Barrister and Mann

Nice collection, Marko.

I think you might have at least that many backups of just Mystic Waters Bay Rum Celestino!  

Hahaha! Good one, Nathan. Actually, I have a few more pucks than what Marko has.

Wow, Marko, just a great collection!

Wow, Marko, just a great collection!

Thanks Michael P

Nice collection, Marko.

I think you might have at least that many backups of just Mystic Waters Bay Rum Celestino!  

Hahaha! Good one, Nathan. Actually, I have a few more pucks than what Marko has.  

we need pics!

I love B&M. I only have a small collection. Petrichor, Lavender, Fern. But i just received my shipment of Fougère Gothique today and I cant wait to try it out.

I have owned/tried several different B&M soaps and one thing is for sure: their performance was/is simply stellar. I have used a mere handful of other soaps that shaved as well, but never one that worked better performance wise. I guess I am lucky in that for me the Latha line shaves just as good as their improved lines. I just wish they would make a real "killer" Sandalwood that would make all the vintage AOS Sandalwood groupies cry for their mamas. Are you listening, Will?

Hi Guys, I am new to this forum and recently signed up after reading about B&M Reserve, I have the Seville white label version and recently got samples of Latha Lavanda, Fern and Lavender reserve.

I just used the lavender reserve earlier and I had a similar experience where the lather was gooey and had a string like appearance and realized it was too dry so I kept adding water until I got slick looking lather, I was using a synthetic brush and also a new razor.
The lather was slick but after going through the first stroke it seemed to dry and I didn't get the residual slickness that I look for in my top performers, it was slick where the lather was but when I go back to some areas my razor would skip.
I re-lathered for my second pass and had similar experience. It wasn't a bad shave at all but I feel like I maybe missing or doing something wrong, it could be my new razor or maybe my face wasn't wet enough?
I really like the scent of both the lavender and fern and I like lavender scented soaps which is why I got the latha Lavanda as well. I am not a fan of lanolin which is why I skipped the glissant base.
I still have the white label Seville but I haven't used it in years.
I will use the latha Lavanda next and use a different razor when I try the Fern reserve line after the Lavanda.

The lather was slick but after going through the first stroke it seemed to dry and I didn't get the residual slickness that I look for in my top performers, it was slick where the lather was but when I go back to some areas my razor would skip.

Jonas, first of all, welcome to the forum!

If you’ve done some reading about the Reserve line, then you may already know this: it can handle quite a bit of water.

I, for one, like to see some stringy proto-lather when loading a brush, because it helps me know that I’m loading actual soap and not just whipping up airy suds. The last time I used a Reserve soap (Fougère Gothique), I kept working the lather past my usual point, taking my time, adding a few more drops of water at a time, then a few more. I’d previously had great shaves with Reserve soaps, but this time I decided to push it even further. It worked.

Perhaps you already tried this. But that would be my advice — try (slowly) adding some more water to the lather, and see if it has any effect.

It wasn't a bad shave at all but I feel like I maybe missing or doing something wrong, it could be my new razor or maybe my face wasn't wet enough?

I can honestly put my hand up and say I didn't know what I was doing lather-wise the first year or so. I think it's much harder to master than the razor, especially if like me you use a different soap every day. Took me loads of practice to start getting properly amazing lather. You can get away with sub-par lather as I did for a long time. Just because it looks right, doesn't mean it's giving you it's full potential in regards to cushion and slickness.


It's just a balancing act at the end of the day between soap and water. When I was new I squeezed almost all water out of my brush. Start face lathering and get an even spread for 30 or so seconds. Now start adding water but just a drop or two at a time and make sure you spread and distribute the watery lather across the rest of your face.  Keep adding and keep in mind you are looking for the soap's "sweet spot". Every soap has one and a shave on either side of that window, too dry or too wet, results in a bad shave. Some soaps have a notoriously small window while others (like B&M) are a mile wide.

Sometimes with a new soap I'll purposely take the lather from too dry through it's sweet spot until it is too wet just to find out how small the sweet spot is. Work up the lather for a good 4+ minutes. And if it's not working, it's not so precious you should suffer a bad shave. Just rinse it off and try again. This still happens to me from time to time especially when I overload with too much soap.  Eventually with practice you'll figure out the right ratio and can start nearer the soap:water ratio you need with the given equipment so the whole process will speed up significantly.

It wasn't a bad shave at all but I feel like I maybe missing or doing something wrong, it could be my new razor or maybe my face wasn't wet enough?

I can honestly put my hand up and say I didn't know what I was doing lather-wise the first year or so. I think it's much harder to master than the razor, especially if like me you use a different soap every day. Took me loads of practice to start getting properly amazing lather. You can get away with sub-par lather as I did for a long time. Just because it looks right, doesn't mean it's giving you it's full potential in regards to cushion and slickness.


It's just a balancing act at the end of the day between soap and water. When I was new I squeezed almost all water out of my brush. Start face lathering and get an even spread for 30 or so seconds. Now start adding water but just a drop or two at a time and make sure you spread and distribute the watery lather across the rest of your face.  Keep adding and keep in mind you are looking for the soap's "sweet spot". Every soap has one and a shave on either side of that window, too dry or too wet, results in a bad shave. Some soaps have a notoriously small window while others (like B&M) are a mile wide.

Sometimes with a new soap I'll purposely take the lather from too dry through it's sweet spot until it is too wet just to find out how small the sweet spot is. Work up the lather for a good 4+ minutes. And if it's not working, it's not so precious you should suffer a bad shave. Just rinse it off and try again. This still happens to me from time to time especially when I overload with too much soap.  Eventually with practice you'll figure out the right ratio and can start nearer the soap:water ratio you need with the given equipment so the whole process will speed up significantly.

Well said!