Very early thoughts of MWF & Institut Karite

[cluelessdude]

Received these two soaps this week and so far have had one shave with each.

First up was MWF and wow this scent is really nice! I have come to realize I appreciate lighter scents; nothing too strong for me. I can't describe the MWF scent but it's very nice IMO. The shave was pretty good, I mean I think I really like the lanolin. Wow! The only concern for me seems to be the lather. I couldn't get that much lather from the puck despite taking a good 5 minutes I'd say. It just wasn't developing. Would love some advice.

Institut Karite was up next today and I think it's really nice. The puck seems really small but it gave a great shave, nothing to complain about. The scent is that of a baby powder. I bought this because of the shea butter after opening a thread asking for recommendations on shea butter soaps. My face feels very moisturized including the areas of dry patches on my face.

Overall both soaps are great and make my skin feel very nice and soft. Now I just have to learn how to lather MWF . The ceramic bowl btw is very nice. The lid though doesnt seem to fit like a glove. I mean I can hear that ceramic sound from the lid shaking against the bowl when I pick up the bowl. Is this normal?

[duderdo]

Always nice to see IK getting attention. I have yet to try MWF for some reason, but IK is really top notch. The lather has a unique, comfortable feel to it.

[Crog]

Perhaps try distilled water if you continue to have problems lathering MWF (I don't have that soap, BTW).

[Saltchuck]

First up was MWF .... I couldn't get that much lather from the puck despite taking a good 5 minutes I'd say. It just wasn't developing. Would love some advice.

If you spent 5 minutes on the puck and still didn't get much lather, then I'd say you weren't using enough water. MWF is thirsty. Try soaking the brush, then shaking it out once or twice (not too hard), and then loading up the brush from the puck. You may see bubbly lather at first, but just keep going until the lather thickens up to your liking.

I sometimes put a couple of teaspoons of water on the puck before I take my shower to soften it up a little.

Good luck!

P.S.: IK is great stuff too!

[LeftyT]

MWF wants to be a soft soap. Make it one, and it will blow all others away in pure shaving comfort.

[Scritchnscrub]

Perhaps try distilled water if you continue to have problems lathering MWF (I don't have that soap, BTW).

If you're using Toronto tap water, you're fine - my MWF lathered like a champ with Toronto water.

If you spent 5 minutes on the puck and still didn't get much lather, then I'd say you weren't using enough water. MWF is thirsty. Try soaking the brush, then shaking it out once or twice (not too hard), and then loading up the brush from the puck. You may see bubbly lather at first, but just keep going until the lather thickens up to your liking.

I sometimes put a couple of teaspoons of water on the puck before I take my shower to soften it up a little.

Good luck!

P.S.: IK is great stuff too!

+1 - Get a nice wet brush and then load ample soap onto it. Once you get the hang of it then you can scale back gradually.

[joeboom]

Just received this soap today and tried it out for the first time. I had trouble lathering. Tried Marcos method and the lather was thin and there wasnt a lot of it in my bowl. The shave was okay, my face felt so soft after. Hopefully I can figure it out because I like the smell and my face felt great after. I've read that some people have better success face lathering but hopefully I can get it to work in my bowl since I dont really enjoy face lathering.

[Scritchnscrub]

Just received this soap today and tried it out for the first time. I had trouble lathering. Tried Marcos method and the lather was thin and there wasnt a lot of it in my bowl. The shave was okay, my face felt so soft after. Hopefully I can figure it out because I like the smell and my face felt great after. I've read that some people have better success face lathering but hopefully I can get it to work in my bowl since I dont really enjoy face lathering.

Also, if I remember correctly, MWF tends to improve with consistent use.

[Viseguy]

MWF: Flood the puck with warm water for a minute or two before loading the brush. Swirl the brush on the puck slowly -- really take your time. As mentioned above, make sure that the brush is moist enough, and if you get bubbles keep swirling until the lather thickens up. A lot of this carries over to other soaps as well -- esp. hard tripled-milled soaps like D.R. Harris. Once you have the knack for lathering MWF, you may find that all of your lathers improve.

[GreekGuy]

I just got some MWF. Tried lathering it with a boar brush, somewhat dry as I do with most soaps. Nothing

Put some water on the puck. Came back 30 mins later with a badger brush. Gobs of thick lather

Give it some water, and make sure to use a brush with some backbone. I should add, btw, that I use San Diego tap water, which is absolutely horrendous in terms of hardness. If I can lather it with the water here, anyone can lather it with their water

[pipskicks]

Know nothing about the two but curious about your thoughts...

Here is a YouTube by Manic re: lathering up the MWC...
http://youtu.be/_MGLi_m9n_s

[arm017]

Keep working the MWF. It will come.

[LeftyT]

Once you have the knack for lathering MWF, you may find that all of your lathers improve.

I agree, 100%! To me, it's a lot like Cade in this sense. They both create gorgeous glistening lather that seems like it will go on forever, if you just keep adding water.
One minor thing to play around with is how wet you like your lather from MWF and Cade (likely IK, as well). While the perfect ratio of water to soap to whisk might be one thing, you might actualy prefer it a little less wet, which I find creates a slicker shave, but you might lose half a pass worth of lather. However, since I learned these two soaps, with a big brush I get easily 5 passes of lather, and with my Wee, I get about 3.5.

[NickyBobby]

MWF: Flood the puck with warm water for a minute or two before loading the brush. Swirl the brush on the puck slowly -- really take your time. As mentioned above, make sure that the brush is moist enough, and if you get bubbles keep swirling until the lather thickens up. A lot of this carries over to other soaps as well -- esp. hard tripled-milled soaps like D.R. Harris. Once you have the knack for lathering MWF, you may find that all of your lathers improve.

+1. Also, I think MWF face lathers much better than it bowl lathers.

Know nothing about the two but curious about your thoughts...

Here is a YouTube by Manic re: lathering up the MWC...
http://youtu.be/_MGLi_m9n_s

+1 This worked perfectly for me.

And I absolutely agree. MWF provides great cushion, great moisturizing, and has a fantastic scent!

[Mandina]

1+ that MWF is a thirsty soap. I had no luck with Mantic's just-damp brush method but have had excellent luck with Marco's very wet-brush method (see the B&B thread "Marco's method"). If you try the latter, you may have to use a brush that is a bit less wet than Marco suggests, depending on the brush.

[Shaveology]

I love the scent of MWF soap, altho I do have trouble lathering it (I'd like to think it's hard water, but could be my technique too). I agree with those saying that it is a thirsty soap and lathering the puck improves with use. I have to lather it 2x and much and 2x as long to get good results. I love Institut Karite, it is very moisturizing for my skin, however I tend to get razor burn (with IK) if I'm not careful. Round out the trinity with Tabac... those are my 3 favorite shave soaps.

[Prof. Moriarty]

MWF is currently my favourite shaving soap. That stuff is absolutely incredible, although I am not fond of the scent. Yet the softness of the face, and the incredible lather more than makes up for it
You really just need to get it to work, it takes a bit but it is definitely worth the effort. And I also have horribly hard water...

[Doc4]

First up was MWF and wow this scent is really nice! I have come to realize I appreciate lighter scents; nothing too strong for me. I can't describe the MWF scent but it's very nice IMO. The shave was pretty good, I mean I think I really like the lanolin. Wow! The only concern for me seems to be the lather. I couldn't get that much lather from the puck despite taking a good 5 minutes I'd say. It just wasn't developing. Would love some advice.

The scent is "clean". What "clean" smells like ... or "doesn't smell like", the scent is so subtle.

Advice? There's a really nice scuttle full of MWF lather right next door to Carnegie Hall ... do you need to know how to get to Carnegie Hall?

[ajc347]

Both MWF and IK are very nice soaps.

I've found IK a lot easier to use than MWF though (even though I live in a very soft water area).

[thatsilverguy]

Funny, I'm bouncing between these 2 soaps too. They are pretty different IMO, but maybe that is just because of how they interact with my water.

As far as lathering MWF, Mantic59 has a great Youtube video on that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGLi_m9n_s

My IK vs MWF notes. I have used IK for a few months and the same puck has barely decreased in size. I have only been using MWF for about a week or 2 so I'm still earning about it. I can't say that I have an adequate experience to say one is "better for me" than the other yet.

IK:
Very "clean", soapy scent.
Lathers easily, though not as fast as VDH Luxury. Lots of lather. Once I started using a similar technique as Mantic's MWF technique I started getting uber-lather every time.
Slippery enough, but not as slick as MWF
Washes off cleanly, easily with warm water
SWMBO tells me my face seems well-moistuized when I use Institut Karite.


MWF:
Clean, sort-of musky scent (hard for me to describe)
Lathers great, once you know the trick. I can whip up an uber-lather very quickly and easily now.
Very slippery, but not too much like VDH Luxury
Always seems to leave a light slippery film on me
SWMBO has commented that my face is dry after shaving with Mitchell's Wool Fat but, as I said, I haven't given it a long trial run yet.

My conclusions:
I like them both so far. I can't say that I like one better than the other. I'm leaning to IK for the scent, but MWF is a little cheaper. Of course - YMMV