Review on Authentic Dark Mango Wood Shaving Soap Bowl - Premium Glossy Finish for Enhanced Online Visibility by Michael Baker

I was blown away by how good this bowl looked for the price. The stain was well applied and the polish wasn't too thick or blotchy, resulting in a nice grainy finish and making my Merkur 34 HD stand out, the stainless steel brush and razor stand, and my stainless steel silver-tipped badger hairbrush. Upon opening the packaging of this stolen plate, I noticed that there was almost no smell left of the finish, maybe a hint, but the smell is more of a general woody smell than anything else, which fortunately doesn't carry over to the soaps that were put inside . Now if you use col. Conk or Prorasso shaving soap conditioners, you may find it difficult to close the lid. In my case with Col. Conk Amber soap I put the puck in without the lid and microwaved it for 10 seconds each (older GE 1200W microwave) for two passes. I tested it after the first pass and the soap was still generally "puck" shaped, after the second pass it melted into a bowl shape, every other time in the microwave it would end up with a foamy mess all over. Let cool for the soap to harden and then you can continue shaving and storing without worrying about the soap touching/lifting the lid. That was my only issue with this particular bowl. Overall, the build quality and price point are just right to add a bit of contrast to your shaving set without looking out of place or hurting your wallet. I highly recommend this if you're ready to melt your soap pucks to fit (it won't change any properties of your soap so don't worry), of course I had no problem "wasting" 20 seconds. my time to make sure everything works the way I wanted it to.