March Madness!!
March 5
Razor - 1920's Gillette Travel Razor, Stirling Silver by William B. Kerr & Co.
Blade -
![[IMG]](https://theshaveden.com/forums/attachments/bic-5-chrome-platinum-jpg.188321/)
(2)
Soap - Truefitt & Hill 1805
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum
Well, well, well. Wasn't this an interesting shave tonight. Still using the Gillette Travel Razor with a Bic CP and I switched to the Truefitt & Hill 1805 soap with a boar brush. This soap carries a legendary name and was brought back from England by the great
@Bama Samurai himself and gifted to me. I have used it a number of times since, and always with a bit of a mixed reaction to it. It's a bit difficult to lather, but seemed adequate. The scent is nothing terribly special but it's not bad, and the slickness seemed to be ok. In other words - seemed like a decent enough soap if not exciting. But, since it's from an old-school British shaving company, exciting may be the wrong thing to look for.
Tonight, however, I'd have to reassess the soap and give it an absolute "F". Now, the puck hasn't been used in several months so it was very dry. Bone dry. So I did add water to the puck and let it soak a bit. I chose the boar brush to stick with my "no synthetic" rule this month and also because this brush typically gives me an easy lather. I soaked the brush, shook it out fairly well and went to work. I immediately had a problem. I was getting suds off of the puck. As in - big bubble let's take a bubble bath level suds. I went ahead and loaded up the brush, went to the face for the face lather and started the shave. Right side done, not terrible not great and the left side at that point - barren of any soap. It was as if I hadn't lathered. I went over that side again quickly and finished the first pass. I'm thinking way too much water. Seemed like a broken lather. So, I squeezed out the Semogue leaving it barely damp, then reloaded the brush. Aha! Success!! The brush looked more like it should and I had no big soapy bathtub bubbles. I went to work lathering my face and while still thin it did look better. Maybe more like a Williams lather for me. However, before I was even finished with the right side my entire left cheek was bare. Bare and dry as though no soap had been appliled. What the...........well, ok, let's get serious. I finished the right side and grabbed my Two-Banded Stirling Synthetic. I barely dipped the tip of the brush and went to work loading off of the still wet puck. The synthetic filled up quickly and seemed full of soap. Face lathered with just a bit of a rinse first. The result? I made it through the pass but just barely as the lather just evaporated in front of my eyes.
Well, enough of a shave. I managed a barely DFS but I'll make it through a meeting and work tomorrow. Now to diagnose. I picked up the synthetic and worked up a hand lather. It seemed like it was making a nice thick base to work with but the first time I stopped working it I saw it fading and noticed that the bubbles are still oversized for a shaving lather. I squeezed out the brush and had a handful of what felt like a very cushy and slick lather. But the bubble problem was all through it and it didn't take long for it to start to fade. Seems like I don't have an answer tonight, if there is an answer. I'm puzzled because while this soap never made my top soap list it never performed quite this badly. I decided to fill the container with water and let it soak until tomorrow night and I'll hit it again with a dry brush and go from there. Maybe I can get it figured out. Or, maybe the reviewer on Reddit I read after tonight's shave is right - and it just isn't something that works all that well. We'll see.
Wednesday approaches! Happy midweek to all of you and Happy Monday to me!
![[IMG]](https://theshaveden.com/forums/attachments/march-5-2019-jpg.188446/)
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