Hair For Xmas

Yes, I think I've finally decided to let the growing commence once again, my scalp having received the full benefit of purification through prolonged shaving. It's not easy to let that stubble back out, in the evening! I eased into it with a mostly WTG shave from "Chaoying," yesterday, so today it isn't too itchy or scratchy.

Doing the Dry

There are certain physical elements of health, which shaving has helped me know better, the main one being how moisturizing relates to inflammation. But there's so much more to it, involving the proper flow of natural moisture from within to the skin surface, through soluble fiber in the diet. For the best shave, I need:

Beans at dinner
Exfoliating soap or other treatment at bedtime
Dry (i.e., not moisturizing, only wet) shaving soap

Probably some extra steep oil and salt gradients drive that flow, also, for the really miraculous shaves, but those are not quite under my command -- yet. This week, however, I cleared up my crusty follicles most strikingly by the means listed. After gorging on an unusually successful pot-sticker with canned pintos, I woke up with incredibly soft skin.

The thing is, I have these amazingly well-scented soaps with a lot of fragrance oil and glycerin, that make shaving-porn lather, and bait me into getting "aggressive" just by prep. Not that they're objectively poorly formulated. They even feel right during the shave, in the way the edge reaches easily to the root, because my skin is effectively being chemically decomposed. But they are definitely excessive for me.  In the post-shave, or indeed the next shave, I find consistently that I have once again prevented nature from working with me.

Year-round Luxury Plan

With this in mind, I'm determined to restrict PdP No. 63 to occasional spring and fall use, like Stirling is restricted to summertime. It's too bad, because that cedar scent could probably rock all winter long. I have three of the new hard soaps from Italian Barber coming, hopefully to take the coveted "triple milled" spot in the ceramic dish on my countertop. XXX formula duro is already on the job as far as luxurious scent, but I can tell even that's pushing it for glycerin now. Special occasions, winter.