What is a "French style" soap in your opinion?

french-style shaving soap = saponified stearic acid + coco nucifera oil, and very little else.

NeoXerxes No she didn't say what the consistency was supposed to be like other than what PAA is selling should be a softer "Italian" soap which I assume means like Cella or P.160. She did say the newer ones are harder, but that's it. When it arrives I will let you know what it is like.

Thanks! Hope it turns out more to your liking.

All I know is that I shaved today with my Pre de Provence No. 63 soap and, once again, totally loved it. The puck is hard as a rock but is incredibly easy to lather. Good slickness & cushion with a beautiful scent. Coupled with the post shave balm, my face feels as soft and smooth as a baby's butt 6 hours later.

If that is what French style soap is, then hey, I want more!

I do not care for the normal PdP scent, but a couple of their other scents are quite nice. I usually think of triple milled as English style, but that is just my perception.

Disclaimer: I've got absolutely no clue as to what "French-style" soap is. All I know is that PdP is a soap made in France and, at least as far as the No. 63 scent version is concerned, I love it.

No. 63 is a very nice scent.

When I think of French Style soaps, I think of triple milled hard soaps. The only french soap I have is Pre de Province (PdP). Great stuff, lasts forever and I believe it's triple milled.

That is what I think of, Gareth.  I have Pre de Provence, Provence Santé, and Roger & Gallet L'Homme (though, sadly, the R&G L'Homme is no longer in production).  All are triple milled , all are easy to lather, all have fantastic scents, and all have great facial care.

I'll throw in my 2 cents worth regarding MdC. The ingredients of MdC (principally stearic acid, coconut oil, KOH and water) will initially create a very soft soap (croap) and it will remain so for quite some time. The reason that MdC is not soft is that they overload the containers to overflowing and then store them open to the air from 4 to 6 months. During that time every bit of the water content evaporates and the soap volume shrinks dramatically and makes the soap hard. It is only after that lengthy curing process that the soap is sold.

Now, with regard to "French Style" the term could mean an ingredient list similar to MdC or LPL or other French soap, it could indicate that they are triple milled, it could refer to the scents, or it could simply be a marketing term. Regardless, just like with anything else in wet shaving, you just have to try it to see if you like it.

Great points, @Uzi. I hesitated to say this before, because I'm hardly an expert in the area, but I don't think MdC is triple-milled, but just air-cured as you describe. My understanding is that triple milling requires a fairly sizable industrial set-up (lots of equipment), which I don't think is part of MdC's operation. Milling a soap hastens the drying (curing) process, if I remember right. If so, MdC seems to be doing things a slower, more traditional way.