Monday 4th March
Art of Shaving Sandalwood (Vintage/Tallow) Shaving Soap & Semogue SOC Butterscotch Pure Bristle
Muhle Rocca (Polished) w/Souplex Bakelite Handle & Astra Superior Platinum (India) (1)
Pinaud Clubman Classic Vanilla Aftershave Lotion
Super-excited to use my recently acquired vintage Art of Shaving soap. When I first came to traditional shaving in 2013, I had little appreciation for the drama that the shaving soap world had just been through with one, the move from tallowate to palmate and two, the unfolding Soapworks disaster - Art of Shaving was a soap spoken about very highly, particularly the older tallowate formulation.
... and they weren't wrong! What a phenomenal soap! Luxuriously thick and creamy, sensationally smooth and salaciously slick!
Excited, too, to try the Indian-made Astra Superior Platinum. Granted, I'm late to the party so don't really have a great deal to add to the debate, but my
two penneth-worth is that these are sharper than the Russian, less smooth but that's no bad thing. Even after only the first few strokes, I noted that I would be happy to buy a hundred ... but to be fair, I was already sold what with it being an Indian-made blade. I like Indian blades and coming out of the P&G plant (or to Gillette's specifications) like the 7 O'Clock Black (and Green) this does not disappoint.
Swish!
So, that'll be my setup for the week. I'll rotate razors, keeping the rest the same.