The tube of Dr. Bronner’s Organic Shaving Soap, here in Lemongrass Lime fragrance, is a gift from The Eldest. It’s an interesting soap that does a good job. The ingredients are interesting:
INGREDIENTS: Organic Sucrose, Organic White Grape Juice, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Kernel Oil; Potassium Hydroxide, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Shikakai Powder, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Lemongrass Oil, Organic Lemon Oil, Organic Lime Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol.
Interestingly, these are the same ingredients as in Dr. Bronner’s Organic Sugar Soap in the Lemongrass Lime fragrance, so presumably you could use that for shaving as well.
The soap, as is typical of Dr.Bronner soaps, is a liquid, in this case a dark brown liquid. I found the easiest technique is to squirt a small amount of liquid into the palm of my non-dominant hand and then use the damp brush (a Sabini silvertip with an ebony handle) to brush the soap briskly. This quickly loads and the brush and brings up the lather.
The fragrance was the first thing I noticed. I realized that lemongrass was not a familiar fragrance among my shaving soaps, and I really like its light, citrusy fragrance. This fragrance is bright and light and would be especially welcome on a dark wintry day.
The lather was not quite so dense as from some of my shaving soaps, but this is the first shave, so I expect there will be a learning curve — perhaps a bit more soap, and/or a bit less water in the brush, will result in a thicker lather.
However, the lather was plenty good enough for a shave, and I set to work. The handle here is from an earlier razor whose head was so inefficient that it was unusable — but I do like the handle, so I mounted on it a Yaqi double-open-comb head I had on hand. Now I like the resulting razor a lot, and the Yaqi head is efficient and comfortable.
Three passes left my face perfectly smooth, and the soap seemed quite kind to my skin. I rinsed and dried my face and then applied a splash of Prospector Co’s Peary & Henson Aftershave, which is 0% alcohol:
Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Distillate, Organic Aloe (Barbadensis), Distilled Water, PolySorbate 20, Vegetable Glycerin, Pimenta Racemosa (Bay), Commiphora Myrrha (Myrrh), Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary), Eucalyptus Globules (Eucalyptus), Pinus sylvestris (Pine), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavendar), Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree), Phenoxyethanol.
The ingredients here seem quite in keeping with those in the Dr. Bronner soap. I did add a couple of squirts of Grooming Dept’s Aion Hydrating Gel, though for this aftershave it may be superfluous.
Great shaving, and an interesting soap.
The tea this morning is a mystery tea — left from some earlier purchase in an unmarked container. It’s a spice tea, and it’s tasty and refreshing.