I do like the fragrance of Sweet Gale (“Enriched and fragranced with Bog Myrtle, Natural honey, Mixed spices, Cedarwood, Beeswax and Aberfeldy Single Malt Scotch Whisky.”) It’s a milder, gentler version of Meißner Tremonia’s Strong ‘n Scottish shaving soap. Sweet Gale is a glycerin-based soap, and I find I can get a fine lather from a good glycerin-based soaps, such as those QED once made, Mama Bear soaps, and this one. With the Simpson Duke 3 Best, I had no problems at all on the lather front, and the fragrance was in the intoxicating direction—specifically, a Rusty Nail.
Razorock’s Baby Smooth razor, no longer made, is a remarkable razor: extremely comfortable and also extremely efficient. It easily delivered a BBS result in three passes, and in the process was comfort itself and a joy to use.
A good splash of Guerlain Vetiver, and I’m ready for the day.
I’ve been in some discussion of the “worth” of the Baby Smooth. It’s been selling for around $100 (which was its final price), and some take the position that the razor is not “worth” that amount, as though the “worth” resided purely in the razor as an objective characteristic (such as metal hardness, dimensions, etc.). However, worth—much like, say, the “goodness” of a brand of blade—is one of those characteristics that is not defined by the object but also by the market: what people are willing to pay—and that varies a lot from person to person.
Still, some try to locate “worth” in the object by looking at cost of materials and cost of production. That should, they feel, define an objective “worth.” But that quite clearly does not work for many items that are rare. The price of a rare coin or an old stamp can be far above the cost of materials and production (and the prices paid are indeed an objective measure). And in those items one can clearly see how “worth” varies from person to person: a rare coin might be worth a lot to a collector, but it is certainly not worth that to me. It’s the same object, but its worth varies from person to person.
My Baby Smooth razor is worth more than $100 to me. I can tell, because I would not consider selling it for $100.
Even money has variable “worth” in the sense of its value to an individual: someone with very little money will find a dollar worth much more (to him) than a person who has a lot of money.
Filed under: Shaving
