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Baby Smooth, Eufros Rosa Bourbon, & Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel
That’s a Sabini brush (with ebony handle) and a fine brush it is. It had no problem in working up a fine lather from JabonMan’s Eufros Rosa Bourbon, and the Baby Smooth is as good as it gets for a...
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A note on synthetics — and the OneBlade razor
I’ve observed previously that I’ve come to prefer—most of the time—synthetic brushes (like today’s RazoRock Bruce, with a nice 24mm synthetic knot) to natural-bristle brushes (like yesterday’s Sabini,...
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Starting the natural-bristle brush series: The Wee Scot and the King of Bourbon
I plan to march straight through all my natural-bristle brushes, shelf by shelf, and the upper left corner position was occupied by my pre-Vulfix Simpson Wee Scot, a truly marvelous brush that holds a...
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The Wee Omega, Stubble Trubble, and the lovely Fendrihan Mk II
This little Omega badger is somewhat coarser than the Wee Scot and not so soft, but it does a fine job and holds plenty of lather for a 3-pass shave. The handle is also well designed and offers a...
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A Vie-Long from a defunct forum and the wonderful Yaqi DOC
This little brush issued by Pogonotomy.com is a Vie-Long horsehair. This morning I seem not to have fully loaded it—I quit loading just when I should have added a little water and continued—but I...
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Omega’s Mighty Midget, Martin de Candre, and the OneBlade
Omega’s badger-and-boar combo brush is a might nice little guy. I think it’s (for me) one of the “standard” brushes any well-stocked shaving cabinet should have. I soak it (because of boar) and it...
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Wee Vie-Long and the Leaning Stick of La Toja, with Rockwell 6S
This little Vie-Long horsehair brush I’ve avoided, somehow thinking it would lack capacity. As it turns out, it doesn’t. Bravely using La Toja shave stick, I found that not only was the lather really...
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My boar brushes, beginning with the amazing Omega 21762
Yesterday’s brush was half boar, but today we go all in on boar. The Omega 21762 boar brush (here in the Razor & Brush special edition of a few years back) is an astonishingly soft boar brush. I...
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Omega 20102 and Colonia, with the German 37 and Diplomat
The Omega 20102 is my standard recommendation for a boar shaving brush. I like the beechwood handle and the knot has enough loft to feel good while still being resilient (more resilient than...
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The Omega Pro 48 with Antica Barbieria Colla and the Mamba
The Omega Pro 48 — model 10048 — is the first boar brush I owned, and it remains an excellent brush. The loft is enough that the feel on the face is a soft resilience, and in this shave, at least,...
View ArticleHow to be an Epicurean
The preface to the sixth edition of Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving (the preface is included also in the current (seventh) edition) begins: I REALIZED recently that this book might have been more...
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The Palmolive shave stick, with iKon 101 and Vie-Long horsehair
I had ordered a copy of the Palmolive shave stick while I was still in the middle of the shave-stick series and hoped it would arrive in time to be included, but it arrived only yesterday. You can...
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Dr. Selby 3X concentrated shave cream, Vie-Long, and The Holy Black SR-71 slant
Moving right along, I used the big brother of yesterday’s Vie-Long horsehair brush: same style, but larger hand and larger knot — and I find I like it better. It easily made a great lather from Dr....
View ArticleChoose your path — and avoid the fear of missing out
Epicurus advocates enjoying the daily pleasures that life presents. That requires being present for those pleasure and not becoming preoccupied by absent pleasures. I mention this idea in the long post...
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OneBlade’s automatic angle adjustment
The Mühle Cosmo brush I used today completes the second shelf, which mostly held synthetic brushes. This brush has an exceptionally soft knot, which easily made a fine lather from my vintage Lenthéric...
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I give up on Czech & Speake shaving soap
Starting the Simpson shelf of brushes with the Case, and since it’s a small brush I chose the travel-size puck of Czech & Speake in the nifty (and hefty) machined aluminum case with a screw top....
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A wonderful shave, and Bay Rum at that, with Above the Tie’s S1
I love a great shave and this morning my face is totally smooth, soft, and fragrant, thanks to the guys in the photo. Simpson’s Chubby 1 Best made a terrific lather from Phoenix Artisan’s Bay Rum, and...
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La Toja and the Duke: A Game Changer
You’ll note that the surface of the soap in the Czech & Speake travel container is a little lumpy. The soap there was former in a La Toja shave stick (a spare), which I cut into sections and...
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A razor with good acoustics adds a lot to the pleasure of the shave.
This iKon DLC-coated stainless-steel slant has really excellent acoustics. You can hear the tiny popping sound as it mows through the stubble, an audio experience (in a quiet bathroom — no fan, no...
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Excellent acoustics again, with a strong woody fragrance
My Simpson Emperor 3 Super brush is the next to last brush on the Simpson shelf, so tomorrow I’ll finish another shelf in the brush odyssey. This morning it made a great lather from Meißner Tremonia’s...
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