French Soaps

[rum]

M de C is by far the best soap I have - amongst about twenty makes including all the main names from Europe. From memory it's the only French one I have and eventually I'll use it every day regardless of price i.e. as other soaps re used they will not be replenished. If it ever gets to a stage where I begin the question it's value, I'll just forego a couple of beers one week and soon be back on track.

I'm with Rob on this. Sticking to MdC which is what I should have done years ago. It gives me the best shave I have ever experienced, so why look for an alternative? Only one I will have extra stock of is the Palmolive Shave Stick for when I'm travelling.

 

[Al H]

M de C is by far the best soap I have - amongst about twenty makes including all the main names from Europe. From memory it's the only French one I have and eventually I'll use it every day regardless of price i.e. as other soaps re used they will not be replenished. If it ever gets to a stage where I begin the question it's value, I'll just forego a couple of beers one week and soon be back on track.

I'm with Rob on this. Sticking to MdC which is what I should have done years ago. It gives me the best shave I have ever experienced, so why look for an alternative? Only one I will have extra stock of is the Palmolive Shave Stick for when I'm travelling.

have you ever finished a jar?

 

[rum]

M de C is by far the best soap I have - amongst about twenty makes including all the main names from Europe. From memory it's the only French one I have and eventually I'll use it every day regardless of price i.e. as other soaps re used they will not be replenished. If it ever gets to a stage where I begin the question it's value, I'll just forego a couple of beers one week and soon be back on track.

I'm with Rob on this. Sticking to MdC which is what I should have done years ago. It gives me the best shave I have ever experienced, so why look for an alternative? Only one I will have extra stock of is the Palmolive Shave Stick for when I'm travelling.

have you ever finished a jar?

Nope, but I have put a serious dent in one of the older size jars in the original scents. This was purely through usage and not by cutting pieces out to give as freebies or samples.

 

[Al H]

M de C is by far the best soap I have - amongst about twenty makes including all the main names from Europe. From memory it's the only French one I have and eventually I'll use it every day regardless of price i.e. as other soaps re used they will not be replenished. If it ever gets to a stage where I begin the question it's value, I'll just forego a couple of beers one week and soon be back on track.

I'm with Rob on this. Sticking to MdC which is what I should have done years ago. It gives me the best shave I have ever experienced, so why look for an alternative? Only one I will have extra stock of is the Palmolive Shave Stick for when I'm travelling.

have you ever finished a jar?

Nope, but I have put a serious dent in one of the older size jars in the original scents. This was purely through usage and not by cutting pieces out to give as freebies or samples.

then although expensive becomes good value for money

 

[jb74]

Tried Institut Karit this evening, had a puck sitting unopened since Christmas. Few thoughts -

* Very hard soap in an unfriendly puck size. Had to grate it, took a while
* Smells like Johnson's Baby Powder, strong, a tad overwhelming
* Lathers easily and generously
* Lather was ok, not as much glide as I'd have liked

An decent performer, but I'd go with Le Pere Lucien over it.

 

[rum]

then although expensive becomes good value for money

Quite true, although some will probably argue exactly by how much it's value for money...

Personally I wouldn't have it anything else regardless. They are a good brand and IMHO the quality of the product surpasses expectations so I'll stick with it.

 

[chrisbell]

The one I really liked much is Monsavon shaving soap as its really a cheap shaving soap with a very good performance and and lavendel scent.

The only con to this shaving soap would be that you can finish one in two months, but i didnt see it as a con.

I agree with you that Monsavon is a good performer, it's just the scent that puts me off, just a bit too much of a toilet cleaner smell for my nose.

I've just dumped mine for that reason, but I'm re-using the tub for an MWF refill. I had given-up on MWF, but Dubster (nee Voltstick) recently posted a couple of videos showing his technique for lathering it. Bear in mind that he lives about 15 miles up the road from me with equally hard water and we both have Muhle synthetic brushes, I decided to try his technique. I haven't shaved with it yet (will probably do so tomorrow) but I did perform a trial lather which was promising.

As regards French soaps - as far as I'm aware, the reformulation of Provence Santé was reversed. Certainly, the version currently on their site seems identical to the stuff I bought way back when. If indeed it is the old formulation, then I highly recommend it. Really, the only difficulty is, as the OP mentioned, that it's difficult to get hold of without paying through the nose for postage. I got mine through group buys here; maybe someone might organise another?

 

[oscar11]

Le Pere Lucien is a good French soap. People have been comparing it to MdC but I'll leave that to the experts. It's softer and does not lather as easily but smells better and has better post shave feel (IMO). I don't mean to imply it's difficult to lather it just doesn't lather as readily.

 

[axelk]

+1 to Pere Lucien. Wonderful soap

 

[FrankieG]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned L'Occitane Cade yet. To be fair it's no match for MdC, but it's generally available in the UK and produces very acceptable, slick lather with a wonderful woody scent.

 

[Northam Saint]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned L'Occitane Cade yet. To be fair it's no match for MdC, but it's generally available in the UK and produces very acceptable, slick lather with a wonderful woody scent.

Just as long as it's the soap and not that awful cream in the tube, very disappointing.

 

[rum]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned L'Occitane Cade yet. To be fair it's no match for MdC, but it's generally available in the UK and produces very acceptable, slick lather with a wonderful woody scent.

Just as long as it's the soap and not that awful cream in the tube, very disappointing.

+1. I find that cream something they use to fill small holes in walls. Got a small travel tube a few years ago and it couldn't be lathered no matter what! Also felt like a cheese grater on my face. The soap though was just 'ok'.

 

[UKRob]

then although expensive becomes good value for money

Before postage it's about £34 for 200 gm so definitely on the expensive side. Looking at the only other expensive soap that I've tried, Creed refill is about £25 for 150 gm therefore £33 for the equivalent weight. Unfortunately the Creed just did not perform with my water so, in terms of performance, there's no comparison.

I would estimate a jar of MdeC will probably be good for 200 shaves so a daily cost of say 20 pence with postage - I can think of worse ways to spend money.

 

[rum]

Looking at the only other expensive soap that I've tried, Creed refill is about £25 for 150 gm therefore £33 for the equivalent weight. Unfortunately the Creed just did not perform with my water so, in terms of performance, there's no comparison.

Just had a look at this and got a bit of a twitch. Are Creed doing a refill now for their shaving soaps? Last I saw they had the soap in a bowl and otherwise that was it. I have not seen a refill for the shaving soap as such, but have definitely seen a bath soap in a lot more scents than the shaving soap.

Does anyone know for sure if this has recently changed?

 

[Al H]

then although expensive becomes good value for money

Before postage it's about £34 for 200 gm so definitely on the expensive side. Looking at the only other expensive soap that I've tried, Creed refill is about £25 for 150 gm therefore £33 for the equivalent weight. Unfortunately the Creed just did not perform with my water so, in terms of performance, there's no comparison.

I would estimate a jar of MdeC will probably be good for 200 shaves so a daily cost of say 20 pence with postage - I can think of worse ways to spend money.

Before i got a DE i had beenusing a brush and bowl for years, one soap at a time though

pucks of mwf or prorarso green were lasting me 4 months ish at least 5 shaves a week.

i suspect you will get more than 200 shaves out of a 200gm jar. i rarerly use the same soap or cream twice in a week so mine should last years

so somthing i can use twice a week over at years for £35 is good value

 

[UKRob]

Looking at the only other expensive soap that I've tried, Creed refill is about £25 for 150 gm therefore £33 for the equivalent weight. Unfortunately the Creed just did not perform with my water so, in terms of performance, there's no comparison.

Just had a look at this and got a bit of a twitch. Are Creed doing a refill now for their shaving soaps? Last I saw they had the soap in a bowl and otherwise that was it. I have not seen a refill for the shaving soap as such, but have definitely seen a bath soap in a lot more scents than the shaving soap.

Does anyone know for sure if this has recently changed?

My mistake - I was looking at ordinary soap - shaving soap is still only available in the bowl at US$ 85.