Shave of the day 17th august

Pre-shave: Pure glycerine soap
Lather: Arko stick
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE Brush 17/100 mixed badger/boar
Razors: Merkur 39C slant and Parker 22R, both with a “Wilkinson Sword” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Experimental Menthol

A pretty good shave – WTG and XTG on my cheeks, 2 times WTG on my neck, since I gotten a couple of angry bumps.

Review of Turkish copper bowl

One thing I can hardly do without when I wetshave is a good bowl to build the lather in… some people face lather (which I do as well when using the Arko stick), some swear at scuttles – I prefer a decent bowl that fits my hand.

I started out with a simple plastic snack bowl “borrowed” from the kitchen cabinet, then switched to a larger cereal bowl from Ikea (which I still use at times) before one of the old-timers at my favorite shaving forum showed off something he had dubbed “the fairy tale bowl”.

It is funny how fast ones Acquisition Disorders can go from dormant to “shut up and take my money” mode…

Short story even shorter; once I learned that the bowl had come from bestshave.net and was pretty damn cheap, I placed an order for it as well as a few other odds and ends – funny how you tend to spot something you suddenly need. Shipping was prompt – as usual – and as soon as I unpacked the bowl I knew I was going to like it:

The bowl is beaten out of pretty thin copper sheet, which makes it lightweight and easy to hold in my paws – the downside is that my lather gets cold pretty fast. The dimpled inner surface helps in building the lather, much like the spiral grove you often see in the bottom of scuttles. The reasonable small size of the bowl – 11.7 cm (~4.5″) wide and 4.9 cm (~2″) deep – means it’s best suited for smallish brushes; since most of my brushes have a loft around 5.0 cm (~2″) it suits me fine. My Omega 48, with it’s significantly higher loft, do not like my copper bowl much…

Overall I can recommend the Turkish copper bowl if you like bowl lathering, like short lofted brushes and are in the marked for a shiny, lightweight bowl.

Shave of the day 15th August

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, Liquid Lavendel
Lather: Mike’s Pine & Cedarwood Soap
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE Brush 17/100 mixed badger/boar
Razors: Merkur 39C slant with a “Wilkinson Sword” blade, and Merkur 25C with a “Treet Platinum Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum

Another DFS – the TSN LE brush is breaking in nicely.

Quick review of Col Conk’s Bay Rum

Col Conk’s Bay Rum was my first exposure to bay rum – and it’s very, very different than the scent of Krampert’s Bay Rum… not to put too fine a point to it, the scent is markedly inferior to Brian’s wonderful aftershave. It is not that Col Conk smells bad – far from it – it’s just that Krampert’s smells better…

That aside, the soap is pretty good for being a glycerin based soap – it lathers easily and abundantly, the lather has decent slip and cushion, and the lather don’t collapse before I’m done shaving. The soap seems reasonable indifferent as to the brush I’m using, even if I find I have to load a soft brush for longer than a stiff brush – that probably holds true for all hard soaps though.

I have come to expect that glycerin soaps don’t give as much moisture to the skin as tallow based soaps do, and Col Conk is no exception to that rule – use of a moisturizing aftershave afterwards is a must for me, even if your mileage may vary on that. As several of you already knows, my aftershave of preference is Krampert’s finest – and after using Col Conk’s Bay Run what better way to round off the shave than some of Krampert’s bay rum?

Overall I can recommend Col Cok if you’re in the marked for a glycerin based soap that gives a smooth shave – but look to the tallow based soaps if you’re after something that don’t leave your skin feeling dry afterwards.

Shave of the day 13th August

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, Liquid Peppermint
Lather: Proraso Eucalyptus & Menthol Soap
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE Brush 17/100 mixed badger/boar
Razors: Merkur 39C slant with a “Wilkinson Sword” blade, and Merkur 25C with a “Treet Platinum Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Experimental Menthol

A bit of a mentholated kick to start the week, and also using the TSN LE brush on my face for the first time. It has gotten three test lathers so far; one with pure glycerine soap, one with Mike’s Unscented and one with Col Conks Bay Rum.

The TSN LE brush is… <drumroll> …very nice. A bit of a lather-hog, and needs more breaking in – but I can see it’ll blossom into a great brush after a few more shaves, as long as I load it heavily.

Shave of the day 10th August

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, Liquid Peppermint
Lather: Mike’s Peppermint & Rosemary Soap
Brush: Omega 10048 Boar Brush
Razors: Merkur 25C with a “Treet Platinum Super Stainless” blade, and 1958 Gillette TV Special with a “Astra Superior Platinum” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse and Alum block

Yet another DFS with the TV Special.

1958 Gillette TV Special

My latest acquisition on the razor front is my second oldest… a 1958 Gillette TTO known as the “TV Special”. A fellow shaver over at The Shave Nook decided it was better to sell it than having it sit unused in his rack, so I got the opportunity to snap it up for a little less than twenty dollars – which was a steal, really. Apparently the razor was advertised during the 1958 broadcasts of “Gillette Cavalcade of Sports” and it’s notorious online for being a great shaver.

The new beuty – a short handled TTO vintage razor
Head on with the head open – note slight loss of plating on three spots along the right bar
As for the shave, I can best describe it as mild and effective. This isn’t a harsh razor by a long stretch – in fact, some might find it to be too mild. So far I’ve only taken it for a spin with an Astra Superior Platinum blade, but I can’t imagine it’ll behave significantly worse with another blade… unless it’s a bad blade off course.

Despite being a short handled razor, it’s remarkable comfortable to hold. The slight flare near the base helps, as do the knurling. The balance is pretty good too, even if I find it slightly top heavy – either the head could have been slightly lighter, or the handle slightly heavier. It’s no worse than most of my other razors – I’ve yet to find a razor with absolutely perfect balance.

I’ve only had it for about a week so far, and used it a couple of times, but the 1958 Gillette TV Special has gained a slot in my rotation. If you’re in the marked for a vintage Twist To Open razor, and like ’em mild… well, you could do a lot worse than picking up one of these babies – even if they can be hard to find at a reasonable price.

Shave of the day 8th August

Pre-shave: Pure glycerine soap
Lather: Mike’s Barbershop
Brush: Vie-long 14033
Razors: Merkur 25C with a “Treet Platinum Super Stainless” blade, and 1958 Gillette TV Special with a “Astra Superior Platinum” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, Alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum

Yet another DFS. The Gillette TV Special is shaping up to be a mighty fine shaver.

Review of Proraso Eucalyptus and Menthol cream

Apart from the Maca Cream from Body Shop, the Proraso Eucalyptus and Menthol Cream was my first foray into the wonderful world of shaving creams and soaps that don’t come in a pressurized can. I received it as part of a traditional wetshaving starting kit, and it went with me on a 12 month deployment with the UN to South Sudan.

A little beat up, but still good

I must say that for a newbie in traditional wetshaving the Proraso Cream is a very good choice. It lathers well with little water, lots of water, hard water, soft water… and with any brush I’ve tried it with so far. Granted, you won’t always get good lather until you learn how to make it, but it’s great for giving you plenty of play for experimenting with until you learn. It is also good for shaving with – which is nice since it is in fact a shaving cream.

I used it exclusivity for the year I was in Sudan, along with a Body Shop synthetic brush. After a month or so I was able to make consistently good lather, and started to appreciate just how good the slip, glide and cushion of the Proraso Eucalyptus and Menthol Cream was compared to anything that squirt out of a can. The mentholation of this cream is not as strong as some of my other soaps – Mama Bear’s Awakeing take the top spot in that regard – but still enough to be noticeable and appreciated on a warm day… as all the days in South Sudan was. I should probably use this cream more often, but I have so many other great soaps and cream to shave with that I cannot stay with one product for any stretch of time.

If you’re in the marked for a cream in a tube, and you like menthol, you cannot go wrong with the Proraso Eucalyptus and Menthol Cream.

Shave of the day 6th August

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, Peppermint
Lather: Proraso Eucalyptus and Menthol soap
Brush: Turkish No6
Razors: Merkur 25C with a “Treet Platinum Super Stainless” blade, and 1958 Gillette TV Special with a fresh “Astra Superior Platinum” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, Alum block and Krampert’s Finest Exp. Menthol

A DFS and a good way to start the week with a new-to-me razor.