Barrister and Mann Excelsior opinions & my take

I don’t like drying post shaves... I find my face feels better with the post-shave and a non-drying shave soap.

Maybe I'm just your typical blunt object but I don't distinguish all that much among all the various B&M (or other artisans) formulations - they're all pretty darn good in my opinion.  I shaved with B&M Fireside white label this morning and it was excellent.  Earlier this week I used Leviathan latest release which I guess is excelsior base and it was excellent too.  I don't know that the Deltus base splash is noticeably different than the previous splash formula. Maybe I just need more time with it.  That or the top artisans are so on their game that the differences are incremental at this point.  

Given that there hasn't really been any breakthroughs in cosmetic science over the last few years (that I'm aware of) all of these reformulations are probably more marketing than actual improvement but if it keeps us buying it and keeps the artisans in business then I'm all for it.

Given that there hasn't really been any breakthroughs in cosmetic science over the last few years (that I'm aware of)...

There have been, but not for soap, e.g., monolaurin & capryloyl salicylic acid to name two.

Depending on how much soap you load, Excelsior needs plenty of water to reach its full effectiveness. Excelsior is my favorite B&M base and I have tried them all, including white label.

That said, I agree with Marko that all the B&M bases are pretty good, so it really comes down to what you prefer and can get your hands on.

The more I figure out the correct amount of soap and water, the more I enjoy Excelsior. I find I definitely need to load lighter than I usually get away with other soaps.

Guess I will try loading for less time than what I’m used to for Glissant and see how that goes.

Guess I will try loading for less time than what I’m used to for Glissant and see how that goes.

And don't be afraid to give it water. A lot of times, poor post-shave from Excelsior is a result of the lather being underwatered, which causes the xanthan gum that makes it so slick to serve the opposite purpose as it begins to consume all the water in its vicinity, including from your skin. It takes quite a lot to overwater Excelsior, but it's admittedly easy to starve it of water and have a bad time.

Guess I will try loading for less time than what I’m used to for Glissant and see how that goes.

And don't be afraid to give it water. A lot of times, poor post-shave from Excelsior is a result of the lather being underwatered, which causes the xanthan gum that makes it so slick to serve the opposite purpose as it begins to consume all the water in its vicinity, including from your skin. It takes quite a lot to overwater Excelsior, but it's admittedly easy to starve it of water and have a bad time.

I figured! I’ll try adding more water than usual during today’s shave.


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I’ve been adding more water to my lather than for any other soap and even adding water between passes... this makes me think I might need to load less soap.

I’ve been adding more water to my lather than for any other soap and even adding water between passes... this makes me think I might need to load less soap.

Also possible. The idea was to produce a soap that lasted a long time. We might have gone overboard.