A Few Words About The Newest Grooming Department Soaps....

It’s funny how we’re all different. I use what I consider top shelf moisturizing, alcohol-based aftershaves (mostly Chatillon Lux and Maol Grooming), and don’t see any benefit of post-shave effects from a shaving soap. I consider ease-of-lathering an important trait, and scent matters to me. My two favorites are Declaration Grooming (in the legacy buffalo base) and MdC. Grooming Department, Tallow & Steel, Lisa’s Natural, Nuavia, Tabac, etc. are also favorites, but don’t match up to my two top choices. Both Declaration and MdC seem to create wonderful lather just by looking at them, and I haven’t met a scent from either that I don’t like. (I’ve only got Fougere, Rose and Vetyver in MdC, but I believe I’ve got all the legacy Declaration soaps—and some backups—and find both the native and Chatillon scents magnificent.)

It’s funny how we’re all different. I use what I consider top shelf moisturizing, alcohol-based aftershaves (mostly Chatillon Lux and Maol Grooming), and don’t see any benefit of post-shave effects from a shaving soap. I consider ease-of-lathering an important trait, and scent matters to me. My two favorites are Declaration Grooming (in the legacy buffalo base) and MdC. Grooming Department, Tallow & Steel, Lisa’s Natural, Nuavia, Tabac, etc. are also favorites, but don’t match up to my two top choices. Both Declaration and MdC seem to create wonderful lather just by looking at them, and I haven’t met a scent from either that I don’t like. (I’ve only got Fougere, Rose and Vetyver in MdC, but I believe I’ve got all the legacy Declaration soaps—and some backups—and find both the native and Chatillon scents magnificent.)

Now you got me started thinking about a new base. I'm going to call it "Lucid" it shall be identical in ingredients to MdC

My apologies to Mohammad and the thread owner as well for sidetracking this thread a bit.  I'll likely take this conversation into a new thread some time in the next few days once I get a bit more organized and we'll see if there's any interest.

I definitely have interest, and it seems evident from posts before this one that others have something to say, too.  I thought it was appropriate in the circumstances for you to say the things that you did.  However, after starting to reply to the substance of your post, it did not seem right for me to.

There is a huge delta between GD formulae in my experience. All are good but I like to use Lusso for summer, Donkey Milk spring and fall and Mallard winter. Beef and lamb tallows are mixed in mainly spring thru fall but the hydrating properties for me align best seasonally like German beers

David, apologies for involving you in this.  People asked on what basis my judgements were formed and felt compelled to cite you. Your credentials are unimpeachable and more importantly you set criteria separating performance from personal preference.  Surely some will question your reflections and well proferred empirically based advice; for the grief they will direct your way, I apologize profusely.

No problem at all Dan, I'm full of worthless knowledge to share. It's kinda subjective as well depending on what you value in a soap. I'm happy to share my personal preferences along with why I choose them over some others but we're all different so some seem to prefer different performance characteristics. When it's all said and done it's just shaving soap though so it's about having fun finding the ones that work for you. I'm happy if I can turn the 15 minute mundane task into something enjoyable every morning.

...So having been through several soaps I'd be happy to share my favorites with you.  

1. Grooming Dept...

2. My second favorite soap is Tallow & Steel...

3. Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations (new Premium version)…

I thought (at least in the past) your No. 1 favorite was PannaCrema?  


Let us split hairs if we may for a moment and let us eliminate scent as well as any post shave "face feel" so as to get a level playing field. I say this as I think that far too many of us fall prey to our lust for sensual cravings, myself included. My top three or four would be the same regardless as although I treasure a beautiful fragrance, I ultimately judge for the quality of the shave, i.e., glide, cushion & to a far lesser extent ease of lathering. The latter mainly due to the fact that I only use synthetic brushes which accentuate this tremendously.

Would your list change?

Ok, so the PannaCrema Nuavia soaps for me at one point were the very best made, but that was a while back. In terms of scents they are top shelf indeed. So much so that they are the ones I tend to reach for on special days like my Birthday of my anniversary for example. To me, Nuavia Blue is the best shaving soap scent made thus far. The Grooming Dept Incense & Rose is another that I'm very, very fond of, probably my second favorite shaving soap scent of all time, just incredibly well done.


In removing post shave feel for me that's taking away quite a lot here. Do try Grooming Dept every day for two weeks followed by a decent aftershave balm then report back here and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. I suspect you'll be sold as to why it's the very best soap made at the moment. You'll definitely find yourself noticing the difference. The combination of a Grooming Dept soap and the water softener that I have in place takes it to a next level. To the point where I wonder if shaving soaps will be or even ever need to be any better than this.

If I were to go by slickness alone then I'd still rank my top three where they're at as I've had trouble hanging onto a heavily knurled handle when using Grooming Dept. Tallow & Steel and Lisa's same deal as well because you'd better have a nice knurled handle to hang onto. Another soap that excels in slickness would be Declaration Grooming. If you get the lather right with that one it's a very slick soap. There are definitely things that I like about the Declaration Grooming soaps.

Cushion I never really understood entirely as most of these top quality soaps produce a substantial lather. Not better or worse but different from soap to soap so not a lot of weight placed here for me. I just don't see the value in this attribute as I can modify a soaps cushion in how I produce the lather. Sudsy Soapery gives a nice thick luxurious lather so it would get high marks here. I don't care fort the extreme lack of cushion in some soaps like I'Colonalli for example, but it can be nice when shaving with a straight razor I suppose. Slickness and post shave for me are much more important.

In terms of ease of lather Martin de Candre is unmatched. I've shaved three passes with this soap using a 20mm brush after doing five circles with the brush on the soap. Not the best lather for that shave but to pull that off is impressive. I did it for no other reason then to see if I could. Crazy easy to lather this one.

So all said and done, while these soaps can possibly better one another in specific areas my top three will definitely remain the same. I do find myself reaching for an inferior soap from time to time just to enjoy the scent. So it's not always all about performance, just most of the time.

If you're looking for recommendations for a specific scent recommendation as well feel free to ask away.

My apologies to Mohammad and the thread owner as well for sidetracking this thread a bit.  I'll likely take this conversation into a new thread some time in the next few days once I get a bit more organized and we'll see if there's any interest.

David..I started this thread...but....gladly yield my time to you. Carry on!

Now you got me started thinking about a new base. I'm going to call it "Lucid" it shall be identical in ingredients to MdC

I may be in a minority...but.I found MdC to be a sub-par performer - for my skin anyway - in terms of protection and comfort. I’m sure you’ll make a superior product. How they justify that high price has always been a mystery to me.

Now you got me started thinking about a new base. I'm going to call it "Lucid" it shall be identical in ingredients to MdC

I may be in a minority...but.I found MdC to be a sub-par performer - for my skin anyway - in terms of protection and comfort. I’m sure you’ll make a superior product. How they justify that high price has always been a mystery to me.

Interestingly, many US artisan soap makers started and continue to sell their interpretation of the base. There is a super long thread on a soap making forum where the base is discussed extensively.

My version will be 170g(6oz) for $23.00 first scent is will be Citrus

Now you got me started thinking about a new base. I'm going to call it "Lucid" it shall be identical in ingredients to MdC

I may be in a minority...but.I found MdC to be a sub-par performer - for my skin anyway - in terms of protection and comfort. I’m sure you’ll make a superior product. How they justify that high price has always been a mystery to me.

I agree with you on this. With Martin de Candre it's an excellent lathering soap and a tub lasts just about forever. I do like their scents quite a bit as well but it seriously lacks in post shave. What I find when I use it is that I always seem to get a really nice close shave. Not the most comfortable or soothing shave but a really nice end result.

Price wise it seems steep but a lot of that is shipping cost. Even at this price when you consider a tub will likely last you about a year of shaves the cost per shave goes way down making it cheaper to buy one tub of Martin de Candre at $60 including shipping than many others.

It's kinda like shopping at Costco. I walk out of the place $300 lighter and wonder what the hell I bought but on a positive note I don't have to buy laundry soap for a year.

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https://damnfineshave.com/thread-soap-sa...y-interest

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See this for sample passaround information:

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-soap-sa...y-interest

Now you got me started thinking about a new base. I'm going to call it "Lucid" it shall be identical in ingredients to MdC

I may be in a minority...but.I found MdC to be a sub-par performer - for my skin anyway - in terms of protection and comfort. I’m sure you’ll make a superior product. How they justify that high price has always been a mystery to me.

Interestingly, many US artisan soap makers started and continue to sell their interpretation of the base. There is a super long thread on a soap making forum where the base is discussed extensively.

My version will be 170g(6oz) for $23.00 first scent is will be Citrus

I’m in! When do you see this happening?