SOTD : Saturday 06th March to Friday 12th March 2021

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Sad to recount, this was a terrible shave!! It was truly uncomfortable.

My preparation was as usual but two factors played a part in the discomfort. First, and I'm assigning most of the blame here, was the Astra; which was only on its second use. I tried them years ago when I started DE shaving, didn't get on with them then but thought I'd give them another go. Second, I went with the R5 plate in the Rockwell, I usually use the R4, but I've never experienced any issues with the R5 plate before.

However, with that combination, it was like shaving with the chrome fender from a 1970s Vauxhall Viva.

It was so bad, I had to switch it out for an Israeli Crystal. The relief was instant but I made the swap too late in the shave. I therefore had to abort the use of the Trumper's Limes and instead reached for the soothing Lucky Tiger tonic to calm my skin down.

No more Astras for me.

Razors: Rockwell 6S (R5)
Blade: Astra (2) the Israeli Crystal (1)
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Brush: Simpsons The Duke BB
Pre-shave: PAA Cube
Post-shave: Lucky Tiger Tonic
 
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Bogeyman said:
I balked on buying A&E Pampelmousse when it came out as I thought "Grapefuit? Yuck!". Well, I was wrong. Just simply a beautiful green citrus shave soap!! This sample is surely Kaizen base as it's soft, but it's slicker than snot on a brass doorknob!!
Click to expand...

The scent notes from A&E say this; "Pamplemousse Shaving Soap is superbly complex with notes which are green, fresh, earthy, citrusy and herbaceous. Pamplemousse has a magnificent grapefruit note, combined with crushed rose stems and petals. Sharp, fresh and green. It settles on a meek little woodsy-rosy base. This is not a rose forward scent, rather a very complex green, citrus and herbaceous scent with a hint of rose and wood."

Would you mind saying whether there's any detectable rose in there and how it compares to TOBS Grapefruit, if you have tried it? I really like grapefruit but if there's any perfumery or rose in the scent, it's really not for me.

Many thanks,

David
 
dkpw said:
The scent notes from A&E say this; "Pamplemousse Shaving Soap is superbly complex with notes which are green, fresh, earthy, citrusy and herbaceous. Pamplemousse has a magnificent grapefruit note, combined with crushed rose stems and petals. Sharp, fresh and green. It settles on a meek little woodsy-rosy base. This is not a rose forward scent, rather a very complex green, citrus and herbaceous scent with a hint of rose and wood."

Would you mind saying whether there's any detectable rose in there and how it compares to TOBS Grapefruit, if you have tried it? I really like grapefruit but if there's any perfumery or rose in the scent, it's really not for me.

Many thanks,

David
Click to expand...
A different beast to TOBS Grapefruit. It's got more of a bitter 'tang' to it - I wouldn't call it perfumey either.

Unlike TOBS, it will try to melt your face off.
 
dkpw said:
The scent notes from A&E say this; "Pamplemousse Shaving Soap is superbly complex with notes which are green, fresh, earthy, citrusy and herbaceous. Pamplemousse has a magnificent grapefruit note, combined with crushed rose stems and petals. Sharp, fresh and green. It settles on a meek little woodsy-rosy base. This is not a rose forward scent, rather a very complex green, citrus and herbaceous scent with a hint of rose and wood."

Would you mind saying whether there's any detectable rose in there and how it compares to TOBS Grapefruit, if you have tried it? I really like grapefruit but if there's any perfumery or rose in the scent, it's really not for me.

Many thanks,

David
Click to expand...

Realize that people's faces are different.

Mine for example:

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Boycie's:

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Monday 8th March

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French Pink Clay & Charcoal Face Soap
Mitchell's Wool Fat Shaving Soap
Semogue SOC Taj (Boar)
Muhle Rocca R95
SuperMax Blue Diamond Platinum (2)
Pashana Original Aftershave & Hair Tonic

Yeah! The SuperMax Blue Diamond Platinum is indeed a step up from the sibling Super Platinum blades from Vidyut & Zorrik. I guess that's why there's also another (current epoch) Super Platinum under the SuperMax brand, the Diamond Edge ... which curiously also bears a blue diamond on the packaging. The SuperMax Blue Diamond Platinum is offered in the global line-up whereas the other variants, I think, are for Indian sub-continent only.

I'm rating it a couple of clicks above 8.5 but not quite up to a 9/10 where I have the older (discontinued) SuperMax Super Platinum, a blade I really enjoy. I think it's fair to say it has the sharpness of the other Super Platinums of the same epoch, if not a tad more, but an additional smoothness that is found moreso in the Titanium blades that themselves fall down on sharpness.

Smooth! Keen! Refined ... 8.7

My barely used Semogue SOC Taj is starting to break in just nicely now - I recall my Semogue SOC Butterscotch turned dramatically after the first week of use. Between the brush now producing a really nice lather and the smoothness of the blade, I did two passes and left a final "comfort lathering" on for a few minutes afterwards to really partake of the lanolin goodness, thoroughly enjoying the MWF glow now.

Smashing to be back on the Mitchell's! Gosh! You forget just how good something that you really like is when you step away from it. Perfect partners with the Pashana Original, enjoyed so much I broke out the hair tonic as well ... not a lot of point, really, as having not had a haircut for many (many) months now, I sorta look somewhere between 'Bottom' era Rik Mayall and Stephen Fry. No! You can't have a picture ...
 
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