Evening gents,
Well what an interesting shave that was!
First use for a while of the Asylum RX loaded up with a Kai Protouch MG (3/4). It was also a first for three other products;
A new Maesto finest in horn, 30mm fan knot, set at 48mm. A 30mm fan knot set at 48mm?! Preposterous I hear you say! I had my reservations too... More on that to come.
Two very special Wickham products,
@Fox concocted four wonderful soaps for my birthday and I received them late last week. I'll be using each in turn over the next four shaves, so each will be revealed with the relevant SOTD, I started with 1912 Southsea Spray. The second Wickham product is a tester for
@Fox... His new aftershave Balm, in Classic 24 scent.
So, on to the shave, Maesto left to bloom in warm water whilst I showered along with the soap blooming at the same time. Loaded up for 30 seconds and commenced face lather! This brush was a real surprise. It has phenomenal backbone, without being scritchy (the very occasional prickle excluded), a great scrubby brush that builds up a brilliant lather and feels good in the process. Even on its first use it didn't hold back much lather in the knot and the flow through was great, both things I was concerned about when I received it. It's a keeper for sure and the resin is lovely as well. Delighted with this. The soap scent is gorgeous as well a really nice, fresh scent, look forward to using I it again in the future.
Now, the shave. I've had a couple of rough ones with the RX in the past so there was a little trepidation before I began. I needn't have worried, it felt smooth and efficient in equal measure. An adequate amount of blade feel and good audible feedback to guide me. I had 5 days stubble to get through and it coped admirably. This is where it gets interesting though, I'd pretty much finished my cheeks and went to start on my neck, rinsed the razor, went to start shaving... Nope, nothing. Try again, nothing. What the heck. Look at the head of the razor and it's completely clogged, with soap and my thick whiskers
. This was nothing to do with the razor and everything to do with the lather. It was no where near hydrated enough. I hadn't watered it as much as I would do normally for one reason, the brush picked up a lot of soap and I'd underestimated quite how much it had! I dismantled the head, cleaned it and the blade out, rehydrated the soap and all was good with the world again.
Finished off the first and second pass with zero drama, no fuss and a very, very good finish. What a cracking shave.
A splash of cold water, some Thayers aloe witch hazel (my two go to steps after a shave) and then on with the balm. The balm is reasonably thick, but goes on easily, quickly absorbed and beautifully scented. Classic 24 is the only Wickham soap I haven't had in full tub and I'm going to have to get some. There was a bit of tingle initially, not the "phwoar" you associate with an alcohol splash, but definitely some tingle, my face also went a bit red, but as quick as that came, it subsided and my skin felt nourished and protected. The scent has lasted for around 7/8 hours as I can still faintly smell it having shaved at around 15:00 today. A very nice product!
A great shave, great products, I'm happy, I hope you are too!