In Praise of Martin de Candre – an Every Day Work Horse

Jeez man, talk about a vendetta against lanolin. I happen to enjoy soaps that have it. I'm not allergic though. In fact all of my favorites have the combo of tallow, lanolin and shea butter. It gives those of us with dryish skin the best post shave conditioning so yeah, a portion of the market does demand it.

Jeez man, talk about a vendetta against lanolin. I happen to enjoy soaps that have it. I'm not allergic though. In fact all of my favorites have the combo of tallow, lanolin and shea butter. It gives those of us with dryish skin the best post shave conditioning so yeah, a portion of the market does demand it.

Haha! Sorry!!

I'm just stating facts, I find them interesting. I am allergic to lanolin so it directly affects me and the choices I can make. It makes me really pay attention.

Luxury brands don't have lanolin and non-luxury artisan brands all do.

We have no problem paying more for non-lanolin luxury brands bc most people think they are the best, but then people don't buy artisan products if they don't have lanolin, so artisans are forced to put it in their soaps.

How can I pretend to accept that as if it makes any kind of sense?

... lanolin is clearly unnecessary. I haven't heard one complaint (post-shave or other) about AdP, Boellis, SMN, Nuavia, XPEC, etc.

... it stinks (for me) because I want to enjoy some new soaps (there are only a few luxury brands, with very few scents) but I just can't because (almost) every brand/formula that has come out for the past several years include it.

-----

I've thought about acquiring SMN many times. I love my Nuavias, MdCs, XPEC, etc., but really don't like the smell of eucalyptus. In the '80s, I kept eucalyptus branches in a vase in my office for years, and my nose is exhausted. The only aftershave I've used that I don't like, out of my hundred plus, is Proraso green. How strong is the eucalyptus/Vick's VapoRub vibe in SMN?

I've tried the standard B&M and no comparison. The only glissant I tried was Lavanille, couldn't stand the smell or the look. Still noticeably not as good.

Obviously, I have not listed B&M in my list of elite products. Yes, SMN is that good but within the group of elites, the differences are very minor and as onethinline notes the differences are subtle, although Nuavia is falling from my graces a tiny bit because of residual slickness.

In other words, the difference between ABC, Boellis, ADP, and SMN, IMO, is very slight but SMN comes out on top by the thinnest of margins (1%).

Notice none of these (bolded) have lanolin... Why then, when it comes to American artisans, do they all insist on including lanolin? ...And the market demands lanolin?
...when not 1 of the world's finest luxury brands has lanolin. MAKES NO SENSE.

And I'll add....
AdP and SMN used to have lanolin but removed it.

And now both of these formulas are miles better than their previous (lanolin) ones.

Miles better ? Hmmmmm.....

I own the older ADP Colonia shaving croap and the newer softer ADP cream, and to me there are not that much difference in performance. Both are top notch products.

Calling the new ADP 'miles better' is over stretching it by a mile

YMMV and all that jazz...

That's definitely understandable Nero, but surely there are some other soaps out there that do not contain lanolin. I know for a fact that not all of Mystic Water's have it. You would just be limited in your selection.

Notice none of these (bolded) have lanolin... Why then, when it comes to American artisans, do they all insist on including lanolin? ...And the market demands lanolin?
...when not 1 of the world's finest luxury brands has lanolin. MAKES NO SENSE.

And I'll add....
AdP and SMN used to have lanolin but removed it.

And now both of these formulas are miles better than their previous (lanolin) ones.

Miles better ? Hmmmmm.....

I own the older ADP Colonia shaving croap and the newer softer ADP cream, and to me there are not that much difference in performance. Both are top notch products.

Calling the new ADP 'miles better' is over stretching it by a mile

YMMV and all that jazz...

Yes Claus, miles and miles better.
There are no complaints about the current version of AdP performance.
If you go back to AdP threads PRE-reformulation, you will see many quotes from folks saying performance was just ok and the only thing people liked about it then was that it had the best scent in shavedom.

But, as well, now that I'm thinking about it, lanolin was only in the old tubes, not the old jar. (Doesn't change what I just said.)

I owned 8 old jars and 17 old tubes. Now, zero. I sold them, and at a loss, not markup, after discontinuation.

I don't really know about any of this stuff, but SMN v3 has Allantoin, while SMdF, which is Razorock's clone, has Lanolin. I find the slickness and post shave feel to be significantly better with SMN. Which once again raises a fundamental question about shaving products: is it the ingredients that makes an excellent product, or is the it formula in how they are mixed together?

The US artisan approach seems for the most part to centered on ingredients -- superfats, oils, botanicals, etc.

The European approach seems for the most part to rely on a shorter ingredient list. SMN, Valobra/C&S/AoS, Savon Des Bons Bergers, ABC, MDC, AdP -- all top notch products with simpler and shorter ingredient lists.

Just an observation.

And I'll add....
AdP and SMN used to have lanolin but removed it.

And now both of these formulas are miles better than their previous (lanolin) ones.

Miles better ? Hmmmmm.....

I own the older ADP Colonia shaving croap and the newer softer ADP cream, and to me there are not that much difference in performance. Both are top notch products.

Calling the new ADP 'miles better' is over stretching it by a mile

YMMV and all that jazz...

Yes Claus, miles and miles better.
There are no complaints about the current version of AdP performance.
If you go back to AdP threads PRE-reformulation, you will see many quotes from folks saying performance was just ok and the only thing people liked about it then was that it had the best scent in shavedom.

But, as well, now that I'm thinking about it, lanolin was only in the old tubes, not the old jar. (Doesn't change what I just said.)

I owned 8 old jars and 17 old tubes. Now, zero. I sold them, and at a loss, not markup, after discontinuation.

Just proves that we're all different.
I still love the performance of the old and if hard pressed would today choose the old ADP Colonia over the new version, because the scent is much better and both performs almost equally well.

I get mostly a mentholated musk scent from the new one, quite a boring scent to me.

Miles better ? Hmmmmm.....

I own the older ADP Colonia shaving croap and the newer softer ADP cream, and to me there are not that much difference in performance. Both are top notch products.

Calling the new ADP 'miles better' is over stretching it by a mile

YMMV and all that jazz...

Yes Claus, miles and miles better.
There are no complaints about the current version of AdP performance.
If you go back to AdP threads PRE-reformulation, you will see many quotes from folks saying performance was just ok and the only thing people liked about it then was that it had the best scent in shavedom.

But, as well, now that I'm thinking about it, lanolin was only in the old tubes, not the old jar. (Doesn't change what I just said.)

I owned 8 old jars and 17 old tubes. Now, zero. I sold them, and at a loss, not markup, after discontinuation.

Just proves that we're all different.
I still love the performance of the old and if hard pressed would today choose the old ADP Colonia over the new version, because the scent is much better and both performs almost equally well.

I get mostly a mentholated musk scent from the new one, quite a boring scent to me.

That is fine. We are all entitled to our opinions. What I took exception to is you tried to color me crazy (I am, and I do a decent job of making that clear without anyone's help).
In all seriousness, I would like someone to try to rationalize the lanolin debate, addressing the points I brought up above.

I still love you Claus, we are much the same. Forums would not be the same without you around.