PS: Sudsy Soapery has just started selling a tallow based soap called Uplift - I am definitely going to give it a try. The addition of tallow may move it up the list for me.
Barrister & Mann - Optimization Results, Photos, Review, Details
- Thread starter ShavingByTheNumbers
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #42
Thanks, @Music! It's cool that our results generally match. I've started over since this review due to my epiphany about the importance of lather-building time. Now, there is a ShaveWiki page and a thread for updates:
Lather Optimization Guide
Lather Optimization Updates
You're right that I don't have any products rated higher than "good" for cushion/protection. It's not that they can't get higher ratings. I've noted "really good" or "great" cushion/protection during optimization for Barrister's Reserve, for example, but that happened for lathers with water-to-soap ratios below the optimum. I really want to encounter a soap or cream that has what I consider excellent cushion/protection with its optimum lather, but I haven't found it yet. Maybe my perception of cushion/protection is different than yours. That's very possible. It's all relative.
Thanks for the tip about Sudsy Soapery's new tallow soap. I'll have to try that someday.
Lather Optimization Guide
Lather Optimization Updates
You're right that I don't have any products rated higher than "good" for cushion/protection. It's not that they can't get higher ratings. I've noted "really good" or "great" cushion/protection during optimization for Barrister's Reserve, for example, but that happened for lathers with water-to-soap ratios below the optimum. I really want to encounter a soap or cream that has what I consider excellent cushion/protection with its optimum lather, but I haven't found it yet. Maybe my perception of cushion/protection is different than yours. That's very possible. It's all relative.
Thanks for the tip about Sudsy Soapery's new tallow soap. I'll have to try that someday.
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No, I don't think your perception is different than mine. I'm waiting to find the soap that has excellent cushioning and protection as well, or to get the optimum lather that produces it from my favorites. Sometimes they provide more cushion than others, and I think, like you said, that happens when the water-to-soap ratio is too low to be optimum or produce optimum lather. I was actually glad to read your findings, since they matched my own, and meant it wasn't "just me." Anyway, I'll let you know what I think of the new tallow soap from Sudsy Soapery once my order arrives. I'd also like to hear at some point what results you get with Eufros, which seems to be available right now at West Coast Shaving but is often sold out. Thanks again for your posts.
jackgoldman123
Boring and predictable
i'm going out on a limb here...perhaps pre shave prep and post shave strategy might mitigate some if not all requirements?
- Thread starter
- #45
You're welcome. I'm glad that I could help confirm that there are others that agree with you. I've read good things about Eufros and I'm sure that I'll get to that someday. The same goes with the new tallow-based Sudsy Soapery line. I'm open to receiving samples, by the way, as long as they meet certain conditions for experimental purposes. Several samples that have been donated by others are in the current lineup. Just PM me if you'd like to talk about it. Thanks.
- Thread starter
- #46
For experimental purposes, I don't use any pre-shave products. I just allow time for hydration with water. My post-shave is consistent with a toner and a post-shave balm (Nivea). Certainly, I could get better shaves, even just by changing technique, but I'm making it harder on the soaps and creams to do their job so that I can more fairly compare them. Cutting out the toner and post-shave balm would really make it hard on them, but my face would suffer, so a reasonable post-shave is fair. The rigorousness sometimes leads to frustration during the optimization process. I'm in the BOSC, though, so it comes with the territory.
