Great size and shape. Unfortunately the one I got really didn't have a super crazy horn pattern to it. It almost just looks like black plastic.

It is smaller than expected. It is 3.5" but it is shallow. This results in getting lather all over as you whip it up. It's a nice bowl though so I kept as a decorative piece that we put small things in. It just wasn't what I was looking for in a shave bowl. I gave it 3 stars because it's well made and it looks nice.

I have owned this bowl for quite a while now and every time I use it, I am reminded of my dislike for it. My bowl is nicely colored and aesthetically pleasing from afar. Upon closer inspection and after light use, however, it has lost its shine and is beginning to fall apart. My biggest gripe with this product is its small size. In my opinion, it provides no more convenience than simply building lather directly in the palm of your hand. Because this bowl is so small, it is impossible to build lather inside of without losing it out the sides and between your fingers. Prior to purchasing this bowl, I used an oversized glass mug with a handle and will likely move back to this setup moving forward.

I am really happy with this palm bowl. It is a great size and shape to produce a good lather with a brush. I've had a lot more success with this than with my previous (and now broken) porcelain apothecary shave mug.

To address some of the comments made in other reviews:
1) This bowl is not plastic. At a glance, it may resemble plastic, but it is definitely a natural product.
2) There was a noticeable smell from it the first few times it was hit with warm water. To me, it was somewhat like the smell produced from a hairdryer. Not exactly pleasant, but not a reason to avoid it. Sooner or later, it mostly smells like shaving cream anyway.
3) After about 2 months of use, it did begin to split at the edge. I dropped in a few drops of super glue early on, and so far that has stopped any further splitting.
4) It is not too small. If you use a lot of shaving cream, it might go over the edge, but it's easy to keep it contained.
5) If you intend to use shaving soap, you'll have to load your brush before use. It is a totally curved bowl, so it won't hold a puck of soap very well.

This bowl came to me exactly as promised. Yes it is authentically made from buffalo horn and not plastic like others have stated. It fits comfortably in the palm of my hand and allows me to build a nice later. I must warn you that when new and water is added to the bowl to heat it up there is a terrible smell but rest assured over time and use like maybe a month or less the smell completely dissipates. Not much else to say about it except each bowl will be uniquely different for obvious reasons some have a great color variation and others may be completel a dark brown color. Mine fell somewhere in between but either way it would not have bothered me one bit.