I recalled that my Coastal Fair shaving soap from Copper Hat had an extremely hard surface similar to yesterday’s Nanny’s Silly Soap, so I thought I’d give that a go this morning, and I used the very nice silvertip badger brush by the Copper Hat and the Anthony Gold Red Cedar aftershave that I bought at the Copper Hat on a visit to Victoria.
Coastal Fair shaving soap has these ingredients:
Water, vegetable glycerin, cocos nucifera [Coconut Oil], elaeis guineensis [sustainably sourced Palm Oil], helianthus annuus [Sunflower Oil], sodium stearate, sodium myristate, Goat’s Milks, titanium dioxide, butyrospermum parkii [Shea Butter], theobroma cacoa [Cocoa Butter], aloe barbadensis [Aloe Vera Oil], prunus armenica [Apricot Kernel Oil] & essential oils
I imagine the titanium dioxide accounts for the whiteness of the soap, but as to its hardness I have no clue: maybe it is simply cured longer, or a different proportion of sodium/potassium hydroxide is used.
It does take a little longer to load, but not much longer, and the lather is excellent. No clay in this soap, so the longer loading seems simply due to the hardness.
After lathering, I used both razors in the first pass: the Maggard V2 open comb on one side of my face and the Fatip Testina Gentile on the other. Both razors are efficient and comfortable, but the V2OC does have more blade feel. The Testina Gentile, though quite efficient, has very little blade feel, much like the iKon X3.
I did the second and third passes using the V2OC, and finished with a splash of Anthony Gold’s wonderful Red Cedar aftershave.
Here’s a close look at the two razor heads:
I see some soap scum buildup on the end of the V2OC (on the left in the photo above). As you can see, the blade curvature is similar, but the feel and performance depend heavily also on blade gap, blade exposure, and other such things.
Filed under: Shaving
