I was going to use MR GLO again before switching again to Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave, so that I could have a side-by-side (day 1/day 2) comparison, but when the time came for the shave I just really wanting to use that GD pre-shave. So I did.
And, I have to say, I think it does a great job. I used a Valobra shave stick — and that’s an excellent shave stick if you’re interested in one — and I do think the lather in this case was not quite so good as I’ve gotten with using MR GLO. My guess is that the difference is due to the oil content and the difference in loading. For both tub soap and a shave stick, I prepare the stubble with the GD pre-shave by rubbing it well into my stubble — and this pre-shave is heavy on oil. Then:
- Tub soap: Load the brush fully directly from the soap, then move to the stubble, with the fully loaded brush.
- Shave stick: Rub stick over the stubble and pre-shave, which mixes soap and pre-shave. Then use damp brush to load the mixture and build lather from it.
The first works fine, the second not so well — at least not this morning. I’ll perhaps try again, but just from the description I think it would work better to use MR GLO with shave sticks and reserve the GD pre-shave for use with tub soaps and shaving creams. Carefully mixing oils/waxes with an approximately equal amount of soap before trying to build lather: that does not sound like a recipe for a good lather.
Fortunately, a) almost all my shaving is done with tub soaps, and b) I enjoy MR GLO and will happily use that with shave sticks.
Despite the so-so lather, the iKon stainless-steel slant sliced the stubble superbly, leaving a smooth result. A little splash of Speick, and the week is launched. I noticed that Speick provides another example of the German fondness for locking screw-tops. My Meisner-Tremnia lids also use locking screws.