Em's Shaving Soap

mantic · Post by **mantic** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 10:37 pm

Hello Gents--

I've used my cake of Em's shaving soap ("Outdoors" scent) on occasion while travelling. The shaves I get with it have been very good, but not what I would call great. I just returned from a weekend out of town and had the travel kit on the bathroom counter so, on a whim, I used it this morning. Previously I had only used it with my cheap Tweezerman pure badger (my travel brush) but this morning used my regular super badger (Savile Row). Whoa! What a difference! I had assumed the pure badger would work better with a cake (vs. a cream) since the stiffer bristles would make a lather more quickly. Nope, the lather came just as fast, and the better water retention of the super badger made the lather much more luxurious (BTW I lathered directly to my face). I got an absolutely wonderful shave, and to top it off the "Outdoors" scent (which I find pleasant) lingered much longer than past shaves.

I may just start putting this stuff in my normal rotation....

--Mark

mantic · Post by **mantic** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:44 pm

I'm updating this old post because I've found Em's soap to be *exceptional* when I use my new Progress DE. The lather that I build with my super badger brush is very thick and emolient; its almost too thick when I shaved with my Mach 3, but performance is outstanding with the DE. This soap was in my travel kit but I've since moved it over to my regular home rotation.

--Mark

AceHarddrive · Post by **AceHarddrive** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:56 am

Thanks for the update, Mark! I just got in an order from Em, consisting of a razor holder/brush holder with lather bowl set, as well as a cake of her Bay Rum soap. As I only have an Omega boar brush, that's what I had to use. Last night I got a lightbulb in the middle of the night (that I had to try):
1) Soak beard with hot water
2) Apply some of Pacific Shaving Company's shave oil to beard
3) More water on beard to activate shave oil
4) Soak brush in hot water, letting it drain
5) Twist up a bit of Em's soap
6) Apply brush to face (I apply shave cream to one section of beard at a time, shave that area well, then move on to next section) and begin scrubbing lather
7) Shave with Gillette nonadjustable DE razor + Dovo Shavette blade (unbroken)

Rinse
9) Repeat steps 6-8 for all sections to be shaved.
10) Use Mach III to clean up missed areas
11) Rinse well with warm water
12) Rinse well with cool water
13) Pat dry
14) Apply some Proraso Liquid Creme (smells wonderful!)

Oh, yes! 15) Clean up mess!

Em's soap + a bit of shave oil makes for a real good lather!

~Tim