Problems with DR Harris Almond

[bruno1]

Hello B&B'S,
Just wondering if any of you had problems with DR Harris Almond.
This is my first Harris soap and am dissappointed considering what a great reputation they have. First of all I found it hard to lather, it dried out on my face, razor skipped all over. Also no scent at all, not even a soapy scent. I've been using soaps almost exclusively for the last year and never had a problem with any of them. (about 20 since I started de shaving 3 years ago ).
This is my third shave with this soap so I gave it a decent chance. I'd love to try the malborough and arlington as well but after this I dont think I'll be ordering any more. Maybe its just this particular puck but am curious if any one else had any problems. Thanks guys.

 

[slickster514]

Hello B&B'S,
Just wondering if any of you had problems with DR Harris Almond.
This is my first Harris soap and am dissappointed considering what a great reputation they have. First of all I found it hard to lather, it dried out on my face, razor skipped all over. Also no scent at all, not even a soapy scent. I've been using soaps almost exclusively for the last year and never had a problem with any of them. (about 20 since I started de shaving 3 years ago ).
This is my third shave with this soap so I gave it a decent chance. I'd love to try the malborough and arlington as well but after this I dont think I'll be ordering any more. Maybe its just this particular puck but am curious if any one else had any problems. Thanks guys.

I find that lather from Harris soap is a tad different than others (british). However once you master it it works just fine. Really take the time to over load the brush, and don't be afraid of adding excess water in the bowl as you lather. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[azmark]

I love the stuff. Coming from a MWF user, DR Harris lather is a routine. You may want to add a bit more water and swirl it around a little more. Or even try face lathering. Great way to lather a difficult puck because you can measure how much water is needed better.

And if you don't want it, I'll take it off your hands.

 

[SiBurning]

It's pretty good stuff. I haven't had trouble lathering it, so maybe you can get past this trouble. The thing is there's too many other good products out there to waste time fighting with one of them. I don't use the DR Harris much anymore because it just doesn't work as well as others.

 

[bruno1]

Thanks for input guys, for the record I face lather all the time, never have a bother, mwf is my favourite soap and never had a bother lathering from the start. Its just that I love trying different stuff and this is the first one that gave me problems. Will give it another go tomorrow, maybe take longer and lather in the bowl. Either way i'm not exactly stuck for a puck or two to shave with.. Thanks again guys.

 

[English]

The soap needs to soften up a bit. New pucks always take time to "get going".

I wasn't impressed when I tried the stuff for the first time but keep on rotating the brush and let the initial bubbly lather fall away and the remainder thickens into a top quality lather.

Despite what appears to be waste, the puck will last a long time.

 

[AJ72]

I am very unimpressed with Harris soaps also. I've been reluctant to mention that on this forum as to not alienate other Harris users. The scents are wonderful and very pronounced (other than what you are experiencing). I also find it easy lathering just not as dense and creamy as say Tabac or other tallow based soaps. I get way too much razor skip from Harris soaps with unimpressive slickness. However, I would be careful of bashing Harris soaps hear just because it supposedly has a great reputation around here although I just don't see it.

 

[SiBurning]

Might I suggest you keep trying a little more to get a good lather with it, but not shave with it unless and until you do. This way there's no pressure and no frustration, but you'll still get good shaves. And maybe it'll work out.

That's a good point about needing time to soften. Harris is a very hard triple milled soap made partly with tallow and part palm oil. It might just need some longer soaking to soften it, or maybe hotter water. It does seem harder than my other soaps. While I don't mind bashing it a bit, there's not much to bash. It's very close to being on my select A list. I think the palm oil just feels a bit stiff on my face, and that's enough to put it in my secondary set, so it's in my top 13, but not my top 6. (I don't distinguish much inside those two groups.)

 

[ambrose]

Harris lavender and marlborough are my top soaps. Just used the lavender today actually.

Try soaking it under a thin layer of water next time and dont toss the water use it to load your brush. Its a hard soap and just needs a little prep and time to soften up a tad.

Try it and report back

 

[jkh]

I battled with a DR Harris Almond puck for an entire month My problem was getting the lather to last for three passes. The first pass was golden, but the second and third were not good. Sure I could have reloaded my brush between passes and often did, but this is the only soap I have ever used that didn't provide three full passes of lather from the initial charging (shoot, I normally rinse 2 passes worth of lather down the drain).

Ah well, you can't win them all.

 

[English]

I battled with a DR Harris Almond puck for an entire month My problem was getting the lather to last for three passes. The first pass was golden, but the second and third were not good. Sure I could have reloaded my brush between passes and often did, but this is the only soap I have ever used that didn't provide three full passes of lather from the initial charging (shoot, I normally rinse 2 passes worth of lather down the drain).

Ah well, you can't win them all.

I agree.
I am presently using a puck of Harris lavender and it is performing very well.
That said, I remember putting a puck of their almond in the bin because it didn't want to give a good lather. It's only recently I've enjoyed their soap and it does make me wonder if they reformulated.

Anyway, I prefer Trumpers and Floris and I see Harris as being the next level down.

 

[azmark]

I am very unimpressed with Harris soaps also. I've been reluctant to mention that on this forum as to not alienate other Harris users. The scents are wonderful and very pronounced (other than what you are experiencing). I also find it easy lathering just not as dense and creamy as say Tabac or other tallow based soaps. I get way too much razor skip from Harris soaps with unimpressive slickness. However, I would be careful of bashing Harris soaps hear just because it supposedly has a great reputation around here although I just don't see it.

We all welcome constructive criticism or even mildly constructive. Even vendors are often also criticized but always gentlemanly. Bashing is one thing you will not see on this forum. Except for boogie-men....man we really dislike those guys.

 

[Obsessed]

If you look at the ingredients, the Harris almond contains "prunus dulcis" (almond oil), while the other scents don't. Perhaps that affects the lathering. FWIW, Harris lavender is currently my go-to soap.

 

[AJ72]

If you look at the ingredients, the Harris almond contains "prunus dulcis" (almond oil), while the other scents don't. Perhaps that affects the lathering. FWIW, Harris lavender is currently my go-to soap.

Wow talk about YMMV. My brother and I both PIF'd our Lavender DR Harris soaps after ordering all 4 scents. We both agreed that the Lavender was the worst performer of the 4 with absolutely no slickness. We both felt that the Marlborough was the best performer followed by the Almond, Arlington and the only unusable one was the Lavender. It's amazing how different people notice different things.

 

[VaHomebrewer]

Try soaking it under a thin layer of water next time and dont toss the water use it to load your brush. Its a hard soap and just needs a little prep and time to soften up a tad.

+1

I just used my Harris Arlington puck this morning. It is currently my 2nd favorite soap next to TOBS Sandalwood. Using the method Ambrose describes above with a fairly well drained brush, I get great results from this soap. 3 passes worth of great lather this morning, and could've gotten another 2 passes out of it if I needed to.

 

[bruno1]

Well guys, tried it again this morning, spent a good bit of time lathering on top of soap and then in the bowl. While I admit the shave was abit better than the last few days it still was only ok. First two passes not too bad, by the third pass it had dried out so didn't even think about an ATG. I know this is a very highly thought of soap and wouldn't dream of bashing it, it just didn't work out for me. Also I've got about 5 different soaps I'm in the middle of using that perform excellent so into the shower with this one. What a great forum this is. Thanks again for the input and advice guys.

 

[Obsessed]

Well guys, tried it again this morning, spent a good bit of time lathering on top of soap and then in the bowl. While I admit the shave was abit better than the last few days it still was only ok. First two passes not too bad, by the third pass it had dried out so didn't even think about an ATG. I know this is a very highly thought of soap and wouldn't dream of bashing it, it just didn't work out for me. Also I've got about 5 different soaps I'm in the middle of using that perform excellent so into the shower with this one. What a great forum this is. Thanks again for the input and advice guys.

Hey, man, bash all you want -- it's shaving soap we're talking about, not someone's kids. If the Harris almond doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work for you. There are too many soaps out there for you to waste time on one you're not crazy about. I'm sure someone will buy it off of you on the B/S/T (I think there is a minimum number of posts to sell something there, by the way).

 

[VaHomebrewer]

Well guys, tried it again this morning, spent a good bit of time lathering on top of soap and then in the bowl. While I admit the shave was abit better than the last few days it still was only ok. First two passes not too bad, by the third pass it had dried out so didn't even think about an ATG. I know this is a very highly thought of soap and wouldn't dream of bashing it, it just didn't work out for me. Also I've got about 5 different soaps I'm in the middle of using that perform excellent so into the shower with this one. What a great forum this is. Thanks again for the input and advice guys.

Not so fast! Sell it on the B/S/T and let someone who likes the Harris products enjoy! You can probably get nearly what you paid for it.

 

[Suzuki]

Another trick for any hard soap that seems to be hard to load up is to put a couple of teaspoons of water on the soap and let it sit overnight.

The soap will absorb the water and soften slightly, which makes it much easier to load the brush.

This works well to break in new soaps, as well as on any soaps that have been sitting around unused for a while.

I think the Harris is good, but there are others that are better IMHO.