2015: Shaving Hits & Misses

p.b

p.b

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1,699
Location
Brentwood, Essex
These are mine for 2015

Hits.
Simpsons Chubby 2 Synthetic – this was my disappointment of 2014 when I bought one from the initial batch with a loft of 50mm which required a lot of force to splay (I think Dipesh described it as like lathering with your elbow and he wasn't wrong.) In the Black Friday sale I then bought another and requested one with the highest loft and most fan-like shape. I'd heard reports that batch 2 was a bit different and even on batch 1, once splayed, I found the Simpson fibres to be amazing. My second brush has a loft of 53mm and rather than being shaped like a pointed tube actually has a natural spray and it's fantastic: one of the product highlights of my shaving year.

Bowtie Soaps – great slickness, protective lather and subtle scents.

Shavemac 2-band Silvertips - customable plus a great balance of soft tips and back-bone.

Boab – keeping the forum alive and changing to the current one after the dodgy upgrade mid-year.

And finally:
Nico1970 – for his amazingly generous pass-arounds of high end razors.



Misses.
The forum ‘upgrade' we had in the middle of the year.

A couple of artisan soaps that didn't make the grade for me.

Poor Supply Vs. Demand of several razors and brushes: Wolfman; various Razorocks; Mongoose & Alugoose; Varlet; Paladin.

Happy New Year - Paul.
 
Hits - well there's the new acquisitions that I liked such as the Hoffritz Futur and the Rooney Victorian or Henckels DE heads . And the previous acquisitions that carried on performing perfectly like the MWF and the Cobra (which I only really came back to in the last couple of months).

Misses - The Veg, it must be genetic or something but yeuuuchhhh!

And just to second what Paul said here - the lack of availability on some hardware is simply stunning - either manufacturers are trying to build some 'cachet' into their products or original pilot batches are way too small with reorder times being months and months down the line - or maybe - is this wet shaving thing really taking off? Are numbers of high end clients now catching the market unawares??

Have a great New Year everyone and all the very best for 2016.

Ratty
 
Hits, for me just finding this Forum and the great bunch of folks that contribute to its success, and the outstanding generosity of members.

Miss, the fact that I continued on with not enjoying and constantly complaining about having to shave, until October 2015, see above.

Here's to a succession of hits for 2016.

Happy new year all.
 
For me it was:

Miss:
-Leresche 77 razor grrr
-First time ever demand is higher than supply and prices go up ridiculously. I hate it
-untold amount of shaving goodies which I wanted to work but my skin refuse to co -op....
-razor being stolen (Feather) by person i trusted and dealt a lot before.

I had Darwin for trial from a friend and that was the one razor who performed for me but having toddler and stay home mummy with him I just cant afford the ridiculous price people want for it. So its Hit and miss


Hit:
This forum help and support topped with generosity after above razor was stolen. Restored my fate in Wet shaving as I was thinking to quit. Especially couple people helped. Carl and anonymous vendor deserved massive thank you like you all.

Gillette pre WW2 OC razors

My routine is set on pre/post and brush. SMN pre, Plisson vintage, Thayers witch hazel and Hydrolast balm. I only play with soap and razors too match now.


And there is too much to keep writing but I also was given p.160 (1kg block) pre 2002 by one great member knowing that this mostly works for me and is very rare when i can say that.


Thank you ALL you are great bunch!
 
Hits:
Finally trying MWF, it really is superb.
Bagging some NOS Schick Twin Blades - effortlessly close shave with the Schick adjustable.
Martins @Nico1970 pass arounds - fantastic!!!
This forum going from strength to strength, thanks to @Boab and other admins and moderators.

Misses:
MdC Soap, its really not that great!
LPL Soap as above...
Expensive stuff that I want but can't afford/justify...:rolleyes:

Here's to a great 2016
 
Hi

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

HITS:
Mongoose razor - superb.
My Hybrid Wolfwhisker/Romera brush is fantastic.
The TSR LE brushes. Great fun and great brushes! (Thanks @Nishy).
CRSW Soap.

MISSES:
MWF - tried it, great face feel but simply can rarely lather it properly???
Caties Bubbles - great Soap, but makes my face sting.
Simpsons Manchurian brushes. - how the hell can they charge that much. Got a second hand one, and would love to buy one new but wont as they really do look like a rip off.

Matt
 
Hits:
SE razors and injectors
Serge Lutens fanboy-dom
USB and argan oil
Plisson synthetic

Misses:
Still not sticking with straight razors
A few 'artisan' soaps - skin reaction
U.S. soap importers forum fiasco
Unnecessary purchases
 
Hits for me were the Mongoose - once I'd replaced the handle with a titanium one; Thater 26mm two band fan - not the easiest brush to get considering they are made in Germany but you can see the quality of the construction and symmetry of the hair, getting nice reviews of a couple of my restorations in mother of pearl. Like others, I very much appreciate the effort that went into the new upgrade once it was realised that the previous one was not working.

Misses - I think there were active contributors that have still not returned - whether they were put off with the issues experienced in the first upgrade I don't know. Although the 'new posts' section is OK, I preferred the old one where it was just rolling recent (24 hour) posts.
 
Hits:
  • OSP - another quality UK soap maker
  • Found my best Bay Rum soaps - Barrister and Mann, Kramperts & OSP
  • Found my best cream - Baume.be
  • Found my travel razor - Merkur 45c bakelite
  • Catie's Bubbles LPV soap
  • PAL injecto-matic razor - so simple, so good.
  • Fine Accoutrements lather bowl - go-to bowl now.
  • Thayers Witch Hazel - WH without the stink, use daily.
  • Using a mobile phone holder with sucker to hold my brush instead of a stand.
  • Finally reduced my shaving expenses as I now have so much of everything.
Misses:
  • Rejected Father Popular as a travel razor - too mild
  • Rejected Wilkinson Sword as a travel razor - too mild
  • Whipped Dog 24mm synthetic brush - although good the backbone is slightly too much and didn't live up to my expectations.
Lots of hits really for 2015, was a good shaving year for me and the misses were not big deals really.

Happy New Year and shave on in 2016.
 
Last edited:
Hits
Meissner Tremonia soaps ... simply, the best
Le Pere Lucient soaps .... simply, the best (if Meissner Tremonia didn't exist)
Pashana Aftershave ... why did I wait so long?
Weck Straight Edge (Disposable) ... blades that feel like GEM, great shaves
Attars ... HUGE fun!

Misses
Myrsol aftershaves ... horrid sticky, tacky splashes
Vie-Long sythetic brushes ... uninspiring fibre, tied as badly as their horse hair
Martin de Candre soaps ... not up to LPL or MT and certainly not worth the hype, good otherwise
Numerous American "Artisan" soaps ... poor, just poor
Vintage Straight Edge ... after many tries and re-tries, it's not for me

Here's to a great 2016!

Shaving-wise, I've found my niche razors, found my soaps, found my after shave routine, found my scents, so I think it'll be a year of enjoying what I have and hopefully getting more of it.
 
It's been a very good year, so the hits will definitely outnumber the misses, also I'm a glass half full person so I'm going to remember the better things more clearly.

Hits
Testing, helping develop and then buying OSP soap - I feel like a proud uncle seeing James' soap on my shelf.
Finds - an Aristocrat 21 in an old shaving kit and getting a Ben Hur Mikron adjustable at a reasonable price at a time when there was money in my PayPal account. Getting the Hoffritz slant I'd been after for ages and finding it better than I thought. Snaffling some great razors for buttons on the bay.
After taking a punt on a cheap Standard razor, finding it to be my perfect daily driver.
Discovering vintage and artisan soaps and enjoying both.
6 Attar sprays for the price of one bottle of Paul Smith and finding them all great scents.
Getting the Crown King Switchback synthetic Rubberset 400 clone, which with two heads could be the all the brush I need.

Misses
Too many duff blades among the normally excellent Rapira Swedes - I don't like playing Russian roulette with my blades.
Royal Mail losing three parcels I sent.
Still not cracked bowl lathering to the extent that I feel as confident with the lather on as face lathering.
A few too many poor punts on eBay.
 
HITS: Well for me generally this forum...lot's of great, down to earth, generous and knowledgeable guys who are passionate about shaving. Also Reef Point soaps..pretty damn good! Russian blades with the fluctuating ruble...cheap and amazing shavers.And really looking forward to a shave!

MISSES: Not being able to "dial in" My R2 plate on my ATT (no matter how I try) and as mentioned waiting lists for certain hardware....brushes ect.

Have a great New Year folks!

All the best for 2016!
 
Hit:
Re-discovering boar brushes and experiencing just how good a fully broken in boar can be (hello Semogue 610 and Italian Barber LE).

RazoRock Plissoft. Outrageously good brush for so little money.

Miss:
Finding my preferred razor/blade combo (old metal Gillette Contour with Russian Slalom carts), and then not stocking up on the carts when they were cheap and plentiful.
 
Hits:
ATT shaving system in particular the R2 plate with kronos handle.
Scoring around 12 straight razors all shave ready for £50 at a local auction
TR Olibanum, Grandstaff and Midnight & Two- the cabin
Shavemac brushes, organising LE's and dealing with Bernd
Speick a/s for skin conditioning
Encre Noire for scent
Discovering the wonders of clean vetiver
Phoenix and Beau tallow

Misses:
Trumpers hard soap
Semogue boar
Synthetic brushes expect the Plisson
Tim's Greek peach smells like Calpol to me
 
These are mine for 2015:

Hits:
  • Floid Blue - discovered an A/S that both smells great AND provides amazing post shave treatment
  • New Forest brushes - just wish I had discovered them earlier
  • A LOT of great razors, to single out three;
    • - Schick Type O,
    • - Blackland's Blackbird, and
    • - OneBlade

Misses:
  • - Quorum EdC - did not agree with my nose..or people's around me
  • - Fitjar badger brushes - really, really wanted to like them...but their lack of backbone ruined it a bit for me
  • - Wilkinson Flip-Top - love the design and look of it...way too mild/poor performing for me though
 
Hits specific to this forum - props go out to people like Nishy for the Group Buys and people like Nico and SmartyPants who've been circulating some pretty expensive hardware for people to try out.

Apologies if I missed anyone of the pass-arounds - I've never participated in one so I don't know all the names.
 
Hits:
  • Discovering that wet shaving is NOT a chore.
  • Finding this forum and all the 'forum' friends I've made during this year.
  • The generosity of many members.
  • Discovering vintage Ever Ready and Gem SE's.
  • @OSP soaps. I had a little bit to do with the name, thanks James for using it.
  • @Northam Saint and the Bideford pottery Bowl.
  • @phoenixandbeau tallow soap.
Misses:
  • Wilkinson Sword blue bowl soap.
  • Many Bay of E auctions.
 
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