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Grooming Dept Mallard Evaluation

Grooming Dept released a series of soaps in the updated Mallard formula a couple of months ago. When the two I ordered arrived, my wife confiscated them; she considered them to be Christmas presents. Although I began to use them shortly after Christmas, I waited to post my evaluation because they have been sold out everywhere. This is to change shortly as Mohammad is starting to pack orders for shipment to stockists in North America. Thus, they should be available soon.

All of the Mallard scents released were gourmand type scents. The two I purchased were Earl Grey Gelato and Corretto. Although I loved both, I had a slight preference for the Earl Grey Gelato. My wife had a slight preference for the Corretto. Both are mid-strong. Neither caused any irritation of my sensitive skin. Other scents that were released are: Chocolate, Strawberry Rhubarb, Kulfi, Almond Vanilla, and Coconut Rum.

Those of you who may have read my review of the Mallard Amore released last Valentine's Day might remember that it was one of my top soaps. The current Mallard release is a slight tweak of the earlier release and is as good or better than Amore. By way of full disclosure, I do serve as one of the development testers for Grooming Dept, but the soaps for which I post evaluations are purchased at full retail price.

The current Mallard formulation is one of the top soaps in my extensive collection.

Mallard is easy to load about 8 seconds give me enough soap for 5 passes.
Mallard is easy to lather. I can generate a smooth lather free of large bubbles in about 30 seconds of bowl lathering.
Mallard has superb slickness, both primary and residual. The residual slickness is so good that I can do my clean-up pass without application of additional lather. There are only a couple of soaps that are good enough to do that.
Mallard has superb skin protection. I can get a near BBS shave in four passes with zero irritation of my sensitive skin.
Mallard has a superb post-shave feel that will last a full 24 hours without feeling heavy, waxy or oily. No post shave product is needed.

Thus, if you missed out on the Mallard release near the end of next year, you might want to check out some of the vendors over the next week or so. It might not take the vendors long to see out.

Also, Mohammad will be releasing a couple of small batches of Kairos+Lamb Tallow soap for Valentine's Day. I have not tested that formula, but I am looking forward to purchasing one of the soaps. Kairos and Lamb Tallow are both great formulas, so I am hoping the combination will be as good as Mallard.
 
Grooming Dept released a series of soaps in the updated Mallard formula a couple of months ago. When the two I ordered arrived, my wife confiscated them; she considered them to be Christmas presents. Although I began to use them shortly after Christmas, I waited to post my evaluation because they have been sold out everywhere. This is to change shortly as Mohammad is starting to pack orders for shipment to stockists in North America. Thus, they should be available soon.

All of the Mallard scents released were gourmand type scents. The two I purchased were Earl Grey Gelato and Corretto. Although I loved both, I had a slight preference for the Earl Grey Gelato. My wife had a slight preference for the Corretto. Both are mid-strong. Neither caused any irritation of my sensitive skin. Other scents that were released are: Chocolate, Strawberry Rhubarb, Kulfi, Almond Vanilla, and Coconut Rum.

Those of you who may have read my review of the Mallard Amore released last Valentine's Day might remember that it was one of my top soaps. The current Mallard release is a slight tweak of the earlier release and is as good or better than Amore. By way of full disclosure, I do serve as one of the development testers for Grooming Dept, but the soaps for which I post evaluations are purchased at full retail price.

The current Mallard formulation is one of the top soaps in my extensive collection.

Mallard is easy to load about 8 seconds give me enough soap for 5 passes.
Mallard is easy to lather. I can generate a smooth lather free of large bubbles in about 30 seconds of bowl lathering.
Mallard has superb slickness, both primary and residual. The residual slickness is so good that I can do my clean-up pass without application of additional lather. There are only a couple of soaps that are good enough to do that.
Mallard has superb skin protection. I can get a near BBS shave in four passes with zero irritation of my sensitive skin.
Mallard has a superb post-shave feel that will last a full 24 hours without feeling heavy, waxy or oily. No post shave product is needed.

Thus, if you missed out on the Mallard release near the end of next year, you might want to check out some of the vendors over the next week or so. It might not take the vendors long to see out.

Also, Mohammad will be releasing a couple of small batches of Kairos+Lamb Tallow soap for Valentine's Day. I have not tested that formula, but I am looking forward to purchasing one of the soaps. Kairos and Lamb Tallow are both great formulas, so I am hoping the combination will be as good as Mallard.
Hi RayClem,

Congratulations on finding a couple of additional soaps that work well for you. Thorough review. Enjoy!
 

mrlandpirate

Got lucky with dead badgers
I got a couple too and I find them to be as good or better then anything Mo has made.
This is my number one goto soap for a great shave.
 
I picked up a pair this afternoon for hits and grins. Strawberry rhubarb because it's one is my favorite things ever and coconut rum. Curious how it compares to the spectacular omnibus base.
 
I received the mallard soaps last night and shaved with strawberry rhubarb this morning. Right off the bat, i was not expecting the relatively hard soap they are-most if not all of the artisan soaps i've tried i'd probably consider croaps, but the mallards are much harder. I loaded about the same amount of time I would as my regular use omnibus soaps which yielded considerably less lather than expected for me, and I attribute that to the soaps hardness. So...next shave i'll plan on loading a little longer and a little wetter to pick up more product. It was still enough for a 3 pass shave with a little extra at the end.
The lather was really good and i built it up pretty quickly- going to try to hydrate it more next time to see how much more it can hold. It was a great shave, anyway. Different lather compared to say, omnibus, definitely less unctuous, but the net is-its a great soap. I think post shave is where it shines the most. I didn't use any aftershave or balm, just a cold water rinse and my face feels soft and smooth. Nice stuff.
Strawberry Rhubarb scent- I like it a lot and figured i would because i also love the pie, though this is nothing like a pie. The scent is medium strength- reminds me of V05 strawberry shampoo my grandma used to always have in the tub. Not something i'd shave with before a night out, but for me, anyway- invokes memories of bathing at grandmas house, a good clean and relaxing scent. I also have the coconut rum scent which smells pretty good off the puck.
 
Strawberry Rhubarb scent- I like it a lot and figured i would because i also love the pie, though this is nothing like a pie. The scent is medium strength- reminds me of V05 strawberry shampoo my grandma used to always have in the tub. Not something i'd shave with before a night out, but for me, anyway- invokes memories of bathing at grandmas house, a good clean and relaxing scent. I also have the coconut rum scent which smells pretty good off the puck.

As for the Strawberry Rhubarb scent, grandma's strawberry shampoo is going to be a hard one to get past.... :)
 
Yes Mallard base is a harder puck than other GD soaps. Performance is excellent on the 3 I've tried (Original, rose Chai, regular Chai tea). Great soap base that hopefully stays around a while.
 
Coconut Rum is a hit for me. Nice scent and i enjoy the coconut notes- on some soaps they tend to smell too much like a candle, but this note i'm getting a very raw coconut scent- smells like i'm on vacation. Good stuff, great soap. I'm a happy costumer.
 
Coconut Rum is a hit for me. Nice scent and i enjoy the coconut notes- on some soaps they tend to smell too much like a candle, but this note i'm getting a very raw coconut scent- smells like i'm on vacation. Good stuff, great soap. I'm a happy costumer.
Barbarian80 approved!! Thank goodness! Wait a minute, there is that note of doubt creeping in-that very raw coconut note. Now what do I do as I await delivery of my coconut rum mallard soap? Am I gonna smell like I just applied a crappy Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil? Or worse, like I just had one too many of those really cheap drinks they hand out on Carnival cruises? :cool:
 
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I'm curious about the strawberry rhubarb in mallard base. How much lemon and lime do you guys smell?
 
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