Thread: The Return of The Bomb

After my initial posting found in: http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...-homemade.html

The Bomb has undergone 3 rounds of testing/optimization. Instead of sending samples to a bunch of people asking for feedback, I focused on a few people with experience with a variety of soaps. This process was slow due to time constraints on the part of the testers. I have not received written comments from some of them... ;-). However, the comments from those that did send me comments have gone from being encouraging to excellent. I am very happy about this. Thank you guys for giving The Bomb a try and giving me your most appreciated feedback. I must point out that my initial motivation to make soap was to find a formula that would not dry my face like most commercial soaps/creams did during the winter. I have managed that so the next goal is to make the best soap/cream in the world. I am still working on this, and would be for a long time. There is no plan to make The Bomb commercially available so this is not an issue. The Bomb is no longer a tallow based soap.

Ok, back to the story: People found the first versions of The Bomb to lack conditioning, they worked of on the whiskers but not on the skin. I worked hard on this and came up with with a super conditioning formula that I now call the Winter Bomb. Obviously, this version does not lather as well as other versions but it is the gentlest on your skin. After the reviews for these samples came back, I decided to change a few things:

Consistency of the soap, after one of my testers indicated that the consistency of The Bomb was in between a cream and a soap. My initial thought was to make The Bomb in a way that it could be used as either but after his comments, I have switched towards a cream, a very dense cream.

Another issue that popped up, likely because the testers used the Winter Bomb, was the economy. You can see in the pictures from the previous thread and this one that not only the quantities have changed but also the equipment. I now use a larger brush and a much bigger bowl to lather...

Finally, people did not care for the scent much and I must admit that I used only a little bit of essential oil in my original version (due to a sad mistake). This has totally changed, I now use larger quantities of 100% essential oil. I have used several EOs for this but the one I focused on is Lavender. Because I am the only customer of this brand, I only use the scents that I like in the amounts that my face can take... ;-)

I have tested the performance of The Bomb against several of the best soaps/creams available with very good results. I think these pictures speak for themselves about the quality of the lather that The Bomb delivers. One of my testers (not sure if I should protect his identity) liked The Bomb and asked me if he could bring it to the SE gathering next week. I thought that was a great opportunity to receive feedback from people so I sent a sample of the new batch to each of the gatherings. Keep your eyes open for The Bomb coming to the gatherings near you. I have received many requests for samples and I will start sending some out soon, I have not forgotten about you. You can continue to request samples by PM. As long as I have the money, I will be happy to keep sending samples out.

This is how I do it:

I use a bowl, a silvertip brush, and of course, The Bomb (I use my fingertip to scrape The Bomb from the dish)




I use a small amount of The Bomb. DISCLAIMER: I normally use less to shave but these pictures are for show.




I squeeze The Bomb on the side of my 5.5" bowl.



After about 30 seconds of swirling, I get something like this. This is not the good lather, it is too dry and would dry in my face. The lather is not ready until big air bubbles start popping in the bowl.



After about 2 minutes of hard work, you form this much lather, but how good is it?



Let's see:

It does not all come off the bowl when I take the brush out and both the brush and the bowl show "texture"



It is like a fluff, similar to whipped cream



I mean, the lather has to stand on its own, this is why it was originally named "The Bomb"



And the lather does not become opaque (signs of drying) for awhile



The Bomb delivers an outstanding lather. I have pretty soft water so results may vary.



I hope that you like it. Keep your eyes open for The Bomb coming to the gatherings near you.


Al raz.