Barrister and Mann

I had to pop in here to say something about the new Reserve soap. Don't load them as long as you do other soaps. My goodness is this soap potent. My first use I loaded like I would practically any other soap and got the stringiness mentioned above. I couldn't get enough water into it to tone it back down. Today, I loaded enough for what felt like a half pass shave and had the perfect consistency lather I look for and had enough for 3+ passes. Skin feel is amazing afterwards, especially when paired with a Reserve splash, and really, who wouldn't?

Great stuff Will!

My set is in the mail and should be here tomorrow or Tuesday.  Thanks for the heads-up, Brian.  I tend to bloom my soaps but maybe I'll start by just going at the puck with a wet brush.

I would highly doubt that blooming would be necessary here Freddy. If I did that, I'd have enough lather to shave my whole family, 2 dogs included, about 5 times.

The image I got from that has me laughing out loud so I shall most definitely take your advice.

The soap can take an ungodly amount of water and will not stop lathering. It's honestly remarkable.

I made my first major purchase with B&M over the past week. I had bought several Latha soaps a year ago, and have enjoyed them - but in all my time shaving (6 years), I had yet to jump on Will's products. Don't really know why to be honest with you. A few months ago, my wife surprised me with Night Music aftershave - at first I was not the biggest fan of the scent, but boy did it grow on me - I absolutely love it now! And I really appreciate the complexity of the scent.

All that to say, I jumped on the Father's Day sale and picked up "The Bear" Cologne Russe soap, Adagio soap and aftershave, and Reserve Cool soap and aftershave. I also kindly received a sample of Reserve Classic aftershave and soap.

All I can say now is that I am hooked on B&M. Every bit of the product and performance is excellent. I am reminded of Apple - even their packaging and presentation is important and excellent, just like their products. I think the same applies for B&M - and I am sure many of us appreciate it and enjoy it.


Also, I have a bottle of Floid Blue - have been holding onto it for awhile now. To my nose, out of the bottle Reserve Cool smells NEAR identical, if not identical. I haven't used it yet, so I don't know what the dry down scent will be like. But regardless, if you want Floid Blue in an aftershave and a soap, pick up Reserve Cool.


I'm now trying to sell off some of my other products so I can jump on LGC and also get ready for forthcoming pre-orders.

I've had three shaves now with the Reserve line, and I'm very impressed. Wish I had read Brian's tip about load time before my first use of the soap-the first time I used the Reserve Spice, I loaded for the usual amount of time, and by the time I had properly hydrated the lather, I had enough to shave all week!

Iâ€ve used the Spice Reserve twice and the Cool once, and this formulation produces a â€stringy†protolather, and a superb, glossy lather. But one thatâ€s not ‘heavyâ€. Itâ€s got great glide, and superb post-shave feel. Shaved with relatively aggressive razors (Charcoal OC Level 3 and Wolfman OC .74) and a milder razor-the OB Core-and the BR performed beautifully with all 3. No irritation with the aggressive razors, no irritation with the mild razor that required a little more touchup work.

Maybe the most impressive thing about the Reserve soaps is the ‘light†yet protected feeling post shave. Reminded me of the very best of the Italian soaps.

...this formulation produces a ’stringy’ protolather...

Agreed. It's quite reminiscent of L&L's bison tallow formula. My technique for L&L is to used a barely damp knot and load until I get that gooey, stringy, marshmallow cream substance. Then I dunk the knot in my reserve water such that the water is loaded behind the the gooey cap on the distal end of the knot. Then when I begin face lathering, the trapped water pushes through that cap and a perfect lather is achieved. Now, L&L's formula contains clay and I'm pretty sure Barrister's Reserve does not. I'm not saying the soaps are the same, but the behavior of the load is very similar vis-à-vis the gooey protolather. The next time I use BR, I intend to proceed that way. Many tallow soaps would be in jeopardy with that amount of water, but the addition of clay seems to exploit the slickness aspect using the water to its advantage. After my first experience with BR, it will take a few turns to get the most out of it without wasting it, but it clearly has no issue with large amounts of water.

Hey Will, have you ever considered burying something in your soap for customers to find?

Like a golden ticket maybe?

Hey Will, have you ever considered burying something in your soap for customers to find?

Like a golden ticket maybe?

Oh, the old Holy Black gimmick? Please don't...

Hey Will, have you ever considered burying something in your soap for customers to find?

Like a golden ticket maybe?

Hey Will, have you ever considered burying something in your soap for customers to find?

Like a golden ticket maybe?

Oh, the old Holy Black gimmick? Please don't...

Yeah, that's not really my thing. Sorry Sleeper.

My tip to lather BR soap is a cooler, wetter and stiffer brush with a light touch. For example, a SOC is nice. The cooler, wetter brush keeps it from melting and gumming up too quickly while a stiffer one doesn't get too twisted up. Try it some time!

That Seville Tonique packaging tho. Hot! Bravo, Barrister_N_Mann