Well, I finally gave in and ordered pen's EF soap from vintage blades. I used it yesterday and the shave was awesome! Smooth, and easy to lather, not to mention the scent is great too. I highly recommend picking up the old formulation, in the bowl if need be. I know the price is steep, but I think it is worth it. YMMV.
Penhaligon's English Fern
- Thread starter natetuly
- Start date
The scent is so good and persistent, it was still living in the brush when it came up again in the rotation 3 days later. I wouldn't have guessed it, but it was a nice combo with Speick. Hmmmmm...maybe I should invest in a little Speick cream and try a superlather.
Speick cream is wonderful stuff. Strong rosemary scent IMO
Penhaligon's English Fern remains my favorite soap, though it is the scent as much as the efficacy that won me over.
I wasn't fond of the EF to begin with... but now I wouldn't trade it for anything. Lathers extremely slick and just reeks of awesomeness.
I went into a Penhaligon's store two days ago to pick up a bowl of English Fern and because it was the last one they had and it's being reformulated, the sales assistant gave me the puck from the demo bowl (which has obviously never been used) for free!
Always flirt with shop assistants...
Always flirt with shop assistants...
You must be younger and better looking than me. If I tried that, not only would I not have received the demo puck, I would have had to pay extra for the one for sale!
Bob
Just recieved my Pen EF last night and had a shave with it this very morning.
Initial impressions:
Pure class! The box Pen comes in is simple, understated, and beautiful. Green with some gold trim and little fern embellishments...
The box lid lifts off to reveal the EF bowl within...
Lift the lid on the bowl and feast your eyes upon the tallowy puck, whilst you nose is greeted by the fresh, green scent!
OK, to tell the truth, the puck itself comes wrapped in platic, so you have to remove that first to get the full boquet of aroma....
What luck, the soap arrived last evening, so it was ready to roll for this morning's shave to take care of 48 hours worth of whiskers.
Lathers easily, seems to have a good balance between glide, closeness, and cushion. It did not strike me as having head and shoulders above shaving performance to any other soap, but it ceratinly was not found lacking in any department either. First shave with it, so I need to get to know it a bit better before casting final judgment on where it falls in the tallow heirarchy for me.
The scent is excellently refreshing for a morning shave, and I'd say this is where this soap earns it's keep. Bright and refreshing, like sunlight through a canopy of Spring leaves with a babbling brook winding its way through the forest nearby.
Penhaligon's nails this fresh, green scent in a way that Irisch Moos, in my opinion does not. IM's scent, to me, is overly sharp and pungent, somehow fake smelling, it assaults your nose "SMELL ME, I"M GREEN AND LEAFY, DAMMIT!".
Whereas the English Fern draws you in like fresh morning air: "hey...*sniff*, that smells pretty good...*sniff*, yeah, I like that!". You breath it in deeply and feel ready to take on the world.
Price:
Okay...so no more refill pucks are left out there that I know of, so it's all or nothing-you gotta pony up $65 for the bowl ensemble.
Is that a good deal?
No it is not.
Is it worth it?
It very well may be!
Initial impressions:
Pure class! The box Pen comes in is simple, understated, and beautiful. Green with some gold trim and little fern embellishments...
The box lid lifts off to reveal the EF bowl within...
Lift the lid on the bowl and feast your eyes upon the tallowy puck, whilst you nose is greeted by the fresh, green scent!
OK, to tell the truth, the puck itself comes wrapped in platic, so you have to remove that first to get the full boquet of aroma....
What luck, the soap arrived last evening, so it was ready to roll for this morning's shave to take care of 48 hours worth of whiskers.
Lathers easily, seems to have a good balance between glide, closeness, and cushion. It did not strike me as having head and shoulders above shaving performance to any other soap, but it ceratinly was not found lacking in any department either. First shave with it, so I need to get to know it a bit better before casting final judgment on where it falls in the tallow heirarchy for me.
The scent is excellently refreshing for a morning shave, and I'd say this is where this soap earns it's keep. Bright and refreshing, like sunlight through a canopy of Spring leaves with a babbling brook winding its way through the forest nearby.
Penhaligon's nails this fresh, green scent in a way that Irisch Moos, in my opinion does not. IM's scent, to me, is overly sharp and pungent, somehow fake smelling, it assaults your nose "SMELL ME, I"M GREEN AND LEAFY, DAMMIT!".
Whereas the English Fern draws you in like fresh morning air: "hey...*sniff*, that smells pretty good...*sniff*, yeah, I like that!". You breath it in deeply and feel ready to take on the world.
Price:
Okay...so no more refill pucks are left out there that I know of, so it's all or nothing-you gotta pony up $65 for the bowl ensemble.
Is that a good deal?
No it is not.
Is it worth it?
It very well may be!
This is a great soap. Worth every penny IMHO. Definitely one of my desert island picks. I would love to try the splash but it's a little spendy.
Nice review! Consider tossing this in the Reviews section. 
Just recieved my Pen EF last night and had a shave with it this very morning.
Initial impressions:
Pure class! The box Pen comes in is simple, understated, and beautiful. Green with some gold trim and little fern embellishments...
The box lid lifts off to reveal the EF bowl within...
Lift the lid on the bowl and feast your eyes upon the tallowy puck, whilst you nose is greeted by the fresh, green scent!
OK, to tell the truth, the puck itself comes wrapped in platic, so you have to remove that first to get the full boquet of aroma....
What luck, the soap arrived last evening, so it was ready to roll for this morning's shave to take care of 48 hours worth of whiskers.
Lathers easily, seems to have a good balance between glide, closeness, and cushion. It did not strike me as having head and shoulders above shaving performance to any other soap, but it ceratinly was not found lacking in any department either. First shave with it, so I need to get to know it a bit better before casting final judgment on where it falls in the tallow heirarchy for me.
The scent is excellently refreshing for a morning shave, and I'd say this is where this soap earns it's keep. Bright and refreshing, like sunlight through a canopy of Spring leaves with a babbling brook winding its way through the forest nearby.
Penhaligon's nails this fresh, green scent in a way that Irisch Moos, in my opinion does not. IM's scent, to me, is overly sharp and pungent, somehow fake smelling, it assaults your nose "SMELL ME, I"M GREEN AND LEAFY, DAMMIT!".
Whereas the English Fern draws you in like fresh morning air: "hey...*sniff*, that smells pretty good...*sniff*, yeah, I like that!". You breath it in deeply and feel ready to take on the world.
Price:
Okay...so no more refill pucks are left out there that I know of, so it's all or nothing-you gotta pony up $65 for the bowl ensemble.
Is that a good deal?
No it is not.
Is it worth it?
It very well may be!
Beautiful review! Thanks so much!
As a heads up to anyone in the UK, it seems that a couple of the penhaligon's stores still have some bowls of the tallow version left before they reformulate it. Also, Fortnum and Mason had half a dozen at £35 each a couple of days ago. You guys should really stock up, it really is the nuts!
How does shaving with Penhaligon's make you feel?
Like a true English gentleman. See here for the full effect:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCkFhafk26A[/YOUTUBE]
Like a true English gentleman. See here for the full effect:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCkFhafk26A[/YOUTUBE]
G
gone down south
How does the scent compare to the English Fern edC?
They are pretty close. The soap smells much more "powdery".
Shave #2 with the Fern.
The lather seemed much richer this time around, had a nice creamy opacity. My comments about performance above may have been made too hastily....
The lather seemed much richer this time around, had a nice creamy opacity. My comments about performance above may have been made too hastily....
Why would they reformulate? Is it cheaper for them? Why are there so few tallow soaps left?
Geez, I want to try this, but I can't bring myself to for the price. Plus, if I try the soap and love it, it will be gone forever by the time I finish my first puck! Silly world.
Geez, I want to try this, but I can't bring myself to for the price. Plus, if I try the soap and love it, it will be gone forever by the time I finish my first puck! Silly world.
Samouraï;1341397 said:
"'Tis better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all..."
Similar threads
- Article
