DR Harris disappointment

I recently had an issue with a shave stick I ordered so the vendor was very gracious and gave me a refund which really was more than I asked for. Actually all I was doing was letting them know about possible shipping problems. Well anyway I felt compelled to use that refund to buy something else from them. I have the Harris Marlborough soap and the after shave at one time and love the scent so I ordered a tub of the cream. It got here today and at first sight I thought somehow I got a smaller travel size but when I checked it was the proper 150 grams, the tub at sometime since my last Harris cream purchase (Arlington) had been redesigned it seems. Smaller diameter but greater depth. So no problem, but when I opened it, expecting a decently strong scent as in the other Harris creams I've had I was sorely disappointed. Hardly any scent at all and the little I could detect smelled not at all like the soap or after shave. Anyone else notice this ? or is it isolated?

Maybe a bad tub, all the Harris creams I've had were really strong in the scent department.

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Had some of Arlington and the same light scent. Some brands have potent creams vs. their soap counterparts and vise versa.

Dr Harris I've tried the scent strength was above average. Protection was not, looked like I shaved with a piece of glass.

All the others I had were strong in scent as well, not this one though. I may play around with it, it's so unscented I might add a drop or two of an E.O.

Some years ago I purchased a tub of DR Harris Arlington soap.  The fragrance was great however, I cannot say the lather had a great scent.  It was in fact very mild smelling.  That soap is almost gone so I ordered a refill which I have not opened yet.  Some time back Harris came out with a new scent called Windsor.  The description of the scent sounded like something I would like so I purchased a refill of it (I no longer purchase the tubs with hard soap I only purchase refills).  The scent is very light not strong at all.  However, Harris makes a great performing soap so I really can't complain.  I will take performance over strong scent any day and Harris in my opinion is an excellent performer.

(02-25-2016, 02:09 PM)Tidepool Wrote: Some years ago I purchased a tub of DR Harris Arlington soap.  The fragrance was great however, I cannot say the lather had a great scent.  It was in fact very mild smelling.  That soap is almost gone so I ordered a refill which I have not opened yet.  Some time back Harris came out with a new scent called Windsor.  The description of the scent sounded like something I would like so I purchased a refill of it (I no longer purchase the tubs with hard soap I only purchase refills).  The scent is very light not strong at all.  However, Harris makes a great performing soap so I really can't complain.  I will take performance over strong scent any day and Harris in my opinion is an excellent performer.

I agree. The Harris soaps perform great and are actually stronger scented than most soaps, which are usually lighter in scent than the corresponding creams, which is why I was so hopeful.

DRH soaps are not generally lighter in scent than the creams, so it sounds like you may, as has already been suggested, have a rogue tub.

However, not all of the DRH soaps, creams and ASB's within the same product line necessarily share the same scent.

Sandalwood soap and creams smell exactly the same as each other, with the main difference being the strength of scent. The scent of the matching ASB is very similar to the scent of the soaps and creams. The same can be said for Windsor.

The Arlington scent is noticeably different between the soap and cream (the soap smells far better in my view), and the matching AS balm is scented differently again.

Almond also smells very different, with the cream having a sweet Almond scent and the soap having a bitter Almond scent.

It can be frustrating trying to match a soap, cream and ASB within a single DRH product line.

There is always the possibility, though, that the tub of Marlborough you have is scented correctly and there may be a an actual difference between the soap and cream within the Marlborough product line.


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This is interesting to hear.  I love the Windsor Soap, but I'm not super thrilled with Arlington and Marlborough soaps which I've acquired recently.  To me, Marlborough is like a 2 out of 10 in scent strength, and really it smells all too similar to Tabac for me to ever purchase it again.  I would pick Tabac over Marlborough every single time.  Arlington might be growing on me a bit, but I smell way too much fern and not near enough citrus.

As far as the cream, I bought the Marlborough soap, based on a cream sample.  The two smell nothing alike, I mean nothing.

I agree that the soap and cream do not smell the same.

I want to ask a DR Harris related question in this thread if I may.  I would say, I am 1 for 3 on DR Harris Soaps that I enjoy, with Windsor being my favorite and me being a bit on the fence about Arlington and Marlborough.  I'm curious if any of the other DR Harris scents are good? Are they stout?  How is the DR Harris Sandalwood? Am I going to have to look for the scent or is it present?  With these refills being 18 bucks, I'm just a bit fearful of trying another one.

I did hear the DR Harris Sandalwood AS splash is nice.

To my sense, their soap scents are immediately noticeable, but not strong, at all -- IME, the cream scents are more intense than their (counterpart) soap ones. It seems they’ve toned down (in particular) the Marlborough cream though -- per the ingredients, there is no parfum/fragrance, but just alpha-isomethyl ionone: INGREDIENTS.

My personal fave DRH scents are Almond (the soap, and not the cream, which is an entirely different scent), and Sandalwood (soap, and cream pretty much the same, in terms of profile).

(FWIW, I also favour - for performance and scent - their Sandalwood, Bay Rum, and Pink splashes.)

If I am understanding correctly, everyone is saying that DRH soaps are strongly scented? That has not been my experience. Most of DRH's soaps and creams are very subtlety scented.

(02-26-2016, 02:09 PM)TropicalHotDog Wrote: If I am understanding correctly, everyone is saying that DRH soaps are strongly scented? That has not been my experience. Most of DRH's soaps and creams are very subtlety scented.

In my experience the creams are generally more strongly scented whereas the soaps are much more subtle.

Maybe I'll try the sandalwood soap before I just settle on Windsor as my only DR Harris soap.

(02-26-2016, 02:23 PM)ajc347 Wrote:

(02-26-2016, 02:09 PM)TropicalHotDog Wrote: If I am understanding correctly, everyone is saying that DRH soaps are strongly scented? That has not been my experience. Most of DRH's soaps and creams are very subtlety scented.

In my experience the creams are generally more strongly scented whereas the soaps are much more subtle.

This is definitely true, but even the creams are on the light side, for scent strength. I always kind of wished that Windsor and Marlborough were stronger.

The aftershave line, on the other hand, seems quite strong! Sandalwood is strong enough to pass for a cologne.

(02-26-2016, 02:09 PM)TropicalHotDog Wrote: If I am understanding correctly, everyone is saying that DRH soaps are strongly scented? That has not been my experience. Most of DRH's soaps and creams are very subtlety scented.

I find Sandalwood and Windsor soaps to be the strongest scented. Sandalwood is a bit more "in your face". These two also last on my skin much longer than any of the other scents (soaps).
Followed by Lavender. (I always get whiffs of limes with the lavender, FWIW).
Then Arlington, Almond, and Marlborough are the lightest scent strength.
Having said all this, my two least favorite scents (currently and for about a year) are the two strongest: Sandalwood and Windsor.
Careful what we ask for! YMMV.

(02-26-2016, 05:57 AM)SCShaver Wrote: This is interesting to hear.  I love the Windsor Soap, but I'm not super thrilled with Arlington and Marlborough soaps which I've acquired recently.  To me, Marlborough is like a 2 out of 10 in scent strength, and really it smells all too similar to Tabac for me to ever purchase it again.  I would pick Tabac over Marlborough every single time.  Arlington might be growing on me a bit, but I smell way too much fern and not near enough citrus.

As far as the cream, I bought the Marlborough soap, based on a cream sample.  The two smell nothing alike, I mean nothing.

Well, see? there you go. Differences between two products of the same line, same category ( cream or soap) in scent and/or strength of scent. I have a Marlborough soap that is strongly scented for a soap. Which in my experience of over 20 soaps and creams of the same line has shown me that creams are always, now almost always, scented stronger. Which is what I expected.

(02-26-2016, 05:57 AM)SCShaver Wrote: As far as the cream, I bought the Marlborough soap, based on a cream sample.  The two smell nothing alike, I mean nothing.

Yeah, Marlborough cream smells entirely different than Marlborough soap or aftershave. I fell in love with the warm, spicy, sandalwoody cream scent, and decided to order a sample of the aftershave. It turned out that the aftershave smelled like a dirty smoke lounge. Put simply, it smelled like an ashtray made of cedar wood. I was a bit perplexed at the difference, because, like you said, they have almost nothing at all in common.

I have heard a few people say that DRH's almond soap smells of bitter almond flower, as opposed to the sweet marzipan scent of the cream. Personally, I took a good long whiff of the soap, at a shaving shop that stocked it, and I couldn't smell anything at all. I enjoy the almond cream, though. It has a nice scent strength that is a touch fainter than TOBS' and GFT's equivalents, and that helps to prevent the sweetness from becoming too cloying.

Maybe this is not the time or place to bring this up but it appears that some agree that Harris is strong scented while others say they are lite scented.  In addition, whether it is Arlington, Windsor, Marlborough etc. people have differing opinions.  And, I can understand that there are differences between soaps and creams.  But ponder this.  A few years ago I had a problem with an Edwin Jagger soap and I contacted them regarding it.  They were kind enough to send me a free replacement.  However, they indicated that they contract with an outside manufacturer who produces their sops.  Point, Edwin Jagger does not make their soaps.  I wonder if Harris makes their soaps or is there one large company manufacturing most British soaps.  Triple milled hard soaps require expensive machinery that is not required for creams.  Ergo, the difference between soaps and creams?  And, a bad batch could be possible.  Just a thought.