Rupert Bizzell has long recommended the use of powdered alum as a styptic. Unlike alum blocks, he has commented (as on this post) that powdered alum is extremely effective on nicks and cuts. And one of the things The Wife found in Paris was this very nice container of alum powder. The lid rotates but is not removed, and as you rotate it over the opening punched into the top of the container, beneath the rotating lid, you can select a fine shaker, coarse shaker, and open hole, with the user selecting the best approach for the task at hand. Unfortunately, not nicks today, but I will test.
Rupert comments that styptic pencils are made of alum, and the Pinaud Clubman styptic pencil, for example, uses aluminum sulfate, or rather than potassium alum (the sort one wants in alum blocks). Liquid styptics are a little more complex. Here are two examples:
MNIS: Aluminum Chloride, Benzocaine USP, SD Alcohol 38 B, Methylcellulose, Phenyl Salicylate, Bergamot (Citrus Aurantium Bergamia) Oil, Vitamin A & E, Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice
Pacific Shaving’s Nick Stick: SD Alcohol (Ethyl Alcohol), Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Water (Aqua), Aluminum Chloride Hexahydrate, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Hydroxypropylcellulose
I don’t know the difference between the action of aluminum chloride and aluminum sulfate, but for some reason these two liquid styptics use the latter.
At any rate, I’m delighted to have the powder and I’m interested to try it when I again nick myself.
Also she brought the tiny travel puck of Tardé shaving soap. I used a matching tiny travel brush, the Wee Scot. I got a good lather, and set to work with the Eros slant holding a Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge. Three passes to perfect smoothness, though in the third pass the lather seemed less robust, so I used that as an excuse to reload the brush with Asses’ Milk shaving soap—really terrific stuff.
A good splash of Saint Charles Shave’s Very V, and things are settling down again.
Filed under: Daily life, Shaving
