Yesterday I used my Omega 20102 and today you see the Omega Mighty Midget, a mix of boar and badger. I do wet the knot and let the brush sit while I shower to soften the boar bristles. A reader commented on his fondness for horsehair, and those brushes too have a pleasantly coarse feel on the face — not rough, but with a perceptible grain. So I thought II’d go through some of the coarser brushes in my collection for a pleasant change of pace.
The Mighty Midget, though, really doesn’t feel all that coarse. The badger smooths it out quite a bit. It did make a mighty fine lather from one of my favorite soaps, this one from Barrister & Mann.
The Baili 171 is a remarkable razor: $6 at the link (and I have no affiliation with the company — I’m just a customer), and it shaves like a dream. It’s so comfortable it doesn’t feel as though it’s doing much, but the result today is as smooth as one could want. I also like the looks and feel in the hand. It’s somewhat unusual in that it secures blade alignment through corner brackets instead of the usual studs from the cap (or baseplate). Works like a charm.
A good splash of Leviathan aftershave — I love the fragrance — and I’m set for the day, which will include some afternoon chess. I downloaded a free (and quite nice) chess-clock app for my iPhone, one provided by Chess.com. I recommend it if you play any two-person strategy games (chess, Go, checkers, or the like) since it ensures that the games move along, plus it’s easy to give (or receive) a time handicap — e.g., the stronger player gets 10 minutes and the weaker player gets 20. It’s not so cut and dried as that seems, since obviously the strong player will be thinking while the weaker player’s clock runs, but it can help — particularly if the division is 5 minutes vs. 25 minutes.