As a matter of practice, for Cade shaving soap I use a brush with a synthetic knot, which has always produced a very good lather. With a badger or boar knot, my experience is that the lather is too often subpar. I don’t know why this is, but given my observations, I stick with synthetic for this soap.
And indeed today synthetic delivered again: a very nice lather indeed, easily aroused. The Rockwell Model T is a perfectly good adjustable, though perhaps the T2 has some non-obvious refinements. Still, the shave this morning was easy and harmless and left my face perfectly smooth despite having but a one-day stubble with which to work. Three passes and perfection — who could ask for more.
Grooming Dept Hydrating Gel, though always good to upgrade most aftershave splashes, has a particularly important role when an EDT is used as an aftershave, since an EDT lacks the various aftershave enhancements (e.g., glycerin) that help make a splash more than just a fragrance. A couple of squirts of Hydrating Gel added to the tiny pool of EDT in my palm made the aftershave experience quite good.
It a sunny day, and though autumn is in the air already up here, the temperature for the early afternoon is forecast to be 66ºF, which is fine with me.