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Practical humility (and a great shave)
Today I’m using another Meißner Tremonia shaving paste, Woody Almond, and again the fragrance is very present to my nose. The almond comes through clearly, as does its modulation with Texas cedar....
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A stout-fragranced shave
Mystic Water Oatmeal Stout has a fine fragrance, and the lather this morning was excellent. I continue to be pleased by loading the brush — this morning, my RazoRock Key Hole brush, a very nice 22mm...
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Grooming Dept Peach Chypre and Gillette’s practical humility runs short
Today I noticed that Grooming Dept’s wonderful Chypre Peach has a peach-colored puck, whose color pretty much matches the background color of the label. This soap uses his Kairos formula: Water,...
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A true Luxury shave, and the wonderful Dorco PL602
Grooming Dept Luxury shaving soap is indeed luxurious. The soap is the Kairos formula, and its fragrance is oud and leather. I loaded my Phoenix Artisan Green Ray brush well — a bit longer than I...
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Tobacco today
Today I used the brush formerly known as Wee Scot 3 and now yclept “Case,” a doughayty little brush that set productively to work on my diminishing puck of Puros la Habana, by Van Yulay. This is quite...
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Solstice and the great razor
I do love the Omega Pro 48 (10048), and I think everyone who makes lather from a shaving soap should have one. They have to be broken in. That’s a simple process of loading the new brush with soap,...
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Tobacco again today
Time for tobacco once more, and this time it’s pipe tobacco. This Phoenix Artisan Cavendish is in their CK-6 formula, so the lather — today created with my Yaqi Cashmere — is exceptional. I applied it...
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Dapper Doc and RazoRock BBS Standard
The Yaqi Target Shot has two knots, each on a threaded base that screws into the handle. This morning I used the silvertip knot — a very full and relatively dense knot, so not quite my cup of tea, but...
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Plisson Grey and the inestimable iKon Shavecraft #101 have a good time on...
I am quite fond of this brush, with its pleasant grainy feel on the face. It has a hefty brass handle and was a special purchase by The Wife on a Paris trip from the last Master Barber in Paris — and...
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Love Bombs and Maggard’s V3A
I began my shave after my shower and (as always) applied Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave to my wet stubble, rubbing it in. Then I loaded well a Mühle Gen 2 synthetic brush — whose knot I like a...
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Wilkinson shave stick with the Duke, German 37, and Blenheim Bouquet
A commenter mentioned he’d use his Wilkinson shave stick, and that reminded me that it’s been a while since I last used a shave stick, so I brought out the Wilkinson for today and lined up 6 others...
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A week of shave sticks begins with seeing what happens when using an Omega...
I have in the past avoided using my Omega Pro 48 when I’m using a shave stick because I feared that my stubble would not scrape from the stick a sufficient amount of soap to load the brush. But after...
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La Toja’s magic endures — plus a great razor bargain
La Toja makes exceptionally good shaving products (soap and aftershave). It’s the water, you know. With my Simpson Chubby 1 Best I had no trouble at all getting a good lather, and again that is with...
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Palmolive shave stick and TOBS Shaving Shop for that old-time feeling
Palmolive does not brand their shave stick in any way — I’d very much like a word with the marketing director — but I know it from the green color. They should identify the brand, because it’s a very...
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A razor insufficiently praised and the pleasure of a novelty fragrance
Buttercream is not a classic fragrance, nor should it be, just as chocolate-chip cookies are not a main dish, nor should they be. But little bits of entertaining novelty are pleasant to encounter —...
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Less and less = better and better (at least, for Grooming Dept Moisturizing...
I observed in an earlier post that when I used less of Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-shave — a deci-smidgen instead of a full smidgen — the resulting shave was even better. I had cut back the amount...
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A horsehair brush and the excellence of Valobra’s shave stick and Yaqi’s DOC
Valobra’s shave stick is extremely good and highly recommended. Like the Palmolive shave stick, you will find no brand identification once the stick is unwrapped and in use, something that pains me in...
View ArticleItalian Barber has a whole bunch of Grooming Dept products currently in stock
My experience is that they don’t stay long in stock. Take a look. Grooming Dept shaving soaps are excellent, and I do highly recommend (and use daily) Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave. I also add a...
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The Dead Sea and my horse- and goat-hair brush, with a great razor.
I have learned that it’s best not to soak the Baili Goat- and Horsehair brush. When I’ve done that, the knot has become too soft. Now I just wet the knot, load it, and lather. The Dead Sea is a fine...
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Vikings Blade Chieftain and blade feel
My RazoRock 400 brush easily raised a good lather from Mystic Water Sandalwood Rose. As I was enjoying the feel and fragrance of the lather, my mind drifted to a comment on Wirecutter from one : I use...
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