Being an I.T. consultant in Manhattan you get to see some amazing places like the Trump Tower, Russian Tea Room and Rockefeller Center to name a few. I also came across one place I always wanted to go into and that’s L'Occitane. A high-end company from Paris that carries Men’s shaving products I’ve always wanted to try them. I’m currently on a budget so I had to be very selective and I finally picked the modest $12.00 shaving puck called Savon A Barbe Shaving Soap in the Cade scent.

The puck came in a simple box but the cashier gave me this little bag to carry it in. I didn’t want to walk around the city with this so I stuffed it in my tool bag until I got home. When you open the box the puck was wrapped in cellophane but I did see that you can purchase a beautiful aluminum shaving bowl and the puck together for $40.00. If I had the chance to do it again (and budget) I would opt to purchase both.

The scent is a peppery cedar and with so much pepper added I think it could even make you sneeze. The website describes the scent as a spicy, woody fragrance that evokes the dry wood, red soil and hot stones found in the sunny Garrigue landscape of southern France. Top notes of bergamot lead to a generous heart of cedar wood and pink pepper. A base of cade wood and citrus linger. Enriched with essential oils of cade wood and pink pepper.
It’s still a great scent but once you start to lather you’ll will notice that it fades quickly. This was the most disappointing aspect of the soap other than that I had no other issues with it.

I loaded my brush after blooming the puck for several minutes and then began to apply. The face lather happened very quickly and turned into a rich creamy lather. At this point I noticed the scent starting to fade. The slickness and glide are very high on the scale and the post shave feel was very pleasant too. Normally you can detect some scent after your shave but with this soap it left me empty. I guess why leave you with a scent if they are willing to buy something else like the Cade Eau De Toilette.

So, I liked L'Occitane shaving soap and will use it again in my rotation. If your looking to purchase the soap do yourself a favor and get the bowl & soap set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkOWG9JSPnI

The face lather happened very quickly and turned into a rich creamy lather.

Post shave feel was very pleasant

The slickness and glide are very high on the scale

The scent is a peppery cedar and with so much pepper added I think it could even make you sneeze.
It’s still a great scent but once you start to lather you’ll will notice that it fades quickly. This was the most disappointing aspect of the soap other than that I had no other issues with it.

I'm not sure why this section is needed, I think it's redundant. Read the General thoughts.

You can't go wrong for a DE or Straight. This puck should last a long time.

Excellent - Remove one start if you like to have the scent linger

The puck came in a simple box but the cashier gave me this little bag to carry it in. I didn’t want to walk around the city with this so I stuffed it in my tool bag until I got home. When you open the box the puck was wrapped in cellophane but I did see that you can purchase a beautiful aluminum shaving bowl and the puck together for $40.00. If I had the chance to do it again (and budget) I would opt to purchase both.

I posted two prices, 12 for the soap puck and 28 for the dish (w/o soap). You can decide what you will do. This soap could lather like new Williams Mug Soap and I'd still use it for the scent alone.. Think sophisticated juniper. I feel more manly just unscrewing the cap of the tub I have it in. The rest of the review will let you know what my opinion of this soap is but in short, I would put this soap on my top tier of all time. Yes, I have back ups! (And yes I own a bunch of what others would consider paragon soaps).

Lathers pretty stinkin' easy. Starts pretty foamy but stay with it and keep adding water and you'll wind up with some awesome cream. Water is also critical to post shave as too dry a lather tends to be drying with this one. Lather is slick, stable, and cushioning. It can handle significant water. I generally prefer tallow but this veg soap works well for me.

Feels pretty great on my skin. I prefer others but this is no slouch. No itch or reaction of any kind.

Again, the water ratio is key here. Too dry and your razor will be chattering like an Idaho Cowboys teeth in January but add enough and it's plenty slick for any blade you'll put to your face.

This stufff rocks! Of all the soaps I own, this one ihas a scent that plays well with my sniffer. This scent has a lot going on and my nose ain't good enough to report all the notes BUT I get a soft citrus top and a whole wagon load of juniper! This soap puts me smack dab in the saddle, riding through the Jim Sage mountains checking cattle. Smells just like those early morning rides through the juniper trees. If they added the essence of horse and leather I'd pay double. Scent strength is a responsible 5 of 10 and just like DR Harris, although the scent is rather subdued, if I forgo any aftershave I still get an occasional whiff in the afternoon. Yep, I like the scent of this one.

This is the tale of two soaps. Too dry a lather and your face is going to feel like old parchment. Wet it down and it isn't half bad. I like a dab of Shea butter after this one.

For me the scent is the key to value here. 3.5 oz for $12 is not ludicrous as it is a hard and easy to load soap. As stated I'd still see value at twice the price just for the scent but scent is subjective and not everyone rides herd on cattle in the juniper hills of Idaho.

Well crafted soap. Did I mention the scent?

Cello wrapped in a box. It works. You can get the presentation dish for another $28 which would put it in the premium category but 28 bucks for a soap dish isn't my style.