I purchased a tub of Tertius after reading Mantic59’s comments on it in Sharpologist, and I’m glad I did. This is an ultra-premium soap, in the same league as Declaration Grooming’s Milksteak soaps and Phoenix Artisan’s CK-6 soaps. Ariana & Evans makes the soap, and they list the ingredients as:
Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Aqua, Goats Milk, Potassium Hydroxide, Kokum Butter, Shea Butter, Castor Oil, Cocoa Butter, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Manteca, Aloe Juice, Avocado Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, Apricot Kernel Seed Oil, Lanolin, Agave, Slippery Elm, Sodium Lactate, Xanthan Gum, Silk Amino Acid, Tussah Silk, Marshmallow Root
Quite possibly the finest, most sophisticated leather forward scent created. The primary notes are Leather, Tobacco & Oud, supported by a hint of Rose & Patchouli. Tertius has been made in our brand new soap base [Kaizen – LG] (all soaps are now in the new base), which has been recognized by many as one of the top bases in the industry. We have added Strangisto Giaourti (yogurt), Camellia Oil, and Argan Oil to our previous base, along with changes in ratios to improve lather, creaminess of lather, slickness, and post shave. If you liked our previous base, you will love our new base.
It strikes me as odd that their list of ingredients does not include Strangisto Giaourti (yogurt), Camellia Oil and Argan Oil, despite their claim that they use those. I did send an email query to the address shown on their site (info@ariana-evans.com, shown on this page), but it bounced back as being an invalid domain. No other contact information is provided on their site.
The name they have given the new base is Kaizen, and I would think any soap in the Kaizen formulation is worth a try. Highly recommended.
Why? Because the lather had that special quality of easy arousal and thick consistency, and the fragrance is assertive and pleasant. Plus, based on today’s results, it not only provides good support for the razor during the shave, it also leaves the skin feeling very smooth and supple (though some credit for that must go also to Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave).
As a side note, I now use the pre-shave without first washing my stubble with MR GLO. The soap wash didn’t seem to make much difference. I’ll also note that I now use the Grooming Dept pre-shave for every shave except for when I use a shave stick. If I use a shave stick, I revert to using MR GLO as my pre-shave treatment because mixing the shaving soap with Grooming Dept pre-shave before lathering (as you do when you rub the shave stick over stubble prepped with that pre-shave) inhibits lathering. With a tub soap, the lather is well along from just loading the brush, and the problem does not arise.
The Omega Pro 48 (10048) continues to be a favorite brush. Once it is broken in (and after a week of making lather with it, it is well along and can be used at the point for shaving), it is a marvelous brush with a great feel on the face and terrific capacity.
Three passes with the vintage Merkur white bakelite slant running through a two-day stubble left my face exceptionally smooth.
In mulling over a recent comment from Larry, who said that he too often got nicks with the across-the-grain pass and so abandoned it in favor of a two-pass shave (first with, then against, the grain), it occurred to me that there’s a reason why nicks happen in that pass, and my suspicion is that there’s a tendency to steepen the blade angle, by holding the razor’s handle closer to the face. One of the primary causes of nicks and cuts is a bad blade angle, and it strikes me not at all unlikely that in that pass — where the handle is held horizontally, unlike the WTG and ATG pases, which have the handle vertical — the handle might hover closer to the face. A bad blade angle is very apt to produce a nick. In any event, if you’re getting nicks, it’s worth trying to find the reason. Lately I had a sudden bout of nicks in one shave, and so I looked for the reason. In that case, the reason was that I continued using the blade past its prime, and the blade had become crotchety and testy in its old age (seen also in some humans). When I replaced the blade, no nicks occurred.
A splash of Alt-Innsbruck finished the shave and started the week on a good note.
Summary: An Ariana & Evans Kaizen formula shaving soap is a good purchase. (In Canada, you can get them from Top of the Chain.)