SOTD 11/12/13
What a great shave!
I have so many razors now, I really didn't know where to start ... so I started by going backwards with my most recent acquisitions: a Valet VC1 and a GEM Micromatic Bullet Tip.
Hot Towel
NuAge Men PSO
TOBS Eton College Shaving Cream
Edwin Jagger Best Badger 21mm
Valet VC1/GEM Stainless PTFE [1]
GEM Micromatic Bullet Tip/GEM Stainless PTFE [1]
Hot Rinse
Cold Rinse
Alum Wash
Cold Rinse
Brut Original
One pass WTG - Valet VC1/GEM Stainless PTFE [1]
One pass WTG/One pass XTG - GEM Micromatic Bullet Tip/GEM Stainless PTFE [1]
Did I say, "What a great shave!"?
Thank you to Carl for his generous PIF of Taylor of Old Bond Street shaving creams - I got the Eton College, a gentle citrus scent with light woody notes behind. Perfect with my G&T. Lathering was a case of wet brush, shaken free of hanging water and swirled in the pot five times clockwise, five anti-clockwise ... and what an explosion of lather! The lather got better with each pass, too. I had way too much, so think just five light swirls should do me proud next time. I really enjoyed the soap, so thank you again Carl.
I have four days of growth and so an open comb seemed a good choice.
Selecting the Valet VC1 with a GEM Stainless PTFE blade, de-spined and snipped at the corners to fit, I carefully and purposefully gave my cheek the first stroke. Well, blow me down, what a smooth razor! The blade, is of course, a known good, but what a smooth razor! I said that already
Par for the course with single edge razors like this, the sound is like scraping butter onto toast. The angle was easy to find and my whiskers just blew away with great ease, no discomfort and with great feedback from the razor - it goes quiet when you have the wrong angle. One with the grain pass.
Not wanting to push my luck, I switched razor and repeated a with the grain pass using a GEM Micromatic; a closed comb razor, reputed to be milder than the 1912s. Milder, yes, smoother, too. I could have left it at that, but boy, was I enjoying myself and pressed on for the proverbial smooth shave and a cross the grain pass.
Rinsed off, the alum wash proved nothing untoward and so ... a very generous splash of Brut complimented the shave perfectly, the citrus now a memory and the woods just coming through, adding further complexity to the Brut.
You can tell, I really enjoyed this shave
