Refining Simplicity

I saw the opposite of the Marco method today, bowl lathering Williams. After two passes, the rinsewater in my basin looked like it could become drinkable again, if I treated it with a little alum. (No, thanks.)

And I still had enough lather left to use it as a "toilet soap" of sorts. Old advertisements claimed that Williams was "antiseptic," which I believe simply means capable of cleansing germs away. That might be expected of any soap, and I'm not sure how shaving vs. non-shaving soaps would sort on that, since germs might adhere well to oily additives. I wonder if the old timers were attempting to comment on Williams' cornifying effect. They claim a healing effect on chapped hands, dandruff, and other flaky lesions, which all seems very plausible to me now.

"Creamy" lather, overflowing from mugs, not so much. But I'm starting to think my gravitation to Williams, which occupies a primary seat in my only ceramic soap bowl, is no accident. Even when I know that Arko is second to none when inserted in my "perfect shave" method. I now cast a suspicious look at my pumpkin and baking soda hair-softening serum, which enriches lather, but may also be responsible for overly degrading my skin texture.

I skipped it again today, and although hair cutting was not especially easy, it was neither especially difficult. The sum impact of that compromise again seems to be a "chipped" skin surface. But I can't get enough of the Aqua Velva Musk, now, so I hit it straight, and backed it off with a wet cloth.

My first preference would be to maintain an ideal mantle of stratum corneum, which will not interfere with tactile shaving results, but also yield a fine-grained and unbroken skin surface. Until then, I may be alternating between "perfect" and "die-down" strategies.


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