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As simple as ABC — and London Afternoon
Antica Barbieria Colla makes quite a nice shaving soap, which gave generously of itself to the lather this morning, readily loading my Whipped Dog 22mm silvertip brush. The iKon Short Comb remains a...
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A bay-rum morning
Bay rum is as classic a shaving fragrance as lavender, and with my RazoRock Amici I easily built a thick, slick, fragrant lather from Mießner Tremonia’s Natural version. Three passes with my Feather...
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Zi’ Peppino and the Merkur 37
RazoRock Zi’ Peppino has a great fragrance, and the soap produces a good lather, today with the help of my RazoRock Keyhole brush. Merkur’s classic model 37 slant, here in gold (37G) instead of chrome...
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A highly satisfactory razor — and Organism 46-B
Phoenix Artisan’s Organism 46-B — “burnt sugar – bitter orange – brandy – Hedione – tobacco absolute – benzoin resin – ambergris” — has joined the ranks of the discontinued, and all we can do is hope...
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After the Rain (hopefully), with the Henson AL13 Medium and Klar Seifen Classic
My Phoenix Artisan Solar Flare brush got a great lather from Declaration Grooming’s After the Rain (and since I must walk today to maintain my streak of days with PAI ≥ 100, I chose the soap as an...
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An exceptional shave with Planet Java Hive and the Baili 171
My Planet Java Hive is Phoenix Artisan’s CK-6 formula, a wonderful soap, and the coffee + honey fragrance is quite pleasant in the morning. PA’s Starcraft shaving brush made an excellent lather, and I...
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Doppelgänger and the Pro 48
I do love the Omega Pro 48 (10048) — makes a fine lather, has great capacity, feels good on the face, and is inexpensive ($17). Of course, you can get a very good synthetic brush for $10, but natural...
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Double Doppelgänger with an Edwin Jagger
A double dose of Doppelgänger: yesterday and again today. That Plisson European Gray is a wonderful brush. It picked up quite a bit of soap during loading, so I had to add a fair amount of water as I...
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The pleasure of the Monday shave
It’s a wonderful thing that the Monday shave is always so good because it starts the week on a very nice note. The reasons for that goodness are (a) a two-day stubble, since I skip shaving on Sunday...
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Alt-Eleven and the wonderful Dorco PL602
My Mühle Gen 2 synthetic is an extremely good brush, and it easily worked up a great lather from Phoenix Artisan’s Alt-Eleven in the Kokum Butter formula. The Kokum Butter formula costs less than PA’s...
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Achilles and the Baby Smooth
My RazoRock Amici brush was easily loaded with Van Yulay’s Achilles shaving soap, though the soap in the tub is now just a ring as I slowly use up this soap. I might replace it — I do like it. Three...
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A woody shave, with the Gillette Heritage
This morning I felt one of life’s little pleasures: being well-rested. I capped off a good night’s sleep with the pleasure a good shave. Meißner Tremonia’s Woody Almond shaving paste has a great...
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Goat+Horsehair brush, CK-6 Love Bombs, and the King C. Gillette (only with a...
I’ve learned that this Baili goat+horsehair brush should not be soaked, for if it is, the knot becomes too soft and shapeless: insufficient resilience. Also, this morning the capacity did not seem so...
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Inexpensive excellence
All good, all inexpensive, but some no longer available — starting with brush and shaving cream. The brush was a limited run by Chiseled Face, and I very much like the handle. The knot is also quite...
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Grooming Dept Mallard Almond Vanilla and the white bakelite slant
I do like Grooming Dept soaps, and the Mallard formula is excellent. My trusty (if lopsided) Rooney Finest Style 2 easily worked up an astonishingly good lather after adding a little water to the...
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Vertu with the Rockwell, and Diplomat to finish
Grooming Dept’s Vertu is a luscious shaving soap: the Nai formula, with a fragrance of “Chocolate, Osmanthus, Cognac, Castoreum, Patchouli, Tonka, and Vanilla.” The lather was generous and rich,...
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Grooming Dept Ousia and a great shave with the RazoRock BBS stainless razor —...
Ousia (the “O” obscured by the razor) is a fantastic soap: the Kairos formula plus lamb fat and emu oil: Water, Stearic Acid, Lamb Tallow, Castor Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Kokum Butter, Sodium...
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Pasión, another Kairos + lamb tallow + emu oil soap, with the iKon #101 and...
Like yesterday’s soap, Pasión is another Grooming Dept Kairos formula augmented with lamb tallow and emu oil (formula details in previous post). The fragrance is quite pleasing: “Pear, Ginger,...
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Lemon Bay and the Maggard V3A.
Grooming Dept’s Lemon Bay is a donkey-milk, duckfat, lamb-tallow shaving soap: Aloe Vera Juice, Stearic Acid, Donkey Milk, Potassium Hydroxide, Duck Fat, Lamb Tallow, Castor Oil, Glycerin, Kokum...
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Grooming Dept Mallard Corretto and the stainless-steel RazoRock Mamba, with...
One’s preferences change over time (one advantage of the multiple-baseplate design of the Rockwell 6S), and I find now that the G.B. Kent BK4 is softer than I like. I once loved the brush, but now?...
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