A good ol' Swedish steel Iwasaki. I don't see many with the name spelled out in English, makes me wonder if it wasn't made specifically for export to the West. I wasn't impressed with the RR XXX today, which is surprising as it's one of my favorite pet brands. I had't used this tub for a while, and it may be merely expressing it's displeasure at having been ignored (much the same way an old puck of MWF will do until the puck is thoroughly rehydrated). Took a heck of a lot of soap and a heck of a lot of water to get enough lather for two passes. By the time I'd finished the first pass, the remainder had died in the bowl and it was necessary to whip up a quick one pass batch. I'll try this tub again for a few sessions, but if it doesn't straighten up and fly right, there are too many other great soaps in my den to mess with a problem child.
I have an old Illinois horsehide strop I resuscitated life back into that I use for anything with spine work. It's a fine strop, but as I only have $5 (and about 25 cents worth of MWF for conditioning) invested in it, it hurts less when I mark it up.
Strop 20x20 on 2" latigo strop Simpson S1 best badger brush Proraso red DD Goldedge AOS sandalwood balm AOS alum block Clubman pinaud original Sweet BBS shave to end my work week
I recently discovered my hidden tub of the XXX last week and have had a couple of shaves with the stuff. I face-lather so hadn't any problem getting a good thick coating on my face. Slick n' thick. I'm not that keen on the scent as I once thought I was, but overall I found it to be a decent performer. I agree with you about there being too many good soaps out there to battle with one that doesn't seem to measure up…. Another Italian-made soap used today, however— Menthol Valobra soft-soap…whipped up with my new Italian boar-bristle brush and shaved with the Solingen-nade blade…
I soaked the puck in some water/glycerin solution for a bit yesterday, we'll see how it does today. BTW: You're killing me with that Hans every time I see it. The only ones I can find look like they've been on the sea bed since about 1935.
Yeah, finding ones that haven't suffered serious rot is a rare occasion. I missed out a few months ago on an ebay auction for a PAIR of near-flawless Hans (identical to mine above), that went for…. $90 / pair. Missed out by $5.
Homemade Pre-Shave Oil (Not Pictured) Brush : Art of Shaving Pure Badger Soap: Stirling "Executive Man" Sample Puck Strop: @Drygulch Leatherworks Horween Horsehide 24" Barber Strop Razor: Geo Wostenholm & Sons 5/8 Superb Pipe Square Point ( I am still learning square point) Post Shave: Styptic Pencil (I am still learning the square point) Razorock Alum Block (I am still learning square point) Witch Hazel (Did I mention I am learning to use a square point?) Nivea "Square Point Relief" Cooling Post Shave After Shave: Floid "Yellow" Suave Menthol
FREE TIP (from my own experiences ) Square points (or the more dangerous spike points) can and will bite if you let your razor-holding hand wander too far out from the face. Example: lets' say you're doing a downstroke on one cheek, with your razor-wielding hand near your chin, you start focusing in the mirror on the cutting edge doing it's thing, your hand starts to moves out away from the chin and….oww! You catch the square tip on the cheek! Easy to do when learning until you practice keeping that hand close to the face so the angle stays shallow and you lessen the risk of a cheek gouge. Some guys catch the tip on their ears, but I've thankfully never had that pleasurable feeling.
Continuing today's hefty theme: my first shave using this newly-honed Sheffield near-wedge Wostenholm. Absolutely killer-keen edge, and what a great heavy, smooth shaver.
SOTD AOS lavender soap Simpson S1 best badger brush W&B Bow Styptic pencil Alum block Clubman original splash
Clauss 13/16 U.S.M.C. - one of my finest shavers Razorock Captains Choice bay Rum Soap Commander balm " Love"
