June 3, 2024
- Brush: Zenith Boar 24 x 48 mm #SMOLL #OLDWORLD
- Razor: Fatip Piccolo Slant Closed Comb
- Blade: Gillette Super Platinum (Black) (3)
- Lather: House of Mammoth - Dammusi
- Post Shave: Master Soap Creations - Light Blue
- Fragrance: Chanel - Bleu de Chanel
For today's theme I'd planned to use Wholly Kaw, since donkey milk is listed as one of the ingredients. That would count, right? I was unsure. Milk has fat; but milk and fat aren't the same thing. Is donkey milk considered a tallow ingredient? I decided to play it safe, noting a number of posts featuring HoM soaps, but none featuring Wholly Kaw.
It was hot here today, so I went with Dammusi. The aftershave and fragrance were both chosen to complement the soap—though Dammusi has this great mineral or stone note that I don't associate with a lot of fragrances (Light Blue by Master Soap Creations is supposed to be a dupe of Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue). As for the Bleu de Chanel, I get a pronounced melon-y note that isn't listed.
I haven't tried using alum on my face. When I first heard of alum it was in art history class. The professor described alum as a fixative for dyes (used for sizing—preparing a paper or some other surface for drawing). A woman in the class said she used alum in cooking, to which the prof responded "I hope not!" as if to suggest alum is toxic. I learned later that alum is used in cooking, at least in small amounts. But yes, if you eat an entire bowl of salt it'll be bad for you.
Brush Strokes features two very different works of art on the theme of meat. First is Joachim Beuckeler's painting The Four Elements: Fire, a work from the 16th century that depicts various kinds of meat being prepared in a kitchen. Like many other works from the period that depict everyday life, this painting is often interpreted as a religious allegory—an interpretation bolstered by the presence of Jesus Himself, framed in the doorway in the background. It's a painting that contrasts the Flesh and the Spirit, with flesh given prominence, at least from the viewer's perspective.
The other work is this famous and tantalizing tromple l'oeil pork belly, made out of jasper, said to have once been in the Qing Dynasty imperial collection.
#ROTY