A very fine shave this morning with a lesson learned.
Today is the second Honeybee Soaps sample. I really like the fragrance on this one, but I’m a sucker for vanilla. (One thing we do know about fragrances: they are very much YMMV.)
I used two brushes, both synthetic, to test lather. Almightywhacko likes that Omega brush a lot, and indeed I bought it on his recommendation. The HJM synthetic I’ve had for a while, and a more recent version (not quite so soft and fluffy) is now what’s sold.
No one could say that the Omega brush shown is soft or fluffy: the bristles are extremely resilient and practically snap back into place. When loading the brush, I use some pressure to splay the brush open a bit. Not with the Omega: the knot strongly resists splaying and actually seems to draw itself together. You can also feel this almost-rigidity on the face. I do see how some could like such a brush, and I’m pretty sure those would dislike the HJM I have: a nice, very soft, fluffy knot that splays open under very mild pressure on the soap.
Both brushes quickly worked up a good lather, and I do see that this lather is not so dense and creamy as lather from (say) a D.R. Harris shaving soap, or a Synergy soap from HTGAM, or one of the Strop Shoppe Special Edition soaps—but of course those also cost substantially more. Stainless steel is better for a razor head than a chrome-plated zinc alloy—but stainless steel costs substantially more. If the cost tradeoff is relevant, then I continue to find that I get a good lather from Honeybee soaps. So far.
I read this account of discoveries made in switching to a slant just this morning, and as I shaved this morning I was extremely conscious of pressure—I really tried using too little pressure, as I have so often recommended to others. And lo! not one nick or even trace of a nick. No weepers. Just a BBS face.
I think what I had done was learn a good pressure for most DE razors—light, but effective—and in using the iKon used that same pressure. It was light enough that I had few problems, but still I kept getting one or two nicks more frequently than is good. Today I realized I was using noticeably lighter pressure than usual with this razor—and no problems. I wonder….
Seriously, it seems another instance of an old story: “I thought I was using light pressure, but then I found I could use even less pressure, and the problem vanished.” Live and learn.
A good splash of Very V, and I’m getting a late start. Still, I’m very excited for tomorrow’s shave: light pressure. No, lighter than that.
And so far the lather is still pretty good for me.
Filed under: Shaving
