What soap/cream did you use today?

Wickham 1912 Classic 24

Floris Verbena shaving soap (tallow)

CBL SIR Fougere tonsorial

The Holy Black has been a company I have watched since its entrance on the market about 6 years ago.  I really like their snappy marketing.  They don't try to be clever or witty.  They don't try to be highbrow.  They appeal to my masculine senses visually.  What they haven't done yet is appease my face. (Yet I keep trying).  Today was a Ruby Red Creeper in the secret stash tin.  Remarkable marketing.  Secret Stash lends itself well to my sense of importance that they would “hold back” a product especially for me.  The artwork on the can is attractive and compelling.  The craft paper label on the bottom of the can lends an air of exclusivity.  Their logo is fantastic.  But alas, thus far their shaving soaps have left me flat.  Very soft textured, it's easy to load.  Takes water ok.  Lather actually looked very good but that's where the wheels fell off.  My usually super smooth Merkur Futur was skipping like a flat stone on a smooth lake.  (A very sharp flat stone).  In fact I swapped razors to a Razorock Game Changer .83 and it was rough too.  There seemed to be plenty of slickness but not much cushion and for whatever reason the slickness didn't quell the chatter.  I can shave just fine with an oil so I rightly don't know what was going on.  2nd and 3rd passes where pretty frightening too.  Got all done and my shave was ok.  No cuts or weepers.  No irritation.  Fairly close shave but far from DFS.  Add to that the scent of grapefruit was almost imaginary and this one is a swing and miss for me.  I wanted smacked in the face with a 10lb bag of grapefruit Like TOBS does it.  I spent some time Reviewing my prep for the shave and for the love of Pete I can't see where I did a single thing differently.  Fresh out of the shower.  Same bar soap of the last three months.  Same general time in the shower.  Same temp of water.  No weather anomalies.  I just conclude that given my situation and preferences I am not in Holy Blacks target market.  Darn it.

Murphy & McNeil - Nantahala - Terrific soap! Happy I ordered two puck's

Fresh Rosemary v. (Le Père Lucien) rosemary in bloom

After fiddling with the Marco Method for a few days I've returned to a simple, less messy dry-brush approach to loading this soap. The results today were just as good, if not better, than when my brush was drenched and dripping. All this is to say that I got a great lather this morning, as rich as Martin de Candre's (though it took a lot more swirling and a lot more brush work to build it). I wasn't sure about this scent at first. It seemed too flowery. But one of the excellent side effects of using the same soap for a few days in a row is that you start to appreciate and enjoy a soap's fragrance, even the odd ones. I've ended up liking the scent of Fresh Rosemary very much, all the way from its lemony top notes to its herby base.