I am a big fan of John Masters Organics. Yes, they're expensive, but some of them are super-yummy. Like the Bourbon Vanilla and Tangerine Hair Texturizer, or the Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender. None of these are my usual products, but they do make a nice treat when you want to give a present to yourself.
So when I saw the John Masters Organics Birch & Cedarwood Cleansing and Shaving Bar in my local Whole Foods, I had to try it. But I was under no illusions--there was no way that a soap bar meant for cleansing could also produce a B&B level of quality lather. Or could it?
I was surprised when I opened the lovely wrapper to find that this was a creamy off-white soap. Don't know why, but I expected something darker. The scent is quite nice. I don't pick up too much cedarwood, but the birch reminds me a bit of my uncle's Skoal. A very faint, tucked in your back pocket 1970s Skoal.
I know birch well from Boy Scouts, when we made birch tea, or brushed our teeth with a ragged birch twig. But this is not a powerful scent, in case you're wondering. I like it very much but keep in mind that my household products are almost all scentless by declaration of SWMBO, so what to me is lightly scented may be unscented to those of you ruined by Tide and Bounce.
With the top of the soap moistened to get it ready, I began loading the brush. It began dragging pretty quickly--it was like the soap sucked up all the water. So I dipped the brush into the sink and kept at it. Eventually it looked sufficiently loaded to work up a lather in my scuttle.
However, as I feared, it wouldn't come together into a dense foam, just remained a bubbly soapy lather.
You know that magic moment when you're lathering your face and the lather starts to get really dense and cushiony? Your brush suddenly becomes inundated with thick, rich lather? Never happened. The failure is a little clearer if you look at it on my face.
That being said, it was still serviceable. It was not particularly slick or cushiony, but I was able to shave, and my face still feels moisturized 5 hours later. I like the way it rinses cleanly, too. With a cream like Proraso I keep rinsing my face with water but it seems to hang around. This rinses away nicely.
So, in conclusion, not a "buy" recommendation. Considering all the soaps I have I'll probably end up using this as a bath bar. But if you are a birch maniac and need a fix, you might want to try it. Maybe a mix with some KMF.
Post your comments at the discussion thread.
So when I saw the John Masters Organics Birch & Cedarwood Cleansing and Shaving Bar in my local Whole Foods, I had to try it. But I was under no illusions--there was no way that a soap bar meant for cleansing could also produce a B&B level of quality lather. Or could it?
I was surprised when I opened the lovely wrapper to find that this was a creamy off-white soap. Don't know why, but I expected something darker. The scent is quite nice. I don't pick up too much cedarwood, but the birch reminds me a bit of my uncle's Skoal. A very faint, tucked in your back pocket 1970s Skoal.
I know birch well from Boy Scouts, when we made birch tea, or brushed our teeth with a ragged birch twig. But this is not a powerful scent, in case you're wondering. I like it very much but keep in mind that my household products are almost all scentless by declaration of SWMBO, so what to me is lightly scented may be unscented to those of you ruined by Tide and Bounce.
With the top of the soap moistened to get it ready, I began loading the brush. It began dragging pretty quickly--it was like the soap sucked up all the water. So I dipped the brush into the sink and kept at it. Eventually it looked sufficiently loaded to work up a lather in my scuttle.
However, as I feared, it wouldn't come together into a dense foam, just remained a bubbly soapy lather.
You know that magic moment when you're lathering your face and the lather starts to get really dense and cushiony? Your brush suddenly becomes inundated with thick, rich lather? Never happened. The failure is a little clearer if you look at it on my face.
That being said, it was still serviceable. It was not particularly slick or cushiony, but I was able to shave, and my face still feels moisturized 5 hours later. I like the way it rinses cleanly, too. With a cream like Proraso I keep rinsing my face with water but it seems to hang around. This rinses away nicely.
So, in conclusion, not a "buy" recommendation. Considering all the soaps I have I'll probably end up using this as a bath bar. But if you are a birch maniac and need a fix, you might want to try it. Maybe a mix with some KMF.
Post your comments at the discussion thread.
