It is also about aesthetics as well. A high end soap which comes in a wooden bowl like D.R. Harris or Geo F Trumpers is going to look a lot nicer sitting on the bench compared to a stick of Arko.
Do we need high end soaps?
- Thread starter toeknee
- Start date
You could work the Arko in a wooden bowl and you couldn't see a difference.
Or you could buy a expensiv refill and break it in pices an use it as a shaving stick..
Once you have the bowl the $/shave is not touced by the bowl anymore.
To be honestly I do even not need a ceap shaving soap.
If I must shave myself very quick some hot water (and some aftershave afterwards) the job..
But then it is not such a plesure to have a shave.
Of course I could save some money with using no shaving soap at all and spend the money for something else but it would be very difficult to find something that gives me the same amount of plesure (than using a shaving soap would) for the saved money.
For me he question if you should use expensiv($/shave) shaving soaps is analog to the above.
Or you could buy a expensiv refill and break it in pices an use it as a shaving stick..
Once you have the bowl the $/shave is not touced by the bowl anymore.
To be honestly I do even not need a ceap shaving soap.
If I must shave myself very quick some hot water (and some aftershave afterwards) the job..
But then it is not such a plesure to have a shave.
Of course I could save some money with using no shaving soap at all and spend the money for something else but it would be very difficult to find something that gives me the same amount of plesure (than using a shaving soap would) for the saved money.
For me he question if you should use expensiv($/shave) shaving soaps is analog to the above.
If B&B was just about need it would be a very dull place.
While that's definitely true, I'm not sure it means that the high end soaps should cease to exist. Pretty much every field of interest has budget options as well as high end, etc.
The three best shaving soaps/creams I have used? The last, the current, the next.
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny among other voices was allergic to carrots.
I can justify AoS/Czech & Speake/Valobra on superior quality. Not many others, really.
Depends on how much money you like to keep in the bank.
MWF is an excellent soap and its very inexpensive.
AOS, C&S and high end soaps, but much of that money is in the 'brand'
MWF is an excellent soap and its very inexpensive.
AOS, C&S and high end soaps, but much of that money is in the 'brand'
Nobody needs around 99% of the stuff we use daily, expensive soaps are just another on the list...i personally couldn't stomach paying what some do on the high end soaps, then again im like that in regards to most expensive items, it's up to the individual in the end. I would rather just make my own, soap made at home with quality ingredients and good technique could easily rival the mass produced high end ones for a fraction of the price imo.
Yes, yes and yes, the more the better!
On a pure economical stand, the willingness to buy a product is based on marginal return and marginal cost (this being cost per shave). We tend to buy products up to a point where we feel that the marginal return (as opposed to a lower quality/price product) exceeds or equals the marginal cost of the product. So this is how we can justify buying a higher end product, but remember in order to find these products we sometimes buy inferior (MR < MC) products just to try them.
Sometimes I just need to barf up economics to justify my education
Sometimes I just need to barf up economics to justify my education
The bottom line is you could shave with bath soap if you had to. You could use Williams, or VDH.
But the added enjoyment from the scent, the lubrication, the moisturizers are what make the high end soaps, "high end".
That said, I get just as much enjoyment from WARS as I do from AOS Sandalwood. The AOS is about 4 times as much as I paid for the WARS, but I love the Sandalwood scent from the cream.
But the added enjoyment from the scent, the lubrication, the moisturizers are what make the high end soaps, "high end".
That said, I get just as much enjoyment from WARS as I do from AOS Sandalwood. The AOS is about 4 times as much as I paid for the WARS, but I love the Sandalwood scent from the cream.
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It seems to me that the great variety of shaving products adds to the pleasure of the hobby-turning an otherwise daily burdensome task into an enjoyable pursuit-something to look foward to and think about at other times. The actual products that please you are a personal decision-a blend of cost, function, aesthetics and availability. That said, the eternal quest for the perfect product is great fun. Ask a shooter, a pipe smoker, a watch collector-its all the same idea except this hobby is cheaper and safer (the risk of pipe smoking, NOT refering to the shooter)!!
Snobbery is fun. Sadly, there is no fixed rule for what's the real worth of a high end product. I've used soaps that smelled great but did not like my face, and vice versa.
My standard soap is now Tabac. Compared to canned goo, it's high-end, but even though the smell is not necessarily fancy, it's nice and works great.
I prefer to use high-end colognes: although I have found excellent smells I use regularly between the 20 and 50$ (Tabac, Trumper's Wild Fern, Pino Silvestre, Roger & Gallet Extra-Vieille) great stuff is more expensive (Penhaligon's, Guerlain, Dior).
My standard soap is now Tabac. Compared to canned goo, it's high-end, but even though the smell is not necessarily fancy, it's nice and works great.
I prefer to use high-end colognes: although I have found excellent smells I use regularly between the 20 and 50$ (Tabac, Trumper's Wild Fern, Pino Silvestre, Roger & Gallet Extra-Vieille) great stuff is more expensive (Penhaligon's, Guerlain, Dior).
We do not but we want. Its all humans fault no offense.
In short Yes we do...
I don't know if we "need" high-end soaps, but the variety they provide is one of the things about wetshaving that appeals to me. I also get a kick out of achieving excellent results (in anything, not just wetshaving) by spending as little as possible. I don't know if I would enjoy a $20 + shave soap-but I'd want to try it nontheless. Maybe just to see if I could coax equal or better performance out of the cheaper stuff. I'm afraid I'm a frugal SOB and always factor in price (both initial and beyond) into the mix whenever I try something.
Beerman
Beerman
Yes, everyone needs to experience every high end soap there is. Well, I am going to try every one that I can find.
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