Tallow soaps come in many shapes and forms, and loads of factors will determine how it behaves when 'concocted & cured' We are keeping our tallow recipes pure and simple with tallow being the main component used, that being said we have changed the base from a hard to a soft base, and in the process we added a few 'modest' oils to achieve this.
The soap is dedicated to the Rooi Afrikaner, it is a species of cattle that is well known throughout Afrikaans and South African farming culture, these beautifully postured herds have been bred locally from prized animals since 1912. The Afrikaner has good temperament and are easy to handle. Afrikaners have good fertility, and can continue to calve over the age of 16 years, with records showing cows calving at 21. The cows are very maternal, and one female will often care for a number of calves while their mothers graze elsewhere, one has got to love such caring beasts! As mild mannered as the cattle, so is the oil fragrance we added to this soap! We have kept this one much the same with a fairly subdued, fresh-but-not-strong fragrance mix of widely liked essential oils namely; Orange, Lavender, Peppermint and Eucalyptus. The Rooi Afrikaner has built a following for the very reason of not having too much of a presence in terms of fragrance, and we had to keep it this way, this means it is also a good soap to use if you prefer the aftershave medium you use to do the 'work' rather than the soap as it will not interfere with your choice of post-shave product.
The 'Nickelslip' soap base utilize a natural black clay to give the soap a badass metal-and-ash appearance, it looks like a pile of burnt African hardwood in the tub, but smooth it over with your thumb and you get a steely shimmer that is quite exceptional. We fear other soaps may quiver and go cold spaghetti in the presence of this virile offering, so you may want to store it in a special place, your gun safe being one place it will feel right at home!
The use of local clay is another step we took in our quest for sustainable products, it is a byproduct of the lapping process when we lap slate stones we experiment with for honing sharp stuff like knifes and straight razors. Make no mistake it is long and tedious work to do this, but certainly worth the effort and we love how it builds into the masculinity of this product. We upgraded the packaging to suit the base, of course it had to be metal; the brushed steely exterior suits the contents perfectly to create a soap that reflects so much of our local heritage in its own unique basic, primal fashion.
Nickelrock base: We are revisiting the past with a harder version of the soap, but keeping it in the current colour format. Soft soaps have been dominating the artisan shave scene for the past few years. Although they are great for scooping, they do tend to be less economical and more prone to pick up loose hairs and debris from your brush and elsewehere, they are also less 'traditional' in a sense that all the old vintage stuff were hard and solid, and we figured why not put a twist on things for a bit. The soap takes a bit longer to load, and also requires a bit more facetime to go from soapy to creamy, but it firms up very nicely and cottagy-cheesy indeed, so do take your time with the brush. In a sense we like this as it 'forces' a better shave prep which results in a better shave. Something else I love about this base...pour hot water into the container on top of the soap in wintertime, repeat as required to have the soap nice and warm at the time of loading your brush, warm and fuzzy beats cold all day long in the wintertime!
Nickelslip base: This is quite soft a soap that likes to be worked with the brush; when you think it is ready, do yourself a favor and take another minute until you get a lather with a very high sheen. It is quite a thirsty soap which means it holds more water than many other soaps, and with that presents great hydration properties with a beautiful glimmery sheen. a Great test to see if you are on track is to trickle a few drops of water on the side of your head and have it run down to the lather on your face, it should run over the lather rather than make a path through it. This is one of those soaps that can handle a few drops of water dripped onto the brush during the lathering process. Take your time to get to know this soap and you will be well rewarded.
Ingredients: Beef tallow, Eish-two-O, Coconut oil, Castor oil, Sunflower oil, Black clay solids, Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Stearic acid, Essential and/or fragrance oils.
The soap will be great to use for all types of skin and beard, from skin as sensitive as your missus about her weight, all the way up the scale to beard as tough as a dagga boy backed into a corner.
*Afrikaner bull pic courtesy from Wegdraai boerderye (click on Rooi Afrikaner in the script to be directed to their website.