My current favorite slant and that wonderful Milksteak Formula shaving soap
A dark rainy day deserves a good, pleasurable shave — as does, come to think of it, a sunny clear day. This morning I used my Rooney Style 2 Finest to make a wonderful lather from Declaration...
View ArticleA superlather and a super shave
Sometimes the morning shave, always a pleasure, seems extra enjoyable, and I notice new aspects of the shave that seem particularly pleasing. That might be an artefact of (say) having an excellent...
View ArticleBarrister & Mann Spice Reserve and the Gillette 1940s Aristocrat
It’s easy to feel good on a sunny morning after a good night’s sleep, and the shave just adds to the pleasure. This morning I went with Barrister & Mann’s Spice Reserve and followed their...
View ArticleShaving cream fills a brush
In the superlather a couple of shaves ago, I mentioned how that lather engorged the brush, and I became curious to what degree that was due to the shaving cream. So this morning I decided to use the...
View ArticleA little late to the Equinox celebration
I had planned to use Solstice for the Equinox shave, there being a strange lack of shaving soaps named for celestial phenomena: no Equinox, no Solar Eclipse or Luna Eclipse, no Supernova, no Galaxy,...
View ArticleThe lather-rich brush and my Ascension
I commented in a previous post on the brush-filling quality of the shaving-cream lather I made with the Wholly Kaw Duci Tobacco shaving cream. I wondered whether I could replicate that using a soap. I...
View ArticleAfter Dark and the Cashmere brush
“Cashmere” is the name of this Yaqi brush, not the brush material, but the very fine and densely packed knot does feel somewhat like cashmere on the face. After Dark is a Van Yulay soap I like a lot:...
View ArticleThe two-brush shave: A few observations
Reader Ryan yesterday asked about how the Yaqi Cashmere (orange handle, white knot) compared to the RazoRock Amici (red and black handle, black knot). I gave an answer based on recollection, but...
View ArticleMike’s Natural again, with a gentle brush
I enjoyed yesterday’s soap and thought today I’d reprise the experience with a different fragrance, but stick with a soft knot. The Fine Accoutrements Classic is a nice brush indeed. It has a 22mm...
View ArticleGoodfellas’ smile Legione Slant and LA Shaving Soap Company’s...
I continue to love my Omega Pro 48 (10048), and this morning it made an excellent lather from LASSC’s flagship shaving soap. I have previously written that the Goodfellas’ smile Legione Slant (I don’t...
View ArticleGood lather and exceptional razor pleasure
Today I failed to get my usual olfactory hit from Meißner Tremonia’s Exotic Elemi, but that is probably just a transitory disability on my part. The lather itself was quite nice — I took my time and...
View ArticleMT Himalayan Heights and RR Lupo, with GG Suede
I had quite a nice shave today. I loaded the brush, Phoenix Artisan’s Amber Aerolite, with no added water — it’s a voluminous knot and perhaps water still lurked within even after I shook the brush....
View ArticleMaggard Razors V2OC and Phoenix & Beau Specialist, with Ginger’s Garden...
Phoenix & Beau Specialist was a custom mix for West Coast Shaving: “vanilla, vetiver, malt whiskey, hops, barley, & freshly picked tobacco leaf.” It a good fragrance and makes a good lather,...
View ArticleLavender, for a de luxe shave
A late and lazy morning, puttering through various first-of-the-month routines, among them reading my letter to FutureMe from a year ago and writing a letter to FutureMe of a year hence, always an...
View ArticleIndian Flavour and Esbjerg
Meißner Tremonia’s Indian Flavour has a wonderful fragrance and also a mighty fine lather. I used my Wet Shaving Products Monarch, and I was able to load the brush quite full without adding any water....
View ArticleMoroccan Rhassoul and the iKon slant, with the diminutive Emperor
My Simpson Emperor 2 is a nice little brush. I had an Emperor 1 but shed it along the way. It worked, but it was no Wee Scot. I loaded an excellent lather from Meißner Tremonia’s Moroccan Rhassoul,...
View ArticleLavender & Lilac
Barrister & Mann’s Reserve soap formula is excellent, and for the soaps using that formula he recommends a synthetic brush. So with this morning’s Reserve Lavender I chose my Yaqi Target Shot...
View ArticleDark Limes and West Indian Limes
The lime fragrance of Meißner Tremonia’s Dark Limes is not so much the fragrance of the fresh fruit but a more subdued — darker — version, one that is pleasing in a shaving soap. My Vie-Long brush did...
View ArticleWhat’s in my bag of ideas
Cool Tools has a series called “What’s in my…” and the current list is by yours truly. Regular readers of the blog will find much of it familiar. It begins with a brief bio: My “bag” contains things I...
View ArticleAsylum Colonia by Saponificio Varesino shaving soap with Simpson Persian Jar...
I don’t know the best name for this soap, but it’s a very nice soap indeed, and with the PJ2, the lather was creamy and thick. The Ascension is quite a good razor — comfortable and efficient — and...
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