Like many of you on the forum, I began traditional wet shaving with a brush and soap/cream more than 10 years ago. And like many of you, I had some soaps (and brushes and razors) that I thoguht were just horrible for one reason or another. Among the "horrible"soaps I had a few stand out, like those little round glycerin soap pucks I got from an eBay seller becasue they provided an opportunity to buy a number of scents at a fairly low cost. There also some "bad" soaps I picked up from various artisans along the way (many of whom are no longer around) or from the local drug store. As a collector of soaps I also have a good number of soaps that fall into the "meh" category, not bad but not good or exciting either.
Well, I have recently begun to revisit some of these old "horible", "bad" and "meh" soaps and the results are somewhat surprising. Granted, some of these soaps are only being used/lathered in the shower, but others are being used for actual shaves. Those little glycerin pucks are still horrible but make a decent shampoo in the shower, but most of the "meh" soaps are proving to be much better than I rememebred and a few of those "bad" soaps are performing very well. Have these soaps ACTUALLY improved in quality? Have I begun to accept mediocraty? Is my 'old man-ness" dully my senses or lowering my expectations? No, I think it might boil down to better skills/technique developed over the years that has made those once difficult soaps easier to manage.
A couple soaps come to mind as bad soaps turned good. The first are those tubs from Gentlemans groomroom essence of Scotland. These soaps are some sort of glycerin type soap packed/sold in plastic tubs and the best thing going for them is STILL the enjoyable scents. I have used these soaps a little bit over the years but mostly they have been stored in the back of the soap drawers so the soap has shrunk significantly (did this shrinkage improve their performance?...who knows). I have been using these soaps a lot this year and seem to be able to lather them into a very enjoyabel lather that performs well enough to be used with a DE or straight razor. The scent remains present but is not as powerful as I remembered. Another flash from the past that I have been enjoying is The Blades Grimm "ember". I have always loved the scent of this soap but never found the soap to be exciting. It was never bad, more ofa meh soap that seems to be more tolarable to me now. The scent is a lot lighter but still there, I imagine a new tin might be more pleasing.
I mention these particular soaps (and not Williams) because it looks like both of these soap makers and soaps are still available. The prices are much higher than I remember them being (high enough I wouldn't blind buy them today like I did back then) but they are available for those who might enjoy them.
I guess the point of this post is to draw attention to the idea that those bad and meh soaps in our past might be worth revisiting, you might find them more pleasing now that you have more life experience. Perhaps others will share some of the soaps they once viewed negativly that they now hold a more positve view of.
Well, I have recently begun to revisit some of these old "horible", "bad" and "meh" soaps and the results are somewhat surprising. Granted, some of these soaps are only being used/lathered in the shower, but others are being used for actual shaves. Those little glycerin pucks are still horrible but make a decent shampoo in the shower, but most of the "meh" soaps are proving to be much better than I rememebred and a few of those "bad" soaps are performing very well. Have these soaps ACTUALLY improved in quality? Have I begun to accept mediocraty? Is my 'old man-ness" dully my senses or lowering my expectations? No, I think it might boil down to better skills/technique developed over the years that has made those once difficult soaps easier to manage.
A couple soaps come to mind as bad soaps turned good. The first are those tubs from Gentlemans groomroom essence of Scotland. These soaps are some sort of glycerin type soap packed/sold in plastic tubs and the best thing going for them is STILL the enjoyable scents. I have used these soaps a little bit over the years but mostly they have been stored in the back of the soap drawers so the soap has shrunk significantly (did this shrinkage improve their performance?...who knows). I have been using these soaps a lot this year and seem to be able to lather them into a very enjoyabel lather that performs well enough to be used with a DE or straight razor. The scent remains present but is not as powerful as I remembered. Another flash from the past that I have been enjoying is The Blades Grimm "ember". I have always loved the scent of this soap but never found the soap to be exciting. It was never bad, more ofa meh soap that seems to be more tolarable to me now. The scent is a lot lighter but still there, I imagine a new tin might be more pleasing.
I mention these particular soaps (and not Williams) because it looks like both of these soap makers and soaps are still available. The prices are much higher than I remember them being (high enough I wouldn't blind buy them today like I did back then) but they are available for those who might enjoy them.
I guess the point of this post is to draw attention to the idea that those bad and meh soaps in our past might be worth revisiting, you might find them more pleasing now that you have more life experience. Perhaps others will share some of the soaps they once viewed negativly that they now hold a more positve view of.
