Black Beer No. 1 shaving soap is another Meißner Tremonia shaving soap, and like the others it uses clay in its formulation:
Stearic Acid, Cocos nucifera oil*, Beer, Potassium Hydroxide, Orbignya Oleifera oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Macadamia terifolia oil, Glycerin*, Rosmarinus officinalis leaf oil, Cymbopogon flesuosus oil, Red clay, Talc, Citric Acid, Simmondsia chinensis oil*, Maris sal, Citral**, Geraniol**, Limonene**, Linalool**, Citronellol**.
* Organic
** from natural essential oils
I should note in passing that Meißner Tremonia also makes Black Beer No. 1 shaving paste, which also uses red clay:
Aqua, Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera oil*, Glycerin*, Beer, Potassium Hydroxide, Orbignya Oleifera oil*, Sodium Hydroxide, Rosmarinus officinalis leaf oil, Macadamia terifolia oil, Talc, Red Clay, Cympopogon flexuosus Herb oil, Citric Acid, Simmondsia chinensis oil*, Maris sal, Citral, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool.
* Organic
I have a couple of MT shaving pastes, which are quite nice—somewhat softer than the soaps. I’ll bring those out next week.
This morning I used the Edwin Jagger synthetic brush shown. It’s not of the Plissoft/angel-hair line, but is more like Mühle’s “synthetic badger,” which, rather than reveling in (and exploiting) the synthetic nature of the fiber, rather soberly works to replicate the feel of a natural-bristle badger brush. The knot that results does indeed differ from the Plissoft knot. I like both, and I can feel the difference.
The discovery this morning is that the EJ synthetic, unlike the Rooney Super Silvertip I used yesterday, did not require any additional water during loading. I’m not sure why that is. Possibly the badger bristles absorbed some water as I loaded (since I don’t soak badger brushes before use), and of course the synthetic bristles do not absorb water. In any event, I wet the EJ knot, gave it a couple shakes to remove excess water, and started loading—and it loaded perfectly (and easily).
I’m liking that EJ brush more and more.
The Fatip Testina Gentile is an excellent razor (well-made, feels good in the hand, comfortable, and efficient), and it easily produced a perfectly smooth result. A splash of Mickey Lee’s Drunken Goat (my only beer-related aftershave) finished the job. Note that there are two pages at that link: the black chrome and the gold are on the second page.
Here’s a mixed group of flowers from my walk through Finnerty Gardens:
