Shaving Product Review - Barrister and Mann "Soapmakers of Awesometown" and
Barrister's Reserve "Classic"

Value (Cost, Packaging and Performance)

Lather (Density, Glide and Feel)

Post-shave (Healing, Moisture and Feel)

Scent (Quality, Strength and Longevity)

Preparing for the onslaught of Barrister's Reserve goodies today with Barrister and Mann Soapmakers of Awesometown #soap (the beta) and Barrister's Reserve Classic #aftershave with another Timeless Razor report!

Some days, you need an aftershave but you don’t want a fragrance that’s in your face all day. Enter Barrister’s Reserve: Classic. Inspired by 60s vintage aftershaves, Classic’s clean, slightly powdery notes of citrus, lavender, moss, and sandalwood will keep you cool, calm, and collected for as long as you need to be.

As my regular readers will know, Barrister and Mann Soapmakers of Awesometown was a sort of beta test for the upcoming Barrister's Reserve soaps - so it lacks the last minute tweaks and fine-tuning, and as Will recently said, "SoA was really a beta for Reserve so that we could collect feedback and make alterations to the formula accordingly. So you're not really missing much by not having tried SoA; Reserve is a FAR superior product." Regardless, it's a darn fine soap in its own right, and the scent is really what stands out. I called it "a kinder, gentler Passiflora" in my extensive review of Soapmakers of Awesometown a while back. So definitely check that out.

I also did a Barrister's Reserve first impression and extensive review of Classic as a follow-up to that, so check those out too. As you may (hopefully) know, come this Friday - June 9, 2017 - there's a bunch of Barrister and Mann releases which include what we've all been waiting for... Matching soaps for the Barrister's Reserve aftershaves! Look for a more in-depth review later this week! To whet your appetite, here's a review of Spice and a review of Cool as actual combos!

I did dock the aftershave a bit in the chart above, as the scent strength is a medium with equally medium-level longevity. The two other scents are both "stronger and longer."

As you may have guessed (if you've been following along) the hardware is a big star of today's show. My ongoing trials with the #TimelessRazor continue! I received my scalloped top cap and stand on Friday, and tossed on the RazoRock Halo handle to achieve the configuration I had envisioned. It's made of titanium, as is the brush (which I polished over the weekend with Nevr-Dull) - and the grooves mirror the scalloped razor. The base plate is the custom .95 gap open comb on one side, scalloped solid bar on the other. The blade was a #PolSilver on shave four. I can say, without any hesitation - that this is my new go-to "Monday razor." Easily as efficient as the Mühle R41 with none of the harshness of either the blade or the open comb... You just don't feel it on the Timeless Razor - due to the design, it's essentially as smooth as the other side. It provides perhaps a bit more blade feel; and allows the stubble and lather to freely pass through. The scalloped top cap feels the same as the smooth, but between it and the open comb - does allow a bit of lather to remain on the face for additional strokes here and there. This was a ridiculously smooth and efficient shave. Pain-free, carefree and BBS all the way. I think I'm going to rock the smooth solid bar in the .68 gap for the rest of the week, but we'll see.

A guy can get spoiled with software and hardware like this. I think I've finally attained the brush and razor combo I can use everyday. Of course, I can make no such promises when it comes to software... Barrister's Reserve should pretty much make for the ultimate evolution of software. So if the scents are totally your thing and you want to keep it simple... There you go.