Interesting. Mine went to "yogurt thickness" really quickly. For what it's worth, I used a synthetic to make my lather.
Anyone tried Barrister & Mann Excelsior base?
- Thread starter SonofdavidS
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Yep, very similar to that!
Awesome! I was almost getting a bit worried. I may be a bit of an outlier on how I do my lathers, but usually more product & a squeezed out brush to start with, then bowl or palm lather adding water slowly as needed works great for me. I probably use a lot less water than most people do.
I’ll try more product and if that doesn’t work I’ll use a synthetic. I really dislike the springiness of the brush though.
Yeah, I don't care for synths either, but they are ideal for test lathering. I tend to get a bit impatient waiting for my boar or badger to soak.
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I shaved with Vespers this morning. The scent is great, reminds me of Polo Red Intense.
I need more time to dial in the lather. It was hard for me to keep it wet enough. When I kept it wet slickness was incredible. When it got a little dry things got tough. I might have loaded too long(20 seconds), maybe 10 or 15 seconds might improve things.
I need more time to dial in the lather. It was hard for me to keep it wet enough. When I kept it wet slickness was incredible. When it got a little dry things got tough. I might have loaded too long(20 seconds), maybe 10 or 15 seconds might improve things.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I tried the sample Vespers soap and aftershave again today, with my trusty RFB (New) and Kai blade. Another very comfortable shave, but it did still take me a bit to get the lather properly hydrated, and I am now convinced that I do not care for the scent. My skin feels wonderful, but the scent is just too pine-forward for me. Will usually creates complex scents, but I don’t find complexity in Vespers. And perhaps my water is more compatible with the Reserve base.
I am glad I got a sample, because I would not use a full puck of this soap. I hope Will keeps his Reserve base and adds more scents to it. Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!!
I am glad I got a sample, because I would not use a full puck of this soap. I hope Will keeps his Reserve base and adds more scents to it. Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!!
Funny, I get the spiced cranberry and the Mousse de Saxe, but not a ton of pine (needles, tar, wood or otherwise). Different strokes, eh?
I'm pretty sure that Reserve is safe. I think Excelsior may put Glissant on the chopping block, though.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I wonder if the scent variances are due to sample v full jar. Perhaps my little sliver holds more pine.
I'm rocking a sample as well!
Second shave and it was excellent again. Slickness is way up there for me. I only face lather so here’s a couple lather pics for ya. [emoji3]
Comparing with glissant today. For a first run, excelsior beats glissant in post-shave performance, but I felt like I had to work much harder to get a decent lather with excelsior. Excelsior and glissant had a similar comfort profile, but I believe excelsior was a tad more slick. I think one of the significant difficulties I have with excelsior is that the lather doesn't build the way glissant or reserve does. Glissant lathers fluffy and goes slick with water. Reserve lathers gooey and goes slick with water. Excelsior seems to lather dry and thick, then goes slick with little fluffing up process, which has me adding more water than necessary.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Fantastic analysis. It mirrors my experience.
The competition among the top artisan soapmakers is fierce. Every time someone comes out with a "new improved" soap base, another artisan will try to top it. Barrister and Mann Glissant is a great soap. Barrister Reserve is even better, although I am not quite so enamoured with some of the scents. The Reserve line is trying to pay homage to some discontinued scents. If the scents were so great, why were they discontinued??? Anyway, since Will is one of the top artisans, I presume the new Excelsior base will live up to its name. I have not tried it yet, but probably will.
Of course, in 2019, the other artisans will come out with their new versions. Unfortunately, my storage cabinet is full of wonderful soaps, so I am going to have to be judicious in which new ones I try in 2019.
Of course, in 2019, the other artisans will come out with their new versions. Unfortunately, my storage cabinet is full of wonderful soaps, so I am going to have to be judicious in which new ones I try in 2019.
Does anyone know if the Reserve line will switch over to Excelsior?
Not likely. He just released a new soap in the Reserve line called Waves. Additionally, the purpose of this line is to bring back lost aftershave scents & to preserve them in the Reserve line.
In my opinion, that just wouldn't be a good business decision. Reserve is a lanolin-free soap, while both Glissant and Excelsior contain lanolin. Given some people's issues with lanolin, deleting a lanolin-free line would by pretty short-sighted. If a whole line was to be replaced, my guess is that Glissant would be the one to go.
Most probably the Excelsior will replace the Glussant, but don't have any news how fast the switch will happen... probably we will see first new scents or scent from last coming back in the new base...
How sweet would it be if the Bay situation improved to the point that Will could bring back Bay Rum in Excelsior?
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