D.R. Harris Arlington Shave Soap

Had mine for some time now in mahogany bowl. When I opened it the smell made me smile, it is so amazing and fresh. I love it! Used it with my Larry Andro's Whipped Dog Silvertip and Black badger and non of them had any problem with making the richest lather ever! Shaved with EJ DE86 with new Feather blade and it was a joy. Hadn't felt the blade on my face at all! No irritation, and no dry skin.

Price maybe to much, but I think it is worth it.

I know almost everyone loves this scent - but it's lemon pez to me, with a fern background. Too artificial, and very dis-similar to the rest of their scent line. Still, the lather is wonderful.

I have just come back from London, where I popped in to DR Harris, I spent a small fortune in there, loads of soaps, creams, and a few razors, only becuase they have DR Harris written on them.......anyway back to the Arlington, well I was given a sample for smelling purposes...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ARLINGTON...I love that smell clean, fresh and did I say mmmmmmmmmm, good lather, I bought a bowl and a stick and they make for a fantastic shave, nice smooth and mmmmmmmmmmm that smell !

This stuff is my desert island pick. Writing this review has got me so worked up - I'm going to go shave with it right now!

Price: It's not cheap but it's one of the best soaps available. Full stop.

Quality: See above.

Scent: This is the only scent that my wife, daughter and I all agree on as being the bomb. A refined but zesty blend of citrus and fern. It smells clean, fresh and masculine and it's the ONLY scent I never tire of. It works in all 4 seasons.

Lather: Thick, slick and supple in about 5 seconds.

Efficacy: This stuff always gives me one of the best shaves. Excellent cushion and glide combine for a thing of beauty; and the scent is second to none.

Moisturizing: This soap is terrificly neutral on my sensitive skin. It's not particularly moisturizing but it's not drying in the least. An excellent option for my skin type.

After using a shave-stick of D.R. Harris (almond scent), I decided to try a puck of the Arlington scent. The Arlington scent is terrific, but the lather I get from the puck doesn't always do its job. I'm more likely to get nicked. In fact, I get more consistently good shaves with Mama Bear's shave soaps, which are much less expensive.

I did get much better slickness using the D. R. Harris (almond) in the shave-stick form. Maybe, it is because the soap goes directly from the stick onto the beard and is lathered on the face. It might be worth trying this Arlington in the shave-stick, too.

I bought mine at the Harris shop in London c/w a beech bowl. The price represents good value for money, this soap will last a while.
Quality - Excellent
Scent - Superb. Lemony Fern like.
Lather - Excellent. This is tallow, tripple milled soap & it produces oodles of rick, slick, creamy lather.
Efficacy - see lather.
Moisturizing - N/A it is a soap & it does what it is supposed to very well.

I use DR Harris Arlington in shave stick form.

Aside from scent, this is the closest thing I've found to a homemade MWF shave stick.

The packaging is classy, works well, and refreshingly simple & old school.

I shave exclusively with a straight, and I find DR Harris better than most as far as feedback, slickness & how easily it rinses off a blade.

The only 9's I gave this would be for scent (a little sweet but I hear it lessens with use & gets more citrusy & fern like), efficacy (this is a ridiculous rating, as it means "capacity to produce an effect"), and moisturizing (as I feel MWF moisturizes better).

This soap is so good, that it has replaced my La Toja shave stick for travel.

Along with my Wee Scot & a Sheffield straight, this will permanently be in my travel kit.

Little background first...

I've been wet shaving for six months now. Straight razor shaving for two.
I have a collection of 35 shaving creams and soaps...

Many are great. First love affair was with Trumpers.
But then followed my French girlfriend, Martin de Candre...

Enter Arlighton.

It's a great soap, hands down.
But it's real appeal to me is how good it is with a straight razor.
Or more accurately - when you are learning to use a straight razor.

The lather is slick and dependable.
The scent is great, and subtle (compared to Trumper's Rose, say).

I don't know why, but I couldn't have stuck with Musgo Real for six weeks straight. Or Mitchell's Wool Fat. Both great soaps, to be sure. But Arligton's was so much fun to use and dependable, that I was able to forgo one variable in my morning shave and focus exclusively on technique.

And that's important.

So my advice? When focusing on technique, chose one soap and stick with it.
But it has to be fun to use, yet offer no distractions.

For me, that's Arlington. And it's a blessing.

Cheers.

D.R. Harris, established in 1790, is one of London’s oldest pharmacies. Today it is still located at the number 29 of St James’s Street, as it was when it first opened, over two centuries ago.The illustrious history of D.R. Harris is such that it really needs no presentation. It is sufficient to read and appreciate what is written on its beautiful web-site: “This family-owned business holds the warrant to HRH The Prince of Wales. We are renowned for our range of quality products for men and women. These include soaps, colognes, bath and shaving preparations, skin care and aromatherapy oils. The majority of our products are still produced by traditional methods, being hand-made and packed in our own premises in London.”And D.R. Harris truly offers a wide range of top-shelf grooming items and top-notch shaving goods. Among these, I want to focus my attention on one of most classic, most loved and most effective shaving soaps the company is proud of: the Arlington. This great English gem is a 100 g solid white triple-milled hard soap with tallow, housed in a wonderful hand-turned wooden bowl, available in both Beech and Mahogany.
The package itself is a touch of class: very traditional, very simple, very elegant. It is priced around € 20 with the wooden bowl and about € 10 as a refill puck alone. My impression, after a few shaves, is that this hard piece of soap is going to last a long, long time. And therefore I can say that its cost is absolutely reasonable. Now the scent: divine. I want to repeat it again: divine. In fifteen years of wet shaving I have never found a better smelling soap than Harris Arlington. A unique, light but powerful fragrance of citrus mixed with hints of fern. Spectacular. Simply spectacular. Latherability is excellent, too. I just soften the surface of the soap with a few drops of water and heavily load my brush. Huge mounds of fantastic lather start to appear… And the lather is super thick, cushioning and slick. Moisturizing properties are also very good. I get outstanding shaves with the Arlington. It leaves my face smooth, fresh and clean. No issue, this fabulous English soap is a terrific performer indeed. And a luxurious product of the finest quality. D.R. Harris Arlington, for perfect Gentlemen, for true connoisseurs.

I enjoy using this soap quite a bit.

Price: Not bad, all things considered. I sprung for the bowl and don't regret it.

Quality: The presentation of the wooden bowl is great, and everything looks new even after a few weeks of regular use. No problems with the quality of the soap.

Scent: I love the smell of this soap. I'll echo the earlier comments that this soap starts with a more fruity scent and then mellows after a while. The fruit smelled exactly like lemon Pez candy to me. However, it was never a big deal once I'd created a lather. It smells very woodsy to me, like something you'd wear if you were getting ready for your next LL Bean photo shoot.

Lather: I'm able to lather this soap like crazy. It produces one of the thickest and creamiest lathers I've gotten from a soap if I load my brush enough. I've never measured how much loading that actually is, but I'd say 30 seconds plus. On the flip side, if I load for just a little bit the lather is runny and generally unacceptable.

Efficacy: The biggest letdown of this soap. It's slick enough, but nothing special. I get nicks sometimes while going ATG in tough areas when using this soap. The cushion is great, but the slickness leaves something to be desired.

Moisturizing: Haven't had too much of a problem, but I've had a little bit of dry skin after using this soap. Not enough to stop using it, just enough to really be noticeable.

Though I don't regret buying this soap, I don't believe I'll get another puck once this one runs out. The relative lack of slickness really disappoints me in an otherwise outstanding puck.

Without doubt a sure winner in my books.

Presentation of this soap in its wonderful wooden bowl is superb. But it's not all about good looks, no, beneath its glitzy exterior is a beast of a soap.

No irritation. Moisturised. Smelling fantastic. All words I could use to describe this soap and how it leaves my skin.
price wise, £17 isn't cheap, but seeing as it will last a year, if not longer in rotation with another soap, what more do you want??

By the way, it's a citrus fragrance, I use T&H pre-shave oil and Geo. F. Trumper Lime Face Food, they compliment each other perfectly.

I've been using Arlington consistently for the last couple of weeks, and overall I've been very pleased with it. The overall experience of using the soap is very favorable. Some specifics:
Price: The initial investment is quite high if you want the wooden bowl, but it's worth it in my opinion. It looks absolutely lovely sitting on the bathroom counter. Refills are quite affordable.
Quality: Top notch. The packaging and presentation are excellent, and the feel of using the soap is superb. It is clearly a well made product.
Scent: In my opinion it's pretty awesome, though not as good as say Mama Bear's. It is a light citrusy scent which kind of reminds me of Fruit Loops mixed with clean laundry. Very nice.
Lather: In this regard the Arlington really shines. I can whip up more lather using less soap than with any of my other soaps, even Tabac. The lather is a bit tricky to get just right in terms of water levels, but it isn't too hard to repeat once you've figured it out.
Efficacy: I was a bit disappointed in this regard. Although the soap is effective at creating cushion, providing slickness, softening the hairs, and doing all the other things a soap should do, it didn't seem to do it as well as other soaps which cost less. Once again I can't help but compare it to Mama Bear's, which I think is about the best soap for any price, and Tabac, which behaves very similarly to Arlington but costs a fair bit less. Still, Arlington does what it should and does it rather well, just not exceptionally so.
Moisturizing: I personally feel like the soap dries me out a bit. I find myself reaching for a balm after using Arlington more often than I would with other soaps. If you follow it with a good balm however, it is no problem.

Overall I'm happy to own Arlington. It's a lovely, high quality soap which makes you feel special when you use it. The smell and quality of the lather is superb, and it provides a very good quality shave. Although there are soaps I like better, I would certainly recommend this soap to anyone looking to try a good high end soap.

I just got my first puck of D.R. Harris Arlington and it fit perfectly in one of those little Tiers Issard stainless shaving bowls. The smell at first was a bit on the strong side with what I thought were some Tabac undertones. I lathered with a silvertip and couldn't believe the mountain of soft, moist lather that climbed up the sides of my mug. This is one of the most latherable soaps I've used, pretty close to Tabac. The shave felt great with lasting moisturization. The scent was completely unoffensive during and after the shave and did not have any hint of the 1970's like I first feared when I opened the box. I highly recommend this soap.

I recently received a refill puck of Arlington and gave it a couple test runs. It came packaged in a plain white box with the DR Harris & Co sticker on the front and ingredients sticker on the back. The 100g soap puck inside was unwrapped with no visual markings and had a mild but pleasant soapy fern/citrus aroma. It fits perfectly into my inexpensive white melmac ramekins.

I charged my brush on the puck and it face lathered quicker than normal, with lots left over for a full two pass shave.

My initial observations:
mild scent, great lather, great softening of whiskers, slightly less cushion than Tabac or Provence Sante, BUT a disappointing lack of slickness compared to Proraso SS. I was surprised by the limited slippery glide with my Merkur so maybe I'll charge my brush a little longer to see if that helps in this area.

I've been DE shaving for the past two and a half years and have tried countless creams, soaps and lotions each promising to raise the whiskers; to be smooth, without irritation and to eliminate redness. Dr. Harris is one of only two soaps to come close to these claims, moving this soap to the top of my rotation - that is if I rotate ever again - I really enjoy the good doctor's Arlington tallow soap!

In pursuit of a comfortable shave, the price is unimportant to me. Packaging is adequate for the chore. The ingredients are printed on the box and are legible, proclaiming 'Sodium tallowate' in the number two position on the list. The scent is a pleasantly subtle citrus. Lather is easy to make, emollient rich (I suspect it's the tallow) and seems to carry quite a bit of water to the shaving area as well. Efficacy: a sort of cost/benefit question - This soap receives the highest marks from me and it's moisturizing qualities surpass my expectation.

This soap is now my primary shaving round. I can't tell if my beard stands up from it's rich lather and the redness my face remains but It leaves my skin feeling smooth without irritation and I look forward to it's citrus scent each day! Perhaps now I'll experiment with blades. Maybe those Feathers are rubbing me wrong.

The price seems to be on the higher end, but the refill price is definitely affordable.

Slick, cushioning lather that works well. It doesn't get too thick and a loaded brush is plenty for 4 passes + touchup.

When I first opened the box I had to bury my nose to detect any kind of scent. Then it stunk like hotel bar soap. After 4-5 uses however, the scent came through... it's terrific. Subtle and sharp at the same time but still on the mild side. I love it. Sometimes at work I'll get a whiff of it, but I think that's just in my head.

I had trouble making lather for at least 5 shaves but then it started working perfectly. I sincerely think my puck was very old, causing the loss of scent and poor performance at the start (that and my noobery).

I rated it a 10 for moisturizing because it's where it should be, not that it's a moisturizing soap. I have "normal" skin and this soap doesn't dry it out or make me feel like I just used lotion.

Bottom line: Good soap and it works. It smells nice, although it could be a bit stronger. It's the soap I compare other soap to quality-wise, but it's not like I'd die if I had to use something else.

Fantastic soap and fantastic value.
Cheaper than many other triple milled soaps and lasts longer than almost anything in my collection.
The scent is perfect, a classy, gentlemans citrus. Very barbershop.
Will likely never leave my rotation unless they remove the tallow altogether.

I have really enjoyed using this soap. By using this soap, I am able to make one of my best lathers. The smell is very nice. My wife says, that it smells like "hotel" soap. It is a very clean smell that is not over powering. It is a great way to start the day with a very nice shave. I also use the matching aftershave and the combination works very well for me.

I bought this in the shave stick form and tallow is listed as the number 2 ingredient. I can detect the excess palm oil and would prefer tallow to be the number 1 ingredient. I just prefer that extra thick, dense, cushiony shave only tallow as #1 ingredient can provide. With that said, the scent is outta this world. Scent alone is mmmmazing... Lemon-Lime + Woods = olfactory goodness. Lathers nice, shaves nice and smells nice. Overall a safe choice for sure.

This is one of the best soaps I have ever used! I got it a couple of weeks back, ordered from the US.

Firstly, I have marked N/A to price as I personally feel that a product should be rated on its performance and if the performance is good then the decision about purchasing based on price is made.

When I opened the puck box, I was surprised that the puck was not wrapped in plastic or anything, there was just this chunk of soap sitting in the box. I took a whif and I immediately fell in love with it...even before I thought about shaving with it! LOL

I put the puck into one of my stainless steel containers and used it the next morning. A 5 second swirl and I had so much lather, I didn't know what to do with it! It was so easy to lather up and it was a beautiful, creamy lather...very protective and very slick too!

I had a great shave with it and it left my skin feeling soft and supple for sure. Probably not super moisturising as some other soaps but still right up there in terms of the skin care department.

A must try for every wetshaver!!