DR Harris Lavender Soap

[barko78]

I’ve been using DR Harris soaps for several years and like them. Recently while at Mertz in Chicago I picked up their Lavender soap. The smell kinda smelled like a sweet MWF to my nose.
I have always struggled with shaving daily and even every other day for a long time. It seems that I just can’t recover fast enough and I have a slow growing beard as well.
This Lavender soap shocked the heck out of me. I got an effortless, near BBS 2 pass shave with absolutely no irritation. So I decided to try it again the next day and same results. This is the first soap/cream that lets me shave so close every day. I’m really impressed.
I went back to my other DRH soaps (Windsor and Marlborough) and my Tabac and just could not shave without irritation daily, not sure why.
Since I still have the DRH Lavender box I looked at the ingredients. It has Sodium Tallowate as the 1st ingredient followed by Potassium Stearate and Sodium Stearate. I believe this is different from the other soaps and might be why this stuff lathers so nicely and performs outstanding.
Does anyone know this formulation is normal for their Lavender?
This is the first DRH soap I used that lathers much differently than the others...and in a good way.

 

[ackvil]

Those are the ingredients for DR Harris soaps, including lavender. Not all lavender soaps contain the same ingredients.

Like you, I find all of DR Harris soaps to be top tier making a great lather.

 

[Bbb34]

Below is list of ingredients for mine, purchased last week from Canadian retailer.
Don't have box for my Almond, which I purchased several months ago, but cannot tell any difference in performance between the two - both excellent soaps for me. You are correct about no irritation, these (again for me) offer great glide and protection and work great with DE as well as straights.

 

[barko78]

Here’s the ingredients for the Windsor from West Coast shavin. Note the differences. Also note the differences in their Lavender. Maybe I just stumbled on a really good soap, but I swear it’s different (to me) and I’ve been shaving with DRH soaps for several years now.

 

[Grundi]

@barko78, I was in Chicago for the first time visiting my son and we stopped in at Mertz, amazing store!! Love lavender scented soaps. Glad Dr. H is working for you.

 

[Bbb34]

From what I read recently, they have re-formulated their soaps, but as far as I know, this is not "that" recent.

 

[barko78]

That would make sense. My last purchase of their soaps was a year and a half ago. Really liking this stuff and looks like I’ll be able to go through it faster now. Good stuff.

 

[Bbb34]

Love lavender scented soaps. Glad Dr. H is working for you.

D.R. Harris lavender is "nice" but very light scented.

If you really like lavender (like I do), and have not tried these yet, do yourself a favor and try either Castle Forbes Lavender or Midnight and Two Provence. To me, by far best smelling lavender soaps I have tried so far.

 

[barko78]

D.R. Harris lavender is "nice" but very light scented.

If you really like lavender (like I do), and have not tried these yet, do yourself a favor and try either Castle Forbes Lavender or Midnight and Two Provence. To me, by far best smelling lavender soaps I have tried so far.

I love the CF lavender scent. I’ll take a look at the others, haven’t tried them yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ask4Edge]

The latest reformulation (which debuted ~1 yr ago) is tallowate-first.

 

[barko78]

Thanks ask4edge, that explains it.

 

[barko78]

@barko78, I was in Chicago for the first time visiting my son and we stopped in at Mertz, amazing store!! Love lavender scented soaps. Glad Dr. H is working for you.

That place is great. Did you get some good deep dish too?

 

[Grundi]

D.R. Harris lavender is "nice" but very light scented.

If you really like lavender (like I do), and have not tried these yet, do yourself a favor and try either Castle Forbes Lavender or Midnight and Two Provence. To me, by far best smelling lavender soaps I have tried so far.

I got a chance to try Castle Forbes Lavender in the recent Lavender Soap Passaround (very grateful to @bobmsp for doing that and his excellent Lavender soap shootout thread) and CF is top notch!!

That place is great. Did you get some good deep dish too?

DEEP DISH from Calo Ristorante!! (expensive but excellent food)

 

[help]

I have been through 20 different soaps and D R Harris is absolutely the best. I also like the fact that the fragrance is light

 

[EL Alamein]

DR Harris is a very old-school soap. They switch around their ingredients according to what they can procure in the market but target making their soap they way they have made it from it's creation.

I'm glad gents are re-discovering this old classic and the value it offers.

Now if only the other old-school soap makers could follow and make their once great soaps like they used to we'd could appreciate what shaving used to be in the old days before everything was reformulated!

Chris

 

[Bbb34]

DR Harris is a very old-school soap. They switch around their ingredients according to what they can procure in the market but target making their soap they way they have made it from it's creation.

I'm glad gents are re-discovering this old classic and the value it offers.

I was very curious about it for a long time, then I ended up buying SV to try, but at the same time was reading one of the threads here about D.R. Harris Vs. SV, and there seemed to be no middle ground, those who love it, really love it, others just couldn't make it work. So it was curiosity for me, followed by "whoa, this thing is excellent" - definitively a keeper for me.

 

[boilerphan]

I LOVE D.R. Harris lavender. It was my first shaving soap that I purchased and it has been a great performer and still one I enjoy using. I have more soaps than I care to admit, but I still go back to the DRH Lavender in my rotation.

 

[airmech]

If you want a great smelling Lavender soap, look at Mickey Lee Soap works - Jefferson Square!!! Great scent and lather!!!

Tom

 

[Zen Shaver]

Big fan of DR soaps, looking forward to trying the new formula. Their website states ongoing efforts to reduce palm oil in their products; which I applaud.
Castle Forbes is great but Mike’s Natural Hungarian Lavender is the best I’ve tried, imho.