Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Orange
Lather: Mike’s Orange, Cedarwood & Black Pepper soap
Brush: Vie Long 14033 horse-badger brush
Razors: Merkur 25C w/ a 7’O Clock (3) and Gillette 58 TV Special w/ a Lord Platinum (3)
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Proraso Liquid Cream
A nice and orangy shave – a good, if late, start on the day.
I bought this from Shave A Buck a little while back:
It’s alum, it’s in a sturdy container, it’s the size of my thumb… what’s not to like? If you use alum and you like to keep some in your GoBag, you can probably do a lot worse than spending three dollars (US) on this.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Proraso Eucalyptus & Menthol soft soap
Brush: Vie Long 14033 horse-badger brush
Razors: Merkur 25C w/ a 7’O Clock and Gillette 58 TV Special w/ a Lord Platinum
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s 80 Below LE Menthol
Whoa… refreshing! Krampert’s latest creation is great, but perhaps best suited for those warm, muggy sommer days.
A DFS all told though!
I’ve been trying out various blades in my various razors, and so far this is the ones I remembered to make notes about, ordered alphabetically:
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Mama Bear’s Awakening
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE brush
Razors: Merkur 25C w/ a 7’O Clock and Gillette 58 TV Special w/ a Lord Platinum
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Prototype Menthol
A refreshing and DFS to start the week with.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Mike’s Pepperming & Rosemary soap
Brush: Vie-Long 14033 horse-badger
Razors: Merkur 39C slant and Parker 22R TTO, both with Laser Super Platinum (2)
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Second shave with these blades – and last. They lost their edge quicker than most other blades, but still gave me close to a DFS today.
A little while ago I picked up a Cadet TP-01 from Shave A Buck along with some other things, and I’m happy I did – it’s a good razor for a good price.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Lavender
Lather: Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE badger-boar brush
Razors: Merkur 39C slant and Parker 22R TTO, both with fresh Laser Super Platinum
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest bay Rum
I wasn’t having too high hopes for these blades based on what I’ve been reading online.. but a DFS none the less.
Caveat lector: The Lea shave stick have – as far as I can tell from searching – gone through a couple of reformulations over the last couple of years. Mine is the “middle” formulation, without tallow. Older and newer stick should – again as far as I know – contain tallow.
I picked up the Lea shave stick on a whim, and for being cheap – a touch under 3USD from Shave A Buck – it’s a reasonable decent stick. Not quite as good as the Arko – which can be had for less if you know where to look – but the Lea have the benefit of coming in it’s own plastic carrier; very handy for the Gobag.
As far as the scent goes, it smells of soap and nothing more. That’s not a bad thing, even less so when you plan on sticking it in your toiletry bag and leave it there – it wont stink up your other gear. It smells a little bit stronger when wet, but again only of soap as far as I can tell. Compared to a fresh Arko, it’s very mild – compared to a slightly aged and aired out Arko it’s much the same.
My Better Half claims it smells as if Irish Spring and Dove had a baby – it does remind me of Dove as well, but I’ve yet to smell the former.She haven’t been exposed to Irish Spring in a decade though, so take that for what it’s worth.
The lather is quick to whip up and plentiful, and it provides okay glide and cushion. Not the best I’ve experienced – that honour goes to Mike’s Natural Soaps – but far from bad. In my experience it does collapse fairly quickly, which may or may not be an issue of you do three passes – I find it’s sufficient for two.
The lack of tallow may give some issues if you got dry skin, but since I always uses a moisturiser after shaving it’s a non-issue for me. The newest reformulation – which do have tallow in it – is bound to be better in that regard, even if it seems to be somewhat more expensive online. I have no idea what the latest refomulation is like in regards to scent or lather though, but reviews seems to be positive.
Overall it’s a great little package; a sturdy container, a good soap and a low price. Definitely recommended if you want a shaving stick for travel or for use at home – you may want to look for the latest reformulation if you want a tallow based stick though. For me it has displaced the tube of shave cream in my GoBag, taking up less space with less chance of making a mess.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Orange
Lather: Orange EO Shave Soap
Brush: Turkish No6
Razors: Racer razor with a Racer Super Stainless, and Yuma with a Zorrik Super Stainless
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Proraso Liquid Cream
Overall a nice, comfortable and orange shave.