Every year during the autumn months, high up in the Austrian Alps, you’ll see local farmers. They are gathering delicate, yet discreet little plants in an annual harvest known as the Speick Sting. These mountain farmers are workers from Speick Natural Cosmetics Company, gathering the Alpine valerian plant in the Nock Mountain region of Carinthia, Austria. This is the only place in the world where the Speick plant grows, and Speick is the only company that has the rights to…
Month: January 2016
Walking in the Winter: A Canadian Reflection
After a long few months of autumn and Indian summer, blowing over into the territory of usual Canadian winter, the perennial hope that the cold would never come this year was roused, leaving people more disillusioned than ever when it eventually did arrive, slick at their doorsteps. Dimly lit living rooms had all eyes on the television set, their faces downcast as the news augured a snow squall setting in upon the area. City maintenance trucks warmed their engines, and…
Fitting a Square Soap into a Round Bowl: How to Fit Your Shaving Soap into Your Shaving Bowl
In a traditional wet shaving routine, you have a razor, a brush, a soap, and a bowl—all pretty simple. But what happens when the soap doesn’t fit the bowl? This can derail your morning shave in one of two ways: Either your soap is too big for the bowl, or your soap is too small for the bowl. Let’s go over the solution to both potential problems. In any situation, the first step is to take preventative measures: Invest in…