Oh boy, let's see: Hits: Stirling soaps, especially the Glacials! OSP soaps Both of the Krampert's soaps and aftershaves Astra blades Derby blades Lucky Tiger aftershave cream Gold Bond moisturizer And many others I can't think of at the moment. Misses Dorco blades (no good for me) Feather blades (dangerous for me) Tabac SC (to me the soap is so much better) Irisch Moos SC (same as above) Boots shaving stick (no skincare) Colonel Conk Bay Rum SS (lousy lather and no skincare) Colonel Conk Lime SS (forget it) Big Ben blades (not enough longevity) That's all I could think of for now, but there are others. I'm still undecided about Williams SS, because I'm giving it a final chance.
Hits: Irish Moos cologne 40's Super Speed (black and regular tips) Lucky Tiger Vanishing Cream (maybe the best addition to my shaves.....good stuff, highly recommend it!) Dedicating myself to one soap from beginning of puck to end of puck (good, bad, or indifferent) Misses: None. I laid off trying and buying over the last few years so the little I do is with intent and luckily has been positive.
HITS: • Saponificio Varesino 70th Anniversary - The best soap in my den, period. • Yoresh Pottery Lather Bowl - A little wider and shallower than most, it's just right. Form meets function. • Dominica Bay Rum AS - A pure Bay Rum from a tiny island in the Caribbean. The way Bay Rum should be. • Bob Quinn (Elite Razors) Brush Handles - True works of art. You need to hold one in your hand to fully appreciate the craftsmanship. His standard, 2-band Silvertip knots from WSP are wonderful too. Hooked tips after first shave. • TGN Finest Knots - Performance far exceeds price. A top value. MISSES - • Mitchell's Wool Fat - I've tried everything; it won't lather in my water. I had high hopes for it too. • MdC Fougere - The performance just doesn't live up to the hype... or the price. • Barrister & Mann - Tried Rhapsody and Ferox, performance is so so, but scents are muddled, heavy-handed, and cloying (especially Rhapsody). Guess it's a case of YMMV. • Catie's Bubbles Spanish Holiday - Marginal performance, relatively high price, and weird consistency (it's too hard for a cream, too soft for a croap). Catie's is typically well reviewed overall, so maybe SH is just a dud, but I was disappointed enough that I will probably not try another. There's too many other quality soapmakers out there.
Did you try bottled water? I only throw it out there because MWF is that damned good that it would be worth it. Tabac is my favorite soap and MWF is close to it. Not saying you need to like what I like, but if you ahven't tried different water and wanted to see if MWF could work for you, there is a way
Tried bottled water, tried RO water, bloomed the puck for hours, loaded the heck outta it, tried not using PSO, used multiple badger and boar brushes, and on and on... I have Tabac and it lathers like a champ in seconds regardless of brush or water type. It's just MWF that gives me problems. Out of the dozen+ times I've used it, I got a decent lather just once, and I've not been able to replicate it. I sure appreciate your suggestions though
For me Th Holy Black is decent, but not great performance. Scent is good. What landed it on your misses list?
Yup scent is good but it irritates my skin. Lather is super bubbly and not yogurty. Post-shave is very drying. Also takes tons of soap to load up. Just didn't work well for me. Their aftershave balm isn't good either. I'm looking to trade both away.
Hits: Mongoose razors MDC The Varlet Brushes Route 66 RR Black Mamba Shave Sticks Fine AS Misses: Barrister and Mann Roam CRSW Crystal Deodorant Stick RR Stealth Slant V-3 Bowl Lathering
Hits: Pre-War Tech Fat Handle: Automatic BBS shaves. Straight Razor shaving Feather Artist Club/ CJB Kamasori Handle (Pain Stick) shaving TSD Soaps and Splashes Jabonman Soaps and Aftershaves. Awesome. 30 Day Focus Threads Big Badger knots Misses: Artery in my neck while doing a scything stroke with a straight razor. (It was a near miss.) Osage rub left on my fingers being rubbed on extremely sensitive skin. (Sometimes, menthol burns. Same shave as above.) Gen 3 Synthetic Brush (To stiff to splay) Sterling Glacial soaps- (Too numbing to feel how the edge is going on my face.) Semoge Boar Brush Horse Hair Brush
Hits : it was a great year for discovering new products/Suppliers Barbasol PH Wolfman razors Fendrihan SS razor Haslinger soaps Nacet blades Badger Shaving Company Misses : not meant as criticism just doesn't work for me TOB Eton College soap - love the smell but caused my face to break out Cheap chinese knots Le Pere Lucien soap - too much work with our hard water Glenn
Great thread here! Hits: Joining TSD! Learning tons from you guys/gals Stirling 22mm synth brush Voskhod blades Astra SP blades B&M Latha Taiga Soap Commander Wisdom Rediscovering Noxema Didn't work so well for me: Col. Conk Bay Rum SS Uncle Jon's Cedar SS Chiseled Face Cedar & Spice SS (Well, I learned I'm just not much of a cedar fan) Looking forward to 2016!
Hits Strop Shoppe soaps, awesome stuff Chiseled Face soaps Maggards Platinum soaps RazoRock XXX Red Tip, just acquired but love the feel already Misses 39C, just couldn't get used to the weight length of handle and couldn't ever find a good blade for it. Sold Maggards v2 head, just not a memorable shave
Here's to an amazing 2016! My 2015 list is as follows: HITS Straight Razor Shaving Learning to hone my own straight razors (In development) Numerous new friends here on TSD @HolyRollah sub group Lada Blades Vokshod Blades Tet-A-Tet Shaving Cream Nord Orst Shaving Cream Znakhar Shaving Cream Polish Shave Creams (Wars, Lider Active and Regular, Bond & Joanna... Thanks @alpla444 ) Horween Horsehide Modern Barber's Strop from @Drygulch Leather Works (Work of art!) Synthetic knot from TGN installed in group buy Olivewood handle L'Occitane Cade Shave soap (Used for all of L'Occitober challenge) Fine American After Shave Nationwide Box Tour II MdC (At least in the sample sizes) Antica Barbieria Colla MISSES Several Artisan goat milk shave soaps Most all Chiseled Face Soaps. (Adore the scents and the soap qualities, something in them just bothers my skin.) Nationwide Box Tour II Suavecito Bay Rum A/S The Veg....I wasn't chosen Superior 71 Bay Rum....smells "plastic" like The great signature line debacle of 2015. That's about it for now.......I could go on forever it seems like. It's amazing when you start typing this stuff out, how thankful you become for all the products, friends and PIF's you come across in the period of a year.
Actually it was good and bad. Some of the participants, myself included, felt more "unique" products should have been passed around. But other than that, it was a great experience and I got to try a few new things. Also, I got to meet fellow members of TSD through the event. Lastly, I think @fishcrow deserves a HUGE "ATTA BOY" for his organizing the thing. So @youngunn like I said it was a hit AND a miss.
Sadly some people view it as a way to get rid of stuff they don't like and take valuables. Everyone tries to be gentlemanly about it though. For the next pass around I plan on buying razors and soaps specifically for it. Gotta do something to get level of products up in it. But yes fish crow is to be commended for running it. On other forums, there's specific rules for how much you can take out and how much you put in and it has to equal $30, etc... That's sad. We are gentlemen in this forum and dont need those rules.
Thanks to @SharpSpine who reminded me of a few more and also giving it some more thought...I'd like to add, to my list; Hits * Customer Service levels from some companies has been exceptional ClassicShaving and OneBlade to mention two* Connaught. Still one of the best online retailers there is * TVBShaving - where else can I still find Floid Blue for $28 shipped? I now have..uh...six bottles * Blackland. Thanks to @ShaneS who, in many ways, restored my faith in that Kickstarter can work Misses * Inflation in LE items. It's to the point where if everything is a limited edition..then nothing is * Anything HTGAM/PPF/PAA/Crown King has touched/made * Rockwell razors. I just can't respect them. I've tried but I just can't. * High-End razor quality control. Mongoose: it's really sad to see how it's failing so much later half of the year. Classic Shaving: The amount of issues people are having with the KCs is just not acceptable Heck, I'm even having a OneBlade razor replaced