A little while back, I talked about shaving and here I am doing it again.

Years and years ago, I got bored with the shaving creams available in stores and decided to try my hand at using a shaving brush to make my own lather.

At the time I picked up a cheap brush at the local drugstore and bought a shaving cream paste from the Body Shop.

Making your own lather is a little bit more time and effort. Also the lather is not as creamy smooth as the lather that comes out of a can.

But lather making comes into its own when the weather gets a little cooler than it is now. It becomes one of the simple luxuries of life to have warm shaving cream on your face, massaged onto your face by your own little brush. Once experienced, shaving cream from a can is just too simple and gives a lower level of satisfaction.

Why did I give up on using the shaving brush in the first place? Well, I used Body Shop’s shaving soap for many years in Canada and had some with me when I came to Japan. But when I ran out of the soap, there was no Body Shop in my city to buy any more. It was a 2 hour, $100 trip to Osaka (that would include ferry ticket prices, train/subway station prices and any other costs) to buy more at the Body Shop there but that didn’t seem like a good investment of time and money.

There might have been some other shaving soap available, but if there was I don’t know under which rock it was hiding. So, in the end I gave up using it.

A couple of years ago, we finally got a (small/tiny/wee) Body Shop in our (well actually a neighbouring) city. Recently I decided to take the plunge again, but my shaving brush had since disappeared. No problem. I’ll just buy another one at... Where could I buy one? After a lot of searching I ordered one from Amazon Japan of all places. Thank goodness they sell more than books.

After finally receiving the brush in the mail a few days ago, I’ve once again entered into the world of warm shaving cream. I’m happy.

Enjoy the little victories when you can. And try warm shaving cream!