Floris Soaps - what's the verdict?

jramire2 · Post by **jramire2** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:00 am

I've only got two triple milled soaps, L'Occitane and now AOS sandalwood.
I love the smell of the Cade' soap, but the lather isn't up to par compared to the IMO excellent AOS soap. So, now I think I'm going down the road that many of us get to, moving away from creams and into hard soaps.

So, what's the verdict on Floris soaps? Are they worth the $28 for a refill? I've heard floris has a semiannual sale or something, what do they usually go for at that time? And more importantly, are they good or just a "meh" soap?

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:04 am

Floris soaps are excellent. Although pricey they are worth the extra coin.

murchmb · Post by **murchmb** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:17 am

Try here for the refills on the cheap. The bowls are OOS.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:21 am

Excellent prices. I have bought from site before with no problems.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:34 am

Jeez!...those prices are incredible. I wonder where they're getting the stuff from? Those are the kind of prices that one used to see during the Floris semi-annual sales. But of late, those sales don't seem to be happening anymore, at least not in the US. And even when they still were, increasingly, a lot of products were not being offered at sale prices, only some odds and ends that I wasn't interested in. I've not used any of their shave soaps since they switched over to a palm oil base, so I can't say for certain. They used to be absolutely superb.
Regards,
Gordon

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 11:06 am

Great soap but they (JF & Elite) gave me a bit of irritation that I blame on the strong use of fragrance.

letterk · Post by **letterk** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:19 pm

Those prices are even better than when I ordered from them a few months ago. If I didn't already have JF, I'd jump on it. Fantastic soaps.

Leisureguy · Post by **Leisureguy** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:26 pm

I agree with John: great soaps. And those prices are incredible.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:14 pm

Joshua,

I'm not a big soap fan, but I am partial to a bit of Floris from time to time.

I have the Floris Elite shaving soap and as the others have mentioned above, it is a very good soap. It lathers well, and is well scented. Keep an eye out for the No 89 soap when it comes out - that's going to be an awsome one.

Normally it is about $44 for the soap and bowl, but the prices on that site you have seen are just incredibly cheap. I'd snap one up as quick as you can if I were you. I also feel you get a lot of soap for your money with Floris. I was looking at the Trumper's soap the other day, and the cake was substantially smaller than that of the Floris one.

Well worth the money, especially at that price.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:27 pm

Gareth, Well, yes, that is worth mentioning, just in case some newer members hadn't noticed. With the really top drawer English hard shave soaps, Trumper is the odd man out, size-wise. For quite a number of years now, their soaps have been only 80g. ( years ago, they were 110g. or something like that ). But all the rest; T&H, Harris's, Taylors, Floris, and Penhaligons are 99-100g. Besides the cost per once issue, this means that most of these soaps will fit in the other companies wooden bowls, but not the Trumpers. I have an old Floris wood bowl, and in it, at various times, I have had not only the original No 89 that it came with, but also Taylors, Harris's, and T&H soaps.
Regards,
Gordon

levente · Post by **levente** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:26 pm

Gents,

A quick warning. I ordered from that site once as well and had good luck, but members from another board, which will go unmentioned, have reported difficulties. The word is that if they screw up your order, it is next to impossible to get any satisfaction from them, as they do not respond to email, and there customer service is generally regarded as poor. Caveat emptor.

Regards,
Basil

minderasr · Post by **minderasr** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:08 pm

levente wrote:A quick warning. I ordered from that site once as well and had good luck, but members from another board, which will go unmentioned, have reported difficulties. The word is that if they screw up your order, it is next to impossible to get any satisfaction from them, as they do not respond to email, and there customer service is generally regarded as poor. Caveat emptor.

Why do warning posts such as this one happen after I pull the trigger? Oh well. Any issues and I'll let the credit card company deal with it.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:43 am

I have ordered from that site twice for gifts. I have not encountered any problems. The Florida owner of that site also owns several other perfume sites. The colognes/perfumes come from the same place. My guess is that they are distributors not brick and mortar type shops. If you have any problems email them and if that fails take it up with your credit card company.

jlmwrite · Post by **jlmwrite** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:34 pm

Ah well... Ordered a refill in each scent yesterday. Got the order confirmation via email, so we'll just have to see what happens with the actual order.

Post by **Sam** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:45 pm

They also have Floris #89

murchmb · Post by **murchmb** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:15 pm

Sam wrote:They also have Floris #89

It's not in stock. One thing I HATE about this site is that you have to add something to your cart to find if it's in stock.

jramire2 · Post by **jramire2** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:53 pm

I stocked up and got 3 soap refills of the Elite and 3 refills of the JF. I ordered last Saturday and they arrived last night.

The scent of the Elite really isn't my taste, but it's still not bad. I'm hoping it will grow on me or changes slightly when it lathers up.

I used the JF this morning and the shave was just phenomenal. I don't have a whole lot of experience w/triple milled soaps, but this stuff really blew everything else away that I've tried. The first soap that I can honestly say gave me just as much cushion as most of my creams, yet still gave me a closer shave.

But I just got a puck of Harris lavender and MWF today. I'd tried MWF before w/no luck, but that was when I had a completely terrible soap brush. Now that I've got a couple of good brushes for soaps, we'll see how it stacks up.

If you're even slightly considering picking up some Floris, I'd jump all over this sites great prices.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:05 pm

Joshua, Yep, there you go, and now you know. The very best hard milled shave soaps are indeed capable of producing a lather that has almost as much cushion as the best creams, yet still tends to cut a wee bit closer. Just as we've always said. But only the really top shelf soaps have this capability. With most shave soaps, you'll get a close cut, but there will be noticeably less in the way of protection and 'glide'. Warning; regular use of a soap like that Floris will probably spoil you for lesser quality ( and much less expensive ) soaps. Just so you can't claim that nobody ever told you ( chuckle ).
Regards,
Gordon

jramire2 · Post by **jramire2** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:36 pm

So Gordon, what other soaps out there would fall in the same category as Floris in regards to how well it shaves, w/the cushion of a cream but still close cutting?

I like to use an injector quite a bit, and I've found that unless my technique is 110% perfect, I get irritation in certain places after I've used it w/a soap for a few days. When that happens I have to switch to either a milder razor or a cream for a few days. I really don't think I'd get any irritation if I continue to use Floris. And I'd really like to move more into the soap direction, but I think I'm already spoiled by the greatness of Floris so it's got to be top notch stuff.

I'm curious about Penhaligons, and as stated, just received a puck of Harris so we'll see how that goes. But if you (or anyone else) knows of any good triple mills that perform as well as Floris I'd like to know about them.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:48 pm

Joshua, Well, FWIW, I always thought that the Schick Injector worked uncommon well with hard soaps....at least the later models. Other top shelf hard shave soaps? The list I have always posted, all the way back to the days on the old Wetshavers forum, has changed little: Floris, Penhaligons, D R Harris, T&H, Trumpers, Joris ( and presumably Plisson ), AOS, and Mitchell's Wool Fat. The Tabac and the Taylors soaps are also good, but have a tendency to irritate some gent's skin. There are probably a couple of others, but this is my usual list.
Regards,
Gordon