Hiya,

Maybe I can answer a couple of your questions about this soap. I waited waaaay too long to finally try it, and it's a favorite of mine now.

First of all, there's no problem selling a slightly used puck if it doesn't work for you. Plenty of members will take that off your hands.

Far as samples go, it's difficult to cut a piece off a puck......this isn't soft like a glycerin based soap. The only place I know that offers samples would be www.theshaveden.com Oh, if you order from there, I believe JoAnna also offers Institut Karite soap samples. That's another excellent one worth looking at.

There's always a deal going on for MWF from one or two vendors. One place to check for the bowl/soap combo would be www.connaughtshaving.com As of today,Paul has the combo for under $34, which includes shipping from the UK. Takes about 5 working days from the time it's sent. Looks like refills are under $14 shipped. I've done many deals with him without any problems.

The bowl is nice looking, and yes, there's room to load up your brush in it. Personally though, I buy the refills and put em in a 2 cup Anchor Hocking glass bowl with a lid. That way there's plenty of room without worrying about having the lather slop over the side.

The thing to remember for the best chance of success with MWF is to load the brush up properly. I treat this as I would any other hard soap, which means a good 20-30 seconds of swirling my brush on that puck. Better to start with too much soap than not enough.

Well, maybe some of this will help,

Martin