The Quest for the Perfect Shave, Woo-woo Edition

[elfs]

One of the things I bought at Folklife was a small cake of "Emu oil" soap. Emu is the new snake, as in "snake oil," in that it's being hawked as a miracle cure for everything from dry skin to asthma. But the soap was one of the few high-glycerine products I was able to find in that category and I wanted to try it out for one reason only, as a shaving soap. And for two bucks, it was a cheap experiment.

I prepped the soap in a small bowl with a few spritzes of water and a shaving brush, and I tried shaving with it. My final analysis is that wet-shaving with authentic glycerine soap is a better experience than using modern shaving gels, but it's also more dangerous. The razor is prone to stutter and nick, although I managed to catch myself from doing that too much and only nicked myself once. The final shave was appreciably smoother. The presence of emu did nothing noticeable for me; the soap did dry out my skin a bit, but not terribly so. I'll kill out the cake of soap to see if I can improve on the experience, but thus far I'm inspired to try Taylor of Old Bond Street Lavender or Lush Razorantium next. But the emu thing is just a little too woo-woo for me.

Comments

Save a ratite!

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

If you don't use stuff made with emu oil, you don't encourage 'em to kill my cousins, either! Admittedly, they aren't as nice as kiwi birds, (in fact, they're nearly as rude as ostriches) but still...

In re soap, you might consider some of melanie's products. She has a link on her user info page. I currently buy most of my soaps from Artifact Soapworks. Their shea butter and olive oil soaps are very rich and they say that a number of their soaps are good for shaving. Have a look.

[intrepid-reason.livejournal.com]

I got Mark hooked on Lush Razorantium you should try it to. You know you want to.{:o)

[fallenpegasus]

And I hooked a sister and a brother on the stuff.

Labryinth

[redhipple.livejournal.com]

On a strange tangent, your last sentence makes me recall a muppet character in the Labrinyth. (That Muppet Movie featuring David Bowie as the villian in tight pants ) A long necked vaguely ostrich-like bird sits atop an old man's head, like some strange form of hat and when Jenneifer Connely's character approaches the bird makes a 'Woo Woo' noise that I always thought to be a muppet aproximation of a wolf whistle. :) Silly I know but I thought I'd share that!

Re: Labryinth

[acelightning.livejournal.com]