Barrister's Reserve - Classic
Ever-Ready 100T | Elite Razor Manchurian
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE (1)
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Ever since Barrister and Mann's April Fool's soap, "Soapmakers of Awesometown", I've been anticipating the release of the Barrister's Reserve soaps. I was pretty happy with Soapmakers of Awesometown even though the reviews were mixed. I was primarily optimistic about the obvious advances made with hard water tolerance, of which I have some of the worst. When it was confirmed that Soapmakers of Awesometown was essentially a beta of the base that would ultimately become the Barrister's Reserve soaps, I was even more optimistic.
I routinely use the Barrister's Reserve splashes, and "Classic" is hands down my favorite. An apparent clone of Gillette's discontinued 1960's "Sun-Up" after shave and cologne, Classic is indeed classic. It stands out by being satisfied in the background. That's not to say it's a low-power fragrance, but rather one that gets along with practically anything. After the almost medicinal but clean initial notes, it dries down to a slightly powdery bitter citrus rounded out by what I believe is lavender which gets more woody as it fades. While the frag heads apparently hate this term, as an amateur, I'm compelled to describe Classic as a clean, "masculine" fragrance. With regard to the soap, off the puck and lathered, thankfully the Classic fragrance is not altered in the least.
I started with my usual barely damp knot and loaded just the way I would have loaded Barrister and Mann's Glissant or even Soapmakers of Awesometown. This was a mistake. I should have loaded about half that amount because the yield was more than the knot could hold. It's a good thing I'm a shower shaver, because I made a mess. Using the same amount of water was also futile. Barrister's Reserve is obviously quite thirsty. In fact, it may be the most thirsty soap I've ever used. However, unlike some, Barrister's Reserve broadcasts it. There's no wondering if that one last knot dunk was going to be too much. Until I achieved the right amount of water, my foundation looked like Spanish stucco. Yet, when I really pushed the water, the stucco popped with a slick and super thick, just short of pillowy, lather. I simply could not drown this soap. At that point, faced with an over-abundance of premium lather, I did something I haven't done since my early days of head-shaving. I lathered my entire head and face all at once. Typically, I do 2-3 passes on either my head or face, and then I move to the other region. When I began head-shaving several years ago, I quickly discovered that covering that much territory at one time will inevitably result in some dissipated or degraded lather, unless, of course I blaze through the passes. With Barrister's Reserve, this is clearly not an issue. I was able to perform an entire head and face pass in one lather application and at leisurely tempo without even a hint of lather degradation. In fact, the incredible slickness seemed to get slicker towards the end. Due to the success of the initial pass, I decided to treat the second pass likewise. I followed this with a clean-up pass to result in one of the best shaves I've ever experienced. The post-shave is absolutely stellar. I can't be more pleased with this soap. Of course next time, in the interest of conservation, I will be much more stingy with the load, but I definitely intend to perform a full head and face lather application since it worked so well this time.
It's no secret Barrister and Mann's Glissant has been my benchmark soap base for some time. However, in recent months L&L Grooming, Catie's Bubbles, and Mickey Lee Soapworks have caught up with it, and some others are very close behind. Noting that this is my first impression, I genuinely feel Barrister's Reserve surpasses Glissant by a small, but notable margin in at least a similar degree to which Glissant surpassed white label. It's my understanding there's no danger of the Barrister's Reserve base supplanting Glissant, and I believe this is due to the complexity of manufacturing.
There's no question most seasoned wet shavers will at least appreciate Barrister's Reserve's performance and some may even be surprised by the step up. However, this is also an ideal soap for beginners in that it's quite forgiving and extremely easy to lather in even less than optimal water conditions.
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