SOTD : Saturday 24th March - Friday 30th March 2018

It's great stuff @Barry Giddens. We're off to Florence in September, hopefully; so a visit to SMN in Via della Scala is on the cards!
 
Friday 30th March 2018
Pre Shave: Hot Shower + Bulldog face wash and Proraso white
Razor: GEM 1912
Blade: GEM SS (#3) + 2 loom band shim
Brush: Semogue 610
Soap: Art of Shaving unscented soap
Bowl: Korium
Post: Alum Block, Cold water and Humphreys Witch Hazel
AS: Acqua Di Parma Colonia Intensa balm
EDT: Acqua Di Parma Colonia Intensa
 
Friday...

Phoenix and Beau Star Noir
RazoRock Plissoft 24mm
Face lather
Ever Ready 1912 (England)
Gem SS PTFE
Thayer's Rose Petal and Aloe Vera
Alt-Innsbruck EdC (not in image)
Al-Rehab Silver EdP

An outstanding shave today. The 1912s never cease to amaze me. I love that ‘toast' noise and the incredibly close, smooth finish.

The Star Noir has improved with age. The earlier batches (if mine was anything to go by) suffered from a slightly ammoniac odour: but it's ‘matured' nicely. It gives a lovely scent and performance.

Enhanced by a squirt or two of faux Silver Mountain Water and all's well. It still tickles me that this stuff lasts far longer on me than Creed's original. Purists (not in this forum, I'm sure) may deride these knock-offs; but not being a purist (or, for that matter, a perfumista with enhanced olfactory skills), I honestly can't tell the difference between this and the ball-breakingly expensive Creed (aside from the aforementioned longevity of the Al-Rehab).
 


All self explanatory here really apart from the brush, Yaqi 26mm tuxedo synth. This was my first full shave with the Valet & Feathers. It was, as my dad used to say, rough as old boots. I think I need to sort my technique somewhat if I'm going to get a half decent and enjoyable shave out of this one. Can't fault the other items though, I've been using TOBS gear for ages and still love it.
 
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Pre: Gillette Series Irritation Defense Face Wash
Razor: Gillette Aristocrat Junior #51
Blade: Gillette Goal (1)
Soap: Antica Barbiera Colla Hard Soap
Brush: YaQi Timberwolf 24mm Synthetic
Post: Generic Witch Hazel / Gillette Series Moisturiser


A very good, relaxed 2 pass shave which made short work of a day and a half of growth. I recently acquired the Antica Barbiera Colla through BST and have to say I'm extremely impressed. Although very delicately scented, I would rate the performance of this vege soap up there with top tier tallow soaps such as a Valobra and Vitos.
 
Well played, Sir.
 



Prep: Valobra Glycerlanolina soap, Castle Forbes pre-shave gel
Brush: Tony Forsyth P&C LE 2017 Platypus
Soap: Creed Green Irish Tweed
Razor: Gillette Slim (8)
Blade: Vintage NOS Wilkinson Sword French Brown
Post: Myrsol Emulsion
Scent: Penhaligon's Castile

I chose the soap as I had sampled the same fragrance at a Department Store earlier in the day. The Creed soap, despite being a lighter citrus/fern fragrance, has excellent scent strength. Three passes for DFS+.