First Shave w/"Appreciation" Products

mantic59

mantic59

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After finding a place in my shave den for all the shaving goodies from you fine folks, I finally started using some of the products this morning: SOTD included the New Forest shaving brush and Dr. Henks a/s balm (balance of kit included DR Harris Arlington soap, Merkur Progress razor w/Derby blade. I didn't want to change up too many variables at once. ;) ).

I prep'd the brush last night with a short soak in a diluted white wine vinegar & hot water solution. No detectable funky smell this morning. First impressions of the brush: positive! Very soft but with a lot of backbone (I wonder if this brush will "bloom"-- I'm guessing very little if at all). I didn't measure it but the loft appears a bit shorter than average but much denser, with high quality hair: this thing can hold a tonne of water! Very well constructed. My only nit is that it was a bit of a lather hog but I attribute this to the new-ness of the brush and I'm sure it will behave better as I break it in.

Dr. Henks a/s will be an excellent "Winter" product for me, when the weather is cold and dry. Its probably a bit too heavy for routine use in the hot Texas summers. Mild, "outdoors" scent and a very nice matte finish.

I'm tempted to try the British vintage Gillette razor tomorrow but I almost hate to because it's so damned shiny and perfect-looking. :)
 
Thanks for the feedback Mark, actually posted the rest of the stuff (Ingrams + Erasmic creams, Jagger AV soap + some blades) this very morning, so hopefully be with you soon.
 
Yup, we love our New Forest brushes, really top bit of kit.

You're right - it won't bloom lots but it will improve.

What's great about The Shaving Room is we have several soap/cream makers, a few balm / cologne / aftershave makers, some brush makers and restorers and lots of razors (esp. the English ones, Rockets and Aristocrats).

I can have an in-house shave most days with stuff from this relatively small forum; talented guys who really punch above their weight when it comes to delivering the goods.

Hope you like the rest of the stuff too.
 
mantic59 said:
...
I'm tempted to try the British vintage Gillette razor tomorrow but I almost hate to because it's so damned shiny and perfect-looking. :)
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  • Use it. Use it! Remember those saddest of words "if only" ...
    • Also, very glad that you're liking the stuff so far.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
This morning's shave included the vintage Gillette razor (is it an Aristrocrat?) from the Appreciation package.

Normally when I try a razor for the first time I use the same kit so I can eliminate variables: Coates Tea Tree, Shaveplace pure badger brush, and either a Crystal (aka "Israeli Personna") or Derby blade. I had heard the vintage Gillette's of this type are very mild so I decided to put in an Iridium blade. I'm not a big user of vintage razors (I've tried a couple Superspeeds but that's about it) so this was especially new territory for me.

And to me this razor *is* rather mild: it would probably correspond to about a 2 or so on my Merkur Progress. A very consistant, smooth shave, though with a weeper or two and a tiny bit of redness under the right side of my chin (probably because I'm used to handling a Progress, which is held at quite a different angle). I probably should have used a Derby after all.

One thing I noted was the exceptional balance of the razor!
 
I shaved this morning with the Boots shave stick (New Forest brush, Progress razor, Derby blade). The lather was a bit thin (or perhaps the New Forest brush is still a bit of a hog) but the shave was quite good: maybe not the luxurious experience of a Trumpers or a Castle Forbes but lubrication and cushion was good, and the scent was pleasant. I wouldn't have any problem recommending it to a shaving newbie looking for an inexpensive but still (reasonably) widely available product in the UK.
 
mantic59 said:
I shaved this morning with the Boots shave stick (New Forest brush, Progress razor, Derby blade). The lather was a bit thin (or perhaps the New Forest brush is still a bit of a hog) but the shave was quite good: maybe not the luxurious experience of a Trumpers or a Castle Forbes but lubrication and cushion was good, and the scent was pleasant. I wouldn't have any problem recommending it to a shaving newbie looking for an inexpensive but still (reasonably) widely available product in the UK.
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I dont know if Boots have changed the formulation for its shaving stick,but the one I have gives a lot of thick and slick lather with no effort at all.Actually,I have seen that its formulation its so similar to Floris JF,but with a different (much different) scent.
Thanks Mr M. for this reviews/comments about the English products.I wish that Spain would have more to offer regarding traditional wet shaving supplies....
 
I tried Monsavon this morning (w/shaveplace brush, Progress razor, Derby blade). This is a French product, yes? It took about twice as long to load my brush compared to other soaps I have. The scent was a little unusual to my nose but not unpleasant. The lather was good and the shave fine. Finished up with the Dr. Henk's a/s: a few minutes later my wife gave me my off-to-work hug and remarked she liked how I smelled :D .
 
I received the balance of the "appreciation" products yesterday, Ingrams, Erasmic, Edwin Jagger, and some blades. THANK YOU!

I tried the Erasmic this morning, with the New Forest brush, Progress razor, Derby blade. The New Forest brush is still not wanting to give up its lathery goodness very easily, no doubt because its so dense (the only other time I've had the problem to this extent is when I dial my Variable Loft Brush all the way down). I bowl-lathered instead of lathering directly on the face (I wanted a nice warm lather) this morning and I think I will continue doing that until the brush has broken in.

Anyway, Erasmic. This is available at places like Tesco, yes? Not much of a scent but a very fine shave indeed.

--Mark
 
:shock: :eek: The burning bush´s getting some decent post counts and in our little, well Bobs :geek:, site :D I´m happy you like the stuff, even though Peters brush seems to give you some initial troubles, but it´s well worth keeping (I got three, BAD - anyone :?: :lol:).
 
Mikael said:
:shock: :eek: The burning bush´s getting some decent post counts and in our little, well Bobs :geek:, site :D I´m happy you like the stuff, even though Peters brush seems to give you some initial troubles, but it´s well worth keeping (I got three, BAD - anyone :?: :lol:).
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Was 4 then Mikael, good job I helped you out. Brilliant brush though.
 
man of leisure said:
Mikael said:
:shock: :eek: The burning bush´s getting some decent post counts and in our little, well Bobs :geek:, site :D I´m happy you like the stuff, even though Peters brush seems to give you some initial troubles, but it´s well worth keeping (I got three, BAD - anyone :?: :lol:).
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Was 4 then Mikael, good job I helped you out. Brilliant brush though.
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Errhhh, well, they where 5 :oops: :lol:, in my defence - I made two customs, sooo with slightly different loft hight you could say I´ve got very different NF brushes :mrgreen:
 
mantic59 said:
IThe New Forest brush is still not wanting to give up its lathery goodness very easily
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Classic quote :D

Speaking of which, I was trying to help a newbie at barbearclassico.com by showing him one of your videos where you show how to get the lathery goodness by squeezing the brush before the last pass. Thanks for the excellent tip, I use it every time.

I just can't remember which video it was in...
 
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