Aristocrat 66
Gillette Super Stainless (3)
New Forest 2221
Cade soap (tin lathered)
Witch hazel
Trumper lime skin food
Another very nice shave, though more DFS than BBS. I'm finding the 66 is a fair bit milder than the 15 or 16, though none the worse for it.
The Cade soap leaves my skin feeling very smooth but it's a bit meh. Not as much cushioning and slip as I'd like. I'm glad I've tried it but I wouldn't buy it again.
Almost used all my Trumpers up and it has been fantastic. Might buy the 500ml bottle next time.
Prep: Face wash, Imperial Leather bath soap Razor: Feather Artist Club RG (wood), Pro blade (1) Soap: Tabac stick Brush: Simpson Tulip T2 in two-band Super Balm: Trumper's Skin Food, West Indian Limes Scent: Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Result: very decent
First impressions of my first Simpson (courtesy of Vinny): small, dense, pleasant. Ideal for stick lathering, certainly. We'll try a bowl soap tomorrow.
The ongoing test of my Gold Dollar 66, tonight's supporting crew were a Simpson 57, Nanny's excellent hard soap "Rasage Traditionnel", Alum and Blue Stratos Aftershave.
This was shave #7 since honing and as is also typical with my "good" razors the edge no longer feels freshly honed. The shave was still excellent, as near BBS as I ever choose to go with a straight, and very comfortable. As it stands so far this blade is showing comparable performance to plenty of my vintage ones. Not bad for a cheapy
Prep: Shower at hotel. Soap: Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera cream Brush: Omega Travel Brush Razor: Merkur Progress set on 2 Blade: Red Personna (1) Post shave: Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera Balm
vintage Marshall Fields badger
'Webly'/Personna74 (NOS)
Surrey SS (pre VDH reformulation)
Barbershop Bay Rum AS
Hermes 'eau de Cologne' (vintage juice)
This very sharp blade matches up well with the mild Webly. The Personna74 is almost as sharp as a Feather, but much more forgiving.
Proraso pre
T&H Lavender Cream / BK2 bush / Tulip bulb bowl from charity shop
Gillette Slim Adjustable (set to 5) / Crystal Super Platinum (for the second time of asking)
Alum
Speick Aftershave Lotion
Boots No. 7 Balm
I am getting along very nicely with the adjustable / crystal combination. Doesn't provide the closest of shaves but is very comfortable.
A German colleague dropped me off a bottle of Speick aftershave last night, so today was the first trial. I'm very happy with it so far - the scent is perfectly OK (at the end of the day, it's a basic aftershave and smells like one) but the feel on the skin is very nice. It seems to have a low alcohol / high oil content so is very soothing, but does still feel astringent. The scent has completely gone by mid-morning, but that's fine by me.