Really wonderful lather this morning, starting with a damp brush—the horn-handled Pisson HMW 12—and adding just one driblet of water. Perfect lather, in fact. Meißner Tremonia’s Strong ‘n Scottish shaving soap, like the others, contains clay, but this time two varieties:
Aqua, Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera oil*, Glycerin*, Potassium Hydroxide, Whisky, Orbignya Oleifera oil*, Sodium Hydroxide, Cedrus Deodora oil, Talc, Lanolin, Red Clay, Juniperus Oxycedrus wood tar, Citric Acid, Simmondsia chinensis oil*, Maris sal, Kaolin, Brown Clay
* Organic
“Sheep wool fat” is the lanolin, I presume, and some men have skin sensitive to lanolin, but for me this soap works extremely well. The wood tar is probably the source of the note of smoke in the fragrance.
I continue to like the Merkur bakelite slant, which does a wonderful job though with lots more blade feel than the X3, 102, or even the Stealth. The Fine aluminum slant is modeled closely on this razor, but still I find the bakelite slant easier to use.
Three passes to a superbly smooth result, and a splash of Green Irish Tweed to finish. The week is now underway.