Best shave cream/soap

You all have great feedback!
Thank you all so much!!!
I did open a can of worms and with good reason. I'm a student (obviously looking for saving funds) and I'm from Israel which means I pay so much for shipping with every item I order.
I love luxurious shaves so every once in a while I'll grab the Castle Forbes tub or Ariana & Evans, and I'm looking for a good quality daily driver (like stirling) as well as something special for the special days!
If any of you guys here have a good favorite soap with matching aftershave or EDT/EDP, I'd love to hear about those (for example, I LOVE GFT'S Spanish leather for winter days!)

Happy shaving y'all!

For sheer performance, Haslinger soaps are superb. And inexpensive. They are not heavily scented, but usually I prefer a light scent so it doesn't clash with my aftershave or cologne. 

Also inexpensive and superb: Razorrock's soaps, which sometimes have a matching aftershave. The guys at Razorrock/Italian Barber have proven that you can get first rate gear and soaps, balms, etc. for very affordable prices. 

If you're looking to spend money, Saponificio Varesino is excellent. I prefer Martin de Candre but some feel the soap dries too quickly and requires that you moisten it during the shave. I don't mind this and the puck, as someone noted, lasts forever. Le Pere Lucien is tops and often has matching aftershaves. 

Mike's Natural is also excellent. 

In my view the pricier soaps are offering you more interesting scents but not necessarily a better shave. What I like about Martin de Candre, for example, are the scents, the longevity, and the fact that they keep the ingredients to a minimum. I can get an equally good shave from a cheap puck of Arko. 

For creams, Truefitt & Hill is my favorite. 

Whichever soap or cream you use, make sure that you use enough water to keep it slick. 

Let us know what you like. 

It really depends on how you define “best”. Personally, I define “best” as a soap with top tier slickness, post shave, and ease of lather. I am also extraordinarily picky and take it one step further in the sense that I want that top tier package in a nice container (examples of excellent containers are wholly Kaw, mammoth, grooming dept). Therefore; with all things considered, these are in my opinion the best soaps in wet shaving:

1) Tie: Grooming Dept/B&M Softheart (slickness, post shave, ease of Lather, containers, labels). Grooming dept edges Softheart slightly in performance , however Softheart is significantly cheaper and some would argue have better scents.
3) Wholly Kaw Siero: slickness, post shave, ease of lather, container… however…. Pretty much every scent is terrible IMO
4) Saponificio Varesino: slickness, ease of lather, longevity, container, absolutely phenomenal scents… like world class… post shave and price could be improved.

Honorable mention: M&M Kodiak Base. Kodiak has always been a great base for a good price, and M&M have recently upped their game in the packaging department. My only gripe is the smell of the base can overpower the scents sometimes.

I would get one from each of these depending on your scent preference:

Grooming Dept Kairos or Nai base
Declaration Grooming Milksteak base
B&M Excelsior or Soft Heart base
Wholly Kaw Siero base
Saponificio Varesino
Stirling Muttton Tallow base
A&E/The Club K2 base

If you had one soap from each of these producers you would have a rock solid rotation.

It really depends on how you define “best”. Personally, I define “best” as a soap with top tier slickness, post shave, and ease of lather. I am also extraordinarily picky and take it one step further in the sense that I want that top tier package in a nice container (examples of excellent containers are wholly Kaw, mammoth, grooming dept). Therefore; with all things considered, these are in my opinion the best soaps in wet shaving:

1) Tie: Grooming Dept/B&M Softheart (slickness, post shave, ease of Lather, containers, labels). Grooming dept edges Softheart slightly in performance , however Softheart is significantly cheaper and some would argue have better scents.
3) Wholly Kaw Siero: slickness, post shave, ease of lather, container… however…. Pretty much every scent is terrible IMO
4) Saponificio Varesino: slickness, ease of lather, longevity, container, absolutely phenomenal scents… like world class… post shave and price could be improved.

Honorable mention: M&M Kodiak Base. Kodiak has always been a great base for a good price, and M&M have recently upped their game in the packaging department. My only gripe is the smell of the base can overpower the scents sometimes.

I agree with you that Wholly Kaw has issues with some of their scents--very hit or miss.  That said, have you tried Rebelle?  Great scent in the Sierro base though I am not as fond of  Entropy Man in that base and even less fond of Fougere Mania.  I think WK is a good one for ordering samples for this reason.  In prior bases, I also like King of Oud and King of Bourbon.

I would put Zingari Man Sego base in the honorable mention category along with M&M Kodiak.

It really depends on how you define “best”. Personally, I define “best” as a soap with top tier slickness, post shave, and ease of lather. I am also extraordinarily picky and take it one step further in the sense that I want that top tier package in a nice container (examples of excellent containers are wholly Kaw, mammoth, grooming dept). Therefore; with all things considered, these are in my opinion the best soaps in wet shaving:

1) Tie: Grooming Dept/B&M Softheart (slickness, post shave, ease of Lather, containers, labels). Grooming dept edges Softheart slightly in performance , however Softheart is significantly cheaper and some would argue have better scents.
3) Wholly Kaw Siero: slickness, post shave, ease of lather, container… however…. Pretty much every scent is terrible IMO
4) Saponificio Varesino: slickness, ease of lather, longevity, container, absolutely phenomenal scents… like world class… post shave and price could be improved.

Honorable mention: M&M Kodiak Base. Kodiak has always been a great base for a good price, and M&M have recently upped their game in the packaging department. My only gripe is the smell of the base can overpower the scents sometimes.

I agree with you that Wholly Kaw has issues with some of their scents--very hit or miss.  That said, have you tried Rebelle?  Great scent in the Sierro base though I am not as fond of  Entropy Man in that base and even less fond of Fougere Mania.  I think WK is a good one for ordering samples for this reason.  In prior bases, I also like King of Oud and King of Bourbon.

I would put Zingari Man Sego base in the honorable mention category along with M&M Kodiak.

I haven’t tried rebelle! I heard that one is pretty good! Just couldn’t get over the label lol. 

Regarding Sego, I absolutely love it. I just can’t support the recent and insane 25%+ price hike for the same scents/base, with a new label.

It really depends on how you define “best”. Personally, I define “best” as a soap with top tier slickness, post shave, and ease of lather. I am also extraordinarily picky and take it one step further in the sense that I want that top tier package in a nice container (examples of excellent containers are wholly Kaw, mammoth, grooming dept). Therefore; with all things considered, these are in my opinion the best soaps in wet shaving:

1) Tie: Grooming Dept/B&M Softheart (slickness, post shave, ease of Lather, containers, labels). Grooming dept edges Softheart slightly in performance , however Softheart is significantly cheaper and some would argue have better scents.
3) Wholly Kaw Siero: slickness, post shave, ease of lather, container… however…. Pretty much every scent is terrible IMO
4) Saponificio Varesino: slickness, ease of lather, longevity, container, absolutely phenomenal scents… like world class… post shave and price could be improved.

Honorable mention: M&M Kodiak Base. Kodiak has always been a great base for a good price, and M&M have recently upped their game in the packaging department. My only gripe is the smell of the base can overpower the scents sometimes.

I agree with you that Wholly Kaw has issues with some of their scents--very hit or miss.  That said, have you tried Rebelle?  Great scent in the Sierro base though I am not as fond of  Entropy Man in that base and even less fond of Fougere Mania.  I think WK is a good one for ordering samples for this reason.  In prior bases, I also like King of Oud and King of Bourbon.

I would put Zingari Man Sego base in the honorable mention category along with M&M Kodiak.

I haven’t tried rebelle! I heard that one is pretty good! Just couldn’t get over the label lol. 

Regarding Sego, I absolutely love it. I just can’t support the recent and insane 25%+ price hike for the same scents/base, with a new label.

Ouch 25%, I didn't know this.

After trying WK (fougere mania and entropy man), zingari Marchant, all bases so far by A&E/The Club (besides K2e), and all I mentioned above, my favorite pre-shave is by A&E, and the soap is The club in K2.
Saponificio varesino is next on the list! As well as the K2e base.
Honorable mention goes EASY to stirling, it's inexpensive yet performs superbly!

For me it is ETHOS. A little mor expensive, but I use less to get a great slick lather, very good cushion and slickness. The post shave feel is the best and the scents are all natural and smell fantastic.

I’ve find all modern artisan soaps to be incredible to be honest. Ethos, AE (kaizen or kaizen2), and ADP are my go-to when I need the best. I own dozens of other soaps purely for scent.

The only issue I ever run into is with non-tallow soaps. Just doesn’t compare to tallow-based soaps for me. I own pdp, mdc, sv and the only the only exception is pannacrema. Awesome stuff.