Yes you did readthe title correctly I have tried and am now reviewing a hard shaving soap. Ifyou have read my other posts then you will have seen that I have reviewed softsoaps and creams to date but recently I have started to use hard soaps againand I want to share with you all what I think.
Dr. Harris &Co. Ltd. is a very well know producer of shaving regalia within the traditionalshaving community and as a company has been around since 1790 earning two Royalseals of approval. They have a number of differently varieties of soaps,creams, aftershaves etc… but I will be reviewing the Windsor hard shaving soap.
I got a puck ofthis triple milled soap sometime ago when it was first released by Dr. Harrisand it sat with other products waiting to be used. At first sight it looks likeany other puck of shaving soap – white, flat top, and rounded base. I’m sorryto say but it looked a little boring. I did not go for the wooden bowl (beachor mahogany) as I have many but this option would improve the overall look ofthe soap but looks are not everything!
What about thescent? Very nice, fresh, clean, and crisp scent with a very mild citrus and blackpepper background to it. As I have found with other hard soaps in the past andstill continue to do so, you do get a smell of soap (hard to believe I know, stoplaughing) but this is what I think give it the clean scent I like. It got amixed response on “the other half test” with a none committal shrug and “it’sok”. No pleasing some people!
Now to thelathering method, normally I would bowl lather as I have done with the otherreviews but for hard soaps I tend to favour the face method so that’s what Idid. By dipping the soap quickly in my sink of hot water and draining off theexcess, then using my NF Tubby 2 brush I swirled my brush around getting a goodcovering of the soap on the tips of the brush. By doing this you start thelather in the tub/bowl/jar the soap is in. The soap lathered up really well onmy face each time giving an even coverage of stable and smooth lather. Therewas easily enough lather in the brush for two passes before going back to thepuck.
The shaves weresmooth and friction free. The lather remained stable throughout and left an ok butnot great slickness behind between passes. I tend to find this is the case withhard soaps. My face felt a little tight and not as hydrated as I expectedfollowing the shave.
Overall this is agreat smelling and lathering soap. It comes from a company with great pedigree andthat really shows. The only thing I would say against it would be thehydration, it does lack a little in this area but not enough to call it a truenegative point as this can easily be rectified by a good aftershavemoisturiser. Would I use this soap again? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes and asan introduction to hard soaps I would recommend it given that is it easy tolather up and use.
Scent
Lather
Hydration
Overall
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4½/5
4/5
2½/5
11/15
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