I'm not planning on restarting the 'love Williams - hate Williams' debate, but because of recent pro-Williams threads, I bought a puck from CVS and gave it a try.
I'd tried it a couple of years ago with horrible results, but man! My recent results have been amazing!
Bowl lathering has been hit or miss, but face lathering has given me excellent shaves. My skin feels great and the shaves were close and comfortable.
Is this the best soap I've used - no! Still, it's good enough for me (lately) that I would consider it to be among the better performers I have.
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Here's my prep sequence:
- Put a few drops of water on the soap and spread it around with the fingers. There is no 'extra' water - the soap is just damp.
- Soak the Semogue SOC in hot water
- Take hot shower
- Squeeze the brush and load up for a minute or so
- Build lather on the face, as preferred
- Shave WTG and XTG with a Hoshi Tombo asymmetrically ground straight (with some ATG thrown in)
-> RESULT: Smooth, comfortable shave.
I've been using this prep for a while now, and I'll continue to see how it works out as long as the puck lasts. By then I'll have a real nice idea of how it performs as a daily user soap.
My water is not particularly soft. My mother-in-law has soft water and when I shower, it always feels like my skin stays soapy. I don't have this issue at my home. There are no deposits on the sink either, so it's not spectacularly hard water either.
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Anyway, that's my Williams two cents.
I'd tried it a couple of years ago with horrible results, but man! My recent results have been amazing!
Bowl lathering has been hit or miss, but face lathering has given me excellent shaves. My skin feels great and the shaves were close and comfortable.
Is this the best soap I've used - no! Still, it's good enough for me (lately) that I would consider it to be among the better performers I have.
-----
Here's my prep sequence:
- Put a few drops of water on the soap and spread it around with the fingers. There is no 'extra' water - the soap is just damp.
- Soak the Semogue SOC in hot water
- Take hot shower
- Squeeze the brush and load up for a minute or so
- Build lather on the face, as preferred
- Shave WTG and XTG with a Hoshi Tombo asymmetrically ground straight (with some ATG thrown in)
-> RESULT: Smooth, comfortable shave.
I've been using this prep for a while now, and I'll continue to see how it works out as long as the puck lasts. By then I'll have a real nice idea of how it performs as a daily user soap.
My water is not particularly soft. My mother-in-law has soft water and when I shower, it always feels like my skin stays soapy. I don't have this issue at my home. There are no deposits on the sink either, so it's not spectacularly hard water either.
-------
Anyway, that's my Williams two cents.