I have a working theory that people fall in love with products they happen to be using when all the stars align from them, and their skill catches up with their method. This doesn't mean that the products we swear by are that much better than the old standbys.
For example, I've been shaving with straights for about two years now, and the feather AC before that. I can probably get lather a brick, and shave with a tin can lid.
This morning, after my Revivage gave up the ghost, I filled my mug with good old Williams, which I probably haven't used for almost five years, but still have a half dozen boxes lying around. I got an amazing lather, and a fine shave.
Obviously, there are still substandard products, like C&E soaps, which I could never get a nice lather from, but there's plenty of stuff that I considered "less than satisfying" on my way up the ladder. I imagine that I'd be fine with most of that stuff now.
So, to the experienced, you might try digging deep into the "drawers of shame" every now and again to see what floats back to the top.