I found the perfect shaving bowl!
I started wet shaving a few months back and my first shaving bowl was this MÜHLE in black porcelain. To be honest I was not very happy with it for several reasons, one of them being it is extremely over priced. The retail cost for it in the south of France is around 30 EUR, which for what you get and the purpose it serves, is just too much in my opinion. Not to mention the fact that it is very slippery when wet, a few times while building the lather I felt like it could jump out of my hand.
I was aiming at some wooden bowls because I like the looks and they are cheaper, like this Dr. K Soap Company Shaving bowl, it is just around 10 EUR. But I wanted to see more options before pulling the trigger.
Yesterday a went to downtown Antibes to meet a friend of mine and just have a walk around. We found that there was a pottery market. One of the exhibitors was Maureen Stengel-Guillot (MSG). I liked her work a lot, very simple, very functional, very beautiful, and very well priced.
While looking around I found a small bowl that caught my eye. I was looking at it and when had it in my hand I thought about the shaving bowl that I have been looking for. This was perfect for that!
I don’t really know how she achieved this, but it has a very grippy texture on the outside, which was the main selling point for me because even when wet it is not slippery (already tested it). It completely exceeded my expectations.
Great looking handmade bowl, awesome example of functional art. What else could I ask for right? Well the price was absolutely great, I got this bowl for 13 EUR. Best money ever spent!
Now, about Maureen Stengel, she is a beautiful, cute, charming, talented girl who creates this marvels with her hands.
This is by far the best shaving bowl I will ever have. I have not seen any other bowl with this grippy texture on the outside. She just taught the shaving bowl industry a lesson of functionality. Great shaving bowl.
As always, here are the photographs!