The Omega 21742 brush used in yesterday’s shave failed to hold a lather through the shave. I want to know the problem’s cause, and the possible factors seemed to be:
- Water problem
- Soap problem
- Brush problem
It’s not 1, because I use the same water for all the shaves, and only yesterday’s shave was a problem. It’s not 2 (I was pretty sure), but the soap is a Grooming Dept Kairos soap, and those have never presented a problem — quite the contrary: they are superb soaps.
So I instantly blamed the brush — but then what about the brush? Possible issues:
- Knot is boar
- Knot is soft/gentle
- Knot needs cleaning
I doubt strongly that it is 1 — being a boar knot — but eliminating that gives me an excuse to use my other boar brush, thus today’s brush is my Antica Barbieria boar — and I did use the same soap (and water), so the only difference is a different boar brush.
The Antica Boar has noticeably more resilience than the Omega 21742 — indeed, any boar brush does — so using this brush tests only the boar factor, not the softness — but that’s okay, I wanted to use the brush anyway.
Verdict: the problem is not because I used a boar brush: today i used the same soap (and water) with a different board brush, and the lather was excellent: fragrant and (more important) long-lasting. I ended the shave with the knot still packed with lather. Tomorrow I’ll test using a very soft/gentle knot with this same soap, but a silvertip badger knot. That’s okay since we now know that the knot material is not the problem.
And it was a fine shave. RazoRock’s Old Type is a wonderful razor — so comfortable that it’s efficiency is a surprise. Each time I shave with this razor, I enjoy the shave for its pleasure, and each time when I finish I’m surprised by how close the shave and how smooth my skin. With the razor’s gentle feel, it’s hard to be ready for the BBS result. $20 seems more than reasonable for such a fine razor, but if that’s too much, you can buy the head alone for $8.
A splash of Klar Seifen Klassik complemented the clean fragrance of the Laundry II shaving soap. At some point, the letters on the bottle went walkabout, as you see in the photo, but the bottle is distinctive in size and shape, so I know what it is.
The tea this morning is Mark T. Wendell’s Organic Bold Leaf Pu-erh: “Upon brewing, you will notice the unique damp, earthy scent characteristic of a fine black Pu-erh. Our Organic Bold Leaf Pu-erh tea has a smooth, deeply fermented flavor that puts this selection in a class all its own.”