Shaving Cream/Soap Samples – Lessons Learned, A Ton of Empty Jars and Process Results

ok time to share with us your elite soaps!

It would be interesting to see how you rank some of the brands.  

I’m adding my voice to the previous requests. Grim, we know and fully acknowledge that this was a test you did to discover what works best for you, and we all know that different products work differently for different people.

Guys, I got like 3 posts I need to finish typing up and cleaning up what I was working on.

I am very disinclined to talk about any individual products simply because  YMMV is true. We all have different skins and different things we value.  How about waiting 3 posts and then I'll think about just talking about the top two, the elite of the elite. I don't think I will offend anyone by just talking about these two brands. But I don't want to go deeper than that because it will irritate somebody when their favorite is not my favorite.

Why someone would be offended by something like that, grim, is beyond me.  Yes, each of us is different and has a unique beard and skin makeup.  However, how will we ever grow and learn if someone might get upset so nothing gets posted?  Besides, as Matsilainen has pointed out, these soaps are what work for you.  Just take a look at the Worst Blade thread to see true differences of opinion.  

I say go for it!

I say go for it!

Yep. Opinions are just that: opinions. All this work with no payoff will be more upsetting than posting your top tier soaps if completely honest

We will absolutely continue to read your findings, grim, no rush. And I, for one, will be happy to even hear about just your two favorites. But Freddy and kwsher do have some good points…  

I'll echo what Freddy said. Spot on!

A substantial number of people have asked that I identify what I consider the elite brands. I was reluctant to do so but I will. I guess I will write up mini reviews trying to describe why I believe what I believe. That will take a few days. So continuing with what I already drafted ...

OBSERVATIONS

While I was enjoying myself trying a whole bunch of stuff, I read and observed.  Here are some observations.

1. Don’t believe the hype in regards to products. The herd mentality sometimes takes over. Bernays was right. Sometimes the flavor of the month fades into obscurity.  Trust in your own beliefs. The next guy's opinion, including mine, is no better than yours.

2. Buy low. Now this does not mean that sellers should not get a fair profit for their wares. Rather, it means impulse buying is expensive buying. Don't complain about the cost of items if you buy high.

    a. Don’t pay for shipping. Instead of nickel and dime buying, wait until you have enough to buy to make the minimum for free shipping, if possible.

   b. Don’t pay full price when it can be avoided. Companies have sales all the time. Of course, Black Friday might be the best but I have seen sales were 1/3 off was offered (around Christmas). That is significant. Thank about that. If you wait and buy stock all at once at 1/3 off, how much will you save?

   c. Read the Deals subforums. A recent deal allowed consumers to get a name brand soap for $0.18 each. That’s not a typo. Eighteen cents. In particular, look for the closeout sales. There are a lot of resellers jumping late on to the bandwagon. Not all of them will survive. Close out sales are great sales.

   d. Buy refills, not complete soaps in fancy containers.

3. Sometimes a product is very popular, discussed all over the internet, and then a year from then fades into obscurity. Hmmm. What’s with that? Surely you can think of a name that was popular in the past and has since disappeared from discussions? Is it no longer good? Does it no longer perform identically to the past? Of was it just a passing fad?

4. Before jumping on V3, V4, V5, ask yourself the following questions, some things to think about ...

    a.  Why is there a Vx? Are consumers guinea pigs? Sure technology evolves but think about the last operating system you installed on your computer or smartphone. Did  you ever regret it?  New does not always mean better.

    b. Do you expect to see a substantial and significant improvement? Why? Did previous version have that? What makes you think the current version will?  Is this impulse buying?

5. We are all different - yes, YMMV

6. Personally, I am drawn to old time, long standing, and simple scents. They might have multiple scents within them but they have a predominate note that comes through rather than the “imagine yourself walking through the forest on a rainy day – a bird chirps – the sun peaks through … “  scents - Meh.

7. Take your time. Buy samples slowly. Cherish the experience. This isn't a race.

8. I believe there are summer and winter scents. In the winter I used a soap with peppermint in it thinking “hmm, peppermint – candy canes, peppermint candies – sure sounds like a Holiday scent." YES!  

That was – until it about froze my face off because I forgot real mint contains menthol – duh.    No, IMO, menthol is for the summer.

Some Annoyances

1. Soap Descriptions. If a soap smells like ginger ale, then don’t tell me: “Think about walking though a forest in a spring rain. The rain ends, a rainbow peeks out. Fairies dance on mushroom tops, etc.” Just tell me it smells like Ginger Ale. Life is short and I have no time to read all this nonsense to figure out its Ginger Ale.

2. Companies that don’t sell samples. Your loss. Maybe there are people who can afford to buy something on a whim. Been there, done that, never again. There are far too many companies now trying to market and sell in a niche market space. No samples for sale? Then your product better be the next reincarnation of unicorn hair and verified as such by crowdsourcing.

3. Lack of empirical data on cost/shave. While everyone has to figure this out on their own, it will take a LONG, LONG time.  I wish some database existed on this beyond the intuitive sequence of triple milled soaps last longer than soft soaps.

4. Standardization on Measures. Don’t tell me your product weighs 4.4 oz and another product is 200 ml. Really? Stick with weight or volume or whatever.

Grim, some excellent observations, once again. It’s a pleasure to read your thoughts. I’ve had a few of the same thoughts myself, but sometimes things become even more clear when you write them out.

Looking forward to reading even more of your observations!

Everything I thought I knew about scents was wrong, or not.

Scents are a personal thing. I’ve already gone over the “30% thing”, that is, we all can have olfactory sensors 30% different than others. Your rose can be my sewage,  etc. As a baby boomer, in terms of scents, things were pretty simple in my mind.  I might have a vague recollection that fancy soap were scented but canned shaving cream had already dominated the market place, the magic of pushing a button and done. The only concept I had of scent were the aftershaves – Brut, English Leather, Old Spice, Lime, Bay Rum, and maybe Musk.

Scents … what I got wrong – for me.

Florals were meant for women’s perfumes.   WRONG.  The Victorians knew what they were doing. Those Rose, Violet, Lavender, Lily of the Valley, etc are NOT feminine at all. What I discovered was that it’s not the floral, but the “sweetness” or cloying (staying power) of something sweet I found meant for women's perfume. I did find some of those but they were not the florals and not often. If something has been around for 120 years, there probably is a very good reason.

Sweet Food scents got to rock!  Pumpkin Pie!, Christmas Cookies! Almond pastry! These all got to rock?  Right? Wrong. I found food scents like this just “off” for the dark of the morning. The worst to me? Chocolates. Eww.   Coffee? Orange Juice? (Citrus) Apple? (Fruits) All cool!  Sweet Foods? Nope.

To me, barbershop meant linoleum floors, stale cigarette smoke, musky old Look magazines, Brylcream, Barbacide, and Bay Rum. Wrong!  Who know its really some kind of combination of bergamot, basil, oakmoss, and patchouli smelling like talcum powder? Exactly what is bergamot and patchouli? I had to look those up. And why was there this nostalgic image of this all supposed to be talcum powder?

THIS is my image of a barbershop, some years before my time but the Bay Rum stands out. This image is in the public domain By Berenice Abbott [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons



OK,  before my time but that is kind of what I think of. Can’t you see the bored looking barbers smoking a butt and glancing through the musty old Sears Catalogs while waiting for customers? Do you think they had a big bucket of talcum powder hanging around or maybe some whiskey, cigars, piled up sports pages with the New York Yankees in them, and Bay Rum to go along with the cigarette butts piling up in the ashtrays?

Sorry, this one I think I got right. Barbership scents are not talcum powder – to me. Bay Rum – maybe.

Who would want Tobacco and Leather in a scent? Eww    … Wrong!

Me.  Duh

Clones, Imitations, or Versions of Old Spice I understand that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but if you are going to try to be like an Icon, you really got to rock it.

When American Idol first came on TV, young ladies would try to imitate Whitney Houston singing “I Will Always Love You”. Maybe their friends and family would tell them they sounded just like her. Uhmm. No. You don’t. Inevitably “the mean judge” might tell it like it is while the “good cop” judge would offer encouragement. If you are going to imitate a giant, you better rock it because you will be judged against the giant, and usually, its not a good thing to be judged against a giant – Just saying. And oh yeah, the young ladies still think they sound like Whitney Houston and new versions imitations of Old Spice constantly appear.   I pass  … and that’s just me.

Maggard Tobacco & Leather is a great scent!

I'm going to disagree about the talcum powder and barbershops thing. Perhaps I'm so old that the Sioux still roamed the Great Plains, but my recollection, from the 50's, was that after a haircut my barber had a whisk that he used to brush away any loose hair clippings from around your neck and that whisk was always dusted with plenty of some sort of talcum powder. When he was done, the back of your neck felt dry and powdery. You could definitely smell it in the air, along with a variety of scents from hair creams and aftershave tonics -- at least in Kenny's Barbershop.