This is the most unfair review ever, being done while under the influence of self-inflicted injuries contrary to good order and discipline as per the QR&O's. The last thing I remember was playing motorcycle soccer in the snow . . .
As old Kris K said, I woke up Sunday morning, with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt, after getting into a friend's homemade slivovitz and the resulting silliness.
I doubt I could have passed the Turing test, let alone tackle involved, delicate tasks requiring fine motor control.
So, it was obviously the perfect time to try an unknown soap and press a bare blade against my throat, right?
So, after slicing the ball of my thumb opening the thoroughly battered package, I dug through the packing peanuts and unearthed the by-now familiar sturdy little tub. When I opened it, at first I thought the sample had been opened and dried out. It looked like a tub of dried wall spackle but it was an illusion. I poked my finger down into it to add some water and found instead a nice thick cream that still looked powdery.
At first, things didn't go well. I forgot to soak my face the first time and also forgot to add water to the brush. After rinsing the layer off and prepping my face properly (after I went and laid back down for a bit and took a couple more Aleves) I soaked the brush and experimentally swirled the tip of the brush in the cream. When I slapped the brush against my face, a blurt of cream landed in my eye. After peeling the wallpaper with a few comments and rinsing my eye with Visine, I did it all over again.
This time, lather started spreading off the brush with only a few seconds of face swirling and spread thickly over an impressive amount of my hurting mug. It took a couple of more dips into the jar to get it all but then I found out I had used way too much and it had dried out quite a lot. I ran the brush in water and re-spread and it spread again like magic.
The result was a consistent layer of lather that the finger press test slipped indifferently on. It took a fairly firm press to get down to skin so the cushion seemed pretty thick.
With some trepidation, I put the Issard against my painful stubble.
The first second or two of the first tug screamed failure as I wondered if the slipping feeling meant my face was about to become a study in scarlet. Then I realised the swath behind the blade was clean and the first stroke was done. A few strokes later, I was almost done and do not remember feeling any friction at all. Mind you, I don't remember what it smelled like, either but that's a minor matter.
I'll try again tomorrow.
So, to sum up:
N/A Price and shipping: I was very generously enlisted to try this.
10/10 Packaging and shipping quality: Very sturdy little tub survived far better than the package, which had seen some major abuse, which is becoming a pattern for some reason.
8.5/10 Appearance: It's a little odd in appearance but it really is a nice moist cream soap, not a powder, honest
xx/10 Scent: Ummm, I'll let you know tomorrow . . . EDIT: Old Spice! Excellent choice, if I say so!
9.5/10 Latherability: Excellent, just superb
9.5/10 Lubrication: Seemingly not slippery but turned out to be very effective.
9/10 Cushion: Seemed like a thick layer which I don't usually like, similar to Musgo. I was able to get down to skin readily enough, so maybe it was just weakened muscles. EDIT: Nope, it really is a thicker cushion than the previous products tested but it did not adversely affect the results. Most users will find it comforting.
8.5/10 Amount of product: Wound up using more than I would have normally but it turned out I used too much at first. Gonna blame this one on Calgary water and probably review this rating tomorrow. EDIT: After a thorough brush soaking, about a one-second swirl up to about a tenth of the bristles turned out to be about right. I had to do it again for the second full pass but that was mostly because there was little stubble for the soap to lather up on for the second pass.
9.5/10 After-effects: Unable to detect any burn or heat or tight face syndrome. At all. EDIT: Same again today.
In short: I think it's a fine soap and one that I am going to try tomorrow, before I pass it around to my local panel.
In short, great job, again and again, Malaspina!
Thank you very much for allowing me to test your products.
Regards,
- John
As old Kris K said, I woke up Sunday morning, with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt, after getting into a friend's homemade slivovitz and the resulting silliness.
I doubt I could have passed the Turing test, let alone tackle involved, delicate tasks requiring fine motor control.
So, it was obviously the perfect time to try an unknown soap and press a bare blade against my throat, right?
So, after slicing the ball of my thumb opening the thoroughly battered package, I dug through the packing peanuts and unearthed the by-now familiar sturdy little tub. When I opened it, at first I thought the sample had been opened and dried out. It looked like a tub of dried wall spackle but it was an illusion. I poked my finger down into it to add some water and found instead a nice thick cream that still looked powdery.
At first, things didn't go well. I forgot to soak my face the first time and also forgot to add water to the brush. After rinsing the layer off and prepping my face properly (after I went and laid back down for a bit and took a couple more Aleves) I soaked the brush and experimentally swirled the tip of the brush in the cream. When I slapped the brush against my face, a blurt of cream landed in my eye. After peeling the wallpaper with a few comments and rinsing my eye with Visine, I did it all over again.
This time, lather started spreading off the brush with only a few seconds of face swirling and spread thickly over an impressive amount of my hurting mug. It took a couple of more dips into the jar to get it all but then I found out I had used way too much and it had dried out quite a lot. I ran the brush in water and re-spread and it spread again like magic.
The result was a consistent layer of lather that the finger press test slipped indifferently on. It took a fairly firm press to get down to skin so the cushion seemed pretty thick.
With some trepidation, I put the Issard against my painful stubble.
The first second or two of the first tug screamed failure as I wondered if the slipping feeling meant my face was about to become a study in scarlet. Then I realised the swath behind the blade was clean and the first stroke was done. A few strokes later, I was almost done and do not remember feeling any friction at all. Mind you, I don't remember what it smelled like, either but that's a minor matter.
I'll try again tomorrow.So, to sum up:
N/A Price and shipping: I was very generously enlisted to try this.
10/10 Packaging and shipping quality: Very sturdy little tub survived far better than the package, which had seen some major abuse, which is becoming a pattern for some reason.
8.5/10 Appearance: It's a little odd in appearance but it really is a nice moist cream soap, not a powder, honest
xx/10 Scent: Ummm, I'll let you know tomorrow . . . EDIT: Old Spice! Excellent choice, if I say so!
9.5/10 Latherability: Excellent, just superb
9.5/10 Lubrication: Seemingly not slippery but turned out to be very effective.
9/10 Cushion: Seemed like a thick layer which I don't usually like, similar to Musgo. I was able to get down to skin readily enough, so maybe it was just weakened muscles. EDIT: Nope, it really is a thicker cushion than the previous products tested but it did not adversely affect the results. Most users will find it comforting.
8.5/10 Amount of product: Wound up using more than I would have normally but it turned out I used too much at first. Gonna blame this one on Calgary water and probably review this rating tomorrow. EDIT: After a thorough brush soaking, about a one-second swirl up to about a tenth of the bristles turned out to be about right. I had to do it again for the second full pass but that was mostly because there was little stubble for the soap to lather up on for the second pass.
9.5/10 After-effects: Unable to detect any burn or heat or tight face syndrome. At all. EDIT: Same again today.
In short: I think it's a fine soap and one that I am going to try tomorrow, before I pass it around to my local panel.
In short, great job, again and again, Malaspina!
Thank you very much for allowing me to test your products.Regards,
- John
