A two-test shave. First, I was testing the Omega boar brush shown. I got a poor lather from it last week. I tried the soap with another brush (a badger) and got a fine lather, so now I have to try that soap with a different boar brush, but I also wanted to test this brush using a different soap. (It produced the poor lather last week from a Honeybee Soaps shaving soap, which almightywhacko has found does not produce good lather for him, thus the test with a different soap.)
So, first test: Use a soap of impeccable lathering credentials, D.R. Harris, and see how the brush performs. And it performed very well indeed. I had a rich, creamy lather and the brush still had an abundance when the shave ended. So it’s not the brush, which clearly can perform well with some soaps.
The next step is to try the same soap (HBS Lilac) with a different boar brush. Perhaps that soap doesn’t work well with boar brushes in general, and no particular fault is associated with this brush. A second use will help figure that out.
With good lather in hand (and on beard), I next turned to the razor test. For me, the Feather AS-D1, when used with Feather blades, is a top-notch razor, both extremely comfortable (most agree) and aggressively efficient (some don’t find it so). I have reports from multiple sources that the efficiency depends upon using Feather blades in particular.
However, a reader reported that he has to struggle to get a good, close shave with his own Feather AS-D1, so we agreed that he would send it to me for a test. Today is the first test.
I thought I would shave with both, but that was hard to do, though I did shave a bit with mine (the one with no tape on the handle). I thought my Feather perhaps did feel a hint more aggressive, but that was only one part of one side in the XTG pass. I’ll do this again and use one for the left side of my face, the other for the right.
And, in any event, I did get a very close and smooth shave with no nicks. Not quite BBS, but close and a more than satisfactory shave. So: another test is needed. (I will be sending the razor back in a week, so I have time for some more testing.)
A good splash of Arlington afteshave, and the day is properly begins.
It’s too bad the razor test—or, for that matter, the brush test—was not immediately conclusive, but it’s a step by step process.
Filed under: Shaving
