I finally used up my sample of Van Yulay Puros La Habana shaving soap sample, and I like it enough that I got a tub of it. Not only does it have a fragrance that is pleasing to me (fine Cuban cigar), but it is also made with pig fat (lard).
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.
I asked about the ingredient “manteca,” and she said that was lard. Google Translate says that lard is “manteca de cerdo,” and plain “manteca” is butter, but she said she buys tubs of lard that carry the label “manteca,” so I’ll take her word for it.
There is no reason why pig fat should not be as good an ingredient as the fat of a cow or a sheep or an emu or a duck. Indeed, lard is quite a high-quality fat. While ingesting foods made from pigs is forbidden to Jews and Muslims, there seems to be no rule against using products made from pigs (e.g., footballs with pigskin covers, shaving soap made with lard) so long as you don’t eat them.
In any event, it’s a very nice soap. It contains clay, so adding a driblet of water as you load using a damp brush works well. The resulting lather was quite slick and fragrant.
Three passes with the really excellent Maggard V2 open-comb head, here mounted on the Maggard MR7 handle. This combination is one that I like a lot, and it is both extremely efficient and extremely comfortable. It’s one of several razors that I recommend as particularly good for a novice, though of course an experienced shaver (e.g., me) will also enjoy it.
Three passes, and then I use a bit of the sample of Puros La Habana aftershave balm. The sample size is good for a balm because you use so little each time—just a dot of it, really. I got this because I wanted to try a Van Yulay balm. The ingredients are:
Water, Aloe Vera, Glycerin, Emulsifying Wax, BTMS, Stearic Acid, Emu Oil, Glycerin, Abyssinian Seed Oil, Argan Oil, Allantoin, Par d Arco, Ylang-Ylang, Tea Tree, Hydrolyzed Oat, Holy Basil, Liquid Silk, Germaben II, and Fragrance.
The balm has left my (very smooth) face feeling quite soft and nice. This Van Yulay balm does not dry down so quickly as my Phoenix Artisan aftershave balms, which dry almost like a splash, though they do the balm thing to the skin, but it does dry. The after feel is a bit less dry than with Phoenix Artisan, though—more typical of a balm.
Altogether and excellent shave and an interesting soap.
Filed under: Shaving
