Face Wash : Musgo Real Lime Menthol Glycerine Soap
Pre-Shave : Myrsol Emulsion
Brush : Shavemac *
Soap : Martin de Candre Original
Razor : Mastro Livi Symmetrical Damascus Kamisori
After Shave : Fine Platinum (Menthol Enhanced)
Absolute ripper of a shave today. Started off with a nice Menthol slow burn from the Myrsol Emulsion while I got ready to lather up. I chose my Shavemac custom and one of my favourite soaps for straight/kamisori shaving, Martin de Candre Original.
@alfredus suggested to me yesterday that in the case of custom configured brushes particularly, a bit more information would be good to have. I agree, so here's a little more : The brush is from Shavemac's "colourful range", and features a "Blue Marmorate" handle, with a loft of 50mm and knot size of 21mm. The actual hair is called Silvertip Extra D01, which Shavemac claim is extra robust and densely packed, leading to a knot that "stays compact and keeps in shape really well". I agree with these claims - the brush also has a nice backbone and good exfoliating properties. Notwithstanding all these attributes or perhaps because of them, it took me an unusually long time to make friends with this brush - I think it had quite a long break-in period for a badger brush.
The shave itself was really special - a little like the Shavemac brush, It has taken quite a while to get the Mastro Livi Kamisori performing really well. Both
@Mark and myself have had multiple attempts at honing this razor so as to achieve a sharp but smooth cutting edge. We have both managed to find multiple ways of putting a laser sharp edge on the razor, but at the expense of a "bitey" and uncomfortable shave. I tried quite a few combinations of Japanese natural stones to no avail, and had reached the point of near total frustration when
@Mark offered to "have one more go". I gratefully packed and posted and tried not to get my hopes up too much. Then the news I'd been hoping for -
@Mark believed he had finally nailed it. He shave tested, and gave it a thumbs up. Australia Post did their thing, and the razor arrived yesterday. So it was with quite a bit of nervous expectation that I commenced shaving. The nervousness turned out to be unnecessary - the shave was simply magnificent from start to finish. The razor shaved extra close, and did it with incredible smoothness and comfort. Success at last : the Kamisori shaves as well as it looks, and that is no small order.
When I asked
@Mark what the secret to getting this edge was, he muttered something semi coherent about Havana cigars at midnight, cemeteries and nagura made from headstones. I'm a little concerned that this job has taken its toll on him....
I celebrated the shave with a big menthol hit - Fine's great Platinum AS spiked with a double shot of extra menthol.
All's well that ends well they say
I'd better keep a close eye on
@Mark for a while though....