Barrister & Mann Latha Line

I just wanted to start a thread here in celebration of my new discovery (late to the party I know) of B&M Latha Soaps. Is this the best bang for your buck soap out there? I was blown away by the initial lathers I got from these soaps when I was testing samples of them and after purchasing Le Petit Chypre, purchased Taiga, Oceana, and Limon subsequently. What an amazing soap! The performance on these stands with many of my much more expensive soaps and it doesn't have lanolin in it, which is killer for me because I'm trying to avoid that. These are slick, rich, protective, and extremely luxurious!

Taiga - super stout (probably the stoutest of the Latha line I have tried) woody, fir, evergreen but sweet type scent. I really love this one but put it away until the fall/winter season.

Limon - nice fresh lemon scent. Only disappointing thing here is scent strength wise, it is about a 3 out of 10. If it's scent was more present it would be outstanding.

Oceana - dead ringer for Caties LMR and it outperforms LMR. Thicker, more slick and much better post shave, than LMR too. Oceana would be my favorite if it weren't for Le Petit Chypre.

Le Petit Chypre - nice complex but springy type scent. I wish I could describe it. I can sort of smell resin, its bright, its clean, refreshing, sort of earthy/woody? I'm having a hard time with it, but I absolutely love it, and hope that maybe once or twice a year, B&M would have a limited edition Latha like this guy because it was the first one I purchased from the Latha line due to its description, and limited release appeal. This soap led me directly to try and purchase more Latha soaps.

What do you guys think of Latha? Is there a soap out there, other than Mystic Waters maybe, price per ounce that can stand with Latha?

Limon - nice fresh lemon scent. Only disappointing thing here is scent strength wise, it is about a 3 out of 10. If it's scent was more present it would be outstanding.

Believe it or not, there's a TON of citrus oil in it. We were afraid to bump it up any further because it might start causing skin reactions (and citrus oils can be phototoxic, which is a problem). Sorry about that, though.

My intro to Latha line was LPC (I sadly missed Le Grande Chypre). I am hooked. Great soap.

Limon - nice fresh lemon scent. Only disappointing thing here is scent strength wise, it is about a 3 out of 10. If it's scent was more present it would be outstanding.

Believe it or not, there's a TON of citrus oil in it. We were afraid to bump it up any further because it might start causing skin reactions (and citrus oils can be phototoxic, which is a problem). Sorry about that, though.

Not a biggie, I appreciate your response. It was just something I thought was noteworthy.

Everything else was rock solid with these soaps though and I really appreciate you offering soaps without lanolin and with great scents/performance for a great price.

I just wanted to start a thread here in celebration of my new discovery (late to the party I know) of B&M Latha Soaps. Is this the best bang for your buck soap out there? I was blown away by the initial lathers I got from these soaps when I was testing samples of them and after purchasing Le Petit Chypre, purchased Taiga, Oceana, and Limon subsequently. What an amazing soap! The performance on these stands with many of my much more expensive soaps and it doesn't have lanolin in it, which is killer for me because I'm trying to avoid that. These are slick, rich, protective, and extremely luxurious!

Taiga - super stout (probably the stoutest of the Latha line I have tried) woody, fir, evergreen but sweet type scent. I really love this one but put it away until the fall/winter season.

Limon - nice fresh lemon scent. Only disappointing thing here is scent strength wise, it is about a 3 out of 10. If it's scent was more present it would be outstanding.

Oceana - dead ringer for Caties LMR and it outperforms LMR. Thicker, more slick and much better post shave, than LMR too. Oceana would be my favorite if it weren't for Le Petit Chypre.

Le Petit Chypre - nice complex but springy type scent. I wish I could describe it. I can sort of smell resin, its bright, its clean, refreshing, sort of earthy/woody? I'm having a hard time with it, but I absolutely love it, and hope that maybe once or twice a year, B&M would have a limited edition Latha like this guy because it was the first one I purchased from the Latha line due to its description, and limited release appeal. This soap led me directly to try and purchase more Latha soaps.

What do you guys think of Latha? Is there a soap out there, other than Mystic Waters maybe, price per ounce that can stand with Latha?

The Limon has a very intense scent. For me, it's an 8,5 out of 10.

My first is Sandalwood and I really like it. The scent is great.

My first is Sandalwood and I really like it. The scent is great.

I'm curious about the Sandalwood actually. It seems that many reviews I've read were thumbs down on it, that there wasn't enough sandalwood or something? Now, I do not LOVE earthy sandalwoods honestly, so if its not earthy, thats fine with me.

To me it doesn't smell all that much like sandalwood it's just that whatever it does smell like is very nice. Definitely not Earthy.

My first is Sandalwood and I really like it.  The scent is great.

I'm curious about the Sandalwood actually.  It seems that many reviews I've read were thumbs down on it, that there wasn't enough sandalwood or something?  Now, I do not LOVE earthy sandalwoods honestly, so if its not earthy, thats fine with me.

We wanted to do a bit of a different take on it. Despite the fact that I stressed to people that it's fruity (which it is), people didn't seem to take me seriously on the point.

It's a fruity sandalwood, and the currant is definitely the foremost note in the fragrance, but lathering it will bring out more of the woodiness. That said, it does not smell like real sandalwood oil; a lot of people wanted me to basically re-create the scent of either Proraso Red or AOS Sandalwood, which is not a reasonable request for an artisan product in this price range. Companies like Proraso and AoS/Gillette/P&G can buy sandalwood oil and high-quality synthetic substitutes by the metric ton (or the truckload or the tankerload or what-have-you). Barrister & Mann does not have that kind of purchasing power, so it's simply not possible. Good, realistic sandalwood replacements can often cost nearly as much as the real thing.

My first is Sandalwood and I really like it.  The scent is great.

I'm curious about the Sandalwood actually.  It seems that many reviews I've read were thumbs down on it, that there wasn't enough sandalwood or something?  Now, I do not LOVE earthy sandalwoods honestly, so if its not earthy, thats fine with me.

We wanted to do a bit of a different take on it. Despite the fact that I stressed to people that it's fruity (which it is), people didn't seem to take me seriously on the point.

It's a fruity sandalwood, and the currant is definitely the foremost note in the fragrance, but lathering it will bring out more of the woodiness. That said, it does not smell like real sandalwood oil; a lot of people wanted me to basically re-create the scent of either Proraso Red or AOS Sandalwood, which is not a reasonable request for an artisan product in this price range. Companies like Proraso and AoS/Gillette/P&G can buy sandalwood oil and high-quality synthetic substitutes by the metric ton (or the truckload or the tankerload or what-have-you). Barrister & Mann does not have that kind of purchasing power, so it's simply not possible. Good, realistic sandalwood replacements can often cost nearly as much as the real thing.

Will this actually sounds fantastic. I will have to sample it. I like sandalwood added to things, but I do not like Proraso Red and some of the more dirty, earthy sandalwoods I've come across. Typically I go for stuff like St James of London Sandalwoods, cologne types, bright ones where sandalwood is an element, not the only thing in it.

Perhaps Lavanda and Sandalwood are in order. Thanks for that description.