I do love the Omega Pro 48 (10048), and I think everyone who makes lather from a shaving soap should have one. They have to be broken in. That’s a simple process of loading the new brush with soap, working up a lather in your cupped palm, then rinsing the brush (under the hot-water tap until the water is clean, then with cold water to finish), shaking it out, and letting it dry; then repeating that every morning for a week. After a week you can use the brush, and it will get noticeably better over the first two or three weeks of use. It has a wonderful feel on the face and hold loads of lather.
This morning it worked up a great lather from my Phoenix Artisan Solstice in their Kokum Butter formula. The Solstice fragrance is, for me, a truly wonderful fragrance, and the lather this morning seemed exceptional.
The vintage white bakelite Merkur slant is one of the best razors I own. Italian Barber found a stash of these in some warehouse in Europe some years back, and then, after that sold out, he found some more. But now the supply is exhausted and Merkur seems in no hurry to reprise the design — a shame, because it really is a superb razor.
Three passes left my face perfectly smooth, and then a splash of Solstice finished the job.
The tea this morning is Mark T. Wendell Pu-erh Tua Cha: “Pu-erh teas are created by hand piling Yunnan black tea for lengthy periods, allowing a true internal fermentation of the leaf to occur. This process gives Pu-erh its unique earthy overtones.”
One of the little nest shapes makes 16 ounces of tea — and a very good tea it is.