Ever since hearing in October that Caswell Massey was reformulating their entire shaving line, I've been eager to try it out. I wrote to them and they told me the formulas were indeed new and it was not simply a packaging change. The new soaps were free of parabens and included goodies like allantoin and avocado, cottonseed and sweet almond oils. Still, I was wary. So instead of ordering right away I asked for it for Christmas.
Well I tried it tonight. I even took my phone in the bathroom to document the improved lather of this infamous dud of all duds. I was....mildly optimistic that the "new" sandalwood would be something to cheer about. After all, the bowl is handsome (same design but now painted black), the fragrance is unique among sandalwoods and there's something "Old America" about it.
It's...better than the old 1752 soap, but not by much. Still a sudsy, disappearing lather. Initially I was encouraged as a slightly dry Rooney 3/1 whipped up what appeared to be nice proto-lather foam, but it never improved from there. I tried lathering it 4 times. I experimented with water ratios. Nothing.
How's the shave? Well, aside from the disappearing lather, this is one SLICK soap. I'm serious. It's slicker than if Tabac and MWF had a one night stand and produced a love child. In this quality it's fantastic....too bad it doesn't have a creamy lather to back it up. So yes, I did shave with it using my LC New. And aside from some mild razor burn and a little irritation on the 3rd pass (probably an ingredient my face doesn't like), the shave was okay. But that's still not enough to excuse sub-par, sudsy. disappearing lather.
As a result of this I can only conclude that the soap guys at Caswell Massey are ignorant of what they are trying to produce. Why reformulate a poor soap after years of ridicule and derision to produce....another poor soap? And it's frustrating because it's SLICK as the dickens. Have they not used anything else? Have they not played "Which one of these is not like the others?" when looking at their product in comparison. Do they even KNOW that a shaving soap is supposed to LATHER?
Well, into the shower it goes. The nice bowl will house a TOBS refill puck, something Caswell Massey can learn something from.
It's a shame.
Well I tried it tonight. I even took my phone in the bathroom to document the improved lather of this infamous dud of all duds. I was....mildly optimistic that the "new" sandalwood would be something to cheer about. After all, the bowl is handsome (same design but now painted black), the fragrance is unique among sandalwoods and there's something "Old America" about it.
It's...better than the old 1752 soap, but not by much. Still a sudsy, disappearing lather. Initially I was encouraged as a slightly dry Rooney 3/1 whipped up what appeared to be nice proto-lather foam, but it never improved from there. I tried lathering it 4 times. I experimented with water ratios. Nothing.
How's the shave? Well, aside from the disappearing lather, this is one SLICK soap. I'm serious. It's slicker than if Tabac and MWF had a one night stand and produced a love child. In this quality it's fantastic....too bad it doesn't have a creamy lather to back it up. So yes, I did shave with it using my LC New. And aside from some mild razor burn and a little irritation on the 3rd pass (probably an ingredient my face doesn't like), the shave was okay. But that's still not enough to excuse sub-par, sudsy. disappearing lather.
As a result of this I can only conclude that the soap guys at Caswell Massey are ignorant of what they are trying to produce. Why reformulate a poor soap after years of ridicule and derision to produce....another poor soap? And it's frustrating because it's SLICK as the dickens. Have they not used anything else? Have they not played "Which one of these is not like the others?" when looking at their product in comparison. Do they even KNOW that a shaving soap is supposed to LATHER?
Well, into the shower it goes. The nice bowl will house a TOBS refill puck, something Caswell Massey can learn something from.
It's a shame.
