View attachment 215695
Jan 20th
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements PS Tube 2.0, ASB Star Jelly
A&E Vanille de Tabac SS & ASB
Heritage Collections - Ever Ready 3 Step - 2 band badger
Rex Ambassador
Bolzano (1)
Couple of firsts with this shave, although it's my 3rd use of the Rex Ambassador. First time using a Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements ceramic scuttle, complete enablement from following
@Keithmax 's recent experiments. Daily routine much the same, super warm shower, scrub ~36 hours of growth with PAA's Tube 2.0. At the same time, scuttle is full inside and out with hottest tap water, ~125 degrees at our faucet. Brush warming in the bowl water. Dump bowl almost empty (maybe a teaspoon or so of water), shake brush to be just damp, swirl/load for ~30 seconds. Lathering was quite bubbly at first, then starts thickening as I'd expect, beating it like it's supposed to be, punching it down, beating some more. Face lather was awesome! Warm, slick, shiny and thick. I gotta admit/compare....the formulation of A&E and PAA are extremely similar...not only the 'in tub' look, but also the way it swirls/loads onto the brush, right down to the slight 'stringyness' as the brush gets loaded and you're ready to lather. Face feel, application and look are also much the same. I'm no chemist/soap maker...but, based on my first use, it's an extremely close process and only a slight variation of base ingredients.
First couple passes with the RA were set on 3.5, and a fresh Bolzano blade. Used the 'ride the cap' technique, barely letting the weight of the RA and Bolzano do the cutting. DFS+ from those 2 passes, just a little neck jawline touch up required for the 3rd pass. 1 neck weeper, a bump I didn't see and shaved it off. No biggie. Changed the setting for the fun of it to the lowest on the Rex, half way from 1 down to nothing, so a 0.5. Same ride the cap, extremely light weight when shaving, and a nice BBS achieved with neck buffing. I think at this setting you'd be hard pressed to cut yourself....there's no blade feel at all, and a very narrow angle. Feels like riding the cap and bar at the same time.
Many other reviews/comparisons across the 'net compare the RA's 3.5 setting to a Rockwell 6s with plate 6 (which is what I used Saturday night). I'd concur....very close, although the 6s can handle/requires a little more pressure. I'd say there's still a little more blade exposure on the Rex...should probably do some side by side comparisons. Settings higher than 3.5, definitely a lot more blade exposure/feel on the RA to me.
Finished off with PAA's Star Jelly, then A&E's matching ASB. Very nice aroma, tobacco, vanilla, ginger (almost clove like). Another great enablement from several of you 30DCr's.
Hope everyone has a Fantastic Monday!
Click to expand...
