Dr Haris = Petrolatum
Best english shave soap in wooden bowl ?
- Thread starter exocet
- Start date
Hi Nickm,
What is your recommendation regarding Kent based on? Based on your prior posts (links to two below where you list all the soaps you've used since starting wet shaving) you have not had it or the similar Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF) in your rotation since you began wet shaving a year and a half ago.
Note that many of us, including me, use MWF, which is the same as Kent under a different brand name, and find it to be a excellent soap. That said you should clarify if your recommendations are based on something other than your personal experience.
Historical Retrospective: B&B Shaving Soap Perspectives from 15 Years Ago - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/historical-retrospective-b-b-shaving-soap-perspectives-from-15-years-ago.628584/page-3#post-12104034
Top 5 recommendations for soap beginners
I can't think of any other Artisan's that sell 5.8 ounce pucks of soap for $15. Master Soap Creations--- 6 ounces for $14.99. I've never tried it although I do have a sample. All the feedback I've seen has been positive.
www.badgerandblade.com
And? Petrolatum is refined mineral oil. Mineral oil is a common ingredient in cosmetics. Especially things like skin lotion.
The amount of mineral oil in a day's worth of shaving lather is tiny. It is way down on the ingredient list.
@Lane101 I asked a family member with the sir name Kent what he thought was the best. I worked with him for years.
I gifted him Kent at his request for end of year. Silver label with black lettering if I recall. I think his son had got him some and he liked the tube. Was surprised he did not want the bowl.
Wood bowl discussion I think he talked about hand carving himself MANY years ago.
I gifted him Kent at his request for end of year. Silver label with black lettering if I recall. I think his son had got him some and he liked the tube. Was surprised he did not want the bowl.
Wood bowl discussion I think he talked about hand carving himself MANY years ago.
D.R. Harris for sure. Great soap.
DR Harris all the way. I like Arlington.
Thank you for clarifying that your recommendation was based on a family members recommendation. Note that the tube is a shaving cream versus the hard soap that the OP was asking about. Regardless Kent is the same as Mitchell's Wool Fat which is an excellent hard soap.
Surprised that you did not recommend either the Caswell-Massey, Castle Forbes or Barrister & Mann you've mentioned using in other posts. Do those soaps perform well for you?
Currently, Floris is at the top of my list for UK soaps. Try the N°89 shaving soap and fragrance combo and you'll truly feel like a refined English Gentleman of the Victorian Age. 
DR Harris hands down.
Currently, Floris is at the top of my list for UK soaps. Try the N°89 shaving soap and fragrance combo and you'll truly feel like a refined English Gentleman of the Victorian Age.
I had very good luck from both a performance and scent perspective with Floris JF. Good stuff!
Currently, my #1 English shave soap!
Just got the No 89 and the Elite soaps from Floris. I highly recommend these as well. Perform as good if not better than my DR Harris soaps. They lather beautifully and easily for hard pucks. Bought both in the wood bowl from Floris.us.Currently, Floris is at the top of my list for UK soaps. Try the N°89 shaving soap and fragrance combo and you'll truly feel like a refined English Gentleman of the Victorian Age.
I believe the general consensus is that TOBS, Truefit and Hill and GF Trumper make better creams than soaps and that the soap from DR Harris is superior to their cream. However, many of these products have been reformulated in recent years and in some cases the production has been outsourced. I started with several of these products when I began my wet shaving journey, but I no longer use either of these products.
I was surprised to learn that @Captain Pre-Capsize uses DR Harris routinely. I consider his Captain's Choice soaps to be far superior. I do like the scent of Windsor, but the performance leaves me wanting.
I was surprised to learn that @Captain Pre-Capsize uses DR Harris routinely. I consider his Captain's Choice soaps to be far superior. I do like the scent of Windsor, but the performance leaves me wanting.
My advice to anyone that hasn’t gotten a great shave with DR Harris soaps or these new Floris formulations is three things:
1. Get plenty of soap on the brush
2. Work it and work it. These triple milled soaps take a lot of patience they don’t explode into a lather as quickly as artisan products or even a good mass market cream
3. Give them plenty of water. This morning I shaved with Floris elite and after working it for quite a while it had a sheen and looked beautiful. But it needed even more water and I threw a bunch more at it and the result was outstanding.
1. Get plenty of soap on the brush
2. Work it and work it. These triple milled soaps take a lot of patience they don’t explode into a lather as quickly as artisan products or even a good mass market cream
3. Give them plenty of water. This morning I shaved with Floris elite and after working it for quite a while it had a sheen and looked beautiful. But it needed even more water and I threw a bunch more at it and the result was outstanding.
Kent , aka Mitchells Wool Fat , comes in a wooden bowl .
Kent is nice and cool too.....in cream form, sorry. The soap is good too.
I would recommend trying the following:
- D.R. Harris (tallow based and a lot of scents to chose from. They also have excellent shave sticks)
- Truefitt and Hill Apsley (ONLY Apsley as it has a different (and better) formula to the rest of their line up. It is an excellent non-tallow soap that I find beats D.R. Harris in post shave feel)
- Floris (the same formula as Truefitt and Hill Apsley)
- Arran Sense of Scotland (previously Arran Arromatics. It has been reformulated to the same base as Floris and Truefitt and Hill Apsley. It doesn't come in a wooden bowl but in a stone shaped resin bowl)
- Cyril R Salter (the same formula as D.R. Harris. It doesn't come in a bowl and is only available in a Lavender scent but is a fraction of the price of D.R. Harris)
- Captain Fawcett (I haven't tried either of their soaps but I believe it is the same formula as D.R. Harris)
- D.R. Harris (tallow based and a lot of scents to chose from. They also have excellent shave sticks)
- Truefitt and Hill Apsley (ONLY Apsley as it has a different (and better) formula to the rest of their line up. It is an excellent non-tallow soap that I find beats D.R. Harris in post shave feel)
- Floris (the same formula as Truefitt and Hill Apsley)
- Arran Sense of Scotland (previously Arran Arromatics. It has been reformulated to the same base as Floris and Truefitt and Hill Apsley. It doesn't come in a wooden bowl but in a stone shaped resin bowl)
- Cyril R Salter (the same formula as D.R. Harris. It doesn't come in a bowl and is only available in a Lavender scent but is a fraction of the price of D.R. Harris)
- Captain Fawcett (I haven't tried either of their soaps but I believe it is the same formula as D.R. Harris)
Floris - 89Currently, Floris is at the top of my list for UK soaps. Try the N°89 shaving soap and fragrance combo and you'll truly feel like a refined English Gentleman of the Victorian Age.
T&H Apsley
Kent (w/tallow)
D.R. Harris - Arlington or Marlborough
Of course @exocet , you could always pick up a wooden bowl from say Connaught's
