An excellent recipe for an uber lather
Face Wash : Shower, PAA Menthol Pre-Shave Soap
Pre Shave : Razorock Peppermint Pre-Shave Emulsion
Brush : Plisson blah blah blah
Soap : Ubermix - Mitchell's Woolfat + Proraso White Shave Cream + 4 drops Glycerin
Razor : Puma 5/8" Friseur Freund #1
After Shave : Alum, Argan Oil
After Shave Splash : Musgo Real Orange Amber
Taking no chances after yesterday's dehydrating Martin de Candre debacle, I decided to take a leaf from @Osman's current book and brew up a lather which (in theory) shouldn't dare to go dry on me. Even added a few drops of glycerin just to make certain. Well, it certainly smelled nice - although most of Proraso's fragrances fail for me, this one really makes up for it. The MWF gave it a wonderful TALLOW backbone (yes, @alfredus, the real thing) and the glycerin kept it all beautifully moist.
Then a big change - a shave with German steel. This is the first time in ages that non-Japanese steel has touched my face, and I have to admit to being well impressed. A very smooth shave and a wonderfully loud razor. Achieved a super result and enjoyed the heck out of the shave. Only one thing could make it better - a splash of a favourite AS, which Musgo Real's Orange Amber is for me.
I hope everyone else had a super enjoyable midweek shave too
Wednesday 14 October 2015
Osborne, Garrett & Co. Kropp, 6/8 Full Hollow, Round point
A very pleasing shave. It has been quite a long time since I used this Kropp razor and I can still say it is a great shaver. I simply refreshed its edge on my Mastro Livi loom strop with his chromium oxide stick and this Kropp was absolutely ready to give me a very good shave. I also used Martin De Candre soap - what else can be said about this magnificent soap? - and mounting the lather with my Mastro Livi "Italian Brush" has been very easy. The finishing touch has been provided by this Felce Azzurra Uomo aftershave, not the very best around, however doing a good job.
- Pre-Shave: RazorGuy Pre-Shave Oil
- Soap: Martin De Candre
- Brush: Mastro Livi Silvertip Badger "Pennello Italiano", 24mm knot
- Bowl: Gerby Bowl
- Strop: Mastro Livi Loom Strop "Coramella Italiana" and Hand Palm
- Razor: Osborne, Garrett & Co. Kropp, 6/8 Full Hollow, Round point
- Post-Shave: Alum Block
- Post-Shave: Umbrian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- After Shave: Felce Azzurra Uomo
Thank you, sir! I really enjoyed this shave and the Mastro Livi brush has been stellar, as usual!
For what it's worth, I find that building the lather over a longer than normal period and adding water very slowly results in an amazing Mike's lather.
Face Wash : Shower, Razorock Lime Menthol Pre-Shave Soap
Brush : Romera 2 Band
Soap : Mike's Peppermint and Rosemary
Razor : Kamisori - Hoshi Tombo
After Shave : Alum, Argan Oil
After Shave Splash : Myrsol Agua Balsamica
First try of the revered Mike's Natural Soap this morning. In spite of having received the indoctrination and psychological conditioning, and having watched the "How to Get a Great Lather from Mike's in 17 Easy Steps" video, I must have gotten the offerings to the shave gods mixed up today. (OMG, hope that doesn't mean they'll require a blood sacrifice tomorrow morning?)
Seriously, I managed to get a reasonable lather, but definitely not the lather I hear described in reverential tones around here... Oh well Rome wasn't built in a day, If at first you don't succeed then try, try again(and the rest of those infuriating homilies only ever uttered in smug tones by those who succeeded first time through pure, blind luck) I suspect a few more watchings of the video and a few practice lathers will get it sorted
Aside from the soap disappointment, the shave was super. The Hoshi Kami sailed through the task and left me feeling great. The usual rinse/alum/rinse and another new bit of software. I ran out of Argan Oil yesterday, which was great cos the one I bought last time didn't smell brilliant. I replaced it with a bottle of Swisse brand, which is certified organic and has a hint of organic citrus fragrance. A nice product indeed - left my incredibly smooth skin feeling nourished and elastic.
Happy shaves to all
Hmmmmm sounds like these blades are quite good. If you're managing to get ~8+ shaves from them I guess they're definitely stainless steel and not carbon, which was a lil unclear earlier. Somewhat kicking myself as I know you're a real vintage blade buff with quite the enviable stash of vintage blades and if these are up there for you they're up there for anyone - and I had a chance to get quite a few of these rather affordabley but passed on it as from the Mr Razor Gillette blade pictorial history I assumed these must be carbon steel....very little info out there about them too, but they sound a lovely blade.
First try of the revered Mike's Natural Soap this morning. In spite of having received the indoctrination and psychological conditioning, and having watched the "How to Get a Great Lather from Mike's in 17 Easy Steps" video, I must have gotten the offerings to the shave gods mixed up today. (OMG, hope that doesn't mean they'll require a blood sacrifice tomorrow morning?)
Seriously, I managed to get a reasonable lather, but definitely not the lather I hear described in reverential tones around here... Oh well Rome wasn't built in a day, If at first you don't succeed then try, try again(and the rest of those infuriating homilies only ever uttered in smug tones by those who succeeded first time through pure, blind luck) I suspect a few more watchings of the video and a few practice lathers will get it sorted
