Chiseled Face Midnight Stag and the Rockwell R4
Extremely good shave today. Brush selected in solidarity with a friend’s father-in-law in South Korea. (Long story.) The bush is a Maggard 24mm synthetic. Midnight Stag is an unusual but pleasing...
View Article12 more soaps go to auction
You can see all 12 here. The MWF is the very tub I used in my lathering video, so it’s famous. Strop Shoppe always made great soaps (and I’ve kept some). Pêche has a fine peach fragrance, quite pure....
View ArticleBrushguy, Leviathan, and the iKon 102
I like that Brushguy brush, and I made a great lather from Barrister & Mann’s Leviathan shaving soap. I did find it necessary to add water a couple of times as I loaded, but the fully loaded brush...
View ArticleSimpson Emperor 3, Phoenix Artisan Alt-Eleven, and the new RazoRock Baby Smooth
The Simpson Emperor is a favorite, though I notice I tend to pick one of my synthetics more often. Still this is a great brush, and the lather from Phoenix Artisan’s kokum butter shave soaps is...
View ArticleCavendish all the way, with the ATT R1
As I’ve been going through my soap collection, I come across soaps I forgot I had, and today I discovered that I in fact had a Cavendish soap from How To Grow A Moustache (now Phoenix Artisan...
View ArticleiKon stainless steel H2O goes to auction
This asymmetric (bar guard on one side, comb guard on the other) two-piece iKon razor is now listed on eBay.Filed under: Shaving
View ArticleRooney Style 1 Size 1, Meißner Tremonia Woody Almond, Merkur Progress, and...
I’m really liking my three Rooney brushes. I think of this Style 1 Size 1 as a “stubby” brush, but in fact it has quite a good loft and feels great on the face. It lathers well, shares the lather...
View ArticleRooney Style 3, Meißner Tremonia Pink Grapefruit, Rockwell R4, and Floris 89
My Rockwell Style 3 Size 1 is, like it Rooney Size 1 brothers, a great little brush. I really like the loft of these, which is longer than some of my brushes and thus feels softer (and has greater...
View ArticleRooney Style 2 Finest, Van Yulay Puros la Habana, and Edwin Jagger
The third of my first Rooney collection: Style 2 Finest. (Style 2 comes only in size 1.) It easily made a really fine lather from Van Yulay’s Puros la Habana shaving soap: Stearic Acid, Aloe Vera,...
View ArticleFine Classic brush, Barrister & Mann Lavanille, and the redoubtable iKon X3
Following the shave, I read this recommendation in the Lavanille entry on the Barrister & Mann web site: The vanillin in Lavanille may cause it to discolor animal hair shaving brushes. Use of a...
View ArticleComparing two razors: the Standard and the Edwin Jagger
For the test shave, I used Antica Barbieria Colla shaving soap and the Wet Shaving Products Monarch. The lather was excellent—this really is a good soap—and the fragrance pleasant. I have my Edwin...
View ArticleH.L. Thäter brush, Colonia/Asylum shaving soap, iKon 101, and Barrister &...
I think this is the Thäter brush that was killing lather and felt a bit oily, which I then shampooed. Today, it worked like a charm, working up a fine lather and keeping it for the entire shave. And...
View ArticleDerby blades do their magic in the iKon DLC slant, with Martin de Candre and...
Another big win for the Derby blade! But first, the prep: I used my other H.L. Thäter brush this morning. I knew that one had not worked (seemed oily) and so I had shampooed it. I thought that was the...
View ArticleGoing for a second shave with the iKon DLC slant, with Stubble Trubble and...
I was so excited that yesterday’s shave with the iKon DLC was nick-free after switching to Derby Extra blades that I had to try it again right away. I swapped the iKon SE handle for the Wolfman handle...
View ArticleSimpson Duke 3 Best, Tim’s Wood & Roses, Baby Smooth, and D.R. Harris Pink...
I went in a rose direction today. My Simpson Duke 3 made a good lather from Tim’s Soap Wood & Roses, a sandalwood-rose fragrance. The Baby Smooth is a soothing razor, though still extremely...
View ArticleSimpson Emperor 2, Soap Commander Love, iKon DLC slant with new Derby blade
The experiment continues. This morning I tried a new Derby blade but same Wolfman handle as last time. But first, the prep. I used a Simpson Emperor 2 Best brush, and though it is fine, I’m thinking I...
View ArticleVie-Long, Strop Shoppe, Fatip Testina Gentile, Speick: The truly great...
The Vie-Long brush shown is a bit of a mystery. It was sold as a boar brush, but it sure seems like horsehair to me: finer hairs, a bit softer on the face. At any rate, it’s a terrific little brush,...
View ArticleChiseled Face brush, B&M Leviathan, and the redoubtable iKon X3
I really like this Chiseled Face brush, which turned out to be a limited edition—at least, I’ve not seen its return. The grain in the handle and the shape of the handle are pleasing to me, and the...
View ArticleSandalwood today: Geo. F. Trumper and TOBS, with a Rod Neep brush and the...
I like this Rod Need brush, a one-off, and it made a fine lather from Geo. F. Trumper’s Sandalwood shaving soap, something that I’ve read is not possible with the current Trumper formulation, which is...
View ArticleThe Wee Scot and Dr. Selby do the prep, Maggard’s V2 open comb does the...
Dr. Selby 3x Concentrated Shaving Cream not only works extremely well, the bowl is nicely designed, the lid serving as a pedestal. Unfortunately, it seems to be no longer available, which is a shame:...
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