When I got back into gourmet shaving in 2007, I went a little nuts. I bought hundreds (more likely, thousands) of dollars worth of creams, soaps, brushes, razors, blades, etc.
Even if one shaves daily, there’s no way to go through the dozens of tubs of shave creams and bars of shaving soap that I had accumulated. Mind you, I did use them all, but I couldn’t use them all up! This is less of a problem for the soaps, but a big problem for the creams which seem to dry up and harden over time. Not to mention that the chemicals in these products tend to age and denature, creating who-knows-what byproducts that could be harmful to the skin.
I went through a huge cleanup last year, and today was the second one, throwing out five or six tubs of cream, among them many favorites that had survived Round 1.
My approach these days is a little more mature. I’ll buy one or two creams and soaps, use them up completely and then move on to a replacement. In any case, I find my tastes have narrowed down substantially and I only use maybe 3 creams and 5 soaps.
ΚΑFΕΝΕΙΟ 
Good thing I say your post. For now my mission will be to use-up my creams before they turn bad. So now after 7 years of experience, what soaps would be in your top five.
#1: Gold Dachs
#2: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
#3: Palmolive (Green stick from Europe)
#4: Tabac
#5: l’Occitane (for the smell, it’s actually a not great lather)
But isn’t acquiring more and more stuff one of the most normal things in our wetshaving community? Also, is there any reason you don’t post about shaving that much anymore?
Have you ever tried any of the european shave creams from Mühle? Would love to hear what you think about those!
Best wishes.
I have tried the Muhle creams and they were very nice. I also like the Jack Black shave cream as well as the Nancy Boy, which my friend, Leisureguy, sent me some samples of.
There is nothing wrong with acquiring a vast armamentarium of soaps, creams and shaving gear, and then trying something different or an old standby with each shave. It can be lots of fun and I did it myself for years. Each shave becomes a unique experience; a constantly shifting gestalt of water, temperature, skin condition, soap, blade, razor, etc. Some even try to boost this experience by getting into complex systems like Method Shaving; increasing the number of parameters and control points. All great fun.
I wrote about one caveat in the post above: The creams especially tend to go bad fast, and I think even the soaps dry up. It can be fun to give away many of these, bringing pleasure to others as well as creating space for new entrants.
But like many things, one changes personally as one gets older: Other things grab the interest and there is only so much time. As well, as I get older, I find a need for simplicity and a cherishing of things that work really well, rather than a constant search for new experiences in one area. A good rangefinder camera plus two lenses is enough for me (at one time, I had several boides and many lenses); although I have 5 bikes, I find myself using my old Gary Fischer Sugar 1 with road wheels, about 95% of the time; a couple of razors that work well on the contours of my face are more than enough.
It is common with mastery, that things become much simpler and time becomes our most important currency.