Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Lavender Soap
Lather: Mike’s Coconut Soap (sample)
Brush: Omega 50014 travel boar
Razors: Merkur 39C slant and Parker 22R TTO, both with a fresh Laser Super Stainless w/ chromium coated edges…
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum and Krampert’s Finest Prototype Menthol
There is a thread on my favourite shave forum, discussing if you should shave with your shirt on or off… seems like most traditional wetshavers are a bit messy and prefer shaving bare chested…
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Lea shave stick
Brush: BodyShop Synthetic
Razors: Merkur 985CL travel razor with a Wilkinson Sword blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Shaving from the GoBag
A little while ago I bought a new razor – a bakelite Merkur 45C, and it’s a real looker too.
Last week it was my only razor, to break it in and get me used to it.
It’s very lightweight, which I found – rather counter-intuitively – makes it easier to not put any pressure on it at all. It’s often said you should let the weight of the razor do the work for you, but in the case of the 45C it’s the sharpness of the blade that does it.
The 45C has a rather retro style to it, which suits the material – bakelite – rather well. The reddish-brown and black might not be everybody’s cup of tea… but it’s nice to get away from the aluminum and chrome for a little while.
So far I’ve just tried it with a single blade, so it’s too early to do a proper review – but if you are looking for a safety bar DE razor somewhat out of the ordinary you could do well to look at the 45C.
As an aside; now that I own one of each I can say that the ‘unknown’ German white bakelite slant almost certainly is a Merkur product:; the handles are the spitting image of each other and have to have been made in the same molds.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Teatree
Lather: Prairie Creations KISS Teatree
Brush: Vie Long 14033
Razors: Merkur 45C with a Wilkinson Sword
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum and Proraso Liquid Aftershave Cream
Sometimes you run across people who can be said to have written the book on a subject or other. Other times someone actually writes the book on a subject. Leisureguy is one of the later, and his book is on traditional wetshaving. I came across an interview with him via my favorite shave-forum.I can heartily recommend his book too – I don’t agree with everything he has to say on various subjects, but it’s certainly a good read and makes you ask the right sort of questions.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint
Lather: Mama Bear’s Awakening
Brush: Vie Long 14033
Razors: Merkur 45C with a Wilkinson Sword
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum and Krampert’s Finest 80 Below
One Thousand Beards: a Cultural History of Facial Hair.
Mixed reviews, but looks to be a fun read – in particular the chapter on the anti-beard, aka shaving.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Eucalyptus
Lather: Mike’s Pine & Cedarwood
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Razors: Merkur 45C with a fresh Wilkinson Sword
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Orange
Lather: Prairie Creation’s Walter Soap
Brush: Turkish No6
Razors: Merkur 39C slant and Parker 33R TTO, both with a Perma Shave Super
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum and Krampert’s Finest Prototype Menthol