Maximal Slickness

I've had De Vergulde Hand shaving soap on my buying radar since it was featured on one of the blogs of Anthronicle's new blog feed, a fantastic alternative to depressing Google searches. "The Golden Hand" seems to be the most highly developed of what I call "non-enriched," low glycerin soaps, with a lot of amendments in its ingredients that would seem to invalidate my terminology.

At least it's still "inexpensive," before shipping, anyway. (Anyone going to the Netherlands?) Fine Accoutrements has meanwhile incorporated its aftershave scent into a soap base attempting to match Tabac, also sourced in the Netherlands. If it weren't for the price, I might be regretting having mashed up that PdP, because from what I read, it sounds like they might understand what makes cologne special.

But if you think you have to spend big money to get a super-slick, moisture-balanced, low-glycerin soap, think again. This morning I did a simple oil cleanse pre-shave followed by Arko, and had such a slickness -- what did Roberts call it? "hydroplastic envelope" -- that I wondered if it would ever come off my face.

It occurred to me that the essence of that phenomenon might be having two different oils in the mix: mineral oil in the Arko, tending to de-emulsify toward the atmosphere, and the shaving oil (castor/sunflower), bound to the skin. So when you get past the cushion, this hydraulic floor remains, protecting from collision.

I didn't push it too hard, with smooth Baili blade and the Tech. And it rinsed off fine with my new aftershave, witch hazel USP and pumpkin juice 50:50, sprayed from an old Chloraseptic bottle.