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This tub of Dr. Jon’s Classic is pretty soft but makes a very nice lather. It’s a blend of lavender, cedar, lime, bergamot, vetiver, and rosemary, so the fragrance is interesting and pleasant. I think I did not quite load the Wet Shaving Products Monarch quite enough initially and had to reload for the third pass. The problem (I think) was that my brush was too dry: if the brush had been a bit wetter, it would have been easier to brush longer and thus load the brush fully. This is an example of the sort of problem that can arise when you use a different soap each day: if I were using this soap consistently from day to day, I would quickly (and probably unconsciously) learn how best to load the brush and how wet the brush should be.
No harm done. My Mongoose razor behaved admirably, once again smooth, comfortable, and efficient, and in three passes I had a fine BBS result with no trace of a nick.
A good splash of Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Sandalwood aftershave.
I also last night ran some experiments. I saw a post on WE that showed a puck of HTGAM shaving soap removed from the tin, and while most of the soap was dark, the top layer was distinctly lighter. The presumption was that this represented two different soaps: a cheap soap on the bottom topped with a layer of good soap on the top.
I started pulling my HTGAM/PAA soaps from the tins. The first two were no problem: same color throughout. But on the HTGAM Coconut Bay, I also found a top layer of another color:
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In the photo above, I have cut out a section and placed it on its edge. The arrow points to the top layer, which is what you see on the right-hand part of the puck. When I poked at the layer with my pocket knife, the top layer seemed sort of crusty/crumbly.
I put the section back and made a test lather from the top layer. Consistent with my experience with HTGAM and PAA soaps, the lather was excellent and the bay part of the fragrance quite noticeable.
Then I removed the entire puck, turned it over and put it back, and made a test lather from the bottom layer. Same result: good lather, no different from the top layer, same fragrance.
Doug Smythe explains:
The layering was caused by foam on the soap from use of an immersion blender and temperature when the soap was poured. (If the batch was too hot it would be thinner, which made for more air bubbles.) It’s also important where the tin was in the process of pouring: the amount of foam was greater on the tins at the beginning of the pour than the tins at the end of the pour.
As you go down the line filling the tins, some separation of unsaponified oil can happen. In the Pumpkin Pie soap, the pumpkin oil was unsaponified because it was added after the soap was cooked in an effort to “superfat” the soap; other ingredients that I didn’t want to cook (e.g., maca root) are also added after cooking the soap. I use a stick blender (immersion blender) to remix the ingredients to prevent separation.
If you have ever used a stick blender you know the air bubbles it can produce, and air bubbles will naturally rise to the surface. If the soap then hardens, this creates a layer. Now imagine pouring that and it solidifying as you go. In an effort to kill the different-looking layer I would blast it with isopropyl alcohol; this destroys bubbles and evaporates. It’s not always effective but does help considerably.
If the shop was relatively cool during the pour, the soap would harden faster, including the foam layer on top. The important point is the top layer of foam, though it looks different, is the same soap as the bottom layer, just as the foam head on a glass of Guinness looks different from the dark stout in the bottom of the glass, but it is the same stuff but with some air mixed in, which creates the foam. So also with the foam layer on the soaps.
If you do have one of the layered soaps, try shaving once with a lather made from the top, and on your next shave use a lather made from the bottom. I could detect no difference.
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