After realising that reviewing a product after just one use doesn't tell the whole story, I thought I'd try a new approach so i am going to do a "3-Shave" review.
The OP will be the start and shave#1.
I'll update the thread for shaves #2 and #3 as i finish them.
Shave#1 The Beginning:
Purchase:
Of the many threads regarding Shaving Soaps on B&B, one brand which is constantly noted in peoples Non-USA top tens is Dr. Harris.
I have a thing for hard soaps at the moment and particularly so if sold in a nice bowl so Dr Harris was an easy choice for purchase.
Dr Harris choice is limited to Arlington, windsor, lavender, Marlborough and natural.
After some investigation, Arlington seemed to get much love so i chose this as my 1st Harris soap. I found an offer online for Arlington in a beach bowl with free delivery for £20. Job done.
Unboxing:
I had high hopes for this soap. It is highly praised and is more expensive than others. When the package arrived i will admit to it being somewhat disappointing.
The soap and bowl came in a plain and cheap looking white box with a simple sticker on each side. The stickers were not centered or square.
The bowl was simply placed inside the box. There was no wrapping or other adornments. (Unfortunately i didn't take pictures of this).
On removal of the bowl, i tried to remove the lid, however, Dr. Harris uses adhesive labelling on the top of the lid which has paper tabs extending over and onto the sides, locking the lid in place. Over these tabs, the same (simple and cheap) sticker from the box is used:
This is where i got a bit miffed. Because of the layering of the stickers, you can't cleanly remove the tabs without removing all of the paper and stickers. In doing so, the cheap paper stickers and the NASA spec' adhesive make the job an utter PITA. After much fuss, i resorted to using sticky stuff remover on the glue. To not have done would be like handing the bowl to a 3 year old infant after a birthday party. One big sticky mess. Not fun.
On clean up, i wasn't that impressed with the bowl either. Considering that the bowl commands a RRP premium of £12, i was expecting something a little better. Ebay is flogging these types of bowls at £6 a pop and they look like better quality. In particular, was the poor printing of the name on the bowl.
Smudged and unclear. I'm going to see if i can remove it. It looks cr*p. Imho.
Presentation of the puck was not much better. No nice wrapping. Just a topper of paper over the puck which looks like it fell out of a muffin tin: (picture is post use)
So in all, not an impressive start. My Kent soap is presented in a similar beech bowl, but it at least has a decently done stamp and the lid has some detail on it. The kent soap is wrapped lovely as well. Much better than Dr. Harris.
Puck fragrance and texture:
The puck is hard. Not as hard as the Kent, but as hard if not more so than Tabac. The fragrance was a surprise: Arko! Or at least a posh version of it. It is a lemon scent. I am ambivalent to it. The war department hates it. Ah well...
Loading and lathering:
I used my Yaqi synth brush for the first shave. Barely damp. No blooming. My brush had (never does tbh) no problem with loading the soap. After 10 seconds, i clearly had enough and i proceeded to face lather.
This soap loves water. I kept lathering and dipping, expecting to over saturate the lather quickly, but this soap can really take a drink. I hit the sweet spot (i think) and i had a brush stuffed with lather and a lather on the face which was light & highly hydrated but not weak, nor did it want to dissipate. This soap is definitely one for wet heads. There was never a hint of the soap drying out through the shave either. Very impressive.
Shave performance:
Shave slickness is excellent. Not quite (iirc) up to Kent, but certainly at the top of the soaps i have. Post pass slickness is fantastic. As good as any soap i have used. I was able to get the razor passing easily with just water for my touchups.
Shave performance has me baffled however. Using my Merkur 34c and Personna blades, i really struggled to get a good shave? I am aware that some soaps can be overly cushioning, but this wasn't the case here. The soap simply stopped performing. It was still lathered up and as far as i can tell, not over or under hydrated. I notice that the only other review on this forum of this soap mentions something similar in that he couldn't "blade buff" with this soap. I totally get what he means. And something else; for the last pass, the lather simply disappeared from my brush! Very strange (sounds like it is a case of under loading doesn't it?!) For my pick ups, my brush was useless and i picked up my shave oil to get me finished.
Post shave performance:
I'm going to say that i think this soap is good for ths post shave, but it could be down to my shave oil for the pick ups.
My alum block pass was quite good tbh so the soap was obviously giving me some protection.
Wrap up (Shave #1)
Tbh, my 1st shave with a Dr Harris soap was a flop. Poor packaging and presentation, an Arko-esque fraqrance and schizophrenic shave performance has me not looking forward to shave #2.
I'm obviously going to be careful with my build up next time. I'll load longer and hydrate less and see how i get on. Here is hoping it better than #1
The OP will be the start and shave#1.
I'll update the thread for shaves #2 and #3 as i finish them.
Shave#1 The Beginning:
Purchase:
Of the many threads regarding Shaving Soaps on B&B, one brand which is constantly noted in peoples Non-USA top tens is Dr. Harris.
I have a thing for hard soaps at the moment and particularly so if sold in a nice bowl so Dr Harris was an easy choice for purchase.
Dr Harris choice is limited to Arlington, windsor, lavender, Marlborough and natural.
After some investigation, Arlington seemed to get much love so i chose this as my 1st Harris soap. I found an offer online for Arlington in a beach bowl with free delivery for £20. Job done.
Unboxing:
I had high hopes for this soap. It is highly praised and is more expensive than others. When the package arrived i will admit to it being somewhat disappointing.
The soap and bowl came in a plain and cheap looking white box with a simple sticker on each side. The stickers were not centered or square.
The bowl was simply placed inside the box. There was no wrapping or other adornments. (Unfortunately i didn't take pictures of this).
On removal of the bowl, i tried to remove the lid, however, Dr. Harris uses adhesive labelling on the top of the lid which has paper tabs extending over and onto the sides, locking the lid in place. Over these tabs, the same (simple and cheap) sticker from the box is used:
This is where i got a bit miffed. Because of the layering of the stickers, you can't cleanly remove the tabs without removing all of the paper and stickers. In doing so, the cheap paper stickers and the NASA spec' adhesive make the job an utter PITA. After much fuss, i resorted to using sticky stuff remover on the glue. To not have done would be like handing the bowl to a 3 year old infant after a birthday party. One big sticky mess. Not fun.
On clean up, i wasn't that impressed with the bowl either. Considering that the bowl commands a RRP premium of £12, i was expecting something a little better. Ebay is flogging these types of bowls at £6 a pop and they look like better quality. In particular, was the poor printing of the name on the bowl.
Smudged and unclear. I'm going to see if i can remove it. It looks cr*p. Imho.
Presentation of the puck was not much better. No nice wrapping. Just a topper of paper over the puck which looks like it fell out of a muffin tin: (picture is post use)
So in all, not an impressive start. My Kent soap is presented in a similar beech bowl, but it at least has a decently done stamp and the lid has some detail on it. The kent soap is wrapped lovely as well. Much better than Dr. Harris.
Puck fragrance and texture:
The puck is hard. Not as hard as the Kent, but as hard if not more so than Tabac. The fragrance was a surprise: Arko! Or at least a posh version of it. It is a lemon scent. I am ambivalent to it. The war department hates it. Ah well...
Loading and lathering:
I used my Yaqi synth brush for the first shave. Barely damp. No blooming. My brush had (never does tbh) no problem with loading the soap. After 10 seconds, i clearly had enough and i proceeded to face lather.
This soap loves water. I kept lathering and dipping, expecting to over saturate the lather quickly, but this soap can really take a drink. I hit the sweet spot (i think) and i had a brush stuffed with lather and a lather on the face which was light & highly hydrated but not weak, nor did it want to dissipate. This soap is definitely one for wet heads. There was never a hint of the soap drying out through the shave either. Very impressive.
Shave performance:
Shave slickness is excellent. Not quite (iirc) up to Kent, but certainly at the top of the soaps i have. Post pass slickness is fantastic. As good as any soap i have used. I was able to get the razor passing easily with just water for my touchups.
Shave performance has me baffled however. Using my Merkur 34c and Personna blades, i really struggled to get a good shave? I am aware that some soaps can be overly cushioning, but this wasn't the case here. The soap simply stopped performing. It was still lathered up and as far as i can tell, not over or under hydrated. I notice that the only other review on this forum of this soap mentions something similar in that he couldn't "blade buff" with this soap. I totally get what he means. And something else; for the last pass, the lather simply disappeared from my brush! Very strange (sounds like it is a case of under loading doesn't it?!) For my pick ups, my brush was useless and i picked up my shave oil to get me finished.
Post shave performance:
I'm going to say that i think this soap is good for ths post shave, but it could be down to my shave oil for the pick ups.
My alum block pass was quite good tbh so the soap was obviously giving me some protection.
Wrap up (Shave #1)
Tbh, my 1st shave with a Dr Harris soap was a flop. Poor packaging and presentation, an Arko-esque fraqrance and schizophrenic shave performance has me not looking forward to shave #2.
I'm obviously going to be careful with my build up next time. I'll load longer and hydrate less and see how i get on. Here is hoping it better than #1
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