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Wet Shaving Products Prince, Chiseled Face Sherlock, and the Fatip Testina...
I have two of WSP’s Prince, and this one is more resilient, with less give. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s not so soft as the three-band Prince. It had no problem at all in getting a very nice lather...
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Blissful shave: Chiseled Face Summer Storm, G.B. Kent BK4, and the 1940’s...
Readers of my Guide (or anyone who glances at the right side of the screen) will recognize two standbys: the Kent brush and the Gillette razor are the same ones pictured on the book’s cover. Well, not...
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The Copper Hat’s fine brush, Dr. Jon’s Defiance, and ATT R1, with Bvlgari
Dr. Jon’s Defiance is a part of his Cold War series of shaves. He notes: Defiance is the second of three fragrances in our Cold War series, each is a different take on a sandalwood and mandarin base....
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Comparison shave: New RazoRock Baby Smooth vs. the old one
Hallelujah! The Baby Smooth has arisen from the discontinued! The new Baby Smooth rests on the tub of Creed’s excellent Green Irish Tweed shaving soap, with the old one in front. The difference in...
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The Rooney, The Stealth, and (of course) Special 218
The Roony Style 1 Size 1 Super is a terrific little brush, and it easily make a great lather from QED’s Special 218 (long since discontinued). This is a glycerin soap and it shows how very good a...
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Whipped Dog brush with Midnight Stag and the Eros slant
The little Whipped Dog silvertip is a really excellent brush that cost me around $32 at the time. It’s a 22mm knot set at standard depth in an octagonal handle. It performs very well and feels good on...
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A user report on the efficacy of citric acid to soften shaving water
In the Guide, I suggest several options if you find yourself having to shave with hard water, one of which is to use citric acid. I just received an email from Craig B. reporting on his experience in...
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Omega boar, Stubble Trubble Up and Adam, iKon 102, and Floris JF
I like the Omega 20102 and have often recommended it. Unlike Semogue boar brushes, Omega brushes break in quickly, and this one has a very nice knot: large enough but not too large. Stubble Trubble,...
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Omega Pro 48, Tcheon Fung Sing, Dorco PL602, and Stirling Lemon Chill
Although some find the Omega Pro 48 (10048) boar brush too large for face lathering, it has never seemed a problem for me. This brush is now well broken in and does a really fine job. Tcheon Fung...
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Plisson, Phoenix Artisan Solstice, Maggard V2OC, and Stirling Executive Man
The Plisson synthetic brush is excellent, and it is very like other “Plissoft” knots—no surprise, since it was their model. It easily got a good lather from Phoenix Artisan’s Solstice shaving soap,...
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Nuávia with the Omega 21762 and the iKon S3S
Nuávia is another soap that, like Tcheon Fung Sing, has a simple formula but works quite well (and like TFS, it hails from Italy). The Omega 21762 is wonderfully soft for a boar brush—close to...
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RazoRock Zi’ Peppino and the Rockwell 6S R4
The Italian flag synthetic brush shown, from Italian Barber, is just a little large for me (24mm instead of my preferred 20-22mm), but quite workable and luxurious feeling. It easily produced a fine...
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Cutting back on the shaving soap collection: A dozen go to auction
Well, I’m tired of having stacks and stacks of shaving soaps, so I’m cutting back. Here’s the ebay listing. Two of them are somewhat rare: Floris is a high-end soap, but a few years ago they...
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By special request: Merkur white bakelite slant. Supporting cast: Henri et...
A commenter pointed out that the vintage Merkur white bakelite slant had not been seen for a while, so I hauled it out—it was not a long haul—and put it to work this morning. I did good prep on a...
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Omega S10005, Dead Sea, the 37G, and Cade
This shave is in solidarity with an airman stationed in Saudi Arabia who just is getting Merkur 37C and was wondering whether it would work as a daily razor. It depends on on various things, of...
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Multi-nation shave: Portugal, England, France, Italy, and Germany
First I washed my stubble at the sink with MR GLO (Portugal), as I always do. Mr Pomp (England) is a terrific brush that, among other things, showed me how nice a polo handle can be, and Le Père...
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A great shave with old stand-bys: Omega S-Brush, Otoko Organics, and the...
Otoko Organic is an unusual shaving “soap,” in that it’s not actually a soap. I really like it—it makes an interesting stiffish lather and the fragrance (mostly, I think, from the pear extract that is...
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One of my favorite poems—and, as my daughter pointed out, shaving-related
I’ve always loved this poem and it’s one of the new I know by heart but I hadn’t thought of the shaving connection since I learned it before I resumed traditional wetshaving. (I once went on a kick of...
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New Forest, Paislay, Baby Smooth, New York: A fine shave
Paislay shaving soap is excellent, but it has not been made for decades. This old puck lathers up easily and quickly and still has a nice lavender fragrance. The New Forest brush is an artisanal brush...
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Klar Seifen and the Wee Scot, with the Gillette 1940s Aristocrat
Klar Seifen shaving soap is excellent and comes in a compact package, so I thought I’d use the Wee Scot, also excellent and compact. Easily loaded, the brush, despite its diminutive size, holds a lot...
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