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I love Planet Java Hive — and a comparison of post-shave feel vis-à-vis Otoko...
I noted yesterday that the post-shave skin feel when using Otoko Organics did not seem to be so good as with premium soaps with high fat content, and to check that impression I went with a Phoenix...
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Happy New Year shave
Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. I’ve noticed that most of my badger brushes have a rather modest loft, so I’m going through those with the longest lofts, and this...
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Honeysuckle morning with a Fine razor and great brush
This is an older shaving soap from Phoenix Artisan, using a formula that pre-dates the Kokum formula (still available, though the CK-6 formula is the flagship formula: better, but also more...
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Wood fragrances and a comment on open-comb razors
The loft of this G.B. Kent BK4 brush — 52mm — is just a little more than the loft of yesterday’s Rooney Style 2 Finest, but the Kent has a much softer feel on the face. I presume that it is partly...
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Smooth shaving with Cavendish CK-6 and an Edwin Jagger razor
This Rooney Style 3 Size 1 has about as long a loft as my Rooney Style 2, but the difference in feel is quite noticeable. The Style 2 is their Finest badger, and this one is Super Silvertip, which...
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Late start, good shave, blade observations
The brush today has a very pleasant loft. This is my $35 silvertip from Whipped Dog, and I purchased it at a time when the prevailing idea was to seat the knot at a greater depth than standard (thus...
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Shaving cream — and a correction regarding Viking Blades Chieftain
This morning I decided to use a shaving cream, Wholly Kaw’s La Supérieure Dulci Tobacco. When I first resumed traditional shaving, I struggled to get a good lather from a shaving soap, but shaving...
View ArticleSharpologist takes a look at currently available adjustable DE razors
Mantic59 has an excellent review of adjustable razors, and some are quite intriguing. Take a look.
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Tobacco day
My only use of tobacco anymore is as a fragrance, though I suppose if I had a garden it would find a use i solution as an insecticide. Back in the day I did smoke — cigarettes, pipe, and cigars — and...
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Organism 46-B to start the week
Fragrances are very much YMMV. For example, I love the coffee+honey fragrance of Planet Java Hive, but I know that some don’t like it at all. And the fragrance of Organism 46-B appeals strongly to me....
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The Dead Sea and a good slant: Great start to the day
The Dead Sea is a soap that truly enjoys a brush that’s almost dry, so I shook this RazoRock Italian-flag synthetic extremely well. As I loaded, I did once add a small driblet of water, and once my...
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An old-fashioned shave
The brush is modern (it’s the Phoenix Artisan Amber Aerolite), though based on a old design. But the razor is a blast from the past and George F. Trumper shaving soap and Taylor of Old Bond Street No....
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The superb iKon slant with one of the Doppelgänger CK-6 soaps
I gave up trying to keep track of the Phoenix Artisan’s Doppelgänger family of soaps. The idea is that the fragrance is a knock-off of a famous fragrance, but it’s impossible for me to remember which...
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Violet morning
It’s pleasant to experience a floral fragrance in the dead of winter, and this morning I went with violet. Again, I shook the brush quite well but still was able to load it a lot with the water that...
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Fine start to a weekend: foggy day, great shave, comforting tea
I noticed that today’s brush — another Phoenix Artisan synthetic, the knot the same size as yesterday’s (24mm x 55mm) — did require some additional water to load well, and then it occurred to me that...
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Goat & Horsehair with Pink Grapefruit & Eucalyptus
My Baili goat- and horse-hair brush did a fine job with Meißner Tremonia’s Pink Grapefruit shaving paste, though the third-pass lather from this brush is still a little sparse. It may need a bit more...
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Another soft brush — and great fragrances
I decided to compare a soft badger with the soft goat+horsehair. The badger knot has a bit more resilience, but they are surprisingly close. I think the goat+horsehair holds water better. Today, too,...
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Vetiver and a soft brush
The Kent BK4 has a soft and fluffy knot. Again, I shook it almost dry, but with JabonMan’s Eufros it picked up quite a bit of soap right from the outset, and when I added a little water, I felt I had...
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J.M. Fraser and the Victorian, with an Edwin Jagger in Charcoal clothing
I tried a barely damp Rooney Victorian with J.M. Fraser and had no difficulty at all in loading the brush, but of course this is a shaving cream, not a shaving soap, and although somewhat desiccated,...
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A new blade makes a world of difference — and I do love fragrances in the...
Fragrances first: I know that some really dislike fragrances as part of the shave (thus the various fragrance-free shaving soaps most artisans have on offer). I’m not talking so much about a skin...
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