Morning gents,
Second use of the Brass General last night, though it was my first full shave with it. A few days beard to mow through so it had a bit of a challenge. I went for a blue theme with my soap and brush, both of which are first uses to me. Starting with a new Shavemac brush, lovely brush, great knot, good backbone, very soft tips, good flow through, beautiful resin, I'm looking forward to giving it a run out with my 1912 soaps because I'd never lathered the soap I used before… B&M Arctique. It was quite a late shave last night, around 21:00, but I needed to be up to collect my Mrs so thought, bugger it, a bit of a menthol hit will keep me up. Note the use of the words “a bitâ€, I was wrong. This is not “a bit†of a menthol hit at all, it was like a roundhouse kick from Jean Claude Van Damme, straight to the face. This stuff had my eyes watering, partly because of hayfever, but partly because of how bloody cold it is. It's too much for me personally, it'll likely be coming to a BST near you, if you read this and it interests you, drop me a PM!
That said, it was certainly refreshing and quite a good lather was had, but I struggled a bit to concentrate on the shave when I kept thinking my face was going to fall off
. The General shaves very well, it had a bit more audible feedback this shave, loaded with the ProLine again, on its 4th outing. Two passes later and I was smooth in the main, with no irritation, but a couple of tiny weepers. I really dislike the metallic smell of the brass, it's too strong, perhaps exacerbated by the fact my nasal passage was now completely clear from inhaling the snow caps on Mount Everest, but I picked it up even more than my first shave and it puts me off a bit, despite me really liking the razor.
Washed off with cold water (shiver), finished with some Thayers Aloe Witch Hazel and then some 1912 Classic 24 aftershave balm, which does a good job of nourishing my skin.