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D. R. Harris

I think you're saying that MWF is better for those who face(/head) lather, and if that's the case it might work well for me. I'm still getting good at lathering and I have no idea if Van Der Hagen is a good soap for learning, but I'm definitely improving my technique with each shave. At first I was scared of all I had heard about how hard it can be to lather with MWF, but my personality is such that I will probably like it in the end even if it takes some work to get it right. I have a kind of embedded dislike for things that are easy. I cook for a living, and I never do anything the easy way. I like to earn a good result.

Edit: on a second read I clearly got that wrong. You're saying DRH is good for face lathering, not MWF. Everything else I said I stand by.

I like MWF and I think it is a better face lathering soap than bowl lathering soap as well. Of course, I think most soaps are better with face lathering.
 
D.R. Harris Arlington is currently the best shave soap in my den and I bought it primarily because the rose cream of theirs I tried is so good. Plus, after buying the cream, I read some reviews that their soaps are even better and decided I had to have one. Another thing I like about Arlington is there are several matching products available. Based on the overall quality of this soap, I'm sure I will order at least one more of their scents, and probably, Windsor.
 
It's here! OMG it's here! It smells so amazing just sitting in the box. I will post a review sometime tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning after work, but I will most definitely be using this in my pre-work shave.
 
It's here! OMG it's here! It smells so amazing just sitting in the box. I will post a review sometime tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning after work, but I will most definitely be using this in my pre-work shave.
We look forward to it!
Enjoy.
 
I couldn't resist. I shaved as soon as I got home from work (I always have my online purchases shipped to my restaurant because my apartment building is a very large, impersonal building and all packages sit on a shelf right inside the front door where they can be immediately stolen by a crackhead who managed to get in, or by an unscrupulous tenant, of which there are several). I just did one WTG pass so that I'd have something to shave before work tomorrow!

Immediately after opening the box my bathroom filled with the scent. It struck me first as kind of minerally, almost salty. Then spicy, woody, and... I-don't-know-what. Seriously, the bottom line is that I can't describe the scent. It's not what I expected exactly, based on what I had heard, and now I know why. It defies words.

At first I just intended to try lathering it, just to get a feel for it, and so that could really get the scent in the air and maybe get a better handle on it. It's addictive. Even now I want to go shave again just to get that smell again. So I skipped the towel treatment. First I soaked my brush, but as soon as the brush was wet I pulled it out of the sink and let it drip onto the puck before tossing it back in the sink. While my brush was soaking I realized that if I wanted to really practice lathering, I was going to have to lather on my head, because I know that's how I'll do it most, if not all of the time. And it was at that moment that I decided to give in and shave. So I washed my scalp quickly with hot water and the shampoo I use on my beard and rinsed it thoroughly. TheniI took the brush out of the sink. I decided to start with just a heavily damp brush, rather than a soaking wet one as I had been doing with the Van Der Hagen. I dove in with the brush and swirled it around several times in both direction, really loading it up. Go big or go home, I figure.

I dunked the very top of the loaded brush in my sink and on to the dome it goes! I had to rehydrate it several times, and now I know that I need a wetter brush to start with, if not a soaking wet one, but once I got it hydrated the lather was exquisite. I think this is what people are talking about when they say a lather is yogurt like. Shiny and opaque, thick and rich, peaking like merengue, it certainly looked like something you might dip a strawberry into, and there was so much of it!

I took my first stroke from the top of my right temple down to the top of the right side of my beard. I could hear the hair "singing" as the blade cut through them, but was otherwise unable to tell that the razor was actually making contact. The lather was so slick! I've never experienced that level of comfort in A DE shave, and I love it! The rest of the shave went just as well, and I finished feeling like a champ! The Pinaud Clubman I use usually gives me major Home Alone level burn, but this time it just gave me a nice cooling sensation. Now to be fair I only did one WTG pass whereas I usually do two ATG and a cleanup. But, and I'm not sure this is because of the soap and I think it's probably because I just shaved about thirteen hours ago, but I managed to get a DFS! In fact, except for my usual problem areas that I always have to hit in clean up, it is truly as soft and smooth as a baby's bottom.

All in all I rate D. R. Harris at 9/10. I can't give it a full ten, because I just don't have enough basis for comparison, but I like ita great deal, and I can't imagine there exists a soap that is any more than 1/10 better. The scent is huge, it's mysterious yet undoubtedly masculine and is impossible to really get enough of, but that is certainly not it's only, or even strongest selling point. Strongly recommend.

Now I'm gonna have to try the other scents!
 
I think that shave may have changed my perspective on the WTG pass. I'm going to start doing a WTG, ATG, clean-up process.
 
way to go, enquerencia.
now, time to try windsor and arlington.

full
 
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A.) Fantastic pics, great use of lighting, good composition... you must be a photographer. B.) I think I will spring for the wood bowl when I pick up my next scent, probably Arlington. And C.) Is the aftershave as good as the soap? My Pinaud Clubman has a special place in my heart, but definitely has a bit of "used car salesman who smokes cheap cigars and plays video poker at the local dive bar" kind of smell. I'm not judging any of that, but I want something truly classy for things like taking the wife to the opera.
 
"used car salesman who smokes cheap cigars and plays video poker at the local dive bar"

Now this​ is hilarious! Good comment my friend.
 
I'm going to go ahead and post my experience with my second shave with the good D. R.

I shaved with a boar brush this time, and a lot more water. I have a lot to learn about lathering, I suddenly realize. It'll probably take the rest of my life.

I hada stressful morning. Lots of RLS that nobody likes to deal with. Beads of sweat drippin down on the rent check, to quote some old school Soul Coughing. So my mind was trying to wander. But this is precisely why I shave. To Zen my way through life's endless problems and worries. And man, the smell of this soap and the sound of my hair singing with the blade... I really got there. I was just okay with being alive, all the way through.

And at the end of the day, everything I was worried about turned out just fine. I kicked a thousand assess at work and left a great many satisfied and fed people behind me on my way home.
I guess this isn't much of a review in a traditional sense.

But when I got home from work just a while ago, I headed straight to my "den" (the one shelf in the bathroom my wife lets me use) and smelled this soap. As I sit on the couch I can still smell it. It's permeating my personality and it's an improvement.
 
Very nice. I know that feeling. Stress tonight disappeared in a wonderful 20-minute shower and shave.

I love my Harris Almond. Glad you found the proverbial sweet spot with such a good brand. Will you succumb to soap acquisition disorder and go nuts, or stick with D. R. Harris? Pleasant that they have entire lines of product.
 
Glad to hear you liked the D.R. Harris, and I completely agree with you on shaving being my time for zen. It always relaxes me.
 
Very nice. I know that feeling. Stress tonight disappeared in a wonderful 20-minute shower and shave.

I love my Harris Almond. Glad you found the proverbial sweet spot with such a good brand. Will you succumb to soap acquisition disorder and go nuts, or stick with D. R. Harris? Pleasant that they have entire lines of product.
+1 on the DR Harris almond. I have that then samples of all the other ones except lavender. Truly beautiful soaps. I will be buying lavender some time soon.
 
Very nice. I know that feeling. Stress tonight disappeared in a wonderful 20-minute shower and shave.

I love my Harris Almond. Glad you found the proverbial sweet spot with such a good brand. Will you succumb to soap acquisition disorder and go nuts, or stick with D. R. Harris? Pleasant that they have entire lines of product.
Most likely I will go a little nuts. I'm certainly going to get some MWF, and I do want to try the other D. R. Harris scents. The thing is, these soaps last for up to a year, and I don't want to wait that long to try something new. I'm going to need more space.
 
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