The Fine Classic is a marvelous brush: 22mm knot with a long loft and a soft feel, and makes lather like nobody’s business. It was easily loaded from Van Yulay’s Puros la Habana shaving soap, though that particular soap’s formula does include clay:
Stearic Acid, Aloe Vera, Coconut Fatty Acid, Castor, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Babassu-Manteca-Argan-Abyssinian-Coconut Oils, Kokum & Cocoa Butters, Calendula, Extracts, Poly Quats, Sodium Lactate, Allantoin, Silica, Liquid Silk, Bentonite Clay, Tobacco Absolute, and Fragrance.
“Manteca” here means pig tallow—i.e., lard. Van Yulay’s soaps vary in their ingredients quite a bit, but the ingredients are always interesting and the catalog entry for the soap describes the purpose of some of the ingredients. I find Van Yulay soaps in general very nice for my skin, and today’s not exception.
Of course, some of that nice skin feel is because the skin is so very smooth, and that is due to the iKon 101, a remarkably good razor that I continue to see as an overlooked gem, and I imagine that those who have their own 101 know exactly what I mean: an extremely comfortable and extremely efficient razor.
A good splash of Phoenix Artisan Cavendish carries on the tobacco theme, and provides a fine and fragrant finish to the shave.
Regarding the travel kit: For some reason, I totally forgot about my shave sticks, and a shave stick is the ideal travel soap. I’m taking D.R. Harris Lavender shave stick with me in addition to the tub soap I already packed.
I’ll be leaving for my visit later this morning and the computer this time stays home (to avoid contretemps at the border, since US Customs and Border Protection now believe that they can seize computers and telephones on a whim, no due process involved, and they do act on that belief.
So no blogging until my return. I’ll see you on Wednesday.