I ordered the samples shown above after reading this review of one shaver’s experience with Honeybee Soaps shaving soap. I decided to do the test because his experience was completely different than my own. The YMMV effect (“your mileage may vary”) is strong in shaving, but it does not often lead to such contrasting results, so I thought perhaps the formulation had changed: thus the samples. I will use a different sample each day, and today I began with Double Chocolate because, when in doubt, go for chocolate. (Also go for chocolate when you have no doubts, to celebrate.)
And here’s the shave. I used the Omega 11047 boar+badger brush because I was talking about how good it is. And lo! I got an excellent lather: fragrance, fine-grained, and effective.
Why the difference? It could be water, since soaps are sensitive to the hardness of water, but the reviewer said he was unable to get a good lather even in using distilled water. So probably it is not the water. It could be the brush (I don’t know what brush he was using), so I’ll use a variety of brushes this week: horsehair tomorrow. And, of course, it could be simply a matter of practice: over the years, I’ve made a lot of lathers. But Honeybee Soaps have always worked well for me, even at the beginning of my reacquaintance with traditional shaving.
I got a very fine shave with the iKon DLC slant (shown with the SE handle). I did get 3 very small weepers on the upper lip, but more and more I’m thinking that the nicks I occasionally get with this razor are due to a skill issue. I’m going to be using it more to see.
Hermès Eau d’Orange Verte as an aftershave balm, and this time I very much noticed (and liked) the fragrance.
Stay tuned for the entire Honeybee Soaps series.
Filed under: Shaving
