Very good prep: fine lather from Tiki Bar using the Omega R&B brush (it’s sold here for $30 as a limited edition model, but the limited edition seems to refer to the R&B (Razor & Brush, a great vendor of the recent past) stamp. The brush itself is a part of the Omega line: model 21762, and that may be available elsewhere when the R&B run is exhausted. Indeed, on searching “Omega 21762″, I find that StraightRazorDesigns.com sells it without the R&B stamp for $37. So the brush will probably be available in any case—but $30 is a good price for such a remarkably good boar brush.
I used the shorter “bamboo” style iKon handle with the DLC head this morning, and I went to a new blade right away—and got a couple of nicks! I don’t know why I can sometimes shave flawlessly with this razor, having no problems at all, and sometimes cannot seem to avoid a nick. I think it’s probably my technique—perhaps if I shaved with it every day I would master it sooner. It’s possible that blade play may be a cause: I’ve read reports of such a thing with the regular iKon slant, but I really haven’t noticed in either iKon slant: DLC or plain.
I’ll keep working on it—I finally did figure out Stirling soap, after all—but from Wednesday through Sunday I will not shave. I want to test an idea that I read on Wicked_Edge, that the Stealth will not deal well with more than a couple of days of stubble. The idea’s not been tested—someone thought it would “probably” take 4 passes to get a smooth shave with the Stealth since the Stealth is so mild/comfortable. I see comfort as independent of efficiency, so my own expectation is that 3 passes with the Stealth, even on a 5-day stubble, will produce BBS. So: different expectations, and we’ll look to experience to decide. (My own record of having my expectations validated by experience is mediocre, which is why I turn so often to experience to decide.)
I think part of the problem is that many have a strong feeling that comfort and efficiency are incompatible: if a razor is extremely comfortable it cannot be extremely efficient. I have found that not to be true in practice (cf. Feather AS-D1/2, Stealth, Standard, and others), but I’ve not go without shaving for several days for a long, long time. So I’ll make the sacrifice of skipping my shave for several days—and those who shave in the traditional manner understand that it is indeed a (minor) sacrifice—to see what actually happens.
A good splash of Hâttric, and the week gets in motion.
Filed under: Shaving
