I picked up a puck of QCS Green Irish Tweed off reddit's shave bazaar a few weeks back (their shaving B/S/T) and shaved with it this morning. This is the second time I have shaved with this soap. The first time I shaved with it I was in a hurry due to an unexpected situation at work. This morning I got to really take my time and enjoy this soap. My first experience with it was not bad at all but nothing special either. I was therefore surprised this morning when I realized that this is an excellent soap. For my shave this morning I used a DE89 with an Astra Superior Stainless (fourth shave on this blade). I used an ecotools kabuki finishing brush as my shave brush this morning (for those not familiar it is actually a makeup brush that makes a great shave brush).
While loading the brush I noticed that the soap seems to lather very easily. With a moderately wet brush I began to notice a thin lather forming on the puck while I loaded. The soap loaded very quickly and I proceeded to face lather. The lather from this soap feels (to me at least) like a thicker, slicker version of MWF. I feel like it was pretty forgiving in terms of water content. Since I had extra time this morning I actually decided to test the soap a bit. Once I had reached what I considered to be ideal lather quality I kept adding water. The soap took that water and just keep giving me more slick lather.
While shaving I noticed that the lather really did feel like a more slick, thick MWF. My razor (with a blade on its next to last shave) really seemed to glide very well. Even on my against the grain pass I felt like I was shaving with a new blade.
The post-shave feel is where this soap really shined the most for me though. Where MWF leaves my face feeling soft and smooth but sometimes a bit tacky, QCS left my face feeling VERY soft and smooth while rinsing cleanly. Unlike MWF, I felt like I needed no aftershave or balm. Even now, two hours later, I keep rubbing my face and it still has that same feel.
The scent of the soap is probably my only complaint. The soap smells great but the scent is very faint. This might actually be a plus for some guys, especially those with sensitive skin or very strong noses.
I think I will be keeping this soap high in my rotation until it runs out. When I finally manage to use up this puck (which I expect to take months) I will definitely be replacing it with another QCS.
While loading the brush I noticed that the soap seems to lather very easily. With a moderately wet brush I began to notice a thin lather forming on the puck while I loaded. The soap loaded very quickly and I proceeded to face lather. The lather from this soap feels (to me at least) like a thicker, slicker version of MWF. I feel like it was pretty forgiving in terms of water content. Since I had extra time this morning I actually decided to test the soap a bit. Once I had reached what I considered to be ideal lather quality I kept adding water. The soap took that water and just keep giving me more slick lather.
While shaving I noticed that the lather really did feel like a more slick, thick MWF. My razor (with a blade on its next to last shave) really seemed to glide very well. Even on my against the grain pass I felt like I was shaving with a new blade.
The post-shave feel is where this soap really shined the most for me though. Where MWF leaves my face feeling soft and smooth but sometimes a bit tacky, QCS left my face feeling VERY soft and smooth while rinsing cleanly. Unlike MWF, I felt like I needed no aftershave or balm. Even now, two hours later, I keep rubbing my face and it still has that same feel.
The scent of the soap is probably my only complaint. The soap smells great but the scent is very faint. This might actually be a plus for some guys, especially those with sensitive skin or very strong noses.
I think I will be keeping this soap high in my rotation until it runs out. When I finally manage to use up this puck (which I expect to take months) I will definitely be replacing it with another QCS.
I hope you got the ASB too!
