Problems with made in UK shaving soaps.

Gents:

I have been reading lately some post/threads of people who are experiencing problems with the made in UK shaving soaps.Also,some reformulations like the new Truefitt and Hill soap,have made the soap impossible to make a good,stable lather from it.

Unfortunately,it seems that many brands have suffered the same fate,selling soaps that are not suitable to shave with,since they dont even lather.Others have suffered some batches of dull soaps,like Geo F. Trumper.

So,whats going on with the made in UK shaving soaps?
According to member SteelTwon this could have happened (thanks for the info) :

Quote:Standard Soap Company closed their doors this year. I know that a lot of their assets, dies, machinery etc, were bought by Soapworks Ltd out of Scotland. Soapworks contracts for Penhaligons, Body Shop, Bath House, Woods of Windsor etc. As a note Soapworks is owned by The Body Shop International which in turn is owned by L'Oreal

Standard Soap made all the C&E soaps, same parent company, and probably the 3 T's. Trumpers has probably changed contractors, i.e. reformulated, last year when the closure was announced.

So,what should we expect from the made in UK soaps?Not too long ago they were maybe the best ones out there,but now,some of them are failing miserably,not even reaching normal standard for a shaving soap.
Some of the reformulations have been for much worst and I wonder if the brands want to push their shaving creams instead of their shaving soaps,since many people use multicartridge razors,and creams are better suitable for be use with creams (just a thought).

Have you suffered any problems with made in UK soaps lately and which brand?

I use only one brand of UK soap and that's MWF. And I have never had any problems with "The Fat".

Most of the UK soaps that I have tried over the years irritated my face. I do like some of the GFT creams such as Limes.

I've sampled many and was universally disappointed except for MWF.
I have a suggestion.EMAIL as a consumer and give feedback.
This includes the good and the bad. I did this with MWF and backed it up
buying another puck in reserve.

The D.R. Harris shave soaps and MWF are excellent! I keep worrying that Harris will reformulate to a veggie based soap but as of now, they are still tallow based and are among the very best soaps out there.

(03-29-2012, 08:15 AM)bullgoose Wrote: The D.R. Harris shave soaps are excellent!

Yes,thats very true!

I recently purchased Taylor of Old Bond Street, Avocado shave cream. I have used it twice now, it lathers great and is a pleasure to shave with.
The only other British made soap I have used is MWF. I have not had any issues with it.

Quote:Some of the reformulations have been for much worst and I wonder if the brands want to push their shaving creams instead of their shaving soaps,since many people use multicartridge razors,and creams are better suitable for be use with creams (just a thought).

Why do you feel soaps aren't suitable?

(03-29-2012, 08:55 AM)Songwind Wrote:

Quote:Some of the reformulations have been for much worst and I wonder if the brands want to push their shaving creams instead of their shaving soaps,since many people use multicartridge razors,and creams are better suitable for be use with creams (just a thought).

Why do you feel soaps aren't suitable?

Because creams are easy to lather,you dont even need a shaving brush to lather then (but we all know that they lather better when we use the brush) and usually are more slicker,something that makes shaving with a multicartridge razor a little bit easier that with thick,dense lather from soaps.But as I have said,its just my thought.

(03-29-2012, 09:15 AM)Teiste Wrote: Because creams are easy to lather,you dont even need a shaving brush to lather then (but we all know that they lather better when we use the brush) and usually are more slicker,something that makes shaving with a multicartridge razor a little bit easier that with thick,dense lather from soaps.But as I have said,its just my thought.

I would agree with that also - soaps are pretty much impossible to use without a brush so for a cart user used to using a can of goo - the cream would be an easier step.

I only have one UK shaving soap (I do have many UK creams though) that's TOBS Sandalwood. I could be mistaken but I believe it's veggie based. I'm not an expert on soaps, but I seem to have no performance problems. I don't have problems lathering it, seems protective and slick. I picked it up 6 months ago so I think if it was reformulated I would have gotten it from a new batch but that's not to say it won't get reformulated in the future.

I'd be curious also on what others think of the TOBS soaps.

C&E soaps were pretty decent. If they've moved to Soapworks - the people behind the horrible Penhaligon soap - then I'd buy decent C&E while you can.

(03-29-2012, 09:36 AM)Brent Wrote:

(03-29-2012, 09:15 AM)Teiste Wrote: Because creams are easy to lather,you dont even need a shaving brush to lather then (but we all know that they lather better when we use the brush) and usually are more slicker,something that makes shaving with a multicartridge razor a little bit easier that with thick,dense lather from soaps.But as I have said,its just my thought.

I would agree with that also - soaps are pretty much impossible to use without a brush so for a cart user used to using a can of goo - the cream would be an easier step.

I only have one UK shaving soap (I do have many UK creams though) that's TOBS Sandalwood. I could be mistaken but I believe it's veggie based. I'm not an expert on soaps, but I seem to have no performance problems. I don't have problems lathering it, seems protective and slick. I picked it up 6 months ago so I think if it was reformulated I would have gotten it from a new batch but that's not to say it won't get reformulated in the future.

I'd be curious also on what others think of the TOBS soaps.

The Taylor of Old Bond Street shaving soaps are nice.I have tried the old potasium sterate lavender soap on a bowl,the new palm based lavender refill and the Jeremyn Street one.The old lavender is the best for sure,and also a serious contender to my fav british soaps,like the Edwin Jagger/Cyril R. Salter or the good Geo F. Trumper soaps.The new lavender soap,with palm oils its a good soap,but not on the same league of skin protection than the old lavender,and the new Jeremyn Street shaving soap performs really well and its a little bit better,even when is palm oil based too,than the lavender refill soap.

At least,with the TOBS shaving soaps,you know that good,stable lather is gonna be there,unlike other made in UK brands like Trumpers or even Cyril R. Salter/Truefitt and Hill.

(03-29-2012, 09:42 AM)insomniac Wrote: C&E soaps were pretty decent. If they've moved to Soapworks - the people behind the horrible Penhaligon soap - then I'd buy decent C&E while you can.

Im agree with that : Nomad and Sienna a good performers and for 9 bucks,a bargain compare it to other shaving soaps.

This is just my humble opinion but I think that Truefitt and Hill is the most over priced and over rated of the UK brands.

i have a puck of the Trumpers rose that I got about a year ago, It lathers great, here at my apartment with hard water and at my parents house with a water softener. I would compare the lather ability to speick or Palmolive shave sticks.

(03-29-2012, 11:10 AM)CryptoSOLO Wrote: i have a puck of the Trumpers rose that I got about a year ago, It lathers great, here at my apartment with hard water and at my parents house with a water softener. I would compare the lather ability to speick or Palmolive shave sticks.

I never have any problems with Geo F. Trumpers soaps : I have tried coconut,sandalwood,violet,rose and the Eucris one.

However I have seen people complaining about the Limes/Almond ones and also the roses and sandalwood (impossible to lather),so I'm sure that few batches of Geo F. Trumper shaving soaps are defectives.

Creams are easier to lather, and are able to be used without a brush. AoS creams state right on the container that they are good with or without a brush. Makes sense from a business standpoint that they would focus on the creams, to the detriment of the soaps.

@Johnny - T&H are my favorite of the UK creams, YMMV and all that

Creams also generally don't keep for 30 years like hard soaps.

Untill now, my only (and BIG disappointment) was T&H Luxury soap, that I bought on their shop at St. james St, when I went to London.
I find it impossible to make a stable lather with that thing.

As for the others, I have D. R. Harris (Arlington and Marlborough), MWF, C&E Sienna and they are all excellent soaps in my book. Never tried a TOBS or Trumpers soap (don't know why, but somehow they just don't appeal to me).

TOBS and D R Harris soaps are the best British soaps I've used.

I didn't get on with Trumpers soaps at all.

Edwin Jagger soaps are also pretty poor as are their creams.

I agree with the comments with regard to T&H products being overpriced.

Their Sandalwood cream is the best selling sandalwood out there for me but is relatively mediocre performance-wise. The same thing applies to other creams and balms of theirs I've used.

The only T&H product I would buy again is the original AS Balm. It's half the price of their other AS Balms and is a far superior product IMO.

(03-29-2012, 12:46 PM)ajc347 Wrote: TOBS and D R Harris soaps are the best British soaps I've used.

I didn't get on with Trumpers soaps at all.

Edwin Jagger soaps are also pretty poor as are their creams.

I agree with the comments with regard to T&H products being overpriced.

Their Sandalwood cream is the best selling sandalwood out there for me but is relatively mediocre performance-wise. The same thing applies to other creams and balms of theirs I've used.

The only T&H product I would buy again is the original AS Balm. It's half the price of their other AS Balms and is a far superior product IMO.

You see,I find the EJ/Muhle soaps great, as well as their shaving creams.I believe that they might suffered some dull batches too.