I have now used my new shave bowl from Stirling twice; the first time I used a Silvertip 24mm brush with a loft probably in the 57-60 range and while nothing really was bad it just didnt seem to blow me away. Something I actually attribute to the brush as I am feeling this one is a little too floppy. Still was able to work up a nice lather and it certainly wasnt a bad experience. Now, the second go round I used Stirling's boar brush and WOW! I whipped up a mean lather in record time! Couple things here; first of all I'm starting to love using this boar brush as it seems to just be a real effective lather builder even though I do still find it a little rough on the face. Secondly, those nubs in the bottom of the bowl worked fantastic at pulling out the lather and just agitating everything into perfection. I really was extremely impressed with the second run. I am awaiting the 24mm 53mm loft two band high density brush, suppose to arrive Monday. If all my wishes come true it will have the pillow softness of my silvertip and the lather building perfection of my boar brush! fingers crossed!!
Amen! Those bowls are regular lather-blasters--haven't had a bad batch of lather from one yet. From here on out, anybody I get into wet-shaving is getting one of these bowls (already have a couple for my oldest sons).
Over the next couple weeks, you'll see a lot of Stoylin soap work from me. That might include a Stoylin shave on the morning of the Tony Awards Best-In-Show..we'll see.
Well now, my goodness me, Mr. Cawtuh, I forgot to ask YOU if you were sitting down, too . Yes..gonna put BoS to work. Like I said, going with the same setup for just two days allows me to use each one more often.
Yeah! Way to go Paul! I'm thinking of picking up some more BoS (Tsuka) along with one of those shave bowls. I've been exclusively a face latherer but those bowls look too cool.
Parts of my face are stupid-sensitive, so a year ago I started lathering all my shave sticks using a bowl instead. Turns out there is a pretty high correlation between the amount of touch time my face gets, and the irritation I feel. Bowl shaving has helped immensely. Bowl shaving with the collapsible silicone bowl makes it even more enjoyable: quick lather, no clanking, and slim, hangable profile for putting away. Don't know if I'll ever stop geeking out about this bowl.
@john zeiger With a Kong brush, I'll load from a shave stick for 20-30 seconds--light pressure. Usually enough lather for three passes if I choose to. Once loaded, the nubs make it quick and easy
I'm probably in the minority for going as much as 2, because I don't read many shave descriptions in here that say something like "Came back with.......Repeated With..."(other than mine).
Here are the bowl choices you have: -Rose -Cotton -Liberty (and, of course the new one I made up-"Wet Shave"). Take your pick-I'm sure Doc Ezlovan will be glad to work with you on this(If you read this, I'm sure you're thinking "Ahh, he's just being silly again!
You are right Paul! I love shopping via computer. I must admit though that I've been looking at and drooling over these items since Black Friday. This board just pushes me over the edge sometimes'
I drool over the Bill Neumann site..actually I did have some samples at one time. Annyway....back to Stoylin