This little Vie-Long brush is quite pleasant despite its modest pretensions. Sold as boar, it sure seems like horsehair to me. Either requires soaking, so I let it soak while I showered and then put it to work on Meißner Tremonia’s excellent (and strongly fragranced) Strong ‘n Scottish shaving soap. The lather is excellent.
Phoenix Artisan’s Quantum razor is remarkably good, a modern take on the venerable Eclipse Red Ring. I reviewed it in some detail in an earlier post, and I have a detailed review that will be published in Sharpologist later this month when the razors are again in stock. The feel and performance of this razor are exceptional, and I rate it highly in other criteria: feel in the hand, aesthetics, and design — the ribbed guard works extremely well, offering the benefits of a comb guard without the drawback: that the comb’s teeth are vulnerable to being bent in a fall. The reinforcing rod to which the ribs are attached protects them against that. Moreover, the handle is very grippy and has good heft and diameter.
The razor comes with two baseplates, the Ω and the α. For me, the Ω is the better fit, and with three passes I had a perfectly smooth face after a comfortable and even enjoyable shave. A splash of Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet, augmented with a couple of squirts of Grooming Dept’s Aion Hydrating Gel, finished the job.
This is a coffee morning, and I had to estimate the weight of the beans since my scale lost its mind — it was grossly and obviously underweighing the beans, and that was not remedied by a battery replacement. A new scale is on the way, and this time I was aware enough to look for a scale that uses AAA batteries instead of those little coin-shaped batteries (which are costly).