Sweet! Thanks for the tip. I haven't tried B&M yet and thought I'd go ahead and try it. I love a good tobacco scent.
i bought a few barrister soaps....sold off most but kept my favorite....cheshire. i like the tub, the labeling, the consistency of the product and the lathering. its definitely a good one and the earl grey tea scent of cheshire is nice.
A new batch of his fougere soaps in up on his site now, along with a new alcohol-based fougere splash.
I managed to get an order in for the two Fougeres in Tallow plus the Nocturne . They're selling very fast
My last purchase from B&M was Roam and it smells like the wrong end of a dog. To me a lot of their scents are kind of off. I was looking forward to trying the new fougeres but at $35 for 4 ounces of soap, no way. I don't care how special the stuff they use to scent it is.
Roam is a polarizing scent, people either love it or hate it. I am in the "hate it" camp. The fougeres and Lavanille, on the other hand, are my favorite scents in shaving, bar none. To me, the fougeres are worth it, but stuff like Seville and Cheshire are pretty universally liked and plenty affordable. Which others did you try and not like?
Hahaha I wouldn't pay that either, 35$ is a lot for soap. ( I say that, but I'm planning to buy MdC) Some essential oils are rare and very expensive, thats why they calculate it into the price =P
$35 for 4 ounces is outside of my price range too, but to each their own. I've heard that MdC lasts a really long time though, so in terms of $/shave, MdC might win out over the B&M fougeres. This coming from a person who hasn't used MdC or B&M though, so that's purely speculation. As for Cheshire, that's a soap I'd like to try out.
A lot of the B&M scents are faint and to me they smell kinda like drywall compound. The ROAM scent has such a nice description on the web site (tobacco, leather, etc) but I think it smells just like an ashtray. Two that I've found I really like a lot are Nocturne (smells like a cider mill, great fall soap) and their Bay Rum which one of the more enjoyable Bay Run scents to me. It has nice apple and cinnamon notes to it. So from what I've tried I have two that I really like a lot and about six that aren't great for me and one that's a definite no go. I haven't shelled out the $35 for their specialty soaps and haven't felt a strong desire to do so. I don't mind spending a lot on a soap if it's a really great soap but I'd prefer to try a sample first before purchasing them.
You can get a puck for 10 or jar for 15. Prove its performance to yourself first. The base of the soap is always the same, any extra cost is scent. Will's passion is crafting masterful scents, some of which are pricey or labor intensive to create. I have 9 jars and more samples of B&M scents and in my humble opinion they are worth every penny.
With some manufacturers I tend to like all of their scents like Strop Shoppe and PPF (now Phoenix Artisan). Barrister & Mann is not like this for me. There's something for everybody there, if you look for it, but there is also going to be some things that someone else will love and you won't care for at all (like the Fougeres and Roam for example). Will is a great guy and I really do enjoy his soap (Nocturne and Bay Rum are my favorites from B&M) but this isn't one that I'll order a full soap without trying a sample first. I believe there are at least three or four different bases as well now so you'll have to pay attention to what you are trying. Original, Veggie, Black Label Select and the Fougere base whatever that is (I would think it should be a better base for $35 a soap).
I got 3 samples from Razorburn123. Lime/lavender/Cedarwood, adagio and Bay rum. I have only tried the lime/lavender/Cedarwood. I get nice shaves and i love the scent. I need to use more soap next time I try it. Last time i got mediocre lather, but I know that's due to the latherers fault =P
I have used the B & M Seville and it is amazing. Very dense lather and slick shave, I would highly recommend as well. Maggards razors has an excellent sample pack or, and this is what I tried, I did a mix and match with several other artisan brands. They give you enough for about 5 shaves and its a great way to try new brands/scents.
