I guess that either the last cart is wicked sharp… or the guy who made this simply forgets to buy new blades.
How long does a cart last?
Reply
Shave of the day 1st July
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Teatree Soap
Lather: C&E Sandalwood
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE
Razors: Wilkinson Classic with a fresh Trig
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum, and Proraso Liquid Cream Aftershave
Shave of the day 28th June
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Derby shave stick
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE
Razors: Lord Racer and YUMA, both with a Zorrik Super Stainless
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Bowl or face?
When you boil it down, there are two ways to build lather; in a bowl or on your face.
Both have pros and cons, but the main difference is the dreaded YMMV – different strokes for different folks, it comes down to what you prefer.
- Doing it in a bowl tends to minimize the variables, and lets you get a better grip of what’s going on.. if you need more or less water, more or less soap, more or less vigorous pumping etc, etc, etc.
- Doing it on your face lets you get the lather right into the follicles and gives you a nice little face massage as well… but can be messy if you’re brush is too wet.
For the most part I’m a bowl latherer through and through – so it’s kinda funny that this week have seen me use nothing but shave stick and face lathering…
Shave of the day 26th June
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: GzD shave stick
Brush: Omega 50014
Razors: Lord Racer and YUMA, both with a Zorrik Super Stainless
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Quick review of Derby Shave Stick
I tend to buy more soaps than I technically need – just like I have more razors and brushes than I can get away with – because variation is the spice of life, and I consider shaving to be a hobby and not a chore.
The downside is that it sometimes takes a long time for me to use a soap enough times to make up my mind on what I think about it, so this little review has been long in coming…
The Derby shave stick is, like most shave sticks, easy to use. It makes lots of lather and smells okay – mostly of soap – but it isn’t quite up with the Arko as far as glide and cushion goes, it’s more like the GzD in that respect. It’s hard like the Arko, not soft like the GzD, and comes wrapped in paper.
If you can’t handle the scent of the Arko, the Derby is a good substitute for an inexpensive, efficient shave stick. If you can handle it though, go for the Arko stick.
Shave of the day 24th June
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Arko shave stick
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE
Razors: Lord Racer and YUMA, both with a fresh Zorrik Super Stainless
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Shave of the day 21st June
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Arko Cool Mint cream
Brush: Omega 50014
Razors: Merkur 985CL travel razor with a Wilkinson Sword blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, tiny alum stick and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Travelling – but for once not on the Go
To soak or not to soak…
…that is the question of traditional lather making.
There is a lot of talk about soaking: Should you do it? What brushes should you do it with? For how long? Hot, warm or cold water?
Personally I soak all my brushes, for about five to ten minutes, since then I have a consistent baseline to do a bit of contrast and compare. YMMV off course so if you are happy with just dunking yours in water before shaving, that is great as well.
Shave of the day 19th June
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Lea shave stick
Brush: Omega 50014
Razors: Merkur 985CL travel razor with a Wilkinson Sword blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, tiny alum stick and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Travelling – but for once not on the Go