My brush from the Copper Hat had no problem getting a good lather from Catie’s Bubbles fine Le Piment de la Vie shaving soap (also available in a 2-oz tub), but I didn’t load the brush quite long enough. One drawback of using a different soap each day is that you must recalibrate your loading to match the soap in use, and I don’t always get it right. I’ll use the same soap again tomorrow to try to dial in the loading better. A couple of notes:
The fragrance used creates random discoloration through the soap that will constantly change as the soap is exposed to the air. This is normal and to be expected.
Please take note if you have sensitive skin or spice allergies. The heart of this fragrance contains Clove, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Ginger. If you experience any irritation please discontinue use immediately.
I had no problems with skin reactions but some do. Ingredients:
stearic acid, water, coconut oil, potassium hydroxide, shea butter, fragrance, sodium hydroxide, jojoba oil, sodium lactate, and glycerin
I notice that now the tubs are sold half-filled (or half-empty, depending on your point of view). My tub holds 8 oz of soap. The same size tub is now shipped with 4 oz of soap, leaving high sidewalls (training wheels) for those who still are learning how to load the brush efficiently without making a mess. With experience, it’s easy to load the brush from a full tub, like the one in the photo.
I am currently using the R4 baseplate on the Rockwell, and it did a very fine job indeed: totally smooth result with no problems at all. As I noted, the brush ran short of lather on the third pass, but it was easily reloaded. Still, I prefer to go all three passes from the same loading, so I’ll try again tomorrow.
A good splash of Barrister & Mann Reserve Classic, and I’m ready for what the day might bring.
Filed under: Shaving
