D.R. Harris has much single-handedly maintained the integrity of the classic line of English shaving soaps, the others having fallen by the outsourcing and reformulation wayside. (With shaving creams, the story is different: D.R. Harris offers good shaving creams, but so do Cyril R. Salter, Taylor of Old Bond Street, and others — but I’m a shaving soap guy.)
And of D.R. Harris’s shaving soaps, Marlborough is my favorite. The fragrance is “a subtle blend of woods including Cedar and Sandalwood,” and from the soap the lather is just about perfect, a characteristic of D.R. Harris shaving soaps. Because I used this morning a shave stick, I could not use the LABL (Load A Bit Longer) method I use with a puck in a tub, so instead is rubbed the shave stick a bit longer against the grain of my stubble. WSP’S Prince shaving brush, which has a doughty little knot, then worked up a thick and creamy lather redolent of the fragrances of freshly planed wood.
I just love D.R. Harris lather. Early in the days after I returned to traditional shaving, trying many different products, I would have a shave and think, “Wow! That’s a good lather!” and when I checked, it was inevitably a lather from a D.R. Harris shaving soap.
As I note in the title, of all razors based on the Edwin Jagger/Mühle design, I consider RazoRock’s MJ-90A to be the best. It is extremely comfortable and also extremely efficient, and the materials and workmanship are first rate. The original EJ/Mühle head is made of chrome-plate zinc alloy and has an unfortunate tendency to break at the point where the threaded lug attaches to the cap. I believe this is almost always due to over-tightening the head. Zinc alloy, even plated with chrome (and EJ’s own chrome plating is absolutely first rate), does not have much tensile strength, and so over-tightening will stress the metal at the connecting point, weakening it slightly each time the head is over-tightened, until one day the metal simply gives way. The MJ-90A uses an aircraft-aluminum alloy that is much tougher (though over-tightening is still a bad idea) and so does not break.
But the thing you notice immediately is the excellence of the shave experience when you use the razor — and, when you’re done, the excellence of the shave result.
A splash of Marlborough aftershave with a couple of squirts of Grooming Dept Hydrating Gel finished the job and carried forward that wonderful fragrance. What a great way to start the day!
The tea this morning is Murchie’s Editors’ Blend: “a smooth, medium blend of black Ceylon, Keemun and Yunnan with sweet honey notes.”