Factors for Purchasing Soaps

At first it's the hype, and then I come back for more if it lives up to that hype. Not many can do that in my experiece hence I have several one time buys in my den but a few repeat purchases.

The most important things for a soap are the shaving qualities (thick lather/cushion, glide and contributing to face feel) and scent (must smell good, obviously). Everything else is secondary.

However, factors that would make me buy a soap in the first place, assuming it's an unknown, are more plentiful and perhaps shallow...

1) Reputation of the artisan's products (have they been good in the past for others?)
2) Presentation (I like products that don't look like they've been made in the garage, even if they have)
3) Is it a combo? (I prefer to buy a soap/aftershave combo over solo products - bonus for a deodorant)
4) Value (Does the price align with the ingredient list and quantity?)

Hype is useless.

As a newbie, it's mainly about what I hear the more experienced folks talk about.

Also, as an old school guy, I'll always try brands that have been around a long time like Cello, Mitchell's Wool Fat and Taylor of Old Bond St.

Here are the factors, and the weights I give to them, in analysis. I should not that weighting is important as some things are just not as important as others. Weighting is on a scale from 5 to 1.

Cushion - 5

The ability of the soap to cushion the skin without being cut yet provide the closest shave. This is the most important attribute because if cushion is poor, you will rip your face up.

Slickness or Glide - 4 or 3

The ability of the soap to permit the blade to glide over the skin without catching, pulling or tugging. Obviously, if there is little glide, you might have some issues.

Residual Slickness - 4

The ability of soap to keep the skin slick despite the lather being shaved off. This is purely an issue of "laziness". If one must relather time after time again, then that soap will end up in the trash.

Scent - 4

An obvious choice. I I don't like how it smells, it ends up in the trash. But scent is NOT the most important attribute as scentless can be acceptable.

After Shave Feel - 4

How does your face feel 24 hours later. Soap is inherently drying. However, this is NOT the most important attribute as enhanced face feel is mitigated with a good AS balm.

Ease of Lathering - 3

How easy it to lather the soap? This is another issue of being lazy. I got things to do, places to go, people to meet. Wasted time lathering a difficult soap means its gets a quick trip to the trash can.

Hydration - 3

This is the ability of the lather to keep the skin moist, which is important because the nature of soap means its inherently drying. This is particularly important in the dry winter months.

Scent Strength - 3

It's one thing to like a scent. Its another thing to have enough of the scent to be noticeable.

Scent Dissipation - 1

This is how quickly the scent dissipates as lather is removed from the face.

These are the technical attribute of analysis. Cost is not part of this and requires a cost/benefit breakdown based upon the true cost per shave - NOT the unit cost of the soap container. And that requires actually using enough product to come up with real numbers.

Anything else associate with a soap or cream is of no value to me. Packages end up in the trash can. I am concerned with the product I consume. Its like I have found some of the best food served in dives and NOT fancy restaurants.

I adopt the view that if I had the confidence prior to purchase (or believed the proposed analysis by many) to what i would enjoy, it is as a result of having enough experience with that particular soap (long enough) to actually make a statement about it.
All of what i choose, i have never used before so I do read the opinions of others and relate it to my past experience with that brand or the scents involved to give me some comfort. As one could imagine, this keeps it interesting with many complex scent profiles and constant new offerings. I feel i have more than enough top performing soaps/brands locked down so the scent profiles become a little more important to me.

In short, i started by branching out a little within the brands i already trusted, if I made a leap to a new one it was because of some intense awareness suddenly being created because of some new ingredients; new brand on the scene; or i discovered some affiliation to something i enjoyed at that time. This is definitely hype, but i see that as exciting and one of the reasons for joining these forums.
Sometimes I just i like the bowl it comes in (sucker for unique bowls) or just the feeling of buying from a new 'hard to find' supply. Sometimes I just happen to click add to cart on that particular day!.

One or two selections may let me down, only to the extent that they are not in my favourite few, but never worthy of being discarded.