I've tried lots of soaps, but Institut Karite has got to be one of the lowest quality soaps I've had an experience with. The stuff loads up fine on the brush, but the lather was mediocre at best, especially when compared to MWF, DR Harris, and MB soaps...even Conk lathers better.

Cushion, glide, and slipperiness are not there either. Despite working up a workable lather, it felt like I was shaving with only water on my face. Now since I usually soldier through most shaves anyway, I quit halfway through the clean-up pass because the irritation was getting to be a little too much. I did get a VERY close shave today, but I attribute that to Lynn's magic on my Dovo Special and my unwillingness to give up when it starts to hurt.

The moisturizing was pretty good. I guess the shea butter is about as good as the lanolin in my MWF.

After the shave, I usually go with a splash of witch hazel and after that dries, a splash of aftershave. The witch hazel is 14% alcohol and stung a bit so I let it sit until it had flashed off and then went to the aftershave. Thankfully, it wasn't very bad...thank god for good technique...

I don't know. I'm going to try IK a couple more times to see if I can work out the snags. If it doesn't work out, it's going under the sink as an emergency puck. I really wanted the stuff to work since it's received good reports.