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I had a very nice shave. My Omega 21762 did a fine job, though I had to load it on the new tub: the small ring of soap hiding in the bottom corner of the old tub did not do the job for this brush (though a brush with a smaller knot has no trouble).
Three passes later with the Razorock Baby Smooth and my face indeed was BBS. The Baby Smooth is a terrific razor and I’m sad that it is no longer being produced.
A splash of Suede aftershave by Ginger’s Garden and the week moves along.
A blog reader in Australia, who noted my previous comments on reports of some having trouble lathering Otoko Organics, provided an insight:
I have been off work since Friday of last week and have not shaved since Thursday of last week. Yesterday I had been pottering around the house doing odd jobs, and the day had been really dry and hot. [The writer lives in Australia, where it is mid-summer.] I had spent the better part of the day with my new BBQ, finding out how the coals would work and slow cooking some meats, when I got a call and had to go out. Needing a shave but not having the time to shower as normal before I decided to moisten my face with warm water and work some Otoko into my stubble to help soften them. Everything went fine, I started working the Otoko in using my fingers then the brush and the lather died on my face… I wasn’t particularly worried as I was planning on wiping this off anyway before applying properly to shave.
It was only when I wiped my face and looked at the cloth that I saw what the Otoko had done. It had removed dirt, smoke, and oil and visibly cleaned the lower portion of my face. I had not realized the oil layer that had been bought to the surface of my skin during the day. I washed my whole face with Otoko which made my whole face feel refreshed and then I moved onto shaving paying close attention to the lather.
I do not normally aim for thick father, but this time I went for it. On my cleaned face and neck I loaded my Omega brush quickly from the puck – no more than 4 swirls around – smeared it around the shave area and worked the lather on my face. The lather burst into a thick creamy beard and seemed to stay whipped the whole time I shaved doing a thorough one pass with a few buffing strokes (without more lather). No nicks, no burn, and no irritation.
Being pressed for time I did not have the luxury of further experiment but I am leaning towards thinking the lather may firstly dissolve/emulsify oils on the skin. Perhaps oily skin needs to be thoroughly cleaned with a smear of Otoko before trying to build a lather? I do not have particularly oily skin except across my nose (causing black heads) and I have long used Otoko when cleaning my pores with great results. Maybe yesterday with the extra dirt/oils that were on my face I was approaching heavy oils on my whole face. I can tell you my face felt much more fresh once cleaned and the lather worked beautifully and the shave was smooth and irritant free.
If this is a cause—too much oil on the face cripples Otoko’s lather—then my own practice of shaving after showering and then in addition washing my beard at the sink with a high-glycerin soap—would prevent me seeing any problem. I offer this as a potential approach for those having difficulties getting Otoko to lather. That has truly never been a hint of a problem for me, but it may be that my prep prevented the problem.
Filed under: Shaving Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
