B&M Reserve or Wholly Kaw ?

[cgr86]

just seeing if anyone had both lines and wanted to see what you preferred and why ?

I’m kind of torn between these both and I’m not sure which one is the better option.

And in advance I’ll state , getting both isn’t an option as I don’t like to hoard soaps or any shave products for that matter

 

[ShavePastor]

Both ELITE!!! Both make a fantastic silky yogurty lather with elite slickness, glide, & protection.

Reserve has better scents. WK has better post shave. Pick your choice: better scent or better post shave. For me & my den- both!

 

[Hannah's Dad]

If I were in your shoes, I’d buy the Reserve Cool soap matching aftershave and wouldn’t look back.

 

[PreachTheWord]

I have both and they are great soaps. The B&M reserve soaps require a bit of a learning curve to lather (little soap, LOT of water). I will agree that WK has a better post shave feel. If I didn't own both, I would be torn!

 

[les24preludes]

Neither are as good as Grooming Dept. which are all keepers in my rotation. B&M tend to overdo the complexity of their scents - even Reserve Cool which is the best one I've tried. Happy to sell off the ones I had. So of those two I'd go WK. WK King of Oud is amazing, but then I did sell off a couple of others. I find US artisans tend to overdo the complexity of their notes, and prefer the European soaps for their simplicity and clean freshness - SV, Fitjar, Eufros, MWF.... They're all far more satisfying in the long run. I like Grooming Dept. because the ones I have, like Yuzu, Neroli and Magnolia, are fairly simple scents but just perfectly balanced and executed.

 

[RayClem]

Both Barrister Reserve and Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk are both superb soaps, as Shave Pastor has indicated. However, to further confound your choices, B&M has recently come out with a new Excelsior line which will eventually replace the Glissant line of soaps. Excelsior (like Glissant) contains lanolin which Reserve does not. I find Excelsior to be better than Glissant and as good or better than Reserve., especially in post shave conditioning.

Also, Wholly Kaw has recently come out with their new formula which contains water buffalo milk in addition to the donkey milk. Since the donkey milk formula is already superb, I cannot claim that the new Bufala formula is better, but it was good enough that I have a couple of additional Bufala base soaps on order.

The main thing with both B&M and WK soaps is picking the right scent. Depending upon your preferences, you may love some scents and hate others. I like the Vespers scent in the new B&M Excelsior base. With WK, my favorite scents are King of Oud (donkey milk) and King of Bourbon (Bufala). However, that could change when two new Bufala scents (Spice Vitae and Italian Holiday) arrive.

While B&M and WK make superb soaps, they are not the only great soaps available. Others worthy of consideration are: Ariana and Evans, Cold River Soap Works Glide, Declaration Grooming, Grooming Department, Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations, Noble Otter and Oleo Soapworks. I love testing soaps and have nearly 100 soaps representing over 30 soap bases in my den. The ones I have recommended are easy to load, easy to lather, have great slickness (both primary and residual), have great cushion/protection and have great skin moisturizing and conditioning properties. Some are better in some area that others, but you cannot go wrong with either of them, unless you have oily skin. In that case, you might not need the skin conditioning.

 

[bobmsp]

I don’t think you can go wrong either way. I’ve tried almost all of the WK scents (haven’t tried the ones released in the last 6-9 months) and haven’t found a scent I’ve loved. But B&M Reserve Lavender is my desert island soap. There are some soaps that do one thing or another a little better than the Lavender, but as an all-together package, I think it’s my favorite.

 

[guitarslinger]

Both ELITE!!! Both make a fantastic silky yogurty lather with elite slickness, glide, & protection.

Reserve has better scents. WK has better post shave. Pick your choice: better scent or better post shave. For me & my den- both!

Nailed it. They lather the same.

Here’s how I would recommend one over the other:

If you’re allergic to lots of eo’s, bmr’s cologne scents might be a safer bet.

If you live in really cold climate AND aren’t sensitive to more “adventurous “ scents, you’ll appreciate wk’s post shave feel.

Btw, bmr is usually cheaper

 

[ShavePastor]

If I were in your shoes, I’d buy the Reserve Cool soap matching aftershave and wouldn’t look back.

Absolutely!!!

 

[cgr86]

Both Barrister Reserve and Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk are both superb soaps, as Shave Pastor has indicated. However, to further confound your choices, B&M has recently come out with a new Excelsior line which will eventually replace the Glissant line of soaps. Excelsior (like Glissant) contains lanolin which Reserve does not. I find Excelsior to be better than Glissant and as good or better than Reserve., especially in post shave conditioning.

Also, Wholly Kaw has recently come out with their new formula which contains water buffalo milk in addition to the donkey milk. Since the donkey milk formula is already superb, I cannot claim that the new Bufala formula is better, but it was good enough that I have a couple of additional Bufala base soaps on order.

The main thing with both B&M and WK soaps is picking the right scent. Depending upon your preferences, you may love some scents and hate others. I like the Vespers scent in the new B&M Excelsior base. With WK, my favorite scents are King of Oud (donkey milk) and King of Bourbon (Bufala). However, that could change when two new Bufala scents (Spice Vitae and Italian Holiday) arrive.

While B&M and WK make superb soaps, they are not the only great soaps available. Others worthy of consideration are: Ariana and Evans, Cold River Soap Works Glide, Declaration Grooming, Grooming Department, Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations, Noble Otter and Oleo Soapworks. I love testing soaps and have nearly 100 soaps representing over 30 soap bases in my den. The ones I have recommended are easy to load, easy to lather, have great slickness (both primary and residual), have great cushion/protection and have great skin moisturizing and conditioning properties. Some are better in some area that others, but you cannot go wrong with either of them, unless you have oily skin. In that case, you might not need the skin conditioning.

I really appreciate the detailed reply , but if there’s one thing that I really dislike about this forum is if you ask about an orange and a apple, someone tells you to get a grapefruit instead .

 

[ShavePastor]

Both Barrister Reserve and Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk are both superb soaps, as Shave Pastor has indicated. However, to further confound your choices, B&M has recently come out with a new Excelsior line which will eventually replace the Glissant line of soaps. Excelsior (like Glissant) contains lanolin which Reserve does not. I find Excelsior to be better than Glissant and as good or better than Reserve., especially in post shave conditioning.

Also, Wholly Kaw has recently come out with their new formula which contains water buffalo milk in addition to the donkey milk. Since the donkey milk formula is already superb, I cannot claim that the new Bufala formula is better, but it was good enough that I have a couple of additional Bufala base soaps on order.

The main thing with both B&M and WK soaps is picking the right scent. Depending upon your preferences, you may love some scents and hate others. I like the Vespers scent in the new B&M Excelsior base. With WK, my favorite scents are King of Oud (donkey milk) and King of Bourbon (Bufala). However, that could change when two new Bufala scents (Spice Vitae and Italian Holiday) arrive.

While B&M and WK make superb soaps, they are not the only great soaps available. Others worthy of consideration are: Ariana and Evans, Cold River Soap Works Glide, Declaration Grooming, Grooming Department, Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations, Noble Otter and Oleo Soapworks. I love testing soaps and have nearly 100 soaps representing over 30 soap bases in my den. The ones I have recommended are easy to load, easy to lather, have great slickness (both primary and residual), have great cushion/protection and have great skin moisturizing and conditioning properties. Some are better in some area that others, but you cannot go wrong with either of them, unless you have oily skin. In that case, you might not need the skin conditioning.

Excellent post, fellow soap aficionado!! Great other recommendations also!

 

[les24preludes]

I really appreciate the detailed reply , but if there’s one thing that I really dislike about this forum is if you ask about an orange and a apple, someone tells you to get a grapefruit instead .

Blue sky thinking. Can't beat it.

 

[johnwick]

Both are excellent choices!

Let me explain some differences to help you choose.

Wholly Kaw:

-Excellent performance
-Lathers as most soaps do without special technique.
-Unique scent profile that can be hit or miss without samples
-Not as good of “value” as B&M Reserve as it’ll be consumed quicker.

B&M Reserve:

-Excellent performance, particularly with hard water if that’s important to you
-Lathers differently than most soaps, I’ll explain below...
-Excellent scents that in my opinion are “safer” to buy without trying first.
-Lasts a long time and a better value based on how it lathers.

Now let me explain how to lather Reserve. And you don’t have to chalk this up to my opinion alone: the soap maker demonstrates this in a video made in conjunction with WCS...

First, synthetic brushes are best.

Second, start with a very wet brush and load “Marco method” style.

Third, load only for 15-20 swirls and no more. It will not look like you have enough soap. You will.

Next, keep adding water. Keep adding water.

There are a plethora of folks out there who say Reserve didn’t work for them. The soap maker explains this as a function of too much loading, too much soap and not enough water to overcome that.

This is considered a “low loft” soap. Don’t expect huge amounts of thick, cushy lather. But you will be rewarded with creamy, slick lather and a great shave.

Again, either soap is an excellent choice. Reserve is safer scent wise, will last longer, but there’s a trick to it.

Good luck!

 

[mrlandpirate]

have tried both B&M Reserve is far better IMHO

 

[cgr86]

Both are excellent choices!

Let me explain some differences to help you choose.

Wholly Kaw:

-Excellent performance
-Lathers as most soaps do without special technique.
-Unique scent profile that can be hit or miss without samples
-Not as good of “value” as B&M Reserve as it’ll be consumed quicker.

B&M Reserve:

-Excellent performance, particularly with hard water if that’s important to you
-Lathers differently than most soaps, I’ll explain below...
-Excellent scents that in my opinion are “safer” to buy without trying first.
-Lasts a long time and a better value based on how it lathers.

Now let me explain how to lather Reserve. And you don’t have to chalk this up to my opinion alone: the soap maker demonstrates this in a video made in conjunction with WCS...

First, synthetic brushes are best.

Second, start with a very wet brush and load “Marco method” style.

Third, load only for 15-20 swirls and no more. It will not look like you have enough soap. You will.

Next, keep adding water. Keep adding water.

There are a plethora of folks out there who say Reserve didn’t work for them. The soap maker explains this as a function of too much loading, too much soap and not enough water to overcome that.

This is considered a “low loft” soap. Don’t expect huge amounts of thick, cushy lather. But you will be rewarded with creamy, slick lather and a great shave.

Again, either soap is an excellent choice. Reserve is safer scent wise, will last longer, but there’s a trick to it.

Good luck!

From what I’m gathering , this reminds me of Stirling shave soaps . Took me a few tries to get the hang of it, and once I did , it was so worth it.

 

[cgr86]

If I were in your shoes, I’d buy the Reserve Cool soap matching aftershave and wouldn’t look back.

What’s is the scent comparable to ? I love the sound of European barbershop and love the Di Parma / Stirling Piacenza type scents.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

What’s is th me scent comparable to ? I love the sound of European barbershop and love the Di Parma / Stirling Piacenza type scents.

Reserve Cool is based on the original scent of Floid Blue — a marvelous, Italian barbershop-inspired vibe. A sample of the soap might be in order, but I had to get the full jar to truly appreciate it. And I really appreciate it.

 

[cgr86]

Reserve Cool is based on the original scent of Floid Blue — a marvelous, Italian barbershop-inspired vibe. A sample of the soap might be in order, but I had to get the full jar to truly appreciate it. And I really appreciate it.

Ok , you sold me on it! I do recall that’s Floid blue from some years back and even though I’m not a fan of AS splash, I did enjoy that one. I like balms more as I have dry skin and live in Boston where it’s cold longer than it is warm.

 

[Russrat]

I don’t think you can go wrong either way. I’ve tried almost all of the WK scents (haven’t tried the ones released in the last 6-9 months) and haven’t found a scent I’ve loved. But B&M Reserve Lavender is my desert island soap. There are some soaps that do one thing or another a little better than the Lavender, but as an all-together package, I think it’s my favorite.

This. For scent and performance combined, B&M Lavender has few, if any, equals.

 

[cgr86]

This. For scent and performance combined, B&M Lavender has few, if any, equals.

Thing is I use a lavender cream and AS Balm now as is, so a change would t be bad.