Thrive and Glow Inferno Night Edition: Micro Artisan Ep. 19
Howdy and welcome back to A Texan Shaves. It’s been a while since we’ve done a micro artisan episode and I’ve been wanting to get back to them. I still have plenty in the queue. But this one I was particularly eager to get to, because I haven’t even used the soap yet. First use, right here in the video.
How I Found Thrive and Glow
I found this company on Instagram. I saw a video of the owner making soap, talking while she worked, and she said something like: “You all like and share my soap making. You think my soaps are beautiful. But I won’t be able to make soaps if you don’t buy them.” And I was like, that is a great ad. Bet. So I went to her website, discovered she carried shave soaps, grabbed a shave soap and four or five bar soaps, and here we are.
The company is Thrive and Glow. You can find them at thriveandglow.org. The soap I’m using today is called Inferno Night Edition. Cherry wood and tobacco. The 6 oz tubs are $12.99. Check the site for current sizes and pricing on other formats.
The Soap
Let me give you the full ingredient list, because it’s worth reading: water, stearic acid, shea butter, tallow, potassium hydroxide, castor oil, coconut oil, glycerin, cocoa butter, sodium hydroxide, fragrance (phthalate-free), sugar, and tussah silk. Those are excellent ingredients. Before I even loaded the brush I had high expectations just from reading that list.
And then the fragrance hit. Oh man. Cherry wood and tobacco. From the moment the brush touched the soap I could not stop smelling it. It’s a firmer soap, very thirsty when you load it up, which is exactly how I like it. The lather came up beautiful. I had about 48 hours of growth and this mowed it right down on the first pass. Wonderful. I was genuinely impressed.
One note: I didn’t see any aftershave or balm in the Thrive and Glow lineup. I went with an unscented aftershave so I wouldn’t compete with the fragrance. I want to sit in that cherry wood and tobacco as long as possible. I really hope she adds a matching aftershave down the line, because Inferno Night Edition is a scent I’d want to carry all day.
The Hardware
For the brush, I was gifted a beautiful piece by my good friend Dr. Chris of CB Brushworks. I’ve been drooling over his honeycomb brushes for a while now, and one day this just showed up in my mailbox. My jaw dropped. He set it with a Frank Shaving G10 synthetic, also a first use for me today.
On the razor, I’m running the Tier One Echelon with the Ranger handle. This one has two aggressive sides and it works by angle rather than a fixed geometry flip. It did a fantastic job. I’ll have a dedicated video on the Echelon coming very soon.
The Thrive and Glow Lineup
Thrive and Glow isn’t just shave soaps. The site also carries bath bombs, goat milk soaps, candles, sugar scrubs, bubble baths, body butters, essential oils and soaps, hair care, and gift sets. There’s something for everyone in the family on this website.
I’m already a fan of her bar soaps. I’m currently using one called Silver Birch and Oud, and it is ridiculously good. I also grabbed Barbers Blend, which I had to have because you know me and barber shop scents, and Cashmere and Suede. Picked up a couple for my daughter too. Bar soaps are my second rabbit hole. I probably have more of them than shave soaps at this point.
I also noticed in reading the sales copy for her shave soap line that she mentions the resurgence of wet shaving and writes “And why not? It’s the best way.” So she knows about this community. I’m not sure she knows the full scale of it, though. If you’re on Instagram, give her a follow, leave her a comment, say hello. Welcome her to the communities. Show her how great this hobby is, and maybe we’ll see even more products from Thrive and Glow down the line.
I haven’t reached out to her personally yet. I like to use the product first so I can speak to it honestly. After today’s shave? I’ve got plenty to say. I’m sold. Completely sold.
If you find her on Facebook, let me know. I looked and haven’t tracked her down yet, but I’d like to like her page.
Find your peace in what and where you can. We’ll see you next time on A Texan Shaves. Goodbye.