I thought the Heartwood(HW) cream was great, the Heartwood soap is even better and the best soap I have used. I tried different soaps since I bought the HW soap. The HW gives the best slickness, protection and scent. My face feels amazing after I use it. One day I had major redness after using a different soap; the next day after using HW, I had less irritation after that shave. I'm not saying HW healed my redness, but there was less irritation even with having bad razor burn the day before.

At first I wasn't impressed with the soap, but I figured out I needed a damp brush instead of a wet one. So i shake and squeeze my brush before getting after it. Within ten swirls and right to face-lathering, I had a dense almost yogurt-like cream on my face for three passes AND touch-ups. And some left over.

Constructive criticism: The only bummer is the can it comes in. It's a great package, but not good for lathering because the soap is flush with the top of the can. I broke my heart to loose that lather over the sides. I used a cheese grater and shredded the soap into a different container with a bigger gap between the top and soap so I don't the amazing lather.

The scent is wild, fresh and masculine, perfect for winter. I hope Wm. Neumann stays around forever. I want this to be my winter soap. I can't wait to by "Absolute Zero." I'm planning on that being my summer soap/scent.

Shoulda got the half-pounder

Seriously, pull the trigger and buy this soap. It's worth every penny.

I love this shave soap! As someone who is new to wet shaving I am still honing my lather skills and I always get a rich smooth lather that makes shaving a joy every morning. The scent is hard to describe except its clean and masculine and it really comes out when whipping the lather. The scent goes on strong but fades into the background after a few minutes of a completed shave. When paired with the Heartwood aftershave the scent will linger all day without being overpowering. My new favorite is to combine this soap with the Lime Mint Aftershave, in my opinion this is the greatest spring/summer scent I have had the pleasure of wearing.

I also like that I can understand the list of ingredients and that a good number of them are organic. I have been trying to live a more natural lifestyle, eliminating unnecessary chemicals and additives from my daily routine and this soap allows me to do that without sacrificing quality.

Like the title says, next time I'll buy the Half-Pounder.

I have used both badger and boar bristle brushes with this soap, and have face lathered as well as bowl lathered. In all cases, achieving a thick, slick and well-hydrated lather was easy. This is a great shaving soap!

The scent is fabulous (see my review of the Heartwood aftershave). This is a manly and relaxing scent, like sitting by the fireplace in a pine-log lodge. Highly recommended!