Just got my first puck of D.R. Harris in the mail!

[IMightBeWrong]

I picked Windsor based on a thread from about a week or so ago. Decided to share my first impressions with you guys! Very complex aroma for my nose. I don't have the refined nose that some users may, but it smells to me like orange and spices. It seems like a bit of a mature scent for me at the age of 24, but I actually like it regardless.

I decided that I wasn't patient enough to wait for my morning shave tomorrow to test it out, so I decided to make a test lather. I used my one and only brush, a Vulfix 1000A, and started off the same way I would start with Mike's, QCS, or TOBS Jermyn St. These all seem to like my brush pretty damp, just shaken out but not completely. I load all of them for about 30-40 seconds before face lathering.

With the normal amount of water I would use in the brush I started scraping across the puck of D.R. Harris and after about 10-15 seconds I found that I not only had enough loaded, but I had lather exploding out of the nice Mahogany Bowl I bought with it. It seriously made the biggest mess of lather on my counter that I've cleaned up to date with very little effort. Then I started to build the lather up more on my palm and found myself with enough lather for about a full work week of shaves!

The consistency felt extremely nice. A little bit less gooey than Mike's in hand and a lot fluffier. I am REALLY looking forward to building a nice face lather tomorrow morning! I am blown away by how easy this was to lather and the smell is very nice. I think tomorrow morning is going to be a very nice one!

 

[FL shaver]

I have to try this one sometime just for the scent. I have used Arlington. One of my favorite scents and a really nice lather. I have smelled Marlborough and, though it is pleasant, I'm not much for the cedar scent. I'm curious to find out whether I'll prefer the scent of Windsor to Arlington. Post how tomorrow goes!

 

[wurglehound]

that was my first puck as well. I liked the scent so much that I acquired the a/s and edt as well; they say it's a dead ringer for terre d'hermes cologne. in any event, I like it, and the soap is great. I also have Arlington and Marlborough. dr harris is my Monday soap. have fun!

 

[ckang79]

DR Harris Windsor was my first DRH soap as well and my far my favorite so far. I love it so much that I am also contemplating picking up the AS and possibly the EdT. Enjoy your shaves!

 

[IMightBeWrong]

I have been stopping by the bathroom to smell it every time I walk past. I keep on wanting to smell it more. It's actually getting better and better every time I smell it. The palm I lathered up with it still smells like it, too, and I've washed my hands with peppermint castile soap twice since then.

 

[IMightBeWrong]

Kind of funny - My parents take no interest in my shaving habit. My dad thinks it's silly. But I let my mom smell it to get her opinion and she loved the smell, then my dad smelled it, and they went off discussing what they smelled and sat there trying to figure out what was in it. I read off the smells for them from WCS' website and they were happy to have guessed a couple of things correctly. Funny to see them actually enjoying my hobby for a moment. They really like the scent.

 

[tomharr51]

Nice review. I just recently got into DR soaps and Windsor was my first followed by Marlborough. I love the way they lather. I'm a big fan of tallow based soaps. I do a lot of traveling for work and picked up a Marlborough shave stick and it works great. Very easy to use. My wife thinks my shaving obsession is a bit much but I have her smell all of my soaps to get her opinion and she really likes both the Windsor and Marlborough.

 

[Redzone]

Recently aquired the Windsor too as my first D R Harris. Fragrance is growing on me, my wife liked it more than me.
I still haven't got a great lather compared to TOBS but I am assuming I don't know what I am doing with this soap as yet.
Time will tell.

 

[IMightBeWrong]

My TOBS Jermyn St lathered TERRIBLY and I have good filtered and soft water and a nicely scrubby brush. I found it had little to no cushion and turned into little dry flakes extremely quickly. I gave the puck away to a friend to see if they could work it any better. Just no luck for me I guess.

 

[djh]

Harris is fantastic stuff. Enjoy!

 

[Ru4scuba?]

DR Harris Windsor is my new favorite soap trumping all others...totally dig the scent and the consistency is what you'd expect out of a quality Harris soap.

 

[sarimento1]

Harris' stuff is great. My sample puck of Windsor has lasted several shaves and won't give up. The AS is also nice. Get your Dad Arlington for Christmas, so you can borrow it!

 

[ATL Jack]

View attachment 384481

Harris' stuff is great. My sample puck of Windsor has lasted several shaves and won't give up. The AS is also nice. Get your Dad Arlington for Christmas, so you can borrow it!

Where did you get a sample puck?

 

[IMightBeWrong]

Well, my first shave with this soap was nothing short of absolutely STELLAR!!! This soap is incredible. I used my EJ89 head with Bulldog body and a Feather blade since I just honed up my straight and haven't tested it. I wanted the test to be objective. The result was a perfect shave in 3 passes without an ounce of irritation. The soap had more protection than Mike's in my experience, and I've always loved how protective Mike's is. I could practically rush through the shave without caring and even with the Feather blade get a great shave with no irritation.

Stuff lathered easily, smelled nice (settled down a bit after lathering compared to just smelling the puck), and performed amazingly well. I'm really looking forward to testing my straight with it, now. I really love the consistency of this soap's lather so far.

 

[Woodekb]

Dr Harris DOES rule! All of them are fantastic! Windsor is at the top along with Panna Crema Namaste. Both have that fresh citrus scent and both will never leave the top list of some of my favorite soaps! Scent and performance wise!

 

[IMightBeWrong]

Still have yet to try Panna Crema. If I could find some easily I'd have some already.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

View attachment 384481

Harris' stuff is great. My sample puck of Windsor has lasted several shaves and won't give up. The AS is also nice. Get your Dad Arlington for Christmas, so you can borrow it!

Oh man...having a difficult time getting the Harris AS splash and edt overseas otherwise it would be all mine!!!

 

[Shmuel]

Still have yet to try Panna Crema. If I could find some easily I'd have some already.

Garry's Sample Shop has, I believe, 3 fragrances available.

 

[IMightBeWrong]

I just went over a bunch of the samples and Garry may have my business VERY soon! Lots of stuff I've been wanting to try there.

 

[IMightBeWrong]

I'd like to do another quick update on this test. I gave my straight razor with a nice new edge a test today to see how the soap performed with a straight vs a DE. Results were equally fantastic! I absolutely LOVE the feedback I feel using this soap over the Mike's and QCS I've used in the past. Since the Harris lather feels lighter and fluffier on my face, I get a better feel of the blade on my face where Mikes and QCS feel thicker. I'd say the Mikes FEELS more protective, but in actual use I haven't found there to be a difference in it. After shave feel from both soaps are amazing. MY skin feels a little bit better after using the Harris, but I would think that's a personal issue based on your skin type.

Overall, this is the best performing soap I've used so far, at least for me. Mike's is a close second, beaten only by the amount of feedback I get from Harris and it's ease of lathering.