Shave of the day 11th October

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Tea Tree Soap
Lather: Prairie Creations KISS
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B natural white pure horse
Razor: Cadet TP-01 long handled open comb with a fresh Personna Platinum
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, Nivea Sensitive Cooling After Shave Balm
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm, and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Artisania Romera Manchurian Badger

A couple of months ago I received the best care package ever from Phil of BullGoose – known on my favorite shave forum as “The Enabler” – and one of the items in the package was a Artisania Romera Manchurian Badger brush with a faux horn handle.

The 28mm Romera is the first high end badger I’ve owned – my only other experience with badger is two mixed brushes (horse-badger and boar-badger) and a cheap badger I picked up in a Spanish super marked. With that in mind, perhaps I’m somewhat biased… although looking at what other people say about Romera brushes I don’t think my experience differs all that much

Short version? The Artisania Romera Manchurian Badger is an awesome brush. Soft tips, enough backbone to whip up copious lather – but not a lather hog, it gives it right back – comfortable handle. It simply feels right to pick this one up in the morning and enjoy my moment of Zen.

For various reasons I’ve always gravitated towards the smaller knots when I buy brushes – cost is but one side of that equation – but unlike my Omega 48 the Romera is small enough to easily load in most soap tins.

In short, I can recommend getting a Artisania Romera Manchurian Badger. The artisan can – allegedly – be hard to communicate with, but the end result is worth it.

Shave of the day 9th October

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Asylum Shave Work Frankincense & Myrrh
Brush: Artisania Romera Manchurian Badger
Razor: Cadet TP-01 long handled open comb with a fresh Personna Platinum
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, Asylum Shave Work Frankincense & Myrrh
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm, and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 6th October

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soap, Peppermint & Rosemary.
Brush: Semogue “The Shave Nook 2012 Limited Edition” mixed boar-badger
Razor: Schick “Lady Eversharp” Injector with a Schick
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, Myrsol Agua Balsamico
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm, and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Lather the world

Shave of the day 4th October

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Wet Shaving Products pre-production soap
Brush: Vie-Long #14033 mixed horse-badger
Razor: Schick “Lady Eversharp” Injector with a Schick
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm, and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shaving cream and vacuum

Not my usual stuff, but I found this oddly amusing to watch… and watch… and watch again.

Shave of the day 2nd Ocober

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Prairie Creations Walter
Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger
Razor: Schick “Lady Eversharp” Injector with a Schick
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, Myrsol Agua De Limón
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm, and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 29th September

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Acadian Spice Shaving Soap
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M unbleached pure horse
Razor: Schick “Lady Eversharp” Injector with a Schick
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Aftershave
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm, and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Gillette and two-part pricing

Note to self: Remember to hit “Publish”

I stumbled across an interesting article on BBC the other day, and wanted to share.

How a razor revolutionised the way we pay for stuff

In short it describes how the safety razor with replaceable blades – the original Gillette blades were meant to be traded in so they could be resharpened at the factory – gave rise to what is known as two-part pricing; ie.: making us pay once for the razor, and then make us keep paying for the blades.