I'm trying to decide which soap I should buy next, D. R. Harris Arlington or Penhaligon's English Fern. Any thoughts are welcome.
Arlington or English Fern
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I would personally choose Arlington. I happen to love the scent of English Fern, but have used DRH soaps and each time I pull a puck out and lather up ask myself, "why don't I use this more often?" (the answer is because I have a crap ton of other soaps which I also enjoy). My point is that I am personally impressed with the performance of DRH soaps. The consensus on reformulated EF soap is that it is a sub-standard performer. I will choose performance over scent time after time...though the Arlington scent is highly regarded by many around here.
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- #3
I was afraid the performance of english fern would be under par. Like you said I'll take performance over scent. I still would love to smell the scent.
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- #4
What would be a good soap for a English Fern or fougere then?
Arlington is a fern scent, though people experience it in different ways because it has other components. It's a very good soap with a classic fragrance and a nice matching AS. The new Martin De Candre Fougere has been very popular. I've only tried their original scent which performed well for me but it is expensive.
+1 on Arlington. I LIKE both its performance and scent.
Have never tried Penhaligon's EF. But I have MdC new Fougèer/Fern soap: W-O-W!
Excelent soap, lathers like mad and smells ve-ry well.
Have never tried Penhaligon's EF. But I have MdC new Fougèer/Fern soap: W-O-W!
Excelent soap, lathers like mad and smells ve-ry well.
I personally did not care for the scent of the new MdC fougere soap, but do enjoy the QCS fougere soap. If you go here http://www.tayloroldbondst.co.uk/acatalog/fragrances.html you will see that TOBS describes several of their fragrances as fougeres; I have no experience with any of those listed. Edit: of the TOBS fragrances, you will have to check to see which are available as a soap.
Arlington
I've used Arlington, MdC Fougere, and Pen's EF. To start with, don't bother with the post-reformulation Pen's. You have to work really hard to get a passable lather. As for scents, while the EF is a fougere, its a completely different scent than Arlington and MdC Fougere. It is a much earthier scent and definitely reminds me of being in a English garden. Both the Arlington and MdC have a brighter, more citrus-y scent (probably due to using lemon verbena as a scent), but do have fern scents, just more ethereal.
If I was to pick between the three, I would go with the Arlington; for one thing its cheaper than the others, its more readily available, and its a proven performer. MdC's is excellent, both scent-wise and performance-wise, but is more difficult to obtain and is much more expensive. And Pen's is not worth the bother. If you happen to snap up one of the vintage Pen's pucks, then its worth a try.
If I was to pick between the three, I would go with the Arlington; for one thing its cheaper than the others, its more readily available, and its a proven performer. MdC's is excellent, both scent-wise and performance-wise, but is more difficult to obtain and is much more expensive. And Pen's is not worth the bother. If you happen to snap up one of the vintage Pen's pucks, then its worth a try.
I agree. DRH is easy to get, excellent to use.
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- #11
Thanks. Ordered a puck of Arlington. Have a sample of QCS Fougere and I really like the scent, though the scent is faint as a lather. Once QCS is back from vacation I'll probably order one.
I really enjoy my puck of Arlington...got it with their Beechwood bowl. Although I've used more expensive brushes to lather this soap, nothing beats lathering it (for me) using my $14 Proraso Pro (Omega #48) boar brush, face lathered of course
At the time I bought this soap I also went with Harris's Arlington A/S and EdC. Nice match up though the EdC wears light for me. I like their A/S...does a nice job. Spendy, but a nice aftershave none the less
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
At the time I bought this soap I also went with Harris's Arlington A/S and EdC. Nice match up though the EdC wears light for me. I like their A/S...does a nice job. Spendy, but a nice aftershave none the less
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
As others have stated, Penhaligon's reformulated soaps are pretty awful. They have undergone a slight reformulation for the better in the past year or so, and are somewhat better than Trumper's current soaps, but they still aren't very good. The soaps create a lather that looks decent and provides good cushion but it's a dry lather that lacks glide. The DRH soaps are a stark contrast; they lather magnificently give absolutely top notch performance. Plus there's the fact that you can nearly biy two DRH soaps for the price of one puck of Penhaligon's. No contest.
YMMV but I have used only the reformulated ones - and they are essentially the opposite of old formulation when it comes to performance...
I just used the "new" EF from Penhaligon's and I am much impressed by it. I would say it lathered better than MWF for me. Ymmv. I have never used the "old" EF so can't compare but if it is indeed better than the new then it must have been a grail soap. I paired my EF soap with the aftershave and it was heavenly.
