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Once again I am surprised by how creamy thick and slick a lather that Meißner Tremonia delivers. I think I must just have forgotten how good their soaps are. My little Whipped Dog silvertip did an excellent job, as always — pretty good for a $32 silvertip (some years back). You’ll note that the knot has a good loft, which provides great capacity and — more important — gives the brush a very nice feel on the face. At the time I bought this, the fad was to have the knot set deeper into the handle than normal, but that never appealed to me.
The fragrance of the lather leans toward lavender, but the geranium and cypress bring in other notes — a very pleasant overall effect. Again, I will say how terrific the lather was. Perhaps I should be using old MT more often.
The Phoenix Artisan Ascension is also (and as always) a surprise. It’s an unpretentious, even modest, razor, and yet each time I use it, I am surprised by how extremely comfortable it is on my face and how nicely it glides across my face. Perhaps the combination of the double-open-comb head and the razor’s light weight (along with today’s great lather) gives it the smoothness of performance I noted.
And after the shave, I’m again surprised (as always) at how extremely smooth a result the Ascension delivered. Then it goes quietly back into the rotation, and I somehow forget its excellence so that when next I use it, I am again surprised.
Perhaps the general cause of the suprise is my memory. But it does seem that some products perform extremely well without calling attention to themselves, just as some people are highly but quietly competent.
A splash of D.R. Harris Old English Lavender Water, augmented with a couple of squirts of Grooming Dept’s Aion Hydrating Gel, finished the shave. The fragrance here is pure lavender, without the added notes that the soap brought to the party.
The coffee this morning is again Fantastico’s El Salvador Mauricio Salaverria. My old kitchen scale died, but I was able to get a (better) replacement in time for this morning’s coffee. My new scale seems robust and also takes AAA batteries, something I wanted. However, it does measure only to the nearest gram. There are scales that measure to an accuracy of 0.1 gram, but those have a maximum capacity of 6 pounds. Mine will take 11 pounds, and I need the greater capacity since my fermentation batches typically weigh (with the bowl) around 8 pounds.