In Praise of Erasmic

I've come upon a new angle from which to view my confusing collection of soaps, aftershaves and colognes, revealing some patterns. I got a distinct, lemony chill vibe earlier this week, by preshaving with Noxzema, splashing with Duru. In between, the "fresh" Fresco Verde lather picked up a cooling quality from the preshave. And today, Shave Secret pre-mentholated my Erasmic, followed by Lime Sec + 3-in-1 Lubricating lotion ("Portuguese") balm.

Before this, Erasmic was just an inscrutable "soap" smell to me, spicy and powdery; but in this context, it clicked into a more defined mental place: the less perfumed, working-class counterpart to Tabac. Lavender and Bergamot, I imagine the perfumer would say; but it wouldn't surprise me to find a big tank of English Leather at the factory, either. I sniffed the two soaps side by side, and they did seem very similar. So odd, that I never noticed before! I think I've had a bottle of English Leather in my possession since early childhood.

And then, my other soaps fell into the spice-lime or lemon-fresh categories also, with two outliers: Palmolive Classic as an alternative fresh, and The Art of Shaving Sandalwood as a pure, dry powder scent. I think it's the lavender that has always clouded my olfaction. It's such a common scent, I'm almost noseblind to it. Or maybe, too many diaper changes caused me to suppress my awareness of it. I remember when I mistook it for spice, in Canoe. I may still be mistaking it for a spice, in Shave Secret.

Erasmic is not as slick and protective as Tabac, which makes it sort of the lavender counterpart to lemony Williams. Yet, it lathers much more richly, which I think must imply more glycerin content. Preshave oil brings it back to near the same comfort, post shave. I guess it's equally well considered the spicy counterpart to Arko, then, with lather qualities falling halfway between.

I was already shifting to English Leather and Lime Sec (my recreation of English Leather Lime) for fall, and I needed a dry soap for the seasonal changes in my skin. It's easy lather makes it perfect for a good boar scrub, too. Erasmic is the soap of the season!