A very fine shave this morning. As I’ve mentioned, the Plisson Chinese Grey was purchased for me in Paris by The Wife, who visited the Master Barber who still works there. He recommended this over a silvertip, and while I first I was surprised, I’ve come to appreciate the feel and strengths of the brush. Although it is in a sense a “pure badger,” the bristles are very comfortable with a short of coarse feel, and the brush does a fine job of working up (and hold) lather.
With Mike’s Natural my normal method—brush the soap briskly and firmly with a brush that’s sopping wet, letting excess water and loose, sloppy lather spill into the sink—doesn’t work. Mike’s Natural requires more water than than that method provides. So I start loading the brush and add some water while loading. This morning I twice added water to the mix, and I got an abundant, thick, high-quality lather. The lathering method some (e.g., Mantic59) avoids this problem: with that method, you load the brush briefly on the soap, then move to a lathering bowl and add small amounts of water, working the water into the lather after each driblet, until you have the lather you want. That works, but is too finicky for my taste and Mike’s Natural is one of the very few soaps where I’ve had to modify my method. (I think there’s one more, but I can’t recall it at the moment.)
With a good lather, the Super Adjustable, and a previously used Timor blade, I set to work. I got a very fine shave, but decided I had to do a little too much touch-up, so I’ve replaced the blade.
A splash of Saint Charles Shave’s Bulgarian Rose aftershave, and the day begins.
Filed under: Shaving
