The Sanga has calved a new generation of shaving soaps, and one can see this one is set to become a prized stud bull in its own right. Apart from it being a soap with a very distinct personality it has an additional claim to fame in that we have made it part of our 'Nickelslip' base range, and also the first in this range to become available. This 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 scent is brand new, it has a musky sweetness to it, there is a hint of liqourice and some part of it makes you think of Q20, with the smell of brand new silicone hose snaking around in the jar as well. It may sound a bit 'industrial' but I am pretty sure it will become one of those addictive fragrances you cannot stop dipping your nose into!
This soapy workhorse is dedicated to the Sanga cattle, it is a breed of cattle that cover vast stretches of the continent. 'Sanga' is the collective name for indigenous cattle of sub-Saharan Africa. They are sometimes identified as a subspecies with the scientific name Bos taurus africanus. These cattle originated in East Africa, probably around the western shores of Lake Victoria, and have spread down the river Nile (i.e. northwards), with depictions on Ancient Egyptian murals. They have badass horns, but are gentle and soft, just like this must-have shaving soap.
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 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: We adjusted the base recipe, but kept the ratio of the tallow portion nice and high, in order to preserve the legacy of our original Sanga tallow. 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.
This soap is the perfect partner for very sensitive skin, folks with normal skin and also for Stefan Staalbaard and all of his Kalahari klonge. The fragrance was kept at medium intensity, much the same as the previous version.
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.