Review (3/5): It's amazing, unless you have hard water
This review will be somewhat bi-polar, but this soap truly performs that way for me.
A quick TL;DR for those who don't want too many details: It gives an amazing post shave and lathers quickly, but that lather dissipates when created with hard water.
Onto the nitty-gritty. I have a plethora of artisan shaving soaps from the likes of Stirling, Mike's, Barrister & Mann, Catie's Bubbles, WSP, Razorock, etc... I also use some classic mass produced software like TOBS, Arko, Proraso, and some others. While I do like certain products more than others, I can typically get a quality shave from any of the products mentioned, and any of the razors I keep in rotation. However, I purchased Mitchell's Wool Fat because I had a specific need: a utilitarian soap that can protect me while I'm shaving my head. I typically only shave my head every 7-14 days (yes, this is absolutely doable with the right razors) so the job tends to require quality lather. I get great results from most of my artisan soaps, but the job is more time-consuming when I have to load up my brush from a container or the like. Creams work okay in terms of convenience, but they are a notch less protective than the artisan soaps. Another side note: I've veered more into fragrances in the form of EDT/cologne/EDP recently, so unscented shaving products are a plus for me these days. MWF and Arko both smell like cheap hotel soaps to me, and I have no problem with that.
I wanted a mug soap that could just live in a big, flat soup mug and be on standby for those head shaves. My first attempt at doing this simply and cheaply was with Arko. I crammed some into a salsa bowl, and it worked great for whipping up a large volume of lather very quickly. However, Arko loses its slickness when the lather isn't of the thicker variety, and it tends to function better as a cushiony soap. Yes, I'm aware that I can cram an artisan soap into whatever container I want, but I prefer to save those products (and their fancy scents) for when I'm savoring a more luxurious shave. I also wanted to try something that is triple-milled, very hard, and will sit properly in a mug without requiring pressing or manipulation, much how people used Williams and Old Spice back in the day.
Enter MWF. I knew this soap's reputation, and I knew that I was working with hard water, but I wanted to give it a go anyways because it's a classic that I'd never tried. This soap produces lather quite readily, actually. I tried it with synthetic, boar, and badger brushes. I always used as much product as possible, and bloomed the soap by soaking it in the mug during my shower. However, I'd always get similar results without fail. A very good-looking lather will be produced, and it will always begin to dissipate within seconds. Thicker lather? Dissipates. Thinner and more voluminous lather? Dissipates. Every time.
Fortunately, I still found it usable, because WOW this lather was incredibly slick, even after its partial dissipation. You can easily go over spots several times, especially if you apply some water to that spot. This slickness did a sufficient job of protecting my dome against cuts, but unfortunately there tends to be a bit more irritation and aftershave burn (nothing too excessive) due to the fact that this lather has insufficient cushion while being used with very aggressive razors. I tried to mitigate this by only lathering up sections of my head, then repeating that over and over to prevent the dissipation. This helped a bit, but the inconvenience was enough where I've unfortunately chosen to oust MWF from the very role I purchased it to fill.
This may read like a 1-2 star review, but here comes the good part. MWF, despite it's dissipating lather, repeatedly left me with the absolute best post shave feel I ever experienced. It soundly defeats even my 2 favorite soaps in this category, which are Stirling and B&M. I know that my skin loves lanolin, and I'm guessing the MWF contains a high concentration of lanolin, which unfortunately may contribute to it disagreeing with my hard water. The post shave is a hell of a payoff though, to the point where I'm glad that I tried it.
Bottom line, this product is not for everyone. If you're new to traditional wet shaving, then avoid it in favor of something more simplistic and easy to lather (TOBS, Razorock, or perhaps even Arko). If you know you have hard water, then steer clear unless you're just out to appease your curiosity. Personally, I'm split between disappointment and amazement. The post shave and speed of lather has wowed me enough to hang onto this soap just in case I end up moving somewhere with better water. I can also still use it for a regular face shave, especially with milder razors. However, this soap did end up failing me as a workman-like product that can provide high-end protection. I've since replaced it with a relative newcomer to the soap market, and the only triple-milled artisan soap that I know of: [[ASIN:B01L0ENB3W Fine - American Blend]]. No, it doesn't meet my desire for something unscented, but it does have that incredibly agreeable classic scent of barbasol, and I can't argue with that.