Penhaligon's English Fern
Just recieved my Pen EF last night and had a shave with it this very morning.
Initial impressions:
Pure class! The box Pen comes in is simple, understated, and beautiful. Green with some gold trim and little fern embellishments...
http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/att...1&d=1247748638
The box lid lifts off to reveal the EF bowl within...
http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/att...1&d=1247748651
Lift the lid on the bowl and feast your eyes upon the tallowy puck, whilst you nose is greeted by the fresh, green scent!
http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/att...1&d=1247748664
OK, to tell the truth, the puck itself comes wrapped in platic, so you have to remove that first to get the full boquet of aroma....
What luck, the soap arrived last evening, so it was ready to roll for this morning's shave to take care of 48 hours worth of whiskers.
http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/att...1&d=1247748674
Lathers easily, seems to have a good balance between glide, closeness, and cushion. It did not strike me as having head and shoulders above shaving performance to any other soap, but it ceratinly was not found lacking in any department either. First shave with it, so I need to get to know it a bit better before casting final judgment on where it falls in the tallow heirarchy for me.
The scent is excellently refreshing for a morning shave, and I'd say this is where this soap earns it's keep. Bright and refreshing, like sunlight through a canopy of Spring leaves with a babbling brook winding its way through the forest nearby.
Penhaligon's nails this fresh, green scent in a way that Irisch Moos, in my opinion does not. IM's scent, to me, is overly sharp and pungent, somehow fake smelling, it assaults your nose "SMELL ME, I"M GREEN AND LEAFY, DAMMIT!".
Whereas the English Fern draws you in like fresh morning air: "hey...*sniff*, that smells pretty good...*sniff*, yeah, I like that!". You breath it in deeply and feel ready to take on the world.
Price:
Okay...so no more refill pucks are left out there that I know of, so it's all or nothing-you gotta pony up $65 for the bowl ensemble.
Is that a good deal?
No it is not.
Is it worth it?
It very well may be!http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/ima..._guys/w00t.gif