For my second ever review, I chose barrister and mann's shave soap. I have used all their scents, but for this review I have chosen to write up Cheshire shave soap specifically. This is their earl grey scented shave soap. So here it goes:
Price: 9/10 at $11 dollars for nearly four ounces of a high quality tallow and lanolin soap scented with what seem to be skillfully blended essential oils of high quality, it is a steal. My only knock is I like to use the labels to identify the soap in the container I keep it in, and their labels don't hold up well to the watery environment of the sink during a shave. I would love to see waterproof labeling that can be reused. This is a minor quibble, however.
Scent: 10/10. I am a huge fan of earl grey tea, and I gathered largely from reviews and limited personal experience that often times earl grey is largely a citrus scent (usually bergamot or some combination of citrus to create a scent similar to bergamot) and the tea aspect is ignored. In this instance, the good folks at barrister and mann clearly saw where others were failing and sought to make a soap that has what seems the truest bergamot I've smelled in a soap, and have blended additional essential oils to mimic the tea aspect. If I recall the herbacious and tannic smells of black tea is created by blending patchouli, lavender and clary sage. Whatever proportions they chose to blend these oils, they have so completely captured the smell an open tin of loose leaf earl grey of a high quality. ALL WITH ESSENTIAL OILS! Pure alchemy. This complex, alluring and addicting scents are a hallmark of all their soaps. So it can't be simple luck that they were successful here.
Lather:10/10 As with all their soaps the lather produced is yogurt thick, very slick and extremely protective. In many ways it produces a lather very much like mikes, but with less difficulty. It is also a moderately thirsty soap. More than most, but less than mikes. It is also very stable and dried little during time between passes. Additionally, the scent remained strong and pleasing in the lather and throughout the shave.
Post-Shave: 10/10. I credit the non-comodegenic Kokomo butter and lanolin primarily for the moisturizing properties post shave. These soaps leave my skin soft and smooth more so than most other soaps. Top notch. It is soaps like this that motivated me to leave the canned junk behind and even further, to leave behind unnatural mass produced corporate soaps. This is an artisan soap maker of the highest order.
Overall I would say a solid 9-9.5 out of 10. The scent really has no peers in my experience (and this is also the case for all their soaps I've tried. Lather is the stuff of lather pornography. They have samples is available for the uncertain buyer, so you have nothing to lose to try this soap out. You owe it to yourself to try it. Next time I will review their solstice, an absolutely sophisticated and bespoke smelling summer soap.
Price: 9/10 at $11 dollars for nearly four ounces of a high quality tallow and lanolin soap scented with what seem to be skillfully blended essential oils of high quality, it is a steal. My only knock is I like to use the labels to identify the soap in the container I keep it in, and their labels don't hold up well to the watery environment of the sink during a shave. I would love to see waterproof labeling that can be reused. This is a minor quibble, however.
Scent: 10/10. I am a huge fan of earl grey tea, and I gathered largely from reviews and limited personal experience that often times earl grey is largely a citrus scent (usually bergamot or some combination of citrus to create a scent similar to bergamot) and the tea aspect is ignored. In this instance, the good folks at barrister and mann clearly saw where others were failing and sought to make a soap that has what seems the truest bergamot I've smelled in a soap, and have blended additional essential oils to mimic the tea aspect. If I recall the herbacious and tannic smells of black tea is created by blending patchouli, lavender and clary sage. Whatever proportions they chose to blend these oils, they have so completely captured the smell an open tin of loose leaf earl grey of a high quality. ALL WITH ESSENTIAL OILS! Pure alchemy. This complex, alluring and addicting scents are a hallmark of all their soaps. So it can't be simple luck that they were successful here.
Lather:10/10 As with all their soaps the lather produced is yogurt thick, very slick and extremely protective. In many ways it produces a lather very much like mikes, but with less difficulty. It is also a moderately thirsty soap. More than most, but less than mikes. It is also very stable and dried little during time between passes. Additionally, the scent remained strong and pleasing in the lather and throughout the shave.
Post-Shave: 10/10. I credit the non-comodegenic Kokomo butter and lanolin primarily for the moisturizing properties post shave. These soaps leave my skin soft and smooth more so than most other soaps. Top notch. It is soaps like this that motivated me to leave the canned junk behind and even further, to leave behind unnatural mass produced corporate soaps. This is an artisan soap maker of the highest order.
Overall I would say a solid 9-9.5 out of 10. The scent really has no peers in my experience (and this is also the case for all their soaps I've tried. Lather is the stuff of lather pornography. They have samples is available for the uncertain buyer, so you have nothing to lose to try this soap out. You owe it to yourself to try it. Next time I will review their solstice, an absolutely sophisticated and bespoke smelling summer soap.
