Wow. The buzz is warranted, and this stuff is absolutely worth trying. I've only got a few months of experience DE shaving, and I don't have too many soaps to compare it to (I've used Razorock XXX, Stirling (6-7 of their scents), Arko, VDH Deluxe, and Proraso Green), but I do have 27 years of experience smelling things. And lemme tell you... these smell great.
They lather in a snap. Easy breezy. I had quality lather spilling over the side of the tin while I was still loading my brush, which leads me to believe that I probably didn't need to load that much.
Slickness: Quite a bit. I feel like Stirling and Razorock are slicker, because I can almost be a bit irresponsible with those soaps and go over spots more than I should. Still, I didn't expect a non-tallow soap to be this slick. It got nice and shiny and reflective.
Cushion: I don't typically care too much about this factor, and I honestly don't see the benefit of having a lather be sort of "poofier" I guess you could call it... but it does fluff out a bit more than what I was used to. It's nice.
Ease of Lather: There's nothing to it. I tried it with a sopping wet brush. I tried a squeezed-out brush. I tried boar. I tried badger. This soap is just easy to load and lather. I probably used way more than I had to, and plan to use much less next time. All things considered, it will probably last a very long time.
Scents: This is my first Fougere, so I wish I could compare it to some of the others out there that people are loving, but all I can really do is tell you that I love it. The Mahogany is a wonderful blend. Obviously quite woodsy, but there's this comforting pipe tobacco feel that hits you as well. The Mahogany seemed like it had more overall strength than the Fougere. It's not easy to describe, but I'd say that both scents smelled like quality; like they were finely tuned. I hope that makes sense.
Quality/Style: I heard about these soaps because I was seeking out information on 2 different things: Martin de Candre, and Fougere scents in general. WDS Rustic Shaving Soaps kept on popping up as an affordable alternative, albeit a very new one. While I have zero experience with MdC or Fougere scents, I do know that MdC is a relatively hard soap. The Rustic Fougere is quite hard. Oddly enough, the Mahogany was very soft when I poked at it. This didn't bug me, but I wrote an email to Lee from WSP to ask him about it. He replied within minutes, informing me that the Mahogany was packed differently this time, and whatever method he used did not work out, which is why it's softer. I'm sure he's already fixed that issue. Believe me when I tell you that this softness does not hinder its performance -- do not feel compelled to avoid that scent, especially if softer soaps do not bother you.
Price: $8 for 4.2 oz tin. Shipped from AZ to NY for like... $3 I believe. $8 is an introductory price, and the price is going up to $12 on November 1st. So if you're curious, there's certainly no time like the present. IMO, $12 is still a very solid deal, but I'll know more after I've lathered these things up a bunch of times and seen how quickly/slowly they wear down.
Overall I felt compelled to write this because I'd like to see someone more experienced than myself get their hands on this soap and perhaps write a more thorough and accurate review. Also, the current price is ridiculously low. I hate sounding like a salesman, but if there's space in your den and girth in your wallet, take a stab. Lee, like most artisan soap makers, seems like he's running a solid DIY operation down in Arizona, and I think he's produced a product that fills a unique position in the current landscape of shave soaps.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go order a couple more tins of this stuff. But before that, I will leave you with some lather porn:
They lather in a snap. Easy breezy. I had quality lather spilling over the side of the tin while I was still loading my brush, which leads me to believe that I probably didn't need to load that much.
Slickness: Quite a bit. I feel like Stirling and Razorock are slicker, because I can almost be a bit irresponsible with those soaps and go over spots more than I should. Still, I didn't expect a non-tallow soap to be this slick. It got nice and shiny and reflective.
Cushion: I don't typically care too much about this factor, and I honestly don't see the benefit of having a lather be sort of "poofier" I guess you could call it... but it does fluff out a bit more than what I was used to. It's nice.
Ease of Lather: There's nothing to it. I tried it with a sopping wet brush. I tried a squeezed-out brush. I tried boar. I tried badger. This soap is just easy to load and lather. I probably used way more than I had to, and plan to use much less next time. All things considered, it will probably last a very long time.
Scents: This is my first Fougere, so I wish I could compare it to some of the others out there that people are loving, but all I can really do is tell you that I love it. The Mahogany is a wonderful blend. Obviously quite woodsy, but there's this comforting pipe tobacco feel that hits you as well. The Mahogany seemed like it had more overall strength than the Fougere. It's not easy to describe, but I'd say that both scents smelled like quality; like they were finely tuned. I hope that makes sense.
Quality/Style: I heard about these soaps because I was seeking out information on 2 different things: Martin de Candre, and Fougere scents in general. WDS Rustic Shaving Soaps kept on popping up as an affordable alternative, albeit a very new one. While I have zero experience with MdC or Fougere scents, I do know that MdC is a relatively hard soap. The Rustic Fougere is quite hard. Oddly enough, the Mahogany was very soft when I poked at it. This didn't bug me, but I wrote an email to Lee from WSP to ask him about it. He replied within minutes, informing me that the Mahogany was packed differently this time, and whatever method he used did not work out, which is why it's softer. I'm sure he's already fixed that issue. Believe me when I tell you that this softness does not hinder its performance -- do not feel compelled to avoid that scent, especially if softer soaps do not bother you.
Price: $8 for 4.2 oz tin. Shipped from AZ to NY for like... $3 I believe. $8 is an introductory price, and the price is going up to $12 on November 1st. So if you're curious, there's certainly no time like the present. IMO, $12 is still a very solid deal, but I'll know more after I've lathered these things up a bunch of times and seen how quickly/slowly they wear down.
Overall I felt compelled to write this because I'd like to see someone more experienced than myself get their hands on this soap and perhaps write a more thorough and accurate review. Also, the current price is ridiculously low. I hate sounding like a salesman, but if there's space in your den and girth in your wallet, take a stab. Lee, like most artisan soap makers, seems like he's running a solid DIY operation down in Arizona, and I think he's produced a product that fills a unique position in the current landscape of shave soaps.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go order a couple more tins of this stuff. But before that, I will leave you with some lather porn:
