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D.R. Harris lather every bit as good as Mama Bear lather
I forgot to use Col. Conk this morning, so I’ll try for tomorrow. In the meantime I went with another shave stick and carried forth the wood-fragranced theme with D.R. Harris Marlborough. D.R. Harris...
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Col. Conk and a fine lather, with The Holy Black SR-71 slant
Col. Conk was held in very low esteem some years back as artisanal shaving soap vendors began to arise, and yet withal it makes a very nice lather indeed, which seems to be a characteristic of...
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Lupo revisited with a new blade
Last Monday I found the Lupo was struggling a bit, so I changed the blade (to a Gillette SharpEdge). I prepped my two-day stubble by first washing it with MR GLO (actually Ach. Brito), rinsing...
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A wild shave with a long-absent razor
The wild part of the shave was only in the products: Wild Lavender shave stick from Mystic Water and Wild Coast Perfumery contribution as aftershave. Mystic Water shave soaps are quite good, and I’ve...
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Wilkinson’s shave stick and the blue Baby Smooth
Wilkinson’s shave stick, unlike Wilkinson’s tub soap, makes a fine lather. I noticed this morning that I wanted a little more resilience in the brush than the Fine Classic can provide, though that...
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Orange the theme, sunny the morn
The lather from this Mystic Water shave stick was excellent, but the fragrance was faint, probably due to its age. But absolutely nothing wrong with the lather, and the Kent Infinity was a good brush...
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Mennen shave stick and Fendrihan Mk II
Another fantastic lather with a very light but pleasant fragrance. I’m starting to wonder whether shave sticks simply produce better lather than tub soaps. I doubt it—why would that be?—but certainly...
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La Toja shave stick, Vie-Long horsehair brush, a Yaqi razor, Manatiales de la...
A truly excellent shave. The springs of La Toja apparently have a high content of mineral salts proclaimed to have restorative effects, and certainly the soap produced a really wonderful lather. I was...
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Badger vs. Synthetic for shave sticks, with the Rockwell 6S R3
My Rooney Finest is an excellent shaving brush but it not do so well with this shave stick as do the Plissoft/angel-hair synthetics, in part (I think) because the synthetics absorb no moisture. I...
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Valobra’s excellent shave stick and the Game Changer
The Valobra shave stick is one of the best. It’s triple-milled, so has a very long life, and the fragrance is extremely nice, as is the lather. It’s great for travel, and you can use an appropriately...
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Speick and the original iKon slant, with a Rooney Style 3 Size 1
I wanted to try again a natural-bristle brush with a shave stick, given the (minor) problem from day before yesterday, so this morning I used this Rooney Super Silvertip with a shave stick that I am...
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iKon’s stainless slant again and the start of a witch-hazel series
I’m sure that this is an Erasmic shave stick, an inexpensive shave stick from the UK, and again I was able to get the lather to work well with a badger brush. That convinces me that the difficulty I...
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De Vergulde Hand and the 102 with another Prospector Co. aftershave
De Vergulde Hand (The Gold-Plated Hand) is a shave stick from the Netherlands. I didn’t find it at a US store, but it’s readily available in Europe. (The link is to a shop in Cadiz, Spain.) A good...
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The excellent Parker slant and Bathhouse aftershave with lather by D.R. Harris
D.R. Harris always makes a great lather, and this morning was no exception, thanks in part to the Maggard Razors 22mm synthetic shown. And I have to say I love the Parker slant (which they call a...
View ArticleHow beards put a brave face on threatened masculinity
Interesting idea that being clean-shaven shows a man doesn’t feel his masculinity is threatened—with the corresponding idea that growing a great bushy beard is protesting too much. Christopher R...
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This shave-stick journey ends where it begins for many: Arko
Arko is often the first experience many men have with a shave stick: it’s inexpensive, effective, and readily available. Its fragrance is not very noticeable—a clean-soap fragrance—and clearly not...
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Van Yulay After Dark and the Merkur white bakelite slant
Van Yulay soaps are not nearly so well-known and popular as they should (IMO) be. The lather this morning from their After Dark was stunningly good, perhaps in part because I loaded the RazoRock Bruce...
View ArticleBreaking News: A New Gillette DE Razor!
The Heritage DE razor by Gillette will ship 1 November. Yes, I did pre-order one. Sharpologist has more info. Note that the “stainless steel” in the description refers to the blade, not the razor,...
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Phoenix Artisan Briar, iKon X3, and Thayers witch hazel
My Rooney butterscotch Emilion did not make the headline, but it’s a superb brush, and the lather I got this morning was really first rate. The key is to load the brush fully, and today I had to add a...
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Van Yulay’s Achilles — a favorite — with the Fatip Testina Gentile
This Edwin Jagger brush’s synthetic knot seems to be the same Gen 2 synthetic knot in my Mühle Cosmo razor brush, which aims to mimic a badger knot and in fact does quite a good job. I like the knot,...
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