The very best luxury soaps/creams, money no object

Sounds like we are of a similar perspective grim . I think it a "nice to have around soap"

From my experience SV doesn't deserve mention in this thread currently.

That about sums it up. I have read posts were people think it is deserving (the brand) or some place on top of a mountain elevated to the highest levels ...


Ahh ... IMO, no. It went into a box with other stuff and I also will get back to it later. There just is much better stuff out there (and much cheaper) to deal with at the moment. Sorry if that irritates anyone - its just an opinion.

Thanks for your contributions gents!

Yeah I own two SV soaps and I'm not certain I would buy them again. The Felce Aromatica just smells amazing though. However, I do not feel like it performs up to a $28 type soap dollar in my opinion. It is a hard puck though so who knows. I doubt I'll buy Manna again however. Its a more refined Tabac but I'm not certain it performs better than Tabac so who knows.

Used Cosmo this morning. Unless overwhelmingly positive, it's tough to make a call with one use but first impressions:


I  ...  give it a solid C+ to B-.

I used Cosmo this morning and will try to give my thoughts. I don't do soap reviews so bear with me. Its just my opinion. kwsher is right. When I tried SMN, it just touched my face and I knew it was very, very good. It's hard to come up to that standard.

TL;DR C+ is generous  

Scent of the tub is faint coffee to me, bloomed, a tiny bit less faint. Lathering was trivial. Lather "feel" was somewhat luxurious.  Scent was faint coffee and something else. Not like Mystic Cuppa Joe which you knew was fresh brewed coffee but a faint European Latte? Hard to describe. It was there but barely. I might call it "sophisticated" but if so its WAY over my head to figure out. Scent strength was low. Strength dissipation was above average. In other words, it did not dissipate much while in use, just faint while other soaps might start strong but dissipate quickly.

IMO, cushion was subpar. My face is still sore. No cuts. Slickness was average. Residual slickness was average. I'm lazy I don't want to keep reapplying lather constantly. Some soaps you can go back over the same area of skin multiple times. Not so much with this one. Can't really comment on post shave because I used a balm instead of a splash.  No cuts, weeping, etc, just some rawness. I knew when the alum touched my face.Sure, its one use and sure, dialing it in might get better but I've done this before and rarely do I upgrade a score. Downgrade is usually the result. First impressions matter. The tin is pretty and dents easily. Don't drop it if you like tins.

Just my opinion. IMO there is no way this is in the same class as others in this thread. As usual, you might feel quite differently. Sorry  Since this was my first SV, I WANTED to really love it. But I just can't see it in the same class of soaps as the others in this thread.

I understand that part very much and is my recent experience with MW. I wanted to love that soap so much but it was a complete dud for me. I had some fantastic test lathers but just couldn't get that to translate into anything but a subpar shave. SV, on the other hand, is in my top 5 for performance and I just love it.

It's truly rare that you find any product in our hobby that is universally liked or disliked and I guess that's part of the attraction -- finding out for yourself what really works for you.

I just tried Xpec Original scent last night for the first time and I now have a new best cream in my rotation. The scent was overpowering in the tub but once I started lathering it mellowed and became rather pleasant, and the performance was definitely top tier and post shave was also among the best I've ever felt and was one of the few times I didn't feel the need to put on AS despite how dry my house is right now.

Haslinger Schafmilch.  First use.

I've been disappointed many times by the recommendations of the Gurus of Shaving Soap.  The labeling of this or that soap as top tier, only to buy it and find out that it lacks slickness, requires an advanced degree in hydrodynamic engineering to create a decent lather or just flat out stinks worse than unwashed gym socks, yet costs more than the razor I'm shaving with. So I have to say, that I ordered Haslinger Schafmilch not expecting it to live up to the hype. It's really a quite expensive soap by the ounce, but since the pucks are very small, it can be had for a reasonable price per puck. So, I gave it a try.

As it turned out, this stuff works just great.  I gave my Stirling Kong (the one I use for testing all new soaps) a 15 second load with a damp brush.  Face lathered as I normally do and got a good, thick coating of soap applied.  I added drops of water a couple of times and BAM! -- nice, creamy, shiny lather and lots of it.  When I sat the brush down it had peaks of lather, like a shaving brush posing for a sexy close-up. The fragrance wasn't overwhelming, but was very noticeable and had a pleasant, light, cologne-like aroma. The lather was very slick, and left a very good residual slickness after the lather was shaved off.  I was even able to shave AGT on my neck which many soaps won't allow me to do.   After rinsing my face, my skin still felt slick and after drying my face, it did not feel at all dried out.

Scent preferences aside, if you like the way Tabac performs, for example, I think you'd like this soap. In my opinion, it really deserves the good reviews it gets.

Haslinger Schafmilch.  First use.

I've been disappointed many times by the recommendations of the Gurus of Shaving Soap.  The labeling of this or that soap as top tier, only to buy it and find out that it lacks slickness, requires an advanced degree in hydrodynamic engineering to create a decent lather or just flat out stinks worse than unwashed gym socks, yet costs more than the razor I'm shaving with. So I have to say, that I ordered Haslinger Schafmilch not expecting it to live up to the hype. It's really a quite expensive soap by the ounce, but since the pucks are very small, it can be had for a reasonable price per puck. So, I gave it a try.

As it turned out, this stuff works just great.  I gave my Stirling Kong (the one I use for testing all new soaps) a 15 second load with a damp brush.  Face lathered as I normally do and got a good, thick coating of soap applied.  I added drops of water a couple of times and BAM! -- nice, creamy, shiny lather and lots of it.  When I sat the brush down it had peaks of lather, like a shaving brush posing for a sexy close-up. The fragrance wasn't overwhelming, but was very noticeable and had a pleasant, light, cologne-like aroma. The lather was very slick, and left a very good residual slickness after the lather was shaved off.  I was even able to shave AGT on my neck which many soaps won't allow me to do.   After rinsing my face, my skin still felt slick and after drying my face, it did not feel at all dried out.

Scent preferences aside, if you like the way Tabac performs, for example, I think you'd like this soap. In my opinion, it really deserves the good reviews it gets.

I would put the performance up there at least equal to Tabac as well. My sandalwood, not the spa version, is almost unscented it's so light but the lather is easy to generate and doesn't disappoint.

I understand that part very much and is my recent experience with MW. I wanted to love that soap so much but it was a complete dud for me.  ... SV, on the other hand, is in my top 5 for performance and I just love it.

It's truly rare that you find any product in our hobby that is universally liked or disliked and I guess that's part of the attraction -- finding out for yourself what really works for you.

I wasn't sure why you brought up MW. Then again I didn't read all 38 pages of this thread. My bad.  I see now MW is on this list. Neo has reviewed: Tabula Rasa, Mystic, PannaCrema Nuavia, MdC, ABC, Boellis Panama, SMN, & B&M. He as also thrown out a comparable "10" for C&S and mentions, but no reviews, for XPEC, CF, and ADP.  Considering the cost of ADP per oz, at a minimum it should be listed.

The issue with this list, of course, and the 800 lb gorilla is cost and availability. Some of these products are $11 - $20/oz, far above the $2.50 - $3.50 range people commonly talk about. I'm not sure how many people actually own, or even have sampled, the 8 reviewed products, and I'll thrown in the mention of C&S for 9 products. I know I haven't. For example, Boellis Panama is ridiculously priced at $115 for a ceramic pot but $48 for just the soap (which is constantly out of stock).  Forgetting the ridiculous cost of a C&S tin, just talking refill, the cost here is ~ just shy of $500. Add in some ADP, XPEC, and CF and you are pushing $700.

So,  is it truly rare that products are universally liked or disliked?  I've read a LOT of reviews, many, many. And have yet to read a bad review of SMN, Nuavia, MdC, or C&S. Not a one - aside than cost. But cost is not an issue here. Mystic takes a lot of hits for latherability.  OK, she's trying to fix that. On the other side, I haven't really read a "good" review of GFT Eucris soap. Many can't get it to lather at all. So I'm not convinced this is true. Just saying ... There is a difference between "some" people can't get a product to lather and "essentially no one" can get a product to lather.

And I do tend to believe that there is some universal consensus (money aside) of the elite products and the low end of products. By universal consensus, maybe 95% of people will agree. Where there is little agreement is the middle ground. I think that is all over the place. Trying to get a consensus on the $4/oz products might be about impossible.

I understand that part very much and is my recent experience with MW. I wanted to love that soap so much but it was a complete dud for me.  ... SV, on the other hand, is in my top 5 for performance and I just love it.

It's truly rare that you find any product in our hobby that is universally liked or disliked and I guess that's part of the attraction -- finding out for yourself what really works for you.

I wasn't sure why you brought up MW. Then again I didn't read all 38 pages of this thread. My bad.  I see now MW is on this list. Neo has reviewed: Tabula Rasa, Mystic, PannaCrema Nuavia, MdC, ABC, Boellis Panama, SMN, & B&M. He as also thrown out a comparable "10" for C&S and mentions, but no reviews, for XPEC, CF, and ADP.  Considering the cost of ADP per oz, at a minimum it should be listed.

The issue with this list, of course, and the 800 lb gorilla is cost and availability. Some of these products are $11 - $20/oz, far above the $2.50 - $3.50 range people commonly talk about. I'm not sure how many people actually own, or even have sampled, the 8 reviewed products, and I'll thrown in the mention of C&S for 9 products. I know I haven't. For example, Boellis Panama is ridiculously priced at $115 for a ceramic pot but $48 for just the soap (which is constantly out of stock).  Forgetting the ridiculous cost of a C&S tin, just talking refill, the cost here is ~ just shy of $500. Add in some ADP, XPEC, and CF and you are pushing $700.

So,  is it truly rare that products are universally liked or disliked?  I've read a LOT of reviews, many, many. And have yet to read a bad review of SMN, Nuavia, MdC, or C&S. Not a one - aside than cost. But cost is not an issue here. Mystic takes a lot of hits for latherability.  OK, she's trying to fix that.  On the other side, I haven't really read a "good" review of GFT Eucris soap. Many can't get it to lather at all. So I'm not convinced this is true. Just saying ... There is a difference between "some" people can't get a product to lather and "essentially no one" can get a product to lather.

And I do tend to believe that there is some universal consensus (money aside) of the elite products and the low end of products. By universal consensus, maybe 95% of people will agree. Where there is little agreement is the middle ground. I think that is all over the place. Trying to get a consensus on the $4/oz products might be about impossible.

I've read some reviews from people that dislike MdC but none for the other soaps you mentioned. Personally I disagree with most people on the luxury products, at least the ones I have tried, which include MdC Lavender and Fougere, AdP shaving croap, XPEC, ABC, and Tabula Rasa. All of those are great soaps with the exception of post shave on a couple. However, none of them are any better than my favorite lower priced soaps. The only two I see myself buying again are AdP and Tabula Rasa. XPEC is also excellent, I just grew tired of the scent. I believe TR is the best performer of the group, and AdP is the most enjoyable to shave with due to the menthol and scent.

Shaving soaps are all subjective, thus what's good for some may not be good for others. It doesn't matter what I think as far as others are concerned, but it's the only thing that matters as far as I'm concerned. I don't mind splurging on a couple expensive soaps once in a while, but I'm not going to be dishonest with myself and try to believe they are better than my favorite average priced soaps.

I understand that part very much and is my recent experience with MW. I wanted to love that soap so much but it was a complete dud for me.  ... SV, on the other hand, is in my top 5 for performance and I just love it.

It's truly rare that you find any product in our hobby that is universally liked or disliked and I guess that's part of the attraction -- finding out for yourself what really works for you.

I wasn't sure why you brought up MW. Then again I didn't read all 38 pages of this thread. My bad.  I see now MW is on this list. Neo has reviewed: Tabula Rasa, Mystic, PannaCrema Nuavia, MdC, ABC, Boellis Panama, SMN, & B&M. He as also thrown out a comparable "10" for C&S and mentions, but no reviews, for XPEC, CF, and ADP.  Considering the cost of ADP per oz, at a minimum it should be listed.

The issue with this list, of course, and the 800 lb gorilla is cost and availability. Some of these products are $11 - $20/oz, far above the $2.50 - $3.50 range people commonly talk about. I'm not sure how many people actually own, or even have sampled, the 8 reviewed products, and I'll thrown in the mention of C&S for 9 products. I know I haven't. For example, Boellis Panama is ridiculously priced at $115 for a ceramic pot but $48 for just the soap (which is constantly out of stock).  Forgetting the ridiculous cost of a C&S tin, just talking refill, the cost here is ~ just shy of $500. Add in some ADP, XPEC, and CF and you are pushing $700.

So,  is it truly rare that products are universally liked or disliked?  I've read a LOT of reviews, many, many. And have yet to read a bad review of SMN, Nuavia, MdC, or C&S. Not a one - aside than cost. But cost is not an issue here. Mystic takes a lot of hits for latherability.  OK, she's trying to fix that.  On the other side, I haven't really read a "good" review of GFT Eucris soap. Many can't get it to lather at all. So I'm not convinced this is true. Just saying ... There is a difference between "some" people can't get a product to lather and "essentially no one" can get a product to lather.

And I do tend to believe that there is some universal consensus (money aside) of the elite products and the low end of products. By universal consensus, maybe 95% of people will agree. Where there is little agreement is the middle ground. I think that is all over the place. Trying to get a consensus on the $4/oz products might be about impossible.

I brought up MW for the main reason that, like SV for you, I read a lot of great reviews (although there are many who find it unlatherable) and was really hoping that it would be a great soap for me, but it just was a disappointment. I haven't tried the C&S itself but Valobra hard soaps (AOS tallow and Valobra itself) and it's my favourite brand. As for Eucris, I gave up on that -- twice, in fact, but there are some who find it a great soap, and one who claims it's his favourite of all time, so that's an interesting example. However, as I said it's rare that a soap is universally considered good or bad and you can probably name everyone that is either considered good or bad in every single review without too much thought.

As an additional thought, I find that so many in our community like to redefine terms that already have a standard definition to suit their arguments.