IanS Soaps - Lanolin Line

I am allergic to wool.  This I learned when I joined the Army as pretty much everything is made of wool.  Socks, blankets, gloves, sweaters, you get the idea, anything meant to keep one warm is pretty much wool.  My drill sergeant was kind enough to let me wear my white cotton socks under my green (steel)wool socks once he saw what the issue ones were doing to me.  My wife loves to knit, especially using any of the many varieties of wool.  She was sad to learn of my allergies, but does make me awesome things using cotton/polyester yarns.

Recently Ian told me he was running a new batch of soap and was adding lanolin for it's emollient properties, moisturizing the skin thus aiding in the protection of the skin during shaving.  It has also been shown to remain on the skin for many hours afterwards continuing to protect long after the shave has ended.  There are some that swear by lanolin and primarily use soaps containing it and others that have noticed no difference between soaps with or without wool fat.  My interest in trying some of the soaps available was quickly quelled when I realized that due to my allergy laying down a layer of lanolin lather on my face would probably not end well.  I passed on my concerns of trying out this new soap to which he replied that it only contained 0.75% lanolin.  We agreed I should test the lather on a less sensitive and noticeable place before applying to the face.

OK, day four of using the new formula and if there is a reaction it is very slight and not visible.  I do feel a slight itch throughout the day, but that may be psychosomatic.   Each one of Ian's soaps I try become my new favorite.  This morning I really did not need to shave due to yesterday's shave being so close.  In the Army I had to shave twice a day most days.  Today, I could have easily passed inspection, from yesterday's shave.  The protection from this new soap protects well enough to allow me to reduce the stubble to the extreme.  My little boy has given up comparing my freshly shorn face to his (did I win??)  

Another thing I have noticed with IanS Soaps, the rinse water becomes extremely slick after a few passes.  Using the rinse water to clean off the lather between passes actually creates an added layer of moisturizing slickness making the skin even more conducive to sliding sharp steel over it.  This is why such close shaves are possible with this product, it actually becomes better throughout the shave by adding protection with each pass.