First the scent. Armaretto or almond. The soap is white in color and the sample provided was approx half a cube of butter. VERY generous imho. My tool of choice to lather with was my Parker. I wet it under warm water and loaded the brush for a good twenty seconds then transfered it into a mug. Lather built up quickly without much effort and the slickness & cusion was evident when I used my Merkur 180 with a Gillette thin blade. There was enough lather for four passes & touch up. Cold water rinse and then I waited. After half hour I felt no razor burn but I did notice it left my face dry enough that I resorted to Proraso aftershave. More importantly to me, my wife found it not offensive and commented that it "smells like soap" after the half hour. A bonus. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this product but unfortunately, due to it's exclusivity and cost Cella my be the more cost effiecient option.