I took a chance last week when Barrister and Mann were doing some spring cleaning and grabbed a tub of their Eigengrau shave soap in the Ominibus base while it was on sale.
Where to start? I guess scent since this is such a unique or at least non-standard scent. B&M describes it as moonlight on snow, but I live in the Southeastern US so that really isn't a smell I'm expert enough on to comment on, but I will say this - I like it. It comes off the puck swinging, and it leads with a pleasant earthy scent ( probably the fir and lichen they mention on the label ) that they soften with a dash of florals. When lathered I think the floral comes forward a little and to me, it balances everything out a little. Now I have to admit I've started really enjoying more adventurous takes on shaving scents and 'earthy' doesn't bother me so I dug this more and more as I was exposed to it. I will see how more use alters my perception.
So, time to talk about performance. Simply ridiculous in all the best ways possible that could be taken. This is my first exposure to their Omnibus base, but I was already a fan of their Reserve base and this just takes it up a notch from that. Lather creation was easy with my damp RR synthetic brush - thirty swirls on the puck loaded plenty of soap for me to bowl lather. It took water well as I built the lather and it never seemed to threaten to fall apart. Applying the product to my face was a pleasure as it covered nicely, and while thick it wasn't pasted on. Shaving with the Rockwell 6C on plate 4 with a ( new to me ) Sharp 7AM Plus Platinum blade was a simple procedure. I did a full 3 passes and some extended buffing since the razor was behaving so well in partnership with this soap. I basically ended up with about as close to a full BBS as I get without resorting to face gymnastics in a few spots. I followed the shave with some Aqua Velva ( closest I could come to 'snow' in my AS collection ) and it is also an AS that will alert you to less than stellar shaving experiences. I didn't feel any feedback from the AV. Post shave feel a few hours later is impressive, especially knowing the AV didn't really add anything to that.
So thumbs up from me so far. I'll continue to use this soap and see what else I learn from it. I hope he brings it back next winter because I'm thinking I may have to spring for the matching AS.
Where to start? I guess scent since this is such a unique or at least non-standard scent. B&M describes it as moonlight on snow, but I live in the Southeastern US so that really isn't a smell I'm expert enough on to comment on, but I will say this - I like it. It comes off the puck swinging, and it leads with a pleasant earthy scent ( probably the fir and lichen they mention on the label ) that they soften with a dash of florals. When lathered I think the floral comes forward a little and to me, it balances everything out a little. Now I have to admit I've started really enjoying more adventurous takes on shaving scents and 'earthy' doesn't bother me so I dug this more and more as I was exposed to it. I will see how more use alters my perception.
So, time to talk about performance. Simply ridiculous in all the best ways possible that could be taken. This is my first exposure to their Omnibus base, but I was already a fan of their Reserve base and this just takes it up a notch from that. Lather creation was easy with my damp RR synthetic brush - thirty swirls on the puck loaded plenty of soap for me to bowl lather. It took water well as I built the lather and it never seemed to threaten to fall apart. Applying the product to my face was a pleasure as it covered nicely, and while thick it wasn't pasted on. Shaving with the Rockwell 6C on plate 4 with a ( new to me ) Sharp 7AM Plus Platinum blade was a simple procedure. I did a full 3 passes and some extended buffing since the razor was behaving so well in partnership with this soap. I basically ended up with about as close to a full BBS as I get without resorting to face gymnastics in a few spots. I followed the shave with some Aqua Velva ( closest I could come to 'snow' in my AS collection ) and it is also an AS that will alert you to less than stellar shaving experiences. I didn't feel any feedback from the AV. Post shave feel a few hours later is impressive, especially knowing the AV didn't really add anything to that.
So thumbs up from me so far. I'll continue to use this soap and see what else I learn from it. I hope he brings it back next winter because I'm thinking I may have to spring for the matching AS.