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Catie’s Bubble Le Piment de la Vie and Fine Classic, with the Stealth slant
The Stealth remains one of my best slants and best razors. It does require keeping the handle closer to the face than is common for a DE razor, and it does a superb job. The lather was very good from...
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Omega Mixed Midget, Dr. Selby, Baili 171, and Lavanda
Dr. Selby’s 3x concentrated lavender shaving cream makes a terrific lather. It’s very much like a soap in consistency and performance, and it seems to be no longer available, a shame. The little Omega...
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Wee Scot, Dr. Selby, and a special guest appearance by the new Fine slant
I like yesterday’s lather from Dr. Selby’s 3X Concentrated Shaving Cream so much that I had to repeat the experience immediately—plus I got a nice comment from a Uruguayan read (Dr. Selby’s being a...
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Comparing iKon X3 and Fine aluminum slant
Today I decided to compare my current best twisted-blade slant, the iKon X3, and the Fine aluminum slant, which I learned will be priced at $125. First the prep, of course. As I noted yesterday, The...
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Edwin Jagger synthetic, Van Yulay Achilles, and the Fine aluminum slant
I had put this Edwin Jagger synthetic aside in favor of the Plissoft brushes, but now that I try it again, I like it quite a bit. As you can see in the photo, the bristles are not so closely packed as...
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Barrister & Mann Leviathan and the Fine aluminum slant with a sharper blade
The Omega brush is from my discard pile, but it did a pretty good job. Its only problem is a relatively small lather capacity, but the lather it held was excellent in consistency and fragrance. This...
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Mühle synthetic, Tallow + Steel Grog, and the iKon 102
This Mühle brush has much the same knot as the Edwin Jagger synthetic, though the knot is a little smaller. Still, it has excellent performance and capacity, and I thoroughly enjoyed both fragrance...
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Fine aluminum slant with RazoRock Zi’ Peppino
I think with this shave I’ve put the Fine aluminum slant through its paces, and I will be returning the prototype. Yesterday I shaved with the iKon 102, with an eye to comparing that shave with the...
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Lavanille and the Copper Hat silvertip, with the iKon 101
I find Lavanille more difficult to lather than my other soaps, including other Barrister & Mann soaps. Not sure why that would be, but I noticed it again this morning. I’m pretty sure my brush was...
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BBS with Fatip Testina Gentile and AOS Sandalwood, with Rooney butterscotch...
AOS sandalwood shaving soap lathers extremely well and has a great fragrance. I believe this was made by Valobra. The Rooney seemed to enjoy its time with the soap, and the Fatip Testina Gentile,...
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No shave: Too hot
Global warming comes to the Central Coast. Temperatures high (Santa Cruz was 106ºF yesterday), and home air conditioning in this neighborhood, right on the Bay, is nonexistent because it has never been...
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A great shave: A 3-day stubble bites the lather
A most pleasant shave. The temperatures have dropped—70ºF now (21ºC—gotta get used to that)—and having a three-day stubble to shave made for a pleasant experience. The Omega Mixed Midget did a great...
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The Grooming Co.’s synthetic, with Strop Shoppe Russian Tea and the very fine...
I had this brush in the give-away pile. It is a Plissoft synthetic, and those I like in general, but the knot is quite dense and resilient rather than fluffy and soft, so you get the feeling that the...
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Edwin Jagger synthetic, Chiseled Face Summer Storm, and the RazoRock Baby Smooth
The EJ synthetic does not require such a shake as required by a Plissoft synthetic, probably because the knot is somewhat more open. The brush easily worked up a fine lather with the petrichor...
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Wee Scot and Phoenix Artisan Solstice, with the Fatip Testina Gentile
I am noticing that I get exceptional lathers from my Phoenix Artisan (and Crown King) shaving soaps: fragrance, effect on skin, and thickness. This morning was more of the same: a really fine...
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Phoenix Artisan/Crown King Alt-Eleven with WSP Monarch, and the Dorco PL602
Well, that exceptional lather yesterday (using the Wee Scot and Phoenix Artisan Solstice) I attributed to the Wee Scot together with the fine soap. Today, with the Wet Shaving Products Monarch and...
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Rooney Style 3, Phoenix Artisan Honeysuckle, and an iKon open comb
I’m on a Phoenix Artisan shaving soap kick, as you see. Once again the lather was exceptional, in both consistency and fragrance. The Rooney Style 3 Size 1 is a workhorse of a brush, and it did a fine...
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A small-footprint shave: Wee Scot, D.R. Harris shave stick, iKon 102, and...
I decided to try a travel possibility. Using a shave stick with a boar brush is guts ball—boar brushes may well require more soap to load than your stubble scrapes off the shave stick—but I felt...
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Omega Mixed Midget, AOS Sandalwood, the iKon X3, and Spring-Heeled Jack for a...
I soak the Mixed Midget—wet it well under the hot-water tap and then let it stand while I shower—because of the boar content, and it did a good job make a lather from Art of Shaving Sandalwood shaving...
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Rooney Emilion, QED Vanilla shave stick, Fatip Testina Gentile, and Floïd
I really liked QED’s old shave sticks—haven’t tried the newer ones—and this Vanilla shave stick is very nice indeed. I couldn’t really see any soap on my stubble after rubbing the stick against the...
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