Fragrances first: I know that some really dislike fragrances as part of the shave (thus the various fragrance-free shaving soaps most artisans have on offer). I’m not talking so much about a skin sensitivity, such as to sandalwood or lime or the like, but just a personal distaste for early-morning fragrances (bacon and coffee excepted, I imagine). Indeed, The Son dislikes shaving fragrances.
I, on the other hand, do love a good fragrance, particularly one that stands forth boldly. This morning I enjoyed immensely one of my favorite shaving soaps, Up & Adam, by Stubble Trubble (alas, no longer active). It is a combination of espresso and vanilla — and the soap and lather are also excellent.
The redoubtable Maggard Razors 22mm synthetic easily brought forth a superb lather and, well-prepped, I began the shave with yesterday’s razor holding a new Wilkinson Sword blade. Ah, what a pleasure. One problem with rotating razors as I do is that I cannot track how many uses each blade has had, nor for that matter which brands of blades are in which razors. Those who use a single razor and a single brand can easily know a good time to change blades — just a shave or two before performance degrades — but I have to go through to the slightly unsatisfactory shave to pick up the cue that it’s time the blade was changed.
So after yesterday’s shave, where I had to work too hard to get a good shave, I changed the blade, and what a difference it made! My face today is remarkably smooth after a very easy and comfortable shave.
The final fragrance of the shave, dark chocolate, comes from a Valentine’s Day limited run by Phoenix Artisan some years back. It turns out that this dark chocolate aftershave has a remarkably good dry-down, so the fragrance during the day is extremely nice: not so much chocolate as some sort of dusky allure.
A brilliantly sunny morning — at least right now — which strengthens the spirit.