I ordered four sample of M&M soap earlier this year and have given them all multiple shaves. On the plus side, the lather they make is absolutely gorgeous. It LOOKS like it would be the best shaving lather on the planet.
I noticed right away, though, that my lathers with M&M soap lacked cushion. I thought maybe it was a mistake I was making, so I kept trying. Some lathers were slightly better than others, but I almost always noticed a bit of irritation that I normally don’t get. I put them away for a while and went back to my old favorites.
Yesterday I pulled out one of the samples again. 36 hours previously I had shaved with a homemade shaving soap made by one of the members here at B&B, using my new Feather SR folding shavette and using a post-war Tech for touch-up. It was one of the best shaves I’ve had in a long while. So I fired up the exact same hardware, loaded with the same blades, and lathered up the M&M sample. I made a GORGEOUS lather; rich, unctuous, shiny, dense…just beautiful. And then I shaved.
Slickness was good, but as I was rinsing after the second pass I noticed two little weepers and over the next 10-15 minutes found other areas of minor irritation. Again. I know my technique is good because I don’t get irritation, burn, or weepers when I use other soaps. But in retrospect it seems that pretty much every time I use M&M I end up with irritation, razor burn, or (rarely) weepers.
For me it is just not worth it. And I guess it is proof positive that you can’t really judge a lather by how it looks or smells, but only by how it shaves. I am throwing out what is remaining of all four M&M samples. Yesterday’s was my very last M&M shave (unless they change their formula).
I know a lot of people really love these soaps, and that’s great. They are apparently not for me, though.
I noticed right away, though, that my lathers with M&M soap lacked cushion. I thought maybe it was a mistake I was making, so I kept trying. Some lathers were slightly better than others, but I almost always noticed a bit of irritation that I normally don’t get. I put them away for a while and went back to my old favorites.
Yesterday I pulled out one of the samples again. 36 hours previously I had shaved with a homemade shaving soap made by one of the members here at B&B, using my new Feather SR folding shavette and using a post-war Tech for touch-up. It was one of the best shaves I’ve had in a long while. So I fired up the exact same hardware, loaded with the same blades, and lathered up the M&M sample. I made a GORGEOUS lather; rich, unctuous, shiny, dense…just beautiful. And then I shaved.
Slickness was good, but as I was rinsing after the second pass I noticed two little weepers and over the next 10-15 minutes found other areas of minor irritation. Again. I know my technique is good because I don’t get irritation, burn, or weepers when I use other soaps. But in retrospect it seems that pretty much every time I use M&M I end up with irritation, razor burn, or (rarely) weepers.
For me it is just not worth it. And I guess it is proof positive that you can’t really judge a lather by how it looks or smells, but only by how it shaves. I am throwing out what is remaining of all four M&M samples. Yesterday’s was my very last M&M shave (unless they change their formula).
I know a lot of people really love these soaps, and that’s great. They are apparently not for me, though.
