Like many of you I rotate through several soaps, rarely using the same one for more than 2 or 3 consecutive days. There is no plan to this; I simply pick a soap based upon which one appeals to me that morning. Pretty much every day (and I do shave every day) I wind up saying to myself, "This is really a great soap. Why haven't I been using it more?" But I also keep thinking that one of them must be the "best". So I conducted a simple, not particularly scientific test. Each day, using the same set-up, I tried a different soap. The brush is a Stirling "Kong", since I have found it consistently produces great lather (and tons of it) from any soap, hard or soft. The razor is an EJ89 with a Gillette Platinum blade. Here are the soaps:
First of all, my initial sense that these are all great soaps has been confirmed. Leaving scent aside, as that is a purely subjective criterion, you would be hard pressed to find anything to complain about with any of these soaps. In all cases I was able to quickly whip up plenty of lather to perform a two pass face lathered shave. In all cases, the razor glided over my face effortlessly and left me with an irritation free and well moisturized face. I didn't try to tease out individual factors, but just wanted to compare the overall experience. Did one of these soaps perform better overall than the others?
My answer is yes, by the tiniest margin the Tabac stick edged out the others. I'm not sure if the puck would have similarly won top honors, but based upon what others have said, I suppose it would. Almost imperceptibly behind Tabac was Pre de Provence, and unless you love the smell of Tabac (and I don't), it would be my overall first pick. In fact, if you told me I could only use 1 soap forever, it would be Pre de Provence . It has a pleasant but not overbearing smell that I could live with day in and day out. While I enjoy the variety of fragrances, I don't think I would want one of the stronger and more pronounced ones like the Stirling or Razorock as an everyday experience. But of course, no one is going to force me to use one soap forever, and I have already ordered another soap, CRSW Jardin d'Orange, to replace the just about finished Stirling. Variety is the spice of life.
- LEA Classic
- AOS old stock Sandalwood
- Stirling Begamot Lavender
- D. R. Harris Windsor
- Razorock Tallow Son of Zeus
- Tabac Shave Stick
- La Toja (grated into a puck)
- Mitchell's Wool Fat (formed into a shave stick)
- Pre de Provence
First of all, my initial sense that these are all great soaps has been confirmed. Leaving scent aside, as that is a purely subjective criterion, you would be hard pressed to find anything to complain about with any of these soaps. In all cases I was able to quickly whip up plenty of lather to perform a two pass face lathered shave. In all cases, the razor glided over my face effortlessly and left me with an irritation free and well moisturized face. I didn't try to tease out individual factors, but just wanted to compare the overall experience. Did one of these soaps perform better overall than the others?
My answer is yes, by the tiniest margin the Tabac stick edged out the others. I'm not sure if the puck would have similarly won top honors, but based upon what others have said, I suppose it would. Almost imperceptibly behind Tabac was Pre de Provence, and unless you love the smell of Tabac (and I don't), it would be my overall first pick. In fact, if you told me I could only use 1 soap forever, it would be Pre de Provence . It has a pleasant but not overbearing smell that I could live with day in and day out. While I enjoy the variety of fragrances, I don't think I would want one of the stronger and more pronounced ones like the Stirling or Razorock as an everyday experience. But of course, no one is going to force me to use one soap forever, and I have already ordered another soap, CRSW Jardin d'Orange, to replace the just about finished Stirling. Variety is the spice of life.
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I have to face-lather it with a Wee Scot to conserve it.
