Williams To The Rescue

I have some idea what I did wrong: pushed water into PdP through the slick point, to the sticky ("yogurt") point, and then broke it to melting, with large bubbles. It was the first time I put two juices in PdP, but I don't believe it's possible to have too much acid in the lather, so long as the lather is good. Unfortunately, this wasn't. I felt the backside of that Rapira more than once, even though this was only the second shave on it.

The combination of irritation and stubble after the shave was intolerable. I scraped at it dry, but that wasn't cutting it. I slopped on some sudsy Williams, more sloppy than the failed lather, and shaved it again. How the hell did I get away with that? Isn't that the worst thing you could possible do, to already overly-exfoliated skin? The POWER of Williams, of course!

Naw, it was stupid. I've been shaving stupidly since I started. No better way to learn! For example, that Williams is actually good for you. Even I was impressed with this, though. It's not that the damaged skin could be healed, but all the insulting residues could be replaced with Williams' goodness, and the stubble removed.

No more moisturizer, no more alcohol. Rinsed with water, pumpkin juice, rinsed again. Then my son and I were off to the big city (Burlington) for a boy's day out, because the siblings have been crawling up each others' asses all summer, and need to be split up whenever possible. ECHO, Cheese Traders, Pizza Putt. Oh my god, I ate three quarters of a medium pepperoni-and-mushroom!

Not a great shave today, and not a good skin situation, but I survived and managed to thrive, like Clem the wood turtle. This evening, Asquith and Somerset soap, witch hazel, and aloe gel (like one would use for sunburn, contains carbamides and propylene glycol) will keep me comfortable until I can get back to shaving right tomorrow.

I don't know why I had to generalize mastery of sharp blades to mastery of poor shaving media. I'm pretty near declaring exclusive fidelity to Williams. I believe PdP is as good as a glycerin soap could be, and it has today failed me for the last time. Artisan soaps are good for washing body pits and good in the short term for dry, damaged skin. Glycerin is a part of every soap, but it is not good as a moisturizer in shaving soap. Better ways to thicken lather are available, and the air situation is of an order less importance than the plain chemical suitability of a lather's liquid phase.