OK, I picked up my tub of CRSW Lavish shaving soap from the Post Office yesterday and put it to use in the wee hours this morning.
Lavish is scented, according to the Cold River Soap Works website, with French Lavender, Sweet Orange, Aged Patchouli, and Moroccan Cedarwood essential oils. The nice, wide plastic jar was shipped in a padded envelope and arrived unscathed. Upon opening the envelope, I was met with a strong scent of cedarwood. But, after opening the jar, the main scent was lavender with cedarwood supporting. The overall scent in the container was a solid 6 out of 10 in strength. I didn't really sense any of the sweet orange or patchouli. My nose isn't really that sophisticated or sensitive, so this is just my experience. The scent strength mellowed a bit during lathering and the shave. I was getting mainly lavender and cedarwood during the shave. I did seem to pick up quite a bit of orange after the shave, which I thought was interesting.
The soap seemed very soft in the tub I received. I could see brush marks in the surface of the soap. I used a damp Vintage Blades 24mm 2-Band Finest badger brush and it seemed to be load up very easily and quickly. I moved to a bowl to work the lather a bit before going to my face to lather longer, adding a few drops of water at a time. The lather seemed very nice and effective. Glide and cushion seemed very good as well. I went 3 passes and squeezed the lather from the knot for the 3rd and last pass. The 3rd application of lather was the best of the shave.
Post-shave feel was good, but not to the level of Nuavia or Mystic Water Sensitive Skin(Unscented) which are the two gold standards for post-shave feel for shaving soaps for me.
It was only one shave, so take it as you will. I thought that CRSW Lavish is a very good shaving soap, but more experience with this soap should allow me to dial it in better.
As always, YMMV!!!
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