Brush: Vie-Long 12705
Soap/Cream: C&E Moroccan Myrrh / TOBS Jermyn St cream
Razor: Merkur 34C
Blade: Astra [0]
After-shave: L'Oreal Hydra Sensitive ASB
So... C&E Moroccan Myrrh... I couldn't for the life of me get it to lather. It was a Christmas present. This was my first time using it. No love, whatsoever. I'm not sure what (if anything) I was doing wrong. Loaded up, but even then it looked sudsy and gross. Tried to lather, but nothing. So I cleaned out the brush, re-loaded with a dry brush, and had another crack. Still no love. Why?!? Surely a company like C&E wouldn't produce such a dodgy product...
So, eventually I gave up, washed my face off and the brush, loaded some TOBS Jermyn St cream in, and within 30 seconds I had a beautiful lather to play with.
Was my first shave on this astra blade (by the way, does the numbering system for blades include the current shave and so put 1 for a new blade, or do you put 0 for a new blade?). I didn't feel super comfortable for this shave. I could feel some irritation. Not sure if it was that I haven't used the 34C in a while and I'm not used to it... Or maybe I much prefer Personna blades (which I have had in the DE89)... Plus, I gave myself a small nick, which I haven't done in a while...
In summary, a disappointing new years shave, on many counts. It can only go up from here.