Review Barrister & Mann - Bay Rum

[Arnold J Rimmer]

This is my preferred scent, so the review here may be biased a little.

When the Group Buy offer was brought to my attention, and after the rave reviews about these soaps ... then I saw that there was Bay Rum in the stable ... well, there was no way that I was going to leave that alone.

The first thing I noticed, is that the scent is probably more cloves than Bay Rum. I know that without actually using rum in the recipe, it is a difficult scent to approximate, and can come off smelling like cloves in some instances. It really isn't a problem though. The scent is definitely masculine, and quite aggressive.

Now, for the shave. I used this one a couple of days before the Latha, as this was the one I was most keen to try. Normally, I have just lathered to soap from within the soap tub, but for this one, I went back to using my giant soup mug. Giant, in that it holds about a litre of fluid when full.

As with the Latha, I was able to generate enough lather for 3 full passes, from my usual pickup. Very impressive.

For something different, I didn't use a pre-shave this time around, as I wanted to see just how well it slides the blade along my face. Well, aside from a user-induced nick near my ear (square edged straight razor), I had absolutely no trouble, in getting 2 full, smooth passes. WTG and XTG.

As a beginner, I take about 10 minutes per pass. After 20 minutes for both passes, the lather in the mug was still sitting proud, ready to go. That is excellent to see. It hadn't fallen over, or joined up at the bottom of the mug, but was right where I left it.

I know I'm relatively new to this, and very new to this forum, but I have a new favourite soap.

I'm glad I bought 2 pots!

 

[Monsta_AU]

Another great review for the B&M soap performance.

Scent - as always - is subjective and YMMV and all that stuff.

 

[Arnold J Rimmer]

Absolutely!

As stated in the Latha thread, my sense of smell is shot, but this is a nice, strong smell that will translate well from tub to face.

 

[filobiblic]

Great review and well done on making into the Group Buy! [emoji106]

The first thing I noticed, is that the scent is probably more cloves than Bay Rum. I know that without actually using rum in the recipe, it is a difficult scent to approximate, and can come off smelling like cloves in some instances.

Bay Rum is a category that can have a range of scents. It can have more or less cloves but it is a personal preference.

Here's an extract of what Will or @Barrister & Mann has written on this scent category:

Three components of Bay Rum (more/less/none):
- rum
- spice
- citrus

Bay Rum
Bay rum is a classic American shaving fragrance, originally in aftershaves and splashes but also in shaving soaps. Though documentation of its origins is thin, it’s said that bay rum was devised as a way for sailors in the Caribbean to cover their body odor, and later adopted by cowboys of the Old West for the same purpose.

The sine qua non of bay rum is bay oil, i.e. the oil of the leaves of the West Indies bay tree. These are completely different from bay leaves used in cooking, which come from an unrelated tree and have a completely different scent. West Indies Bay is a relative of allspice and has a unique scent that is difficult to describe; it’s both fresh and warm, both spicy and woody.

In addition to bay, the other three traditional components of bay rum are rum (the sugary, vanilla-like notes), spice (typically clove, cinnamon and/or allspice, among others), and citrus (typically lime and/or orange). However, many bay rums will completely leave out one or more of these elements. Individual bay rum producers differentiate their products by varying the substance of and relative strength of these components, as well as by adding in other unique touches. Many bay rums can be generally classified as “island style,” emphasizing the bay oil and citrus, or as “cowboy style,” emphasizing the spice.

Reference Products
For island style: Captain’s Choice Bay Rum (aftershave and shaving soap)

For cowboy style: Genuine Ogallala Bay Rum (original scent) (aftershave, shaving soap and other products)

For the pure scent of West Indies bay oil with no other scent components: The Shave Den Shop’s Bay Rum (aftershaves, shaving soap & cream)

 

[Barrister & Mann]

This is my preferred scent, so the review here may be biased a little.

When the Group Buy offer was brought to my attention, and after the rave reviews about these soaps ... then I saw that there was Bay Rum in the stable ... well, there was no way that I was going to leave that alone.

The first thing I noticed, is that the scent is probably more cloves than Bay Rum. I know that without actually using rum in the recipe, it is a difficult scent to approximate, and can come off smelling like cloves in some instances. It really isn't a problem though. The scent is definitely masculine, and quite aggressive.

Now, for the shave. I used this one a couple of days before the Latha, as this was the one I was most keen to try. Normally, I have just lathered to soap from within the soap tub, but for this one, I went back to using my giant soup mug. Giant, in that it holds about a litre of fluid when full.

As with the Latha, I was able to generate enough lather for 3 full passes, from my usual pickup. Very impressive.

For something different, I didn't use a pre-shave this time around, as I wanted to see just how well it slides the blade along my face. Well, aside from a user-induced nick near my ear (square edged straight razor), I had absolutely no trouble, in getting 2 full, smooth passes. WTG and XTG.

As a beginner, I take about 10 minutes per pass. After 20 minutes for both passes, the lather in the mug was still sitting proud, ready to go. That is excellent to see. It hadn't fallen over, or joined up at the bottom of the mug, but was right where I left it.

I know I'm relatively new to this, and very new to this forum, but I have a new favourite soap.

I'm glad I bought 2 pots!

There's no clove in the formula (I'm very sensitive to clove oil and won't use anything in my soaps that I cannot personally shave with), but there's actual West Indie Bay (not cooking bay, which is Bay Laurel), and actual rum in it (we use blackstrap rum from the Dominican Republic). I'm glad you like it.

 

[Arnold J Rimmer]

I used it again last night - I am trying to shave every other day, now that the Straight is so much keener.

I would agree that it is most likely the Bay oil that I can smell. As I have noted, shot sense of smell. To my nose, it does smell clove-y, but that could be because I am not familiar with Bay oil itself.

Man, does this stuff lather! I think I pulled enough thick, firm lather to cover 4 or 5 passes comfortably. I only did 2 passes, but boy that was encouraging. Very slick; no nicks, cuts or scrapes.

Falling in love with the after-scent as well. It lingered for at least 3 hours last night, before I crashed out.

 

[Monsta_AU]

Man, does this stuff lather! I think I pulled enough thick, firm lather to cover 4 or 5 passes comfortably. I only did 2 passes, but boy that was encouraging. Very slick; no nicks, cuts or scrapes.

Simply wave a moistened brush in its general direction and this is the result.

 

[Arnold J Rimmer]

I think you're under-selling it a bit there.

 

[gthomas04]

Simply wave a moistened brush in its general direction and this is the result.

It looks like some bizarre black headed insect infestation

 

[borked]

No lasers ?