For Towel Day, the commemoration of Douglas Adams’ authorship of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Barrister & Mann presents our tribute to his brilliant work: 42, a soap that smells of petunias, ambergris, tea, and Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (lemon sugar). Grab a copy of the Guide, a cup of tea, and your shaving brush; it’s going to be a hell of a ride.
DON’T PANIC.
The Streaming Consciousness of the Whale
Another thing that nobody made too much fuss about was that, against all probability, a sperm whale had suddenly been called into existence some miles above the surface of an alien planet. And since this is not a naturally tenable position for a whale, this innocent creature had very little time to come to terms with its identity as a whale before it had to come to terms with suddenly not being a whale any more.
“Ah! What’s happening? Er, excuse me? Who am I? Why am I here? What’s my purpose in life? What do I mean by, ‘Who am I’? Calm down! Get a grip now! Oh, this is an interesting sensation. It’s a sort of yawning, tingling sensation in my … my … Well, I better start finding names for things, so let’s call it my stomach. So, a yawning, tingling sensation in my stomach. And that whistling, roaring sound? That can be wind. Perhaps I can find a better name for it later. Hey, what’s this thing? Let’s call it a tail! Yeah, tail. Hey, I can really thrash it about pretty good, can’t I? Wow! Wow! Hey! Doesn’t seem to achieve much, but I’ll probably figure out what it’s for later on. Oh, hey, this is really exciting! So much to find out about, so much to look forward to. I’m dizzy with anticipation. What’s this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very, very fast … so big and flat and wide, it needs a big, wide-sounding word, like round … round … ground! That’s it — ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?”
Curiously, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was,
“Oh no, not again.”
Customer Reviews
I’ve been using this shaving soap for a while now, and I’m really impressed with how it works for my oily skin. The soap base is excellent—it leaves my skin feeling clean without the oily residue that some other soaps can leave behind "and they call food". After shaving, my skin doesn’t go into overdrive producing excess oil, which is a huge plus for me. I’ve also noticed fewer pimples and ingrown hairs, which is a rare and welcome change.
As for the scent, I absolutely love "42." It’s the perfect balance of floral and lemony, clean but not overpowering, so it doesn’t clash with my citrus based colognes. I always keep a tub or two extra on hand as a backup. Overall, this soap has become a year round go-to, and I highly recommend it for anyone with oily skin.
For my first tallow-based shaving soap, I went with Barrister and Mann's "42" after reading a few positive opinions. It's a rather thirsty soap, and the additional water created a nice, smooth, and super sleek lather. My face and razor loved it! The only drawback is the scent - it's simple and weak, similar to generic bar soap with a subtle waft of flowers. There were no hints of patchouli, lavender, and lemon (oils listed in ingredients). Fortunately, it's not a bad scent, but would have loved the patchouli.