Review (5/5): THE Standard in premium shaving
I've tried at least a dozen shave soaps, maybe two dozen. MWF is my go-to, standard. I leave it in a shave bowl in a drawer. I rinse my brush and then swirl the dripping wet brush on top of the soap. In about 20 seconds, you have phenomenal lather. Wet and repeat for more water if needed. Lather around your face further as needed. I often do this, then take a shower and repeat the lathering when I get out of the shower, and then shave.
I have found a few artisan soaps that lather as good, but none better. Those artisan soaps often come in a variety of delightful fragrances, but I don't care that much about fragrance. MWF doesn't have much of any fragrance. In fact after having wet it and let it dry a few dozen times, there is no discernible scent of any kind. If you like the smell of MWF (or any other shave soap), keep it in a covered container between uses. I'd suggest for those who like fragrance in their shave soap to just put MWF in a covered container and sprinkle in a little of their favorite cologne a few times and keep it covered and you'll have a $40 artisanal shave soap!
I like the ingredients. It's tallow based which I prefer. There's lanolin in it which I like. Although it's not a glycerin based soap, there is a little glycerin in the ingredients - it doesn't seem to be a large amount, so if you really like glycerin, get some vegetable glycerin on Amazon and sprinkle it on top of the soap or add it to your pre-shave. It doesn't have shea butter in it, so I sometimes keep an open puck of shea butter shave soap in a shave dish next to MWF and occasionally reach down with my brush and lather from both.
I've seen some reviews that say that it doesn't lather all that well in "hard" water. We have moderately hard water in my city and I've never had trouble at all.
Finally, it's cheap! I lather before showering; after showering, and usually a second time while shaving, and my brush is full of lather when I finish and my single puck will last for maybe 300 shaves?? so maybe 4 cents a shave??
Also,