Tim’s Soap is closing its doors and going out of business. His soaps were available from a variety of vendors, as he says at the link, so you may be able to pick up a tub or two for a while, but the soap is gone. (Full disclosure: I just ordered a few tubs from Shave Revolution.)
He writes that he started making shaving soap for himself because he is sensitive to lanolin and to shea butter and many of the good artisanal soaps will use those. So Tim’s Soaps came up with an excellent formula that omits the two. This morning I used Greek Peach, which I think was his first big hit. It makes a lovely lather, today with the Maggard Razors 22mm synthetic ($10: a bargain). It really was an exceptionally good lather.
The razor today is the Maggard V3A: the aggressive version of their V3 head. They refer to the guard as a “closed comb,” a formulation obviously derived from “open comb” without actually thinking about the meaning much beyond “closed is the opposite of open,” but it does point out the redundancy of the term “open comb.” I now usually describe razors as have a bar guard or a comb guard, which does the job. (“Closed comb” bothers me because in fact combs do not open and close: a “closed comb” makes no sense unless you see any bar as a comb that happens to be closed. But I am somewhat literal-minded.)
The head, with its bar guard, is here mounted on the Maggard MR11 stainless handle, a very nice handle with a crisp feel.
This razor definitely feels aggressive: lots of blade feel, but well-behaved for me with a Personna Lab Blue blade. In using it, you do feel that you have to pay close attention—the shaving is not so carefree as with more comfortable razors—but I had no problems and I easily got a very close shave. You do become conscious of the need for light pressure and you tend to watch blade angle closely, but that may well be all to the good. I think those who enjoy the feel of an aggressive razor—the noticeable blade feel—will like this razor, and with good technique and a light touch it does an excellent job: totally smooth face after two passes, and the reduction after the first pass, WTG, was substantial.
A good splash of Booster Aquarius finished the shave, and the middle of the week is already here.
Filed under: Shaving
