Very nice shave today. After using yesterday’s brush with the striped handle, I decide to go with another relatively small knot, my Simpson Emperor 2 Best. And I experimented with the lather: on the first pass, I did my usual wet-brush method: take the fully wet brush and, holding the tub on its side over the sink, brush the soap briskly and firmly until the bubbles being formed are microscopic, then move brush to beard and work up the later.
For the second pass I used the dry-brush method: I rinsed the brush out thoroughly, gave it a couple of good shakes, then brushed the soap briskly and firmly until the brush seemed amply loaded. I then brushed my palm briskly, adding driblets of water as needed.
The two lathers were comparable, though the palm-lathering one had a slight edge—but at the cost of more trouble. I think with this soap I’ll continue using the wet-brush, build lather on the beard method.
The shave went quite well: the Schick Krona held a Feather blade, and I got a very nice result with no nicks or burns. I received a request from Australia to revisit the balms (it’s winter there), so this morning I used Three Butters, a very nice and inexpensive balm.
Filed under: Shaving
