Since I skip shaving on Sundays, the Monday morning shave is always extremely nice—and a great way to start the week.
Long ago I got some Nanny’s Silly Soap shaving soap, which I enjoyed but went in one of the periodic soap purges. I bought a new tin of the Bamboo and White Grape fragrance not long ago, and things have changed. The soap is much harder, and it takes a bit longer to load, but it does the job. However, check out the ingredients in the soap I used today:
Potassium palmitate*, potassium stearate, sodium palmitate*, sodium stearate, aqua, potassium cocoabutterate, sodium cocoabutterate, potassium shea butterate, sodium shea butterate, potassium cocoate, sodium cocoate, veg. glycerine, potassium castorate, sodium castorate, , kaolin, sodium lactate, parfum, limonene, linalool, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, butyphenol methylpropional, hydroxyisohexyl 3 -cyclohexene carboxaldehyde.
*organic
Okay, we have palm oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil, castor oil, kaolin clay (which probably accounts in part for the somewhat longer loading), but we also have limonene, linalool, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, butyphenol methylpropional, and hydroxyisohexyl 3 -cyclohexene carboxaldehyde. That last set of ingredients takes it out of the category of artisanal shaving soaps (IMO) and places it among commercial shaving soaps. It still did a good job, but my fondness for limonene, linalool, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, butyphenol methylpropional, and hydroxyisohexyl 3 -cyclohexene carboxaldehyde is not very great. Compare to (to take a random example) Chiseled Face Summer Storm:
Stearic Acid, Aloe Vera Juice, Potassium Hydroxide, Beef Tallow, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Glycerin, Fragrance, Mango Butter, Avocado Oil, Silk Powder
It should be noted, though, that Nanny now offers, in addition to the Hard shaving soap, the Luxury range, the Original recipe, the Signature range, and the Traditional range. This same fragrance in the Original recipe has these ingredients:
Aqua, potassium palmitate*, sodium palmitate*, potassium stearate (vegetable), sodium stearate, potassium cocoabutterate, sodium cocoabutterate, potassium shea butterate, sodium shea butterate, potassium cocoate, sodium cocoate, potassium castorate, sodium castorate, glycerine (vegetable), stearic acid (vegetable), kaolin. Parfum, limonene, linalool, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, butyphenol methylpropional,hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde.
*Organic
Not much improvement, and I do not in fact believe that is the soap I bought a decade ago. It seems to me that Nanny has been purchased or has been taken to a commercial scale, and really doesn’t qualify now as an artisan shaving soap.
I will praise again my Rooney Style 2 Finest, which so far as I know is no longer available. A very good little brush.
The Above the Tie S1 is an excellent slant, just about as good as the iKon X3 or iKon 102, and I easily got a BBS result with no problems. A splash of Stetson Classic, an aftershave whose fragrance does not immediately flee, and I’m ready for the day.
Filed under: Shaving
