A few weeks back @Steinmetzify hosted a pif giving a way a jar of MdC Rose shaving soap. I was the lucky winner. I told him I would post a review so others could hear about my experience. Although this is a review, any advice with this product would be appreciated as well.
A quick background. For the past 7 or 8 years, I've predominantly used Mitchell's Wool Fat. I'm very happy with it, but once in a while I like to change things up. MWF has great slickness, I like that the scent isn't overwhelming, it rinses off of my tools easily, and leaves my skin feeling great. I mostly face lather and do 2 WTG passes. I find this works best for me since I don't shave daily.
Ok, with that out of the way onto my experience. When I initially opened it, the scent seemed very strong. It was a good smell, but it was strong. Initially, I thought it would be overpowering, but I was wrong. It leaves a very nice, mild scent behind.
My first time using MdC, I noticed that it built up a nice lather relatively quickly. I built my lather in a bowl and the applied to my face. As soon as I started shaving I noticed this was not nearly as slick as I'm used to. It did not seem slick at all. Once my first pass was done I reapplied and went at it again. Now that my stubble was knocked down I noticed how much more cushion MdC offered over the MWF I'm used to. My first shave was an ok experience.
Shave 2 was similar to the first shave. I ended with a bit of irritation on my neck. Again, the lather didn't seem as slick as I would've liked.
Before shave 3 I went online and read some reviews. Everyone seems to love this stuff so I must be doing something wrong. This time, I thought I'd face lather since that's what I'd normally do with MWF. That was an awful idea. My neck was so irritated I wondered if I was allergic to this soap. This was an awful shave. But, it did smell nice.
After giving my neck a few days rest and letting the irritation go away I went back for more. This time, I went back to bowl lathering. I used less water than I thought I should. Once I built up the lather, I wetted my neck and brushed it on using N to S strokes. No circular strokes like I normally do. I dipped the tips of the brush in water and continued N to S strokes to add a bit more water. This time, my first pass felt good. I reapplied and did a second pass. Today, I got a good shave with no irritation. It was good, but I don't think it was great. It still does not feel slick enough to me.
I notice when cleaning my tools after my shave that the soap doesn't rinse off as easily as MWF. I'm wondering if that is part of what makes it feel less slippery.
I think the scent is great and the cushion of the lather is excellent. I don't think it'll become my daily go to shave soap, but I wouldn't mind using it to break up the monotony from time to time.
Am I missing something that might be causing less than stellar results?
A quick background. For the past 7 or 8 years, I've predominantly used Mitchell's Wool Fat. I'm very happy with it, but once in a while I like to change things up. MWF has great slickness, I like that the scent isn't overwhelming, it rinses off of my tools easily, and leaves my skin feeling great. I mostly face lather and do 2 WTG passes. I find this works best for me since I don't shave daily.
Ok, with that out of the way onto my experience. When I initially opened it, the scent seemed very strong. It was a good smell, but it was strong. Initially, I thought it would be overpowering, but I was wrong. It leaves a very nice, mild scent behind.
My first time using MdC, I noticed that it built up a nice lather relatively quickly. I built my lather in a bowl and the applied to my face. As soon as I started shaving I noticed this was not nearly as slick as I'm used to. It did not seem slick at all. Once my first pass was done I reapplied and went at it again. Now that my stubble was knocked down I noticed how much more cushion MdC offered over the MWF I'm used to. My first shave was an ok experience.
Shave 2 was similar to the first shave. I ended with a bit of irritation on my neck. Again, the lather didn't seem as slick as I would've liked.
Before shave 3 I went online and read some reviews. Everyone seems to love this stuff so I must be doing something wrong. This time, I thought I'd face lather since that's what I'd normally do with MWF. That was an awful idea. My neck was so irritated I wondered if I was allergic to this soap. This was an awful shave. But, it did smell nice.
After giving my neck a few days rest and letting the irritation go away I went back for more. This time, I went back to bowl lathering. I used less water than I thought I should. Once I built up the lather, I wetted my neck and brushed it on using N to S strokes. No circular strokes like I normally do. I dipped the tips of the brush in water and continued N to S strokes to add a bit more water. This time, my first pass felt good. I reapplied and did a second pass. Today, I got a good shave with no irritation. It was good, but I don't think it was great. It still does not feel slick enough to me.
I notice when cleaning my tools after my shave that the soap doesn't rinse off as easily as MWF. I'm wondering if that is part of what makes it feel less slippery.
I think the scent is great and the cushion of the lather is excellent. I don't think it'll become my daily go to shave soap, but I wouldn't mind using it to break up the monotony from time to time.
Am I missing something that might be causing less than stellar results?
