I find that I am simply not a fan of Semogue brushes, and I don’t understand the appeal. Perhaps the long break-in period the brushes require produce cognitive dissonance if you have negative feelings: “I must like this brush because I put so much effort into breaking it in so that it would do an acceptable job.” But this 1305, which took a long time before it would hold lather, has an knot that does not cohere into a neat mass but springs apart, making applying the lather more difficult. I think this one too is headed for the waste bin. I give up on Semogue. Omega boar brushes seem to me to be better in every respect. YMMV.
The Van Yulay sample is shown with the lid upside down, something I do from time to time. The soap is Puros La Habana, which (oddly) is not listed on their site. [UPDATE: Monica Gillam emailed: Puros La Habana is on the second page.] They do have a bazillion fragrances possible (look at the dropdown lists for Aquarius shaving soap and Hercules shaving soap, so it seems possible that some fragrances are simply retired. This one seems to my nose to be a tobacco fragrance, but it’s not listed under the tobacco fragrances for either Aquarius or Hercules.
I don’t really understand Van Yulay soaps. Hercules shaving soap has these ingredients:
Saponified oils of Deionized Water, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Soy Bean Oil, Safflower Oil, Stearic Acid, Amino Acids, Kokum-Mango-Coco-Shea-Butters, Chamomile, Calendula, Polyquats, Liquid Silk Marshmallow Root, Allantoin, White Kaolin Clay, Silica Powder, Vitamin E, and Fragrance.
Even the first ingredient puzzles me: “saponified oils of de-ionized water.” What is that? In fact, what are “oils of water” to begin with? If I knew that I supposed considering the oil saponified and the water de-ionized would be an easy step. And “liquid silk marshmallow root”: I have no earthly idea what that could possibly mean, and Google was not much help, though I did find “liquid extract of marshmallow root,” but nothing of liquid silk marshmallow root.
Aquarius shaving soap has a slightly different list of ingredients:
Saponified oils of Deionized Water, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Soy Bean Oil, Safflower Oil, Aloe Vera, Stearic Acid, Babassu Oil, BTMS, Coco Fatty Acid, Meadow Foam, Rosehip Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sunflower, Sea Clay, Calendula Extract, Amino Acids, Silica, Allantoin, Polyquats, Tocopherol Acetate, Fragrance
Those are just two of the Van Yulay soaps, and both of those are called “Soap of the Gods,” though the ingredients differ. In fact, all of their shaving soaps seem to be “Shaving Soap of the Gods,” though the labels seem variously to omit that altogether or shorten it to “Soap of the Gods.” [And do not overlook page 2 of the list of soaps.]
It seems as if Aquarius and Hercules are two major formulations, with many fragrances available for each, and the other soaps listed on that page are available in just the one fragrance, though it’s unclear to me if each soap is either an Aquarius or a Hercules in terms of formulation.
The two soaps I’ve tried are not bad, but I really am confused about how the differences in the products other than fragrances. Bacchus, for example, has these ingredients:
Made with Stearic Acid, Aloe Vera, Coconut Fatty Acid, Glycerin, Coconut-Castor-Olive-Oils, Cocoa Butter, Calendula, Extracts, Poly Quats, Sodium Lactate, BTMS, Allantoin, Silica, Kaolin Clay, EO’s and Fragrance.
No oil of water in this one. It has “Poly Quats,” and Aquarius has “Polyquats.” I imagine the ingredients are the same, but why the difference in spelling? And “Extracts” as an ingredient seems WAY too general. Extracts of what, for the love of God? Certainly the Bacchus formula differs greatly from both the Aquarius and Hercules formulae. Perhaps each soap listed has a different formula.
Basically, I don’t get it. I have more samples to try, but the product line is too confusing for me.
The Dorco PL-602 once again did a fine job, but a little more effort to clean up the stubble, so it seems time to change the blade.
A good splash of Phoenix Artisan’s Cavendish to finish the shave. The day begins.
UPDATE: I received an email from Monica Gillam of Van Yulay. at least one of the soaps has these ingredients:
Deionized Water, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Saponified oils of Soy Bean- Safflower-Stearic Acid-Kokum-Mango-Coco-Shea-Butters, Amino Acids, Chamomile, Calendula, Polyquats, Liquid Silk Marshmallow Root, Allantoin, White Kaolin Clay, Silica Powder, Vitamin E, and Fragrance.
She did not indicate for which soap (Aquarius, Hercules, Bacchus, Puros La Habana, or some other soap) the list applies. I still do not understand “Liquid Silk Marshmallow Root,” and could not find it with Google.
Here are the ingredients used in Puros de Habana:
Stearic Acid, Aloe Vera, Coconut Fatty Acid, Castor, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Babassu-Manteca-Argan-Abyssinian-Coconut Oils, Kokum & Cocoa Butters, Calendula, Extracts, Poly Quats, Sodium Lactate, Allantoin, Silica, Liquid Silk, Bentonite Clay,Tobacco Absolute, and Fragrance.
This one uses Liquid Silk rather than Liquid Silk Marshmallow Root, which makes me think that perhaps “Liquid Silk Marshmallow Root” should be “Liquid Silk, Marshmallow Root.” I note that this soap has Poly Quats rather than Polyquats.
I get the feeling that this is a pretty sloppy operation in which care is not taken to get things right, just judging by the website. Of course, it could be possible that great care is taken in one area and not in another, but generally people are more consistent than that (for better or worse).
Filed under: Shaving
