Artisan soap tiers

Top tier:
Barrister and Mann
Stirling Soaps
Catie's Bubbles
L&L grooming

Second tier:
Mickey​ Lee soap works
Saponificio varesino Pannacrema nuavia
Eufros
Tallow + Steel


Honorable mentions go to Martin de candre, cold river soap works, Dr. Jon's vol. 2, k shave worx, and meißner tremonia

Here are my top want-to-trys:
Turtleship and groomingdept

P.S. it would be interesting to know what criteria people use to separate tiers. Personally, I like availability, great scents, matching Aftershaves, and ones that work well in hard water. My list would definitely shift based upon these criteria.

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Same. Availability is very important for me as well. I don't wish to get hooked on a product only to find out it's difficult to get or discontinued. I have a few soaps here that I like, but the rare ones are special treats so I can't put them into my tier such as Sir Irisch Moos and the like. They would have to be sustainable in order for me to fully enjoy them.

I so wish I can try that unobtanium Houbigant Fougere Royale Soap though.

To add, if MWF can be considered artisanal, it would be right up there with my top tier.

Top tier:
Barrister and Mann
Stirling Soaps
Catie's Bubbles
L&L grooming

Second tier:
Mickey​ Lee soap works
Saponificio varesino Pannacrema nuavia
Eufros
Tallow + Steel


Honorable mentions go to Martin de candre, cold river soap works, Dr. Jon's vol. 2, k shave worx, and meißner tremonia

Here are my top want-to-trys:
Turtleship and groomingdept

P.S. it would be interesting to know what criteria people use to separate tiers. Personally, I like availability, great scents, matching Aftershaves, and ones that work well in hard water. My list would definitely shift based upon these criteria.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

Same. Availability is very important for me as well. I don't wish to get hooked on a product only to find out it's difficult to get or discontinued. I have a few soaps here that I like, but the rare ones are special treats so I can't put them into my tier such as Sir Irisch Moos and the like. They would have to be sustainable in order for me to fully enjoy them.

I so wish I can try that unobtanium Houbigant Fougere Royale Soap though.

To add, if MWF can be considered artisanal, it would be right up there with my top tier.

You may be in luck. The "Fern" version of Barrister's Reserve is supposed to be released in September. I got to sniff it when Will came to Seattle last fall. It's heavenly. And it's a copy of Houbigant Fougere. If it's as close to the original as Cool is to Blue, or Spice is to vintage Old Spice, you may enjoy it.

Top tier:
Barrister and Mann
Stirling Soaps
Catie's Bubbles
L&L grooming

Second tier:
Mickey​ Lee soap works
Saponificio varesino Pannacrema nuavia
Eufros
Tallow + Steel


Honorable mentions go to Martin de candre, cold river soap works, Dr. Jon's vol. 2, k shave worx, and meißner tremonia

Here are my top want-to-trys:
Turtleship and groomingdept

P.S. it would be interesting to know what criteria people use to separate tiers. Personally, I like availability, great scents, matching Aftershaves, and ones that work well in hard water. My list would definitely shift based upon these criteria.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

Same. Availability is very important for me as well. I don't wish to get hooked on a product only to find out it's difficult to get or discontinued. I have a few soaps here that I like, but the rare ones are special treats so I can't put them into my tier such as Sir Irisch Moos and the like. They would have to be sustainable in order for me to fully enjoy them.

I so wish I can try that unobtanium Houbigant Fougere Royale Soap though.

To add, if MWF can be considered artisanal, it would be right up there with my top tier.

You may be in luck. The "Fern" version of Barrister's Reserve is supposed to be released in September. I got to sniff it when Will came to Seattle last fall. It's heavenly. And it's a copy of Houbigant Fougere. If it's as close to the original as Cool is to Blue, or Spice is to vintage Old Spice, you may enjoy it.

This. Made. My. Week.


Awesome, I'll definetly grab that. Thank you for letting me know!

Talk about YMMV!

Every soap in my rotation is tier 1.


Current Rotation:
B&M White Label, Glissant, Latha, Reserve
Stirling
PAA/Crown King
Portus Cale
Saponificio Varesino
Crowne & Crane
Haslinger
Nuavia

I forgot to include Tabac, MLS, and AoS (soap not cream). Not sure how I forgot those, especially Tabac. But....aren't we talking artisan? In that case, I added a few that don't count.

The worst part of seeing these lists is just how many I have not even tried yet. Although in reality most mentioned are really great soaps and the differences are minimal it really comes down to scents, availability, and cost. I know one that gets a lot of buzz and I'm sure it's excellent but it exceeds what I am willing to pay for 4ozs of soap (although that limit has gone up before   ) and I really don't see a scent that I think I would like so it misses on two of those three.

Top Tier: Non-Tallow: Nuàvia, Saponifico Varesino (all formulations), Grooming Dept, Tallow: Barrister's Reserve, Barrister and Mann Glissant, L&L Grooming. If Santa Maria Novella and/or XPEC are considered 'artisan' they are in my top tier as well, at the very top along with Nuàvia

Second Tier: CRSW, Eufros, TTFFC, T&S, Wholly Kaw, Mystic Water, Panna Crema, Catie's Bubbles, Barrister and Mann Latha

Third Tier: Stirling, Sapone di Paolo, Soap Commander, Mike's Natural

Bear in mind that the 'Third Tier' I consider EXCELLENT soaps. Second tier are superb, just a bit better in performance than the third tier. Top tier are soaps I'd be happy shaving with every day of my life.

Tier 1 - Cold River Soap Works Select, Wholly Kaw

Tier 2 - L&L Grooming, Jabonman, Sudsy Soapery

Tier 3 - Stirling, Mikes, Mystic Water

Honorable Mention - Barrister & Mann Glissant, Caties Bubbles, Shannons Soaps

Not knocking soap tiers, but I wouldn't do one until I knew a bunch of soaps inside and out. With our soap rotations we never really get to know a soap. Use a soap for a month and then rate it.

Clayton

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I don't find it takes a month at all to evaluate a soap.

Artisan soaps came on the scene in 2011/12. Six years (and dozens of soaps later) gives plenty of experience to assess soaps and figure out pretty quickly what separates a good base from a great one.

But decisions do change. I would place Tallow & Steel right up top now where some guys really much prefer (and get passionate about) the original T&S base being superior. Everyone's mileage is their own.

If it takes a month to maximize the performance of a soap for me, it will never make a top tier soap. I know how to make lather very well. If a new soap is so tremendously different from all the other iterations of shave soap I have used that I need to dedicate a month to understand its nuances and create exceptional lather...I don't want it.

I would rather stick with the 20 or so soaps that perform extremely well with basic skills from the first try to the bottom of the tub without being picky and subject to total failure from a variation in water content.

That's part of what makes a soap stand out, in my opinion. You can make the greatest soap in the world but if I have to stand naked under a fall moon using a scuttle made from an ancient skull while whipping lather using a brush made from vellous hair off the nape of the neck of a high mountain virgin...I don't want to be bothered....


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