11-03-2013, 04:30 AM
Success, Michelle, success!!!!
You know my story by now. I have struggled with Michelle's soaps on and off for the past 18 months or so. Always the case of disappearing lather, I've given up, reordered more soaps, given up, reordered....the story has been reported in several threads.
So, continuing the cycle, I have just taken delivery of two more soaps, the Sandalwood Rose and the Bay Rum. Yesterday, I used the Sandalwood Rose and you've guessed it, disappearing lather.
I have tried all techniques, from wet to dry brush, hot and cold water, badger and boar hair....the results have always been the same.
This morning, however, I tried something different. Michelle was kind enough to include two, 1/2 oz samples of other scents, so I thought, why not use them like a stick? Always concerned that not enough product was being used(despite loading for up to two minutes I must add),this morning I rubbed the WHOLE sample on my face/neck and proceeded to face lather. Excessive you are thinking, yes, and my skin was literally plastered with soap, but I wanted to push the soap amount to excess to totally eliminate the possibility of not enough product. The result was amazing. The water needed to lather was immense, obviously, but the quality and stability was supreme. I did three passes with enough lather left for 3 more shaves, easily.
Tomorrow, I will attempt to use the puck of Bay Rum in the usual fashion.
You know my story by now. I have struggled with Michelle's soaps on and off for the past 18 months or so. Always the case of disappearing lather, I've given up, reordered more soaps, given up, reordered....the story has been reported in several threads.
So, continuing the cycle, I have just taken delivery of two more soaps, the Sandalwood Rose and the Bay Rum. Yesterday, I used the Sandalwood Rose and you've guessed it, disappearing lather.
I have tried all techniques, from wet to dry brush, hot and cold water, badger and boar hair....the results have always been the same.
This morning, however, I tried something different. Michelle was kind enough to include two, 1/2 oz samples of other scents, so I thought, why not use them like a stick? Always concerned that not enough product was being used(despite loading for up to two minutes I must add),this morning I rubbed the WHOLE sample on my face/neck and proceeded to face lather. Excessive you are thinking, yes, and my skin was literally plastered with soap, but I wanted to push the soap amount to excess to totally eliminate the possibility of not enough product. The result was amazing. The water needed to lather was immense, obviously, but the quality and stability was supreme. I did three passes with enough lather left for 3 more shaves, easily.
Tomorrow, I will attempt to use the puck of Bay Rum in the usual fashion.
11-03-2013, 07:15 AM
(11-03-2013, 06:19 AM)Macko Wrote: I can't tell if this is an indictment or a backhanded compliment, but either way, more power to you.Whilst many, including myself, struggle to get stable lather from Michelle's soaps, the very fact that so many revel in their use is testament to their quality. Michelle is fully aware of my position and today's thread was totally intended to compliment, although I can see, reading back, how it could be misconstrued. I've amended the title accordingly.
11-03-2013, 10:24 AM
I'm glad David, thank you for trying it again. If you can do it like that I'm sure that you can get the same results on the puck with a brush eventually and, seriously guys, you don't need to load for two minutes or use an inordinate amount of soap. The average time that customers tell me a puck of soap lasts in daily use is about 4 months, so the amount of soap that David used in face lathering was hugely excessive. David, why don't you try face lathering again tomorrow using a little less soap, and then scaling back each day until you're using a normal amount but getting a feel for the ratio of waster to product that you need to continue getting the lather that you want? That would be my suggestion now that you've done it once.
11-03-2013, 11:24 AM
Thanks for the advice, Michelle. My intention was to use the Bay Rum tomorrow as usual to see the results. If that fails again, then I was planning to take the same approach as today, using less and less soap each day. I now know what's possible, it can't be that far off now for brush on soap to repeat the performance.
11-04-2013, 02:07 AM
Bingo!!!! This morning I used the Bay Rum in the tub and had excellent results. I used my most backbone brush, the Chubby 2 Manchurian, and loaded for a full 3 minutes. Whereas I would usually use a wet brush for my soaps, this time I used a dryish brush, putting water on the soap instead. I added water to the soap 4 times in total whilst loading.
It definitely required more effort than usual with my other soaps but the post shave feel is quite extraordinary.
This may come across as a strange comment but has anyone also noticed that the sink stays cleaner too with MW soaps? Whereas other soaps leave soap scum behind, these MW soaps leave a silky feeling to the sink, and a quick wipe is all that's needed.
It's a wonderful feeling to be enjoying these soaps. For anyone else who is struggling with MW soaps, please try the stick approach if you haven't already done so. Once you have a real excess of soap, it really demonstrates these soaps' capabilities. And as Michelle suggested yesterday, once you have got to this point, it's easy to then back off the soap quantity.
I'm very, very happy.
It definitely required more effort than usual with my other soaps but the post shave feel is quite extraordinary.
This may come across as a strange comment but has anyone also noticed that the sink stays cleaner too with MW soaps? Whereas other soaps leave soap scum behind, these MW soaps leave a silky feeling to the sink, and a quick wipe is all that's needed.
It's a wonderful feeling to be enjoying these soaps. For anyone else who is struggling with MW soaps, please try the stick approach if you haven't already done so. Once you have a real excess of soap, it really demonstrates these soaps' capabilities. And as Michelle suggested yesterday, once you have got to this point, it's easy to then back off the soap quantity.
I'm very, very happy.
11-04-2013, 05:04 AM
My skin feels great after MW as well but I have never taken notice of the residue in the sink. Could be my sink is too dirty to ever notice though. 
With regards to how long a puck lasts: I'm not sure who or how some people are getting 4 months of daily shaving from a 150g puck of this soap, its not even close to this for me. I've seen others as well and just searched a 300 page thread on people who use products from start to finish, and the longest I saw a puck last was 45 days or so. I am a 3 pass shaver and face lather my MW soaps.
45-60 sec of gentle loading and I'm picking up 3.5-4g off soap which means they are lasting 40-50 days for me. I'd love it if I could get a puck to last 4 months of daily shaving but I have yet to see or read anyone getting it on the forums but could be wrong.
I'd Ike to see or know what Celestino's use per shave is. I know he has softer water, but not sure he'd be able to accurately determine as he rotates whereas I use products from start to finish.
It's still leaps and bounds better then my use/shave with Stirling
With regards to how long a puck lasts: I'm not sure who or how some people are getting 4 months of daily shaving from a 150g puck of this soap, its not even close to this for me. I've seen others as well and just searched a 300 page thread on people who use products from start to finish, and the longest I saw a puck last was 45 days or so. I am a 3 pass shaver and face lather my MW soaps.
45-60 sec of gentle loading and I'm picking up 3.5-4g off soap which means they are lasting 40-50 days for me. I'd love it if I could get a puck to last 4 months of daily shaving but I have yet to see or read anyone getting it on the forums but could be wrong.
I'd Ike to see or know what Celestino's use per shave is. I know he has softer water, but not sure he'd be able to accurately determine as he rotates whereas I use products from start to finish.
It's still leaps and bounds better then my use/shave with Stirling
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