Good evening gents. I got some good feedback on the Harris almond post and wanted to get your ideas on some others as well. Now as I have said before, I am really down to filling niche categories in my shave soap stash. Performance first, scent second most of the time. I am including a list of my current inventory of soaps to give an idea of scent range. Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Harris Marlborough Trumper almond(won't replace) Pre de Provence Institut Karite Provence Sante T&H Luxury(won't replace) Rivivage(won't replace) Proraso(won't replace) QED Sandalwood(definitely buy again!) Kent/Mitchell Woolfat(undecided) Pecksniff's Fougere(won't replace/this is really a soap labeled as cream) Tabac Castle Forbes(Another "cream" that is nearly as dense as a soap and I lather it that way so include it here. Will definitely buy again) As you can see, there are only a few holes left in the rotation. A good citrus, lemon, lime, almond, and possibly a lavender though it will have to be A+++ to knock Castle Forbes lavender out of the running. I love lavender so having a redundancy there is not a problem. I will list the soaps that come to mind immediately and await your take on them. Feel free to add your choices as well. Lets limit this to the typical milled/white type soaps. I love QED sticks but they are a different product to me and I choose them differently. Citrus/Lemon/Lime- Harris Arlington, AOS lemon Almond- Acca Kappa 1869, Harris Other(complex cologne scents, unscented, etc.)- Penhaligon's English Fern(probably a done deal if they ever get them in stock) Thanks again chaps. Regards, Todd
Hi Todd, I have the AOS Lemon cream, it is very nice and provides a nice lather and good shave...the scent is kind of weak though The QED version of Fresh Limes soap is really nice and is pretty true to the lime scent. One of my strongest lime scented products I also have the English Fern soap, it lathers nicely although for me it dries a bit fast and is not overly moisturizing.....scent is not where I would expect it to be either...very muted and kind of gets lost in the tallow smell.. They all shave nicely though, hope that helps a bit. Neale
I have the AOS Lemon soap and the Harris Arlington soap. They both perform really well, but I have to give the nod to Harris because of scent. The AOS soap just smells like soap to me. I don't really get any sense of citrus. The Harris Arlington has great citrus bite that I love. I can't wait to use it in the warmer weather. Just my two cents! Jordan
Thanks Jordan, I forgot AOS made a soap for a minute and was thinking Todd was talking about the cream. My mistake, sorry
Actually I just went back and re-read the original post myself... On the "Other", more complicated cologne scents...I've never really found a hard soap that could carry a complex scent the way a cream or even glycerin soap can. It seems, to me anyway, that the soapy background scent gets in the way and makes for a simpler version of the scent. The English Fern, for example, while a great soap, doesn't really smell like the EDT. Same with the BB. They're in the same ballpark, but not as deep. I've always wished T&H made Trafalgar soap, but I bet it wouldn't be able to carry the scent the way the cream does. Jordan EDIT - I guess Tabac would be an exception to my post here!
I would recommend DR Harris Marlborough if you looking for a nice cologne scented soap. It's the same quality Harris soaps as their other offerings. Some other quality cologne scented soaps include Floris JR and Elite. They have the same scents as their colognes.
Stop looking - there's no better lavender than CFs. All other Lavender creams/soaps I know are perfumed with perfume oil, CF use essential oil. The Arlington has a very refined, fine lemon scent - and I won't have to mention that it's a top-notch soap. Fuggettaboutit. The AK is a pain in the you know where to lather. I gave mine away go for it! 'nuff said Also, get one of Floris's soaps - I have the JF and it's simply GREAT! Another great offer would also be those Mühle/Haslinger soaps - cheap and very good!
See? That is the straight up opinions I am looking for. Thank you. Hi Andrew. I already have the Marlborough soap and it is one the best I own and I love the scent. Thanks for the reminder about Floris. I had completely forgotten about them. As I suspected. Yet another good reason to keep a lot of Harris product in the toiletry locker. Fantastic range all around. I will take your word for it. What little information I can find about this soap yields wildly varying takes on it. There are enough known, quality soaps out there without getting stuck with a super expensive soap(if you get the bowl) you are only so so about. Probably a good call. I will keep those in mind. Thanks to all who have responded to this post. Great stuff. Regards, Todd
It is a great soap, no doubt about it, but it takes a VERY good brush and 5-7 minutes to get stable lather. Why spend the bucks if you can get better soaps? The bowl is still a beauty, though. I'd never give that one away :ashamed001
+1 on the Floris JF a great soap performance AND scent wise If you like CF lavender and you're looking for a good citrus scent, I recommend CF Lime as well. I have all three scents, and I highly doubt you'd be disappointed. I'm a big lavender fan as well, and the only other lavender soap I've heard of that is even close to CF is QED lavender soap.
