Penhaligon's English Fern Shaving Soap (tallow version)

When I first began perusing various shaving forums, a lot of products were just at the end of their lifecycle. The legendary Coate's shaving cream, D R Harris original Milk aftershave, and of course, Penhaligon's tallow shaving soaps. Now the former products I hunted across the globe, tried them, liked them quite a bit (especially the Harris Milk), but shaving soap was "not my thing". Hard to lather for this newbie, it was. However, after watching a video on how to properly lather shaving soap, I thought "What the hell, let's give it a go" and the results were legendary.

The Penhaligon's English Fern scent itself was created in 1911 and itself is a classic fougere and soapy scent. The soap reminds me of a classic crisp and beautiful day in London (yes, those do exist!). The scent is good.....quite good in fact and is not identical to the EDT which I think it is better for. It is a refined English scent. Ingredients you ask? All you need to know about is it's tallow goodness.

The soap is very moisturizing and provides plenty of cushion and slickness. It is easy to lather in a scuttle or a bowl. Face lathering? Sure, not a problem here. It also provides excellent protection.

Penhaligon's tallow English Fern shaving soap has been discontinued, replaced with a foamy shell of it's former self. If you can still find some of the tallow soap, pick it up. Although it might set you back a few dollars, you won't be disappointed. With a refined English scent and near perfect performance, it is really why traditional British shaving soaps have had such a superior reputation to other soaps. It is my "go-to" shaving soap and I am glad to have enough to last me some years.