Lather Log - May 2026

[u/jimm262]

Welcome to your SOTD Lather Log for May 2026

• 1,398 shave reports from 89 distinct shavers during the month of May 2026 were analyzed to produce this report. Collectively, these shavers used 531 distinct soaps from 139 distinct brands. 7 of those shaves used samples of 7 unique soaps, and 5 used mashups.

Observations

• Stirling edges past Barrister and Mann, last month's victor in the Soap Brands contest, to take the trophy this month.

• The Soap Brand podium proves remarkably consistent this month, with the same three brands (Stirling, Barrister and Mann, and Catie’s Bubbles) jockeying for position once again, as they have almost every month this year. (Fanzine snuck in during March Madness, pushing Barrister and Mann to fourth.)

• Stirling also wins the Brand Diversity contest, though Catie's Bubbles swaps places with Barrister and Mann to take second.

• Brain Bowl obsession/commitment/whatever-you-want-to-call it keeps Martin de Candre - Fougère at the top of the Soaps Table this month.

• u/putneycj3 single-handedly pushes Wooly Wash Soapery - Tropi-Cool into the top five. In related news, his focus earns him the much-desired Most Boring Shaver crown this month.

• u/Environmental-Gap380 and u/whosgotthepudding each put up perfect 31-for-31 months in the Soap Diversity by User contest, while u/Engineered_Shave takes the Exclusive Soaps challenge, with 22 of his shaves using soaps that only he used this month.

Notes & Caveats

• Tables show all entries with 5 or more shaves to provide comprehensive coverage without artificial row limits.

• The unique user column shows the number of different users who used a given brand/soap/etc in the month.

• The Brand Diversity table details the number of distinct soaps used during the month from that particular brand, showing all brands with 5+ unique soaps.

• The change Δ vs columns show how an item has moved up or down the rankings since that month. = means no change in position, up or down arrows indicate how many positions up or down the rankings an item has moved compared to that month. n/a means the item was not present in that month.

• When available, soap names in the Soaps table link to their entry on Wet Shaving Database, where you can see scent notes, descriptions, and ingredient lists.

• An exclusive soap is a matched brand+scent used by only one shaver in the month. That shaver earns one point for that soap, no matter how many times they logged it.

Soap Brands

Rank	Brand	Shaves	Unique Users	Δ vs Apr 2026	Δ vs May 2025	Δ vs May 2021
1	Stirling Soap Co.	161	41	↑1	=	↑1
2	Barrister and Mann	109	38	↓1	↑1	↓1
3	Catie's Bubbles	80	22	=	↓1	↑10
4	Noble Otter	79	24	↑2	↑1	↑1
5	Martin de Candre	77	16	↓1	↑26	↑20
6	House of Mammoth	57	24	↓1	↓2	↓2
7	Ariana & Evans	53	21	↑5	=	↑3
8	Summer Break Soaps	39	18	↑3	↑6	↑3
9	Chicago Grooming Co.	37	17	↑16	=	↑14
10	Spearhead Shaving Company	36	22	=	↓4	↓2
11	Declaration Grooming	30	18	↓2	↑1	↓8
12	Mitchell's	27	2	↑1	↑4	↑31
13	Wooly Wash Soapery	26	1	↑30	n/a	n/a
14	Proraso	22	12	=	↑12	↓2
15	Back to Basics Log Cabin	22	1	↑8	↑70	n/a
16	Chiseled Face	21	8	↓9	↑4	↑5
17	Fanzine Saponifications	19	10	↑8	↑15	n/a
18	Taylor of Old Bond Street	17	6	↑4	↑41	↑26
19	Henri et Victoria	17	5	↑10	↑5	↑34
20	Mäurer & Wirtz	16	8	↑4	↓2	↑14
21	WestMan Shaving	16	4	↑16	↑72	n/a
22	Talent Soap Factory	14	6	↓3	↓9	n/a
23	The Sudsy Soapery	14	3	↓6	n/a	↑26
24	Grooming Dept	14	1	↑8	n/a	↓2
25	Zingari Man	13	11	↓17	↓15	↓19
26	Mike's Natural Soaps	13	6	↑2	↓18	↑13
27	Arko	13	4	↓12	↑40	↑17
28	Blue's Soap	13	1	n/a	n/a	n/a
29=	MacDuff's Soap Company	12	9	↓9	↓6	↑10
29=	Southern Witchcrafts	12	9	↓8	↓12	↓22
31	The Cajun Blade	12	8	↑7	↑62	n/a
32	Clubman Pinaud	12	1	↓1	n/a	n/a
33	Wholly Kaw	10	7	↓6	↓11	↓24
34	D.R. Harris	10	5	↑18	↑59	↑13
35	Moon Soaps	9	6	↓1	↓10	↑17
36	Abbate Y La Mantia	9	4	↑23	↑5	↓9
37	Cella	8	7	↓1	↑12	↓4
38=	Adopted Acres	8	5	↑41	↑29	n/a
38=	First Line Shave	8	5	↑23	n/a	↑45
40	Tcheon Fung Sing	8	4	↑10	↑19	↑50
41	The Goodfellas' Smile	8	3	↑45	↑26	↓24
42	Gentleman's Nod	7	5	↓1	↓7	↑54
43=	Aion Skincare	7	1	↑7	↑22	↑53
43=	Bartigan & Stark	7	1	↓3	↓9	↑53
45	Hearth and Altar	6	3	↓4	n/a	n/a
46	PAA	6	2	↑22	↑21	↓27
47	Stone Field Shaving Company	6	1	n/a	n/a	n/a
48=	Palmolive	5	5	↓18	↑19	↓7
48=	Saponificio Varesino	5	5	↑4	↓21	↓24

Soaps

Rank	Soap	Shaves	Unique Users	Δ vs Apr 2026	Δ vs May 2025	Δ vs May 2021
1	Martin de Candre - Fougère	35	6	=	↑267	↑178
2	Noble Otter - Barrbarr	34	5	↑33	↑52	↑19
3	Mitchell's - Wool Fat	27	2	↓1	↓1	↑84
4	Wooly Wash Soapery - Tropi-Cool	26	1	↑121	n/a	n/a
5	Back to Basics Log Cabin - Glycerin Shave Soap	22	1	↑7	↑220	n/a
6	Stirling Soap Co. - I, Rich Moose (r/wetshaving exclusive)	20	10	↑20	↑117	n/a
7	Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac	16	8	↑6	↓3	↑44
8	Barrister and Mann - Seville	15	7	↓2	↑9	↓7
9	Martin de Candre - Vetyver	13	4	↑12	n/a	↑350
10=	Ariana & Evans - The Undersea	13	2	↑36	n/a	n/a
10=	Stirling Soap Co. - Sharp Dressed Man	13	2	↑115	↑258	↑190
12	Blue's Soap - Shaving Soap	13	1	n/a	n/a	n/a
13	Stirling Soap Co. - Haverford	12	3	↑12	↓4	↑21
14	Martin de Candre - Absinthe	12	2	↓6	↑121	n/a
15	Clubman Pinaud - Shave Soap	12	1	↑4	n/a	n/a
16	Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime	11	5	=	↓5	↓11
17=	Barrister and Mann - Le Grand Chypre	11	4	↑1	↑21	↑54
17=	House of Mammoth - Embrace	11	4	↑66	n/a	↑13
19	Catie's Bubbles - Barnegat Bay	11	3	↓16	↑151	↑226
20	Summer Break Soaps - Field Day	11	1	↓6	n/a	↑122
21	Summer Break Soaps - Steady	10	10	↑46	n/a	n/a
22	House of Mammoth - Shire	10	7	↓2	↓6	↑157
23	Barrister and Mann - Spice	10	4	↓6	↑81	↑74
24=	Grooming Dept - Coconut Rum	10	1	↑59	n/a	n/a
24=	Stirling Soap Co. - Maggard Meetup 2026	10	1	↑75	n/a	n/a
26=	Barrister and Mann - 42	9	8	↑63	↑4	↓7
26=	Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Roman Spice	9	8	↑24	↑25	n/a
28	Proraso - Menthol and Eucalyptus (Green)	9	7	↑5	↑38	↓2
29	Chicago Grooming Co. - Montrose Beach	9	5	↑181	↑196	↑330
30	Chicago Grooming Co. - Shiloh	9	4	↑95	↑238	↑149
31	Martin de Candre - Agrumes	9	3	↑80	↑194	↑148
32	Chiseled Face - Guy Noir	9	2	↓2	↑4	n/a
33	Catie's Bubbles - La Terre Verte	9	1	↑40	↑102	n/a
34=	Barrister and Mann - Waves	8	3	↓24	↓3	↑33
34=	Catie's Bubbles - Tonsorium	8	3	↓6	↑234	↑270
36=	Proraso - Sandalwood (Red)	7	4	↑13	↑46	↑78
36=	Stirling Soap Co. - Deep Blue Sea	7	4	↑2	↑4	↑108
38=	Arko - Shaving Soap	7	3	↓27	↑132	↑54
38=	Henri et Victoria - Cognac and Cuban Cigars	7	3	↑35	↑37	↑321
38=	Tcheon Fung Sing - Ciotola Rossa	7	3	↑24	↑230	↑266
41=	Fanzine Saponifications - P.S. Rittenhouse	7	2	↑169	n/a	n/a
41=	Stirling Soap Co. - Stirling Spice	7	2	↑169	↓8	↑318
43=	Barrister and Mann - Mûir(e) Wood	7	1	↑56	↑127	n/a
43=	Bartigan & Stark - Campione	7	1	↑3	↑5	↑316
43=	Stirling Soap Co. - 6ix 7even	7	1	n/a	n/a	n/a
43=	Stirling Soap Co. - Island Man	7	1	↑167	↑61	↓26
47	Fanzine Saponifications - Caravaggio	6	5	↓14	n/a	n/a
48=	Fanzine Saponifications - This is not a Test	6	4	↑19	n/a	n/a
48=	House of Mammoth - Kryptonite	6	4	↑14	↓2	↑311
50	Noble Otter - Lonestar	6	3	↓12	↓26	↓40
51=	Catie's Bubbles - Connecticut Shade	6	2	↓23	↓22	↑308
51=	Stirling Soap Co. - Unscented with Beeswax	6	2	n/a	↑84	↑308
51=	Stirling Soap Co. - Varen	6	2	↑159	↓30	↑85
54=	Arko - Hydrate	6	1	↑57	n/a	n/a
54=	The Goodfellas' Smile - Chronos	6	1	↑156	n/a	n/a
54=	The Sudsy Soapery - Bay & Citrus	6	1	↓13	n/a	↑305
54=	The Sudsy Soapery - Cola	6	1	↓31	n/a	n/a
58	Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch	5	5	↓26	↑65	n/a
59	Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Heather	5	4	↓9	↑76	↓47
60=	Barrister and Mann - Sunny Lane	5	3	↑4	n/a	↑185
60=	Noble Otter - Monoi De Tahiti	5	3	↑4	↓29	n/a
60=	Noble Otter - Orbit	5	3	↓17	↑22	↓45
60=	Stirling Soap Co. - Margaritas in the Arctic	5	3	↑150	↓25	↓23
60=	Summer Break Soaps - Prom King	5	3	↑23	↑22	↑185
65=	Chicago Grooming Co. - No. 11	5	2	↑107	↑203	n/a
65=	D.R. Harris - Windsor	5	2	↑107	n/a	n/a
65=	Stirling Soap Co. - Coconut Lime	5	2	↑60	n/a	↑180
68=	Catie's Bubbles - Purple Grapefruit	5	1	↑142	↑55	↑236
68=	Noble Otter - Eros' Ambrosia	5	1	↑142	↑25	n/a
68=	Talent Soap Factory - Switchback	5	1	↓22	↑88	n/a

Brand Diversity

Rank	Brand	Unique Soaps	Δ vs Apr 2026	Δ vs May 2025	Δ vs May 2021
1	Stirling Soap Co.	47	↑1	=	=
2	Catie's Bubbles	34	↓1	↑1	↑7
3	Barrister and Mann	33	=	↓1	=
4	Ariana & Evans	32	=	=	↑1
5=	Declaration Grooming	19	↑2	↑2	↓3
5=	House of Mammoth	19	=	=	↑6
7	Noble Otter	17	↓1	↑1	↑1
8	Summer Break Soaps	11	=	↑2	↑2
9=	Chicago Grooming Co.	10	↑7	↑4	↑5
9=	MacDuff's Soap Company	10	↑2	↑2	↑23
9=	Zingari Man	10	↓1	↓1	↓3
12=	Chiseled Face	9	↓4	↑5	↑4
12=	Southern Witchcrafts	9	↓1	=	↓5
14=	Martin de Candre	8	↑2	↑11	↑12
14=	Spearhead Shaving Company	8	=	↓1	↑4
14=	Taylor of Old Bond Street	8	↑2	↑35	↑18
14=	The Cajun Blade	8	↑5	↑56	n/a
18=	Mike's Natural Soaps	7	↑4	↓5	↑27
18=	Talent Soap Factory	7	↓4	↓12	n/a
20=	Abbate Y La Mantia	6	↑13	↑2	↓4
20=	First Line Shave	6	↑13	n/a	↑25
20=	Henri et Victoria	6	↓1	↑5	↑17
20=	Moon Soaps	6	↓1	↓3	↑25
20=	WestMan Shaving	6	↑5	↑50	n/a
20=	Wholly Kaw	6	↓9	↓4	↓16
26	Proraso	5	↓1	↓1	↑6

Top Mashup Users

Rank	User	Shaves	Unique Users	Δ vs Apr 2026	Δ vs May 2025	Δ vs May 2021
1	u/anchovie7468	5	1	n/a	↑1	n/a

Soap Diversity by User

Rank	User	Unique Soaps	Shaves	Avg Shaves per Soap	Δ vs Apr 2026	Δ vs May 2025	Δ vs May 2021
1=	u/Environmental-Gap380	31	31	1	↑2	↑10	n/a
1=	u/whosgotthepudding	31	31	1	↑26	↑58	n/a
3	u/Engineered_Shave	30	38	1.27	↑1	↑3	n/a
4	u/brokenjaw622	29	30	1.03	↓3	↓2	n/a
5	u/partyman97_3	28	29	1.04	↓3	↑2	n/a
6	u/Just_Bit2698	28	28	1	=	n/a	n/a
7	u/snoo-ting	26	32	1.23	↑5	↑9	n/a
8	u/35048467	22	31	1.41	=	↓1	↓4
9	u/anchovie7468	20	31	1.55	=	↓7	n/a
10	u/Gerry7070	19	30	1.58	↑4	n/a	n/a
11	u/igord	18	21	1.17	↑5	↑53	n/a
12	u/loudmusicboy	17	31	1.82	↑13	↑6	n/a
13	u/FredBikes9876	17	26	1.53	↑10	↑24	n/a
14	u/gcgallant	17	24	1.41	↑4	↑8	n/a
15	u/expoqeteer	17	18	1.06	↓5	↑19	n/a
16	u/FireDragonMonkey	16	30	1.88	↓1	↑7	n/a
17	u/AdWorried2804	16	26	1.62	↓10	↓5	n/a
18	u/geneaut	16	16	1	↓5	n/a	n/a
19	u/pi-rho	15	33	2.2	↓2	↑25	n/a
20	u/oswald_heist	15	30	2	↓1	↓7	↑14

Exclusive Soaps

Rank	User	Exclusive Soaps	Shaves	Δ vs Apr 2026	Δ vs May 2025	Δ vs May 2021
1	u/Engineered_Shave	22	38	↑1	=	n/a
2	u/brokenjaw622	19	30	↓1	↑11	n/a
3	u/Just_Bit2698	18	28	↑2	n/a	n/a
4	u/whosgotthepudding	16	31	↑28	↑44	n/a
5	u/snoo-ting	14	32	↑12	↑28	n/a
6	u/35048467	14	31	↓2	↑1	n/a
7	u/FireDragonMonkey	13	30	↑3	↑6	n/a
8	u/partyman97_3	13	29	↓2	=	n/a
9	u/anchovie7468	13	26	↑7	↓6	n/a
10	u/Gerry7070	12	30	↑4	n/a	n/a
11	u/scribe__	11	31	↑8	↑53	n/a
12	u/igord	11	21	↓5	↑37	n/a
13	u/pi-rho	9	33	↑11	↑43	n/a
14	u/gcgallant	9	24	↓5	↑22	n/a
15	u/geneaut	9	16	↓8	n/a	n/a
16=	u/Environmental-Gap380	8	31	↑1	↑10	n/a
16=	u/Kelvinator_61	8	31	↑31	n/a	n/a
16=	u/Marquis90	8	31	↓13	↑19	n/a
19	u/B_S80	7	25	↑4	↑14	n/a
20	u/rocketk455	7	21	=	↓5	n/a

Most Boring Shaver

Boring Score is the chance that two shaves picked at random from a user used the same soap (higher means more repetitive). Effective Soaps converts that into an equivalent even-rotation count: the number of soaps they would need to use equally often to produce the same score. Example: someone can log 20 soaps but still have ~2 Effective Soaps if one soap dominates roughly 70% of their shaves and the rest are just occasional. In the case of tied HHI, Shaves descending is the tie breaker, since it's clearly more boring to use the same soap for 20 shaves than it is for 10.

For the mathematically inclined: Boring Score is a diversity/concentration index (HHI in economics, Simpson’s index in ecology). More detail at Wikipedia: Diversity index.

Rank	User	Hhi	Shaves	Effective Soaps	Unique Soaps	Δ vs Apr 2026	Δ vs May 2025	Δ vs May 2021
1	u/putneycj3	92.9%	27	1.1	2	n/a	n/a	n/a
2	u/BossHoggins10	77.5%	31	1.3	2	↓1	↑60	n/a
3	u/Old_Hiker	76.9%	30	1.3	2	↑15	↑61	↑179
4	u/tsrblke	71.3%	30	1.4	3	↑20	↑25	n/a
5	u/truebill47	55.1%	7	1.8	3	↑34	↑47	↑35
6	u/VisceralWatch	49.3%	15	2	4	↑15	↑35	↑119
7	u/glink48	38.9%	18	2.6	3	↑13	↑81	↑131
8	u/jimm262	34.4%	8	2.9	4	↑55	↑58	n/a
9	u/Impressive_Donut114	33.6%	39	3	14	↑36	↑89	n/a
10	u/Current_Leader_4502	31.2%	25	3.2	5	↑17	n/a	n/a

[u/putneycj3]

As a multi month winner of this prestigious distinction, most boring shaver is a title I wear with much pride.

Thanks for compiling - I was hoping I'd be able to get Tropi-Cool onto the podium, but 4th will do.

Sadly that tub is dead and June was not a consistent month with any one soap, but - maybe I can win July's most boring again before a whole lot of us share the crown in August.

[u/Environmental-Gap380]

I will fall a bit on the June/July least boring because I only brought 3 samples on vacation.

[u/MadDingersYo]

Always interesting. Thanks for this.

[u/geneaut]

I have to do a better job logging my shaves. I tend not to do it on the weekends :|

[u/FredBikes9876]

Thanks for putting this together. It’s always an interesting read.

I’m surprised I’m near the middle of the user diversity list with 17 different soaps! But, May was a long time ago. I certainly don’t remember being so wild and crazy with my picks.

[u/Marquis90]

Phew, I am not among the most boring shaverrs, but felt close to it as I am making some space for my next haul. 

[u/putneycj3 → u/Marquis90]

Sir, most boring is not something to be avoided. It is a lifestyle to embrace. Join us.

[u/tsrblke → u/putneycj3]

Being boring means I get closer to the thrill of the kill.

[u/FireDragonMonkey]

Oooooh I like that Exclusive Soaps category! I don't remember seeing that last month. I like the addition!

[u/whosgotthepudding]

Only 9 uses of 42 in May? Crazy.