Something for everyone

Sometimes you wander around a store looking for a particular item and when you find the area where they keep the item you’ve been searching for, you find something works better. That happened to me a few weeks ago on the internet.

Back-story
I was in my hometown in Michigan last year for a family reunion. On Saturday mornings there is a farmers market in town, so Mel and I went to check it out. As we were wandering around we came upon a man selling home made soap. We chatted with him for a little bit and I asked if he made any shave soap. He explained that he did but it is only good for shaving with a brush and razor. I explained that I, indeed, use a brush and double edged razor to shave and have been for many years. After some conversation I bought a cake of shave soap and we were on our way.

I was delighted by this soap and when I had used it up I realized that I had no easy way of getting more from that guy at the market. So I turned to the guru on top on the almighty internet mountain known as Google and stared a quest to find this guy. After some searching, I found “Mom and Pop Soap Shop.” After glancing at the “menu” I sent an email asking if they might be the people selling shave soap at the farmers market in Owosso. I received an email stating that they were not but could make some if I ordered it. I thanked them but continued my search for the guy at the market.

A couple of weeks later, I got and email from them asking if I would try a sample of their soap and give them an honest opinion. I replied that I would be delighted to try out their product and that I with thoroughly review their shave soap. A short time later I got a package in the mail with a tin of wonderful smelling shave soap so I got busy testing it and as promised, here is the review.

I have been using a tin of “Bay Rum Spice” shave soap from the “Mom and Pop Soap Shop” located on the internet at http://www.momandpopsoapshop.com/. Based out of Michigan, Mom and Pop offer a wide selection of high quality, hand made soaps. They also offer custom soaps available by request. From the first time I put brush to soap I realized I was in for a treat. The lather produced was rich and full and went on very easy. As I began the shave I noticed I was getting a very smooth shave with a lot less drag than with other soaps I have bought from stores and larger internet suppliers. When I finished with the initial shave I discovered, to my surprise, that I didn’t need to lather up again for a finishing shave. I was smooth to the touch the first time. With store bought soaps, I always had to shave twice to get the smoothness I wanted, even with a new blade. But with soap from Mom and Pop Soap Shop, one pass was all it took. The after scent from the soap was pleasant but not over-powering. I was able to use my standard after-shave with out the two clashing. I have used it for a few weeks now and I will say that I plan on using this soap for the foreseeable future.

Here is my tin of shave soap along with my Tweezerman Soap Brush and my Murker Safety Razor.


The soap comes in a 3 ounce tin with a lid that makes storing the soap very easy. The tin is, however, shaped in such a way that use of a standard sized brush (as seen in the picture) might become a challenge as the soap is consumed. I reported this back to Christine at Mom and Pop and it is being taken into consideration depending on feedback. I also noticed that the paper label doesn’t handle the wet environment of shaving very well but this is such a small matter that it barely deserves commentary. I will be trying out some more of their soap in the near future and am anticipating the same level of excellence there as well. Christine informed me that the shave soaps are $5.50 each and are in 3 scents: Unscented Aloe & Green Tea with Kaolin clay, Spiced Tangerine (Bentonite clay) and Bay Rum Spice (Bentonite clay).

All in all, I will recommend this soap to anyone interested in experiencing just how good shaving can be. If you have any questions there is a link on main page of the website where you can send email inquiries. So go buy some soap and let me know how you liked it!

Roots

I was born in 1974 in a small town in mid Michigan. This town was split in half by a set of train tracks. On one side of the tracks was the nicer side of town. Well kept old Victorian houses, the library, and clean streets were common place. The other side of the tracks had a more worn, weathered, and tired look to it. I spent the first 3 years of my life living with my mom and my Aunt Joyce. My mom worked a third shift job at a factory that made wiring harness for General Motors products and my Aunt Joyce babysat me. We lived in a house on a broken brick road next to a factory that had been divided into apartments. We were in the lower right hand furnished apartment (if you were facing the house) that cost $25 a month. My Aunt Joyce received a weekly $20 check from social services for babysitting me, and my mom brought home her paycheck which, after bills, left $75 everything else.

I have included a picture of that house that was taken a couple of years ago. It has been remodeled recently but I remember how it used to look. It was covered with gray asphalt shingles which made it look dirty even on the freshest spring day and it had a front porch on it that sagged like any of the hundreds of tired hobo’s that used to pass through the town riding the rails. Inside the furnace had a crack in the side wide enough to stick your thumb into and when it rained water would run down the light cord and drip of the light bulb in the main room. The house was a couple of hundred feet away from a set of train tracks and when there weren’t trains there were trucks going to the factory to load or unload in addition to the employees changing shifts.

But for all the previous description, I visualize this time with some fondness because I’ve been told stories of good times in that house. It sounded as though everyone living there was interested in each others well being. Plus it was home to the first images I have of the man who married my Mom and adopted me as his son when I was three. I have always referred to this place as “The Broken House” because that was what I called it when I was young. However, I am proud, grateful and lucky to be able to say that, though I started life in a broken house, I never lived in a broken home.