So with a week using Frank’s Dragonsbeard soap in this PIF I have not participated in the thread so as not to taint my experience and opinions. Nevertheless it seems I have had similar experiences with this soap as some others.
First Impressions: The soap is secured in a solid container and has a good amount of heft as its not the typical 4 oz (100 gm) selection but a super sized 6.5 oz (164 gm) tube. I would normally lather in the container but this is a PIF so I scooped out some soap for a bowl lather. It’s dark chocolate brown and soft to the touch. Not cream soft but a gentle texture to the finger tips. The scent, for me, is definitely a woody yet masculine aroma but not too strong. I usually can only appreciate 1 or possibly 2 scents in a soaps as I am no scent expert.
Lathering: I prefer my silver tip bulb brushes (over my synthetics) and after a soak in hot water while I showered I went to work building my lather. As others have commented it enjoys the water which, for me, just means I added a little more water than with some other soaps. In no time I generated a light brown slick lather somewhere between a meringue and yogurt consistency. My brush held enough for 1.5 lathers so I just generated more lather for the full 2-3 pass shave.
The Shave: I won’t go over the exact details of the shave but I did use Feather blades with some very efficient DE razors for a 3 pass shave to fully assess this soap. The shave was slick and cushioned my face with ease. If I had the patience and time it would have been a great soap to use to improve my Straight Razor technique. There was no facial skin irritation or itch/burning which I have had in the past with some well recognized brands so this was a plus.
Post Shave: My post shave routine usually consists of cool water followed by an aftershave and/or moisturizer (I do not use an Alum block as I am too sensitive to it and will itch for hours). This is where things got interesting. The post shave feel was amazing ! There was no dryness or similar skin irritations as my face felt well hydrated. Frank has explained all the high-end ingredients that he has used in great detail (my little brain cannot fully appreciate all the details) and, I am sure, this is what my face was feeling. I felt hydrated enough post shave that an AS or moisturizer was unnecessary so I skipped it a few times. My face never missed a beat and I went the day without problems as this soap must be full of “high-end skin food” as explained by Frank. When I did use a post shave treatment (as I did not have the matching Dragonsbeard splash) I used an unscented moisturizer. I found the post shave “woody” scent was present for about an hour and then faded which was more than fine for me. I assume that if I had used the splash then the post shave hydration would have been more obvious and the scent would have lingered even longer. Nevertheless the soap, on its own, was a pleasure to use.
In summary, Frank’s Dragonsbeard shave soap is the first offering from this new artisan soap maker. It works as well as any soap out there but excels in the post shave experience. As “skin food” the face is well hydrated after use which sets it apart from most shave soaps putting it into a category with few competitors. If this is his freshman release I can not wait until his softmore releases which I understand will include summer island/citrus scents.
Bravo Frank
