Floris No. 89: A fine fragrance
A very nice shave today. The Maggard V3A head (here mounted on a UFO handle) is really remarkably good—strongly recommended. Floris No. 89 (their home street number) has a great fragrance and this...
View ArticleAbove the Tie S1 and the death of a soap
I take the photo before I shave (which explains why the brush is always dry in the photos), and today when I opened the tub of soap, it smelled rancid and thus I had to discard it. It’s too bad, since...
View ArticleThe Maggard travel brush and Wholly Kaw’s King of Bourbon
That little travel brush from Maggard is quite nice and the handle offers a secure grip. The fine synthetic feels as nice as the Wee Scot, and it makes and holds lather like a champ. And Wholly Kaw’s...
View ArticleLast shave of the year, with The Dead Sea and the German 37
The year ends on a good note, shave-wise: The Dead Sea is an excellent shaving soap with an unusual fragrance (cannabis is included, along with lemon, rosemary, saffron, and sandalwood). This soap...
View ArticlePost-holiday shave with Solstice
I wanted a comfort shave this morning, and Solstice for me fills the bill. With the iKon Open Comb and the fragrance of Sage, Sweetgrass, Cedar, Rose Absolute, and Benzoin Resin, I had a comfortable...
View ArticleCavendish KC-6 with the Merkur Progress
A very fine shave with Phoenix Artisan’s KC-6 version of Cavendish. The Green Ray brush (also from Phoenix Artisan) did a great job, and the Progress is a wonderful little razor. Three passes, total...
View ArticleDapper Doc’s Lilac & Fig
Dapper Doc’s Lilac & Fig shaving soap is another Ck-6 soap, and I very much enjoyed it this morning, using the RazoRock Keyhole synthetic brush—a brush I like a lot and made me think I should do a...
View ArticleLimes today
Meißner Tremonia’s Dark Limes with organic shea butter and limes is quite a pleasant shaving soap, and my Vie-Long horsehair made quite a good lather. My Fatip Testina Gentile did its usual urbane and...
View ArticleSynthetic shaving brushes today are a perfectly good choice
It wasn’t so long ago—5 years? 7 years?—that getting a synthetic shaving brush meant a serious compromise on lathering, lather capacity, comfort, and aesthetics. Those days are over, and synthetics...
View ArticleSpice is nice
The little (18mm) Timberwolf-synthetic travel brush from Maggard razors did a good enough job, but I think it falls sort of the job Simpson’s Wee Scot does. I’ll try the latter tomorrow. But good...
View ArticleTwo tiny travel brushes compared—and more on the CK-6 formula from Phoenix...
Yesterday I used Maggard Razors’ 18mm Timberwolf synthetic brush, and I noticed how unlike the Wee Scot it felt, so today, just to check, I decided to use the Wee Scot to compare. And in the course of...
View ArticleNow THAT’s a lathering bowl! And shaving scuttle!
Beautiful, eh? And easy to hold. Sold by Fendrihan, which has more photos. They say: Junichi Tanaka Artisanal Lathering Bowl is a timeless and elegant accessory for any wet shaver. Meticulously...
View ArticleA big silvertip, Phoenix Artisan soap, and the Rockwell 6S
The barrel-handled 24mm silvertip is by RazoRock and is a very nice brush, though on the large side for me. But it did a great job with Phoenix Artisan’s Organism 46-B shaving soap, and the Rockwell...
View ArticleMy aluminum Phoenix DOC with Dr. Jon’s Propaganda
The Bruce synthetic from RazoRock is quite nice in the hand (the handle is a cylinder with concave sides) and on the face, and it quite easily made a fine lather from Dr. Jon’s Propaganda, whose...
View ArticleI love the Baby Smooth
“Defiance” seems to be in the air and people start to resist the direction politics has one. With the RazoRock Keyhole synthetic, this soap by Dr. Jon made a very nice lather, and the Baby Smooth...
View ArticleA lemon-scented shave
Around a week ago a reader commented that it was hard to find lemon-scented shaving soaps and aftershaves. I did once have an Art of Shaving shaving soap that had a lemon fragrance, but it left in one...
View ArticleIt’s always good to return to the iKon 102
My Copper Hat silvertip made a very nice lather indeed from my vintage Yardley shaving soap (unavailable for decades). The fragrance is still present, but nearly so strong as that from my vintage...
View ArticleThe iKon 101: A gem underappreciated (though not by me)
Who doesn’t love the smell of petrichor in the morning? Chiseled Face is the source not only of the shaving soap and aftershave but also that brush, briefly offered a few years ago. I like the look of...
View ArticleAvocado morning with Game Changer
I got a wonderful lather from Phoenix Artisan’s Avo Nice Shave shaving soap, using Phoenix Artisan’s Green Ray brush. Three passes with Game Changer comfortably removed all the stubble, and a splash...
View ArticleNot intended as a political shave.
It’s all Fine, except for the Russian Tea (and Strop Shoppe sadly is no more). The Fine Classic is one of my favorite shaving brushes, and it’s now available in a variety of color combinations. The...
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