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Barrister and Mann Four Horsemen Scents

I once had a soap smell I couldn’t stand and I lathered my brush once with it (an old Simpson with a Manchurian knot). The only way I got rid of it (for the most part) was I did 2.5 things. 1.) soaked it in ~10% (5%) white Vinegar and 90% distilled water (about 30 min), 2.) rinsed and lathered Dawn dish soap and rinsed/dried 2.5) selected a scent I could live with 1-2 per week, scooped and lathered with my Simpson. About 3 months later, the brush was ok.

I’m not saying I would do this to my other brushes, but there was no way I was giving up that Manchurian knot for this soap.

Got the information on cleaning the brush from the Sharpologist.com

Good luck!
 
I have only read of two other fellows that reported receiving War, and intending on shaving with it. I also am curious as to how much War soap and Aftershave will be not used / sold. It's a wasteful shame really. Hope it can be recycled in some way.
I mean I really hate to say it. It makes me feel bad to think Will may be reading this thread, but War is just not good. It's too pungent for actual use. I feel it's more a novelty than a true shaving soap. This opinion is coming from a very non-judgemental person. This is why I went through with the shave. I wanted to give it a fair chance. I still don't know what to so with my sample. I'll probably keep it but I don't think I'll ever use it again.

Anyway, the other three are totally fine for shaving with. It really would be nice to see the sales figures of each though.
 
I once had a soap smell I couldn’t stand and I lathered my brush once with it (an old Simpson with a Manchurian knot). The only way I got rid of it (for the most part) was I did 2.5 things. 1.) soaked it in ~10% (5%) white Vinegar and 90% distilled water (about 30 min), 2.) rinsed and lathered Dawn dish soap and rinsed/dried 2.5) selected a scent I could live with 1-2 per week, scooped and lathered with my Simpson. About 3 months later, the brush was ok.

I’m not saying I would do this to my other brushes, but there was no way I was giving up that Manchurian knot for this soap.

Got the information on cleaning the brush from the Sharpologist.com

Good luck!
I'm not sure if you read further back in this thread but I did share all that I've done to try and salvage my brush.

In all honesty the main reason I haven't used the brush recently is because the SotD theme this week is brush related so I've only been using my badger brush. Next week is another story though. I'll be using my "stench of War" brush then and assume there's just going to be some lingering scent for probably more than a few shaves before it fully recovered from its wounds.
 
I rank them
1. Famine
2. Plague
3. Death
Distant 4. War

I'm guessing Death will be the best seller, to me, it's like a dark, warm barbershop-a great daily. I bought the Famine and Plauge sets because they smelled somewhat like Death, but a little more complex. Will likes to take risks. A set of 4 allowed him to try something like War. There will be a small number of people who like War. And sometimes, pungent smells can smell better the more I smell them. On the Barrister and Mann website they do let you arrange them from best selling to least selling.
 
I rank them
1. Famine
2. Plague
3. Death
Distant 4. War

I'm guessing Death will be the best seller, to me, it's like a dark, warm barbershop-a great daily. I bought the Famine and Plauge sets because they smelled somewhat like Death, but a little more complex. Will likes to take risks. A set of 4 allowed him to try something like War. There will be a small number of people who like War. And sometimes, pungent smells can smell better the more I smell them. On the Barrister and Mann website they do let you arrange them from best selling to least selling.
I agree with you and thank you for the suggestion about filtering on the site. I hadn't thought of that.
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I’ve blended my sample of Death with my Soft Heart Hallows puck — they are so close that blending them into a single jar made sense. I also blended the Plague sample with the Famine sample - together they create an interesting blend.

Sadly, I trashed War as it wasn’t even suitable for the shower.
 
Okay,

so I smelled Death, Famine, and Plague with more time and more depth.

Death - The oak moss, bergamot, and patchouli smell a LOT like Seville, but with the spicy, cold weather warmth of the amber and Labdanum. This doesn't smell as gourmandy to me as it did the first round of smelling. It's more like a typical barbershop scent, even though it's technically a chypre. I could see somebody using this every day. If you like Seville, you'll love this.

Famine - So, take death, and add a dry sandalwood note that smells a bit like the old Body Shop sandalwood. To some people, it smells like playdough. Now that I've given it more time and attention, I may buy it simply because I miss the TBS sandalwood cream. I used that stuff for a long time.

Plague - This smells even more medicinal this time around. It's almost a tea tree type scent. Reminds me of mouthwash, but in a hospital. I like it.


So,

if you like B&M Seville, buy Death.

If you like TBS sandalwood, buy Famine.

If you like clean, herbal, French mouthwash, buy Plague.

If you like tacos, buy War.
Thank you for this. The minute I saw TBS sandalwood mentioned, I bought the 5 oz refill puck. I loved that **** and the tea tree replacement sucked.
 
I'm not sure if you read further back in this thread but I did share all that I've done to try and salvage my brush.

In all honesty the main reason I haven't used the brush recently is because the SotD theme this week is brush related so I've only been using my badger brush. Next week is another story though. I'll be using my "stench of War" brush then and assume there's just going to be some lingering scent for probably more than a few shaves before it fully recovered from its wounds.
I did, it really took me 3 months of lathering a heavy tallowed soap with a barbershop scent and about 3 months later it was pretty good. Just a mess though.
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
I'll be sure to use a surplus brush to lather War when I get home next week. Thanks to all for the warnings. I can not buy a soap and aftershave set and not.use it at least once.

Has anyone contacted B&M about sending it back? If.its really that dreadful, the Will should refund everyone's money. 😀😀😀😀
 
Mind boggling they would release that scent. Ultimately, all i ask for in a shave soap regardless of scent is to smell clean after my shave and not like body odor.
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
I went to WAR today. Had a thorough shave. Used the splash too. I did a very detailed review. Read about it in my shave journal. Today’s entry.


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For those that have both the sample size and full size of these. Is it just me or does it seem like the scents seem more balanced in the full size than the sample size?
 
I tried Death for the first time off my big B&M sample. It’s sophisticated and lightly fragrant. I imagine it would be a good splash to use for a night out. I enjoyed using the soap no surprise with B&M. I got an irritation free shave with it. I’m gonna have to get a tub of Plague or Death. I still need to try Famine, and eventually War.

I cannot Wait for an after shave balm from B&M in the mail: Eigengrau which isn’t new but is a wintery scent I’ve had my eye on. I love balms from B&M.
 
I tried Death for the first time off my big B&M sample. It’s sophisticated and lightly fragrant. I imagine it would be a good splash to use for a night out. I enjoyed using the soap no surprise with B&M. I got an irritation free shave with it. I’m gonna have to get a tub of Plague or Death. I still need to try Famine, and eventually War.

I cannot Wait for an after shave balm from B&M in the mail: Eigengrau which isn’t new but is a wintery scent I’ve had my eye on. I love balms from B&M.
I love Famine! It's my favorite of the bunch.

Take me advice and skip War. Just wipe it from your mind. It's not worth your time, money or effort. It's very niche and not at all a daily driver.
 
I used Death today for the first time. It had a nice scent when lathering. Smelled like nutmeg mostly. Unfortunately it did not like my skin, caused a slight burn like aftershave on a too close shave. Death is not for me I'm afraid. Thankfully I only got the sample size. As with all B&M I have tried, very slick and great cushion just not pleseant. YMMV as always.
 
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