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First use Martin de Candre Rose - Foolproof process used

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Wow! All I can say is this soap lives up to the hype. Truly fantastic shaving experience this morning. Wow!

I decided to do my full Foolproof process discovery method with this soap, although I did not think I needed to. After taking about a week of shaves to dial in another favorite, my Ethos Grooming Dragonsbeard, which is a bit finicky with hydration, I decided I should take my own advice and simply do this with every new soap I try. I now get perfect lather with Dragonsbeard every time, but I did not in the beginning. The Foolproof process helps one understand how a new soap behaves and how to get the absolute most out of it.

I did discover what I thought I would, however, and that this is a very easy soap to use. I started with a damp dry brush, and about a 30-second load, figuring it would be more than needed (it was) and slowly added water by dipping the tips of the brush in water and working it in the Captains Choice ceramic lather bowl. After 3-4 water additions, I had what I like in a lather, peaks that hold but are not particularly stiff. Soft floppy peaks, I guess you'd call it and a fairly glistening sheen to the lather. Then I added up to about 7 dips (I think) and the extra water had not made the lather unusable, so I stopped rather than taking it to failure because it was not necessary. It was a little thin, but 30 seconds of lathering in my palm brought it up to right where I wanted it again.

So, what this demonstrated, is that this soap has a fairly forgiving (wide) hydration window, you won't have trouble nailing your lather easily. Ethos, on the other hand, has a very narrow window and when you get it to almost what you think is ideal, and you want to dip the tips in water one more time--DON'T--you are already at the ideal lather. You add that last dip of water, and you could easily go past the ability to hold water and the lather will be too thin. I get perfect lather every time now, but I wish I had done my discovery process first. Click the link above if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I rinsed everything and started again, this time with a 15 second load and a damper brush, two dips of the brush tips in water and I was at perfect lather. This is about as easy to lather as Tabac, Cella, any TOBS cream, I simply cannot imagine anyone having trouble with it, but go through the process anyway so you know what this can give you and you can get it to your personal ideal consistency.

The shave was fantastic. Lots of blade buffing, this stuff is very slick, no discomfort, and 4 hours later I still have a true BBS feel to my face. I don't normally opine on skin friendliness of products because I have zero sensitivities, but I'm going to go out on a limb here because of the simplicity of the ingredient list, and say you are not likely to have any issues with this except maybe if you have a reaction to rose essential oil. I understand some folks do with some oils, but I've also read that rose oil is actually good for sensitive skin and so it is unlikely to cause issues. I finished the shave with Witch Hazel and Lavanda Lavender A/S to keep the floral theme going, and my face feels great!

Saturday, March 8​

  • Preshave = shower
  • Captain's Choice stoneware lather bowl
  • Yaqi Ghost 90SB DS head on Cosmetics Spiral Ti handle (China)
  • Dorco Prime #5 (Viet Nam)
  • Eveready 150 vintage reknotted w/22mm TGN Finest badger (USA)
  • Martin de Candre Rose (France)
  • Thayer's WH (USA)
  • Lavanda A/S (Portugal)
10/10 BBS Well, MdC is worthy of the hype! Effortless and comfortable BBS first time out with it. Easy to lather, TERRIFIC lather, outstanding shave experience.

This is in my permanent rotation, for sure! I now get why people own several (or even all) of the MdC scents.

Shave.jpg
 
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Yeah! 👊

Stellar product. And you need next to nothing. This gives a good idea, the guy face lathers like I do:

(Loading the soap starts at 5:00.)

 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
@drydown Ok, now I'm challenged. I thought the PAA CK6 base was the one you could use the least soap with the most water with. This may be there, as well.

Although I got a terrific lather today, I'm going to experiment a bit and reduce my loading. This is a very interesting soap, indeed.
 
@JCinPA , yeah! I stumbled over that while waiting for my first MdC and it always reminds me to load less - much less - than what I'm used to with my triple milled tallow D.R.Harris.

Or look at this:

 
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@drydown Ok, now I'm challenged. I thought the PAA CK6 base was the one you could use the least soap with the most water with. This may be there, as well.

Although I got a terrific lather today, I'm going to experiment a bit and reduce my loading. This is a very interesting soap, indeed.
CK6 seems to last forever and a day - there is a lot of soap in those
Tubs.

My first MdC - I loaded like crazy and still don’t think I made a divot in the first month.

Enjoy !
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Holy smokes! :eek2: This stuff is amazing! I think I had more water in the brush than I should have at the start, so I did 30 (exactly) swirls, then went to my face. Did not see a lot of soap on the brush tips, but it really face lathered into a mountain of lather! Had tons left over after the shave.

Tomorrow I think I'll dial in the water a little better in the beginning and go with just 15 swirls. This stuff is unbelievable. Shave description from what you used today thread...

Sunday, March 9​

  • Preshave = shower
  • Captain's Choice stoneware lather bowl
  • Vintage Gillette Superspeed (USA)
  • Vintage Gillette Spoiler (USA)
  • Yaqi Aqua 24mm highmountain badger brush (China)
  • Martin de Candre Rose (France)
  • Gentleman Jon's alum block (USA)
  • Pinaud Clubman in vintage bottle (USA)
10/10 BBS Well, I'm playing with MdC these last two days, and it is living up to its vaunted reputation. Frankly, I was getting a little bored with perfect BBS daily shaves, so I put my perfect razor (Yaqi Ghost 90SB with heavy handle) away and got out a vintage Gillette superspeed. I have not played with any other razors for a while, and my goodness the shave was great!

To check on comfort I used the alum block today, rather than my customary witch hazel to check on it. Pinaud usually highlights any flaws, too. I will say this was an outstanding shave, but the Ghost may be ever so slightly more comfortable. I think I'll stick with this combo for the rest of this week.

Shave.jpg


A friend with sensitive skin says this is not as moisturizing as some other formulations he's used, he finds it drying, but I do not. my skin is notoriously not sensitive, but this is a terrific shave for me, during and after!

I get superlative shaves with everything in my den, but I would say the best shaves are with S.V., Ethos Dragonsbeard, and this. Not complaining about any of the others in my dozen or so, but these three really stand out for me. How could I have gone almost 15 years without trying MdC?

I guess I didn't think it was "worth" the price, but after trying S.V. I though what the heck, all of this stuff is cheap enough given how often it gets used. But this tub, both the size (200 grams, not the typical 150) and the fact you need almost none of the soap to lather with, may make this as cheap as Cella on a per-shave basis. Others have said that, but I wasn't a believer until now. Now I think I am.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
P.S. Interestingly, though they have many afficionados here on B&B, I've never warmed up to Pre de Provence or Provence Sante in the past. They are nice enough, but I never got the hype, considering them definitely in my Tier 2 category of lather products. While I've had good hard soaps in the past (Tabac comes immediately to mind), I've been mostly a softer soap kind of guy.

But S.V. and this MdC have just blown me away. Wow.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Oh, no! I thought it was S.V.? They are both absolutely superlative, and you're the reason I have them! No more complaints about enabling, I promise! :lol:
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Well, I bloomed the MdC this morning and did 20 swirls on it and still had plenty for a 3-pass shave, although I only went 2-pass today. This soap will definitely last forever, I do not doubt the claims that one jar will last a year of daily shaves. Not at all.

Monday, March 10​

  • Preshave = shower
  • Captain's Choice stoneware lather bowl
  • Vintage Gillette Superspeed (USA)
  • Vintage Gillette Spoiler #2 (USA)
  • Reknotted vintage MadeRite 750 (USA)
  • Martin de Candre Rose (France)
  • Thayer's Witch Hazel (USA)
  • Ethos Grooming Dragonsbeard A/S (USA)
8.5/10 2-pass comfortable shave. I've been getting a daily BBS without irritation with my Yaqi Ghost 90SB lately, but yesterday I went too close with a vintage superspeed. True, it's a mild razor, but you cannot go as close with the vintage razors without some irritation, at least I can't. Went for the 2-pass comfortable shave today and used some Ethos skin food A/S for a little skin rejuvenation.
 

Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
Dear John @JCinPA one important advice on MdC should you not already be aware of it: after usage it is highly recommended to leave the soap air dry for at least 24 hours WITHOUT lid to ensure it becomes perfectly dry again. Only after that you can cover with the lid as usual until the next shave.
 
Holy smokes! :eek2: This stuff is amazing! I think I had more water in the brush than I should have at the start, so I did 30 (exactly) swirls, then went to my face. Did not see a lot of soap on the brush tips, but it really face lathered into a mountain of lather! Had tons left over after the shave.

Tomorrow I think I'll dial in the water a little better in the beginning and go with just 15 swirls. This stuff is unbelievable. Shave description from what you used today thread...

Sunday, March 9​

  • Preshave = shower
  • Captain's Choice stoneware lather bowl
  • Vintage Gillette Superspeed (USA)
  • Vintage Gillette Spoiler (USA)
  • Yaqi Aqua 24mm highmountain badger brush (China)
  • Martin de Candre Rose (France)
  • Gentleman Jon's alum block (USA)
  • Pinaud Clubman in vintage bottle (USA)
10/10 BBS Well, I'm playing with MdC these last two days, and it is living up to its vaunted reputation. Frankly, I was getting a little bored with perfect BBS daily shaves, so I put my perfect razor (Yaqi Ghost 90SB with heavy handle) away and got out a vintage Gillette superspeed. I have not played with any other razors for a while, and my goodness the shave was great!

To check on comfort I used the alum block today, rather than my customary witch hazel to check on it. Pinaud usually highlights any flaws, too. I will say this was an outstanding shave, but the Ghost may be ever so slightly more comfortable. I think I'll stick with this combo for the rest of this week.

Shave.jpg


A friend with sensitive skin says this is not as moisturizing as some other formulations he's used, he finds it drying, but I do not. my skin is notoriously not sensitive, but this is a terrific shave for me, during and after!

I get superlative shaves with everything in my den, but I would say the best shaves are with S.V., Ethos Dragonsbeard, and this. Not complaining about any of the others in my dozen or so, but these three really stand out for me. How could I have gone almost 15 years without trying MdC?

I guess I didn't think it was "worth" the price, but after trying S.V. I though what the heck, all of this stuff is cheap enough given how often it gets used. But this tub, both the size (200 grams, not the typical 150) and the fact you need almost none of the soap to lather with, may make this as cheap as Cella on a per-shave basis. Others have said that, but I wasn't a believer until now. Now I think I am.
Totally agree with you about SV. I have made this my Prime choice brand. I found that scooping less than 1/4 tsp in a bowl, it produces a full lather more than enough for 3 passes and buffing. I will try to use your method with scooping the soap.
 
I wonder if the GREAT Marco's Method will overload when using MdC.
In my experience, Marco's Method never fails and resurrects some soaps perceived as dud ones.
 
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Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
I wonder if the GREAT Marco's Method will overload when using MdC.
In my experience, Marco's Method never fails and resurrects some soaps perceived as dud ones.
Indeed it will overload, Sir. I do not suggest My Method with Martin de Candre. And, honestly speaking, this outstanding French soap is so easy to load up properly and abundantly that even a total novice can quickly figure out how to build up a nice lather without issues.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro

Monday, March 17​

  • Preshave = shower
  • Captain's Choice stoneware lather bowl
  • Yaqi Ghost 90SB Ti spiral handle (China)
  • Vintage Gillette Spoiler #2 (USA)
  • DS Cosmetics 22mm badger (China)
  • MdC Rose (France)
  • Thayer's Witch Hazel (USA)
  • NOS Shulton Old Spice A/S (USA)
10/10 BBS This stuff is insane! You only have to look at it to make a lather! I did 15 swirls on bloomed soap and got enough for 4 passes. Started with 30 swirls, then 20. I could do 10 swirls, and though the brush doesn't look loaded, get 3 passes out of it. Has anyone ever posted the number of shaves they've gotten out of one jar?

I didn't use to believe it until until I got a jar, but this may be as economical on a per-shave basis as Cella or Proraso. If anyone has seen the # of shaves on an empty tub, I'd be interested to know.

P.S. Agree with Marco. Use the "Marco Method" with MdC and you'll get this.

1742214347852.png
 
This stuff is insane! You only have to look at it to make a lather! I did 15 swirls on bloomed soap and got enough for 4 passes. Started with 30 swirls, then 20. I could do 10 swirls, and though the brush doesn't look loaded, get 3 passes out of it. Has anyone ever posted the number of shaves they've gotten out of one jar?

Yeah, it is! That's why I wrote „you need next to nothing“.

Some weeks ago I snapped some 50 gr tins on a board to check out further scents and as these tiny jars are no fun with my 26 - 30 mm brushes, I moved 10 gr of Rose into a better suited bowl.
10 shaves for far and I load quite some soap with these brushes, more than the guy in the video I had linked to in #3. Still a good amount left, I'll report back, when it's used up.

It's not a complaint seen seldom that MdC lasts way too long. :clown:
 
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