Water used: Hard (maybe very hard?) Soap: Molton Brown Brush: Semogue Boar Razor: Merkur 38c Blade: Kai (shave 1) Soap -- Scent (8.5/10): Pretty balanced. Not too intense for me, or too mild. Like a floral linen sort of a scent. Definitely a fresh smell, and not in any way unpleasant -- despite not having something more exact to call it. Lather ability (7.5/10): I wouldn't call it anything ground breaking, but the brush loaded up fairly quickly, the the lather was fairly good. No problems here getting a thick lather. Wasn't quite as thirsty as I thought, and took a pass before I got a good water / soap ratio. Below average water required, definitely. Slickness (7/10): Nothing really ground breaking here, either. Maybe a little under what you'd get with Arko, but definitely enough for good passes. I've used better soaps, but I've definitely used a lot worse soaps. Post-Shave (6/10): Definitely room to improve on the post shave, but my face didn't feel raw or anything afterwards. Not enough for second passes without more lather -- or a finish without balm -- but I didn't feel it left my face feeling void of anything protective either. Balm -- Scent (6.5/10): Not a bad scent. Once again, mild. To me, I just get a mild menthol scent off this -- and, it does contain menthol in small amounts to give a very mild cooling. The other scents are kinda hard to pick up for me -- maybe a slight sandalwood, but I mostly get the sensation of menthol smelling it. Post-shave feeling (8/10): Very mildly cooling. Maybe a perfect fall balm due to it being above average with thickness, while not being winter level caked onto your face heavy. If you like menthol, but you're not into the whole white knuckle menthol level experience of it, this might be a good balm choice. Felt quite hydrated, and definitely exceeded expectations. In my view a step up from Nivea Max Hydration. So, I haven't done one of these reviews in a while. I came across this actually randomly in an actual Molton Brown store a while back, and I haven't had a chance to review it. As an American, I was immediately skeptical of it on account of it being English. (Also, on a serious note, I'm never impressed much with random soaps I find in stores, generally.) I was slightly surprised it exceeded my low expectations, and both products are actually solid. However, given the soap is $15 USD, and the balm is $25 USD (I found it on sale I think for less), I can't recommend them at full prices for the amount you get of either. They're good, but I'd wait for a sale on bath products or something from Molton Brown -- or, if they're locally available on the other side of the pond, get them maybe cheaper. If you could get both for $20-$25 USD, I'd say give it a shot. Overall Soap (7/10) Overall Balm (7/10)
