. It's a very impressive soap. Their aftershaves are excellent as well. The only negative for this one (which may scare you away) is that it's priced a bit higher at about $26. On a positive the expensive shipping is often included from Canada with a small minimum order. If you don't care that is costs more this is the one to get.

WSP Formula T - True Lavender - This is another excellent lavender soap for about $15. It's a harder soap so the tubs last a very, very long time. Performance wise it's an excellent soap that I'd put somewhere in my top ten or so soaps, and I've tried most of what's out there. You won't be disappointed with this one as it's an excellent soap and a great value. If you're going primarily for value in a true authentic lavender scented soap then this is probably it. The WSP Formula T soaps are a copy of the $65 Martin de Candre soaps but with added tallow and butters.

For something you can't get:
The Valobra made Art of Shaving Lavender tallow soap - the one in the stores now isn't nearly as good. - This was made by Valobra who also make the Czech & Speake soaps. AOS has since switched to a new soap maker. a couple years back. The new soaps are decent but not nearly as good for me. I only mention this one because it's one of my favorite lavender soaps.

If you're opening the door to all kinds of Lavender & something else variations then things like the following would rank high.

Sudsy Soapery - Peppermint & Lavender - This is an outstanding soap that I rank as the second best soap I've tried and it's only $11. It's a lot more peppermint than lavender but performance wise it's super slick and very moisturizing. This soap is extremely impressive and an excellent value. I'd highly recommend this one but it's Peppermint and Lavender with the Peppermint being dominant for a nice cooling sensation. If you're looking for the best soap I've ever tried that doesn't cost $65 then this is it. This stuff performs very similar to my absolute all time favorite soap (PannaCrema Nuavia) at a much lower cost. The PannaCrema Nuavia soap scents are much more complex and they don't currently have a Lavender offering.

Martin de Candre - Original Scent, another great smelling soap but this one is about $65 shipped from France. It's not a true lavender scented soap as there are some other scents going on there. Performance wise it's excellent and a jar last a really long time. It does lack some of the slickness and moisturizing capabilities of some other soaps but it shines in it's lather. This is about the easiest soap to lather on the planet. Negatives are the high cost of the soap and the high shipping costs added in. Positives are that a jar can last you from six months to maybe nine months of everyday shaving so the price per shave makes it more reasonably priced in comparison to lesser initial cost offerings. This is usually a soap that a lot of people buy after they've tried several others first. The price point scares a lot of people away but there are several passaround boxes here that will allow you to try this one before you buy it. Most that try it do want to purchase it.

if its jsut straight lavendar i like dr harris
i also like arko senstive skin cream.
then for a mix i really like viking soap company lavendar and cedar.

snowman said:

Don't forget what may be the best lavender soap of all. Czech & Speake Oxford and Cambridge.

Click to expand...

My understanding is that Fine is the same scent but Fine's performance isn't nearly as good as C&S.

dabrock said:

My understanding is that Fine is the same scent but Fine's performance isn't nearly as good as C&S.

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Dunno, I don't have any experience with Fines soaps yet. I have seen reviews from a few members here who's opinions I hold in high regard and they have commented that Fines soaps are excellent. I plan on trying one of Fines scents in 2017 after my year-long sabbatical is over.

snowman said:

Dunno, I don't have any experience with Fines soaps yet. I have seen reviews from a few members here who's opinions I hold in high regard and they have commented that Fines soaps are excellent. I plan on trying one of Fines scents in 2017 after my year-long sabbatical is over.

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Fine soaps are very good but not quite as good as Tabac, which is a step below Valobra IMO but certainly a solid soap.

I've tried a LOT of lavender soaps. Now, I only own 3

Czech and Speake Oxford & Cambridge. Lavender with a twist of peppermint & oakmoss. Fabulous.
Castle Forbes Lavender.
Mike's Hungarian Lavender.

David,

Thanks so much for all those details. I have the Martin de Candre - Original Scent. I get more fern scent
from it than lavender. Nonetheless, an excellent soap.

Does the WSP lavender soap you mentioned smell more lavender than the MDC?

I've got Czech & Speake O&C and love it. But, if you ever are looking for a lavender cream, Atkinsons For Gentleman cream is wonderful. Just a straight lavender scent with a subtle menthol cooling to it.

I really depends on which kind of Lavender scent you like, English, French etc but my favorite is Mike's Hungarian Lavender.

captnelson said:

David,

Thanks so much for all those details. I have the Martin de Candre - Original Scent. I get more fern scent
from it than lavender. Nonetheless, an excellent soap.

Does the WSP lavender soap you mentioned smell more lavender than the MDC?

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I tried both Original and Fougere scents of MdC in the samples pass-around. The Fougere was very clearly fern, but the Original was less obvious to my nose. It was more subtle (I like strong scents) and harder for me to smell. Anyway, is it at all possible that you actually have the Fougere instead of Original MdC?

captnelson said:

David,

Thanks so much for all those details. I have the Martin de Candre - Original Scent. I get more fern scent
from it than lavender. Nonetheless, an excellent soap.

Does the WSP lavender soap you mentioned smell more lavender than the MDC?

Click to expand...

Absolutely, the WSP Formula T True Lavender soap is essentially just that. An authentic true Lavender scent. I smell lavender and lavender alone with this soap. To me is smells excellent. I pair it with some Soap Commander Inspiration (Japanese Grapefruit) after shave balm and it's perfect as the scents go well together.

With the Martin de Candre soap it has some lavender as well as some other scents in it so when I smell it I don't think of lavender. I really like the smell but to me it's not an authentic lavender scent.