Very nice shave today.
Truefitt & Hill is one of the three “T”s of English shaving (the others being Geo. F. Trumper and Taylor of Old Bond Street), and though the reformulation scourge may have hit it as well, this soap is several years old and is excellent. It makes a wonderful lather with a fine traditional lavender fragrance.
The razor is the new iKon Shavecraft Short-Comb, mounted here on a Tradere handle. I got a BBS result in three passes and one nick. I would say this razor is not so comfortable as the Shavecraft #101, which also is (more or less) an open comb. (The #101 is ostensibly asymmetric, but both sides feel the same on the face and it functions like an open comb.) I thought the Short-Comb head might be stainless steel—it has some heft to it—but iKon tells me that “the head is a proprietary hardened aluminum unique to our manufacturing process.” The fit and finish are excellent.
Having at last achieved a nick, I was able to experiment with what I learned about using the alum block as a styptic rather than a skin treatment: press the block against the nick or cut and hold it there for a minute or so. And indeed that worked. I just hadn’t realized how to use it properly. On the whole, I still prefer My Nik Is Sealed—faster acting, easier to apply—but the alum block is definitely an alternative.
I got a sample of Esbjerg Sensitive Aftershave Gel with a recent soap order, so I gave it a go this morning. I like it a lot: excellent fragrance (for me), feels nice on the skin, and is indeed soothing. Worth considering.
I still have some soap collections left: a miscellany of 10 good soaps, lightly used, for $50 with free two-day shipping included in that price (or it’s $40 for the box plus $10 shipping, if you prefer). Email me if you want one to verify that one is available.
Filed under: Shaving
