Clik here to view.
Another tobacco shave: Puros La Habana from Van Yulay
Van Yulay soaps, which I like a lot, vary in their formulation — some are vegan, some are, and the fats and herbs used vary as well. This soap uses lard among its fats: Stearic Acid, Aloe, Coconut...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A black-themed shave
I had picked soap (Phoenix & Beau Specialist) and brush and noticed the black theme, so I went for The Holy Black SR-71 slant and The Holy Black’s Gunpowder Smoke (whose fragrance I am enjoying...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Planet Java Hive and the AS-D1
I’m starting to get the hang of the new WordPress editor, and it’s not so bad as I feared. Planet Java Hive, with a fragrance of honey + coffee, smells terrific and tempts me to try a cup of coffee...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Meißner Tremonia and Il Lupo
One characteristic of Meißner Tremonia shaving soaps and pastes is that their fragrance is strongly present, and for those whose sense of smell is weak, this is an advantage. For those who do not like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Van Yulay’s After Dark and the head-heavy Gillette Heritage
After Dark is a Van Yulay soap that I bought after trying a sample. This morning it seemed pretty thirsty, but the lather was excellent — and of course that Rooney Emilion helped considerable. It has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The essence of a shaving brush is the knot — the handle has but a supporting...
Image to come. Right now WordPress will not upload an image. (New editor, so I assume it’s a bug.) I’ll add the photo when the editor starts working again. Update: Image is there. Problem was with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Continuing the consideration of the handle
Yesterday I used a shaving brush whose handle was modest to the point of diffidence yet did the job well. Today’s handle, in contrast, is a soaring efflugence of assertiveness that almost reaches...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brush handle evolution
This type of handle emerged fairly early in the evolution of shaving brushes and has established itself as one distinct branch of the family (much as bow ties branched off early from long ties and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Indian Flavour and a brush handle cousin to Saturday’s brush
As you can see, the RazoRock 400 is definitely related to the Copper Hat brush I used Saturday. They doubtless share a common ancestor, the vintage Rubberset 400, with RazoRock’s hand being, so far as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A 400 relative and a razor that delivers an eponymous result
This G.B. Kent BK-4 seems somewhat related to the most recent two brushes (the same genus, perhaps, though not the same species), with the extended handle of the other razors squished shorter to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Direct memetic transfer — and one of the best razors available (and it costs $6)
You’ll notice that today’s brush handle is a direct imitation of the G.B. Kent handle from yesterday (and that handle might well be a direct imitation of some earlier handle — that’s how memetic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Move to R4 from R3, and a great vintage lather
The Wet Shaving Products Monarch — a very fine brush — also uses the wasp-waist ball-top (WWBT) handle design. It’s a good design, and this particular knot is excellent: more resilient that the G.B....
View ArticleClik here to view.
CK-6, a terrific soap — and ATT’s R1
Another G.B. Kent brush — the Infinity, their synthetic — with the WWBT design, though less extreme than the Kent BK-4 (or 8 or whatever). This is quite a nice little brush — good resilience without...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Another take on the WWBT brush and a good comment on lather
The RazoRock Keyhole brush shown has a 22mm synthetic knot and is a very pleasant brush at a reasonable price (US$10). Like the brushes in shaves this past week, it also uses a wasp-waist ball-top...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Experimenting is deliberate learning from experience: Lathering
Tony5419 described in a comment his technique for lathering, using a lathering bow. I’ve not used a lathering bowl for a long time (issue: bathroom countertop real estate), but I thought I’d give it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Not quite so wasp-waisted nor ball-topped — and another go at the lathering bowl
This brush handle seems almost an ancestor of the WWBT handle of yesterday’s WSP Monarch (and most famously of G.B. Kent shaving brushes). Both handle styles have a narrow waist, rounded top, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Persian Jar by another name, and a shave by Stealth
The brush shown is clearly of the same shape as yesterday’s Persion Jar, but the name Rooney gave this shape is Style 2. (Rooney also offered Style 1 and Style 3, and those came ins Sizes 1, 2, and 3....
View ArticleClik here to view.
A more distant cousin of the WWBT family, and the fragrance of pine and cedar
I photographed my tub of Special 218 (a good tub, that sits comfortably inside its upturned lid) with lid removed so that you can see the darkness of the (glycerin) soap — due, I suspect, to pine tar,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A brush having a different waist treatment with a thicker base, along with...
The Simpson Emperor certain has a waist, and unlike the “flange” base of the G.B. Kent (or WSP Monarch), the Emperor’s based is thicker and comfortably rounded (apologies to Napoleon’s ghost). I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Polo, Rose, and Mamba
The handle on Mr Pomp, the brush is the photo, is called a polo handle for reasons unclear to me, and the base is more a flare than the flange of the WWBT brushes. It’s quite a comfortable handle, and...
View Article