Monthly Archives: May 2013

Happy 17th of May!

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Today the Norwegian Constitution is 199 years old – and according to some ways of looking at it so is Norway as a country… other ways of counting puts Norway at 1089 years (in 1905 the parliament told the Swedish-Norwegian king that they figured he had failed to fulfil his duties, so bye!), or at 1141 years (Battle of Hafrsfjord, which may or may not have taken place in or around 872).
At any rate, Happy 17th!

Quick review: Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave

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As part of the starter kit I bough way back in the summer of 2010, I got a bottle of Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave – a non-alcoholic after shave balm.

I didn’t think too much of it at the time; I was new to the traditional way of shaving and had no real experience in using a post-shave product. So I tried it for a bit, and promptly decided not to bring it with me when I went on a 12 month Tour of Duty in Africa. It was a glass bottle after all, and I needed the space in my bags for other things… looking back I should have brought it. Hindsight is 20/20, and now I know the importance of a decent post-shave routine.

Long story short, I got back home and started picking up on using after shave, which cleared up the issue of dry skin I been troubled with while in Africa.

The Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave is a pretty decent after shave balm; the lack of alcohol mean no burn, and it’s fair to decent as far as moisturizing goes. It can leave my skin a little greasy though, so I have to wipe my fingers after using it. Scent is faint, which can be good or bad depending on your preference, and fairly indescribable.

I don’t use this as often as I perhaps should – simply because I find Krampert’s Finest to be a much superior product as far as moisture and scent goes. Kramper’s can give a bad alcohol burn though, if I managed to nick myself…

Shave of the day 8th May

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Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Orange
Lather: Mike’s Natural Lime
Brush: Semogue TSN LE ’13
Razors: Bakelite slant and Gillette ’58 TV Special, both with Zorrik Super Stainless
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum and Krampert’s Finest 80 Below

Mixing and matching

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What happens if I use a shave stick on my face and some cream on the brush? I decided to find out:

Arko stick with…

  • Arko Cool Mint: Lots of lather, good for shave, needs lots of water – and nice scent too.
  • Dalen d’Men Energetic: Very dense, very thirsty. Subtle scent of menthol
  • Derby Lavender: Very thirsty and dense – almost too dense – lather. No particular scent.

Derby stick with…

  • Arko Cool Mint: thirsty, dense lather with a very noticeable citrus scent.
  • Dalen d’Men Energetic: dense without being overly thirsty, noticeable but not too strong menthol scent.
  • Derby Lavender: dense, rich lather, smelled mostly like soap. Took a bit of work to get going.

GzD stick with…

  • Arko Cool Mint: Made for a dense, thirsty lather – seems like the scents cancelled each other out.
  • Dalen d’Men Energetic: Dense without being overly thirsty – quite strong menthol scent and feel.
  • Derby Lavender: Dense and thirsty lather, but surprisingly good glide and cushion.

Lea stick with…

  • Arko Cool Mint: A thicker, denser lather than either product makes on their own.
  • Dalen d’Men Energetic: Thick, somewhat thirsty. Sort of a soapy menthol scent.
  • Derby Lavender: A thick, but not too dense, lather that smells mostly of soap.

Result? Encouraging – but I’m not the first to try this; after the experiment got under way I was rereading Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving where he describes the combination of shave stick and cream as “superlather”.