Great idea! An empty 2 oz aluminium tin is even better, as it won't break easily like glass or porcelain. You might be able to find another one in a thrift store too.
DaveWave94
joined 1 year ago
Unfortunately I also never had any Semogue brush, but I fully trust your word. I believe the animal hair fibers would be able to "fluff out" so to speak (blooming?), but that's not something I'd expect to be possible from synthetic fibre.
Side note, Fan or Flattop knots really rock for head shaving. It's a shame that not many face shavers seem to appreciate them, so they aren't widely available. Andrew from AP Shave Co. seems to be one of the only artisans who even does synthetic fan knots.
Sample lathering is quite a PITA for people who prefer to lather directly on their face/head, I feel your pain.
I'd also suggest another minimalist alternative to make it as close to face lathering as possible. Small glass or porcelain ashtrays (cleaned ofc) or candle coasters make for a good solution if the only camembert available in your area doesn't come with a cool porcelain dish. You can easily find those, even vintage ones if you prefer thrift stores/flea markets. Spread the soap evenly with a guitar pick or wide popsicle and simply load as if it was a soap puck. Any sample that isn't by Stirling Soap is only designed to give you 3 to 5 uses max anyway, so be generous with the amount of soap you're spreading in there.
Unfortunately I only had a hjm black badger brush (Mühle's cheap line before rebranding it to "nom") and that was a scratchy brush with quite a stench.
The Ebonite handle there looks crazy good though. It's just a shame that most of their knots are so tiny! 21 mm wouldn't fit well for my needs, the only brush I own that is this small is one with sentimental value (grandpa's old brush, now re-fitted with an AP Shave Co. knot). They also have their STF Silver Tip Fibre available in 26 mm knots though, which is supposed to be the top tier synthetic brush material on the market... would love to try one of those someday. It's a bit weird that I don't own anything by Mühle except an R41 with an ebony handle, since they are based in my region.
I realise that I'm becoming less and less a fan of menthol and WS-23 in soaps and splashes. It feels like a gimmick.
For the most part, menthol and Koolada/WS-23 are gimmicks - they are often added to provide a "refreshing" feeling, the only good use case are very hot summer days were they provide a short relief from the heat. Natural peppermint oil is an entirely different case though, if used sparingly (1% at most) in products it has the same effect as it contains natural menthol. However, it's a bit counterproductive to shaving - peppermint and menthol mostly improve blood flow and improve hair/beard growth by proxy. A 2014 study in mice even showed that an oil mix consisting of castor, jojoba and a tiny bit of peppermint oil worked as good as Minoxidil for hair (re-)growth!
Sterben musst du so und so, doch schneller geht's mit Marlboro!
Non-serious german quote of course, I am just kidding. Hope this set actually smells way better than my preferred cigarette brand does. Enjoy 👍🏻
I personally got myself a no-name round fogless shower mirror from amazon. It is shatter-proof and has a twist-action suction cup, making it suitable for a lot of different surfaces. Since you seem to be based in the US, this one here seems to be like the one I got. I personally like that you can twist it 360°, personally I use it regularly to trim my beard and occasionally to shave my head.
20.10.2024 - Sunday Rambling
- Brush: RazoRock 400 Noir SE
- Razor: Leaf Thorn
- Blade: snapped KCG
- Lather: Zingari Man - The Rambler
- Post-Shave: Osma alum; Moon Soaps Old School "balm"
-> as usual: 2 passes on the head, 1 around the beard. A good shave with just minor irritation. The alum was just for 2 bumps I managed to cut up.
Not shaving since Wednesday left me with quite the stubble on my dome, but surprisingly the Thorn manages that easily.
I was in the mood for a great ZM soap, and since I only own two and one is a summer aquatic - it was Rambler time. A pretty sweet affair, since the tobacco listed isn't my preferred "dried cigar leaf" scent but rather the tobacco flower. Nevertheless, it always lathers great and leaves my skin feeling very good. Heather knows her cosmetics stuff, she just had a unfortunate choice for a brand name.
Second microneedling treatment today. Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention and got myself a 1.0 mm roller, while every source recommends 0.5 for beginners. Now I know why it's actually a bit painful, but oh well - that's the price of beauty. 😅
Never knew that this was the reason for the name change - thanks for including that small tidbit of knowledge!
16.10.2024 - Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club shave N°3: LPL Narcisse 💐
- Brush: AP Shave Co. snakeskin handle w/ 26 mm Silksmoke Flattop/Fan hybrid
- Razor: Leaf Thorn
- Blade: snapped KCG
- Lather: Le Pere Lucien - Narcisse
- Post-Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Necromantic; Phytorelax Aftershave scalp cream
-> 2 passes on the dome, 1 for beard contours. A relaxing and enjoyable shave.
Third edition of the BVWSC and this time we get yet another european artisan: Le Pere Lucien from France with their masculine floral Narcisse . Since narcissus is pretty common around here, I was really intrigued when it was suggested. Florals are often not my kind of thing, except for Ylang-ylang, so the combination LPL has created had a high bar to clear.
And I must say, it did so with flying colours. Once the sample arrived (side note, PB&T666's handling of samples is the new damn gold standard IMHO - great work all around!) I was already surprised how it didn't smell overly cloying or sweet. It's definitely a good scent to wear and more on the mild side in terms of fragrance. The base was quite a surprise - I already have Cedre-Patchouli (sorry francophones, can't properly do the apostrophes) and it's more leaning towards a hard soap. This felt like the same, but it really started to get a good lather going very fast and after the shave, my skin already felt good. Really nice. Judging by the botched job my translator did with the LPL website, Narcisse should also contain bergamot, tobacco and vetiver. The former two I adore, the latter is a love/hate relationship depending on how it is used. Fortunately, this here gets my seal of approval.
Finished the shave with a less fortunate floral (wisteria and rose together with honey and red wine). At least it wasn't as unbearable as SW Tres Matres, my personal least favourite floral ever. If more of them would be like Narcisse , I'd use them more often.
As always, it was a pleasure to join in for the BVWSC shave!
15.10.2024 - Hindsight on Tuesdays
- Brush: TGS Galaxy 26 mm
- Razor: Stando Perun
- Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
- Lather: Declaration Grooming - Hindsight
- Post-Shave: Moon Soaps - Old School "balm" (actually it's an oily toner)
-> 2 passes on the head, 1 on the neck. A rather good shave, but the blade's already tugging. Now I remember why I abandoned RPLs.
DG is really comfy to lather and gives great results. Of course, Hindsight is rather divisive with the heavy emphasis on smoke and dark notes (leather and wood resin to my nose, could be off) but I really like it. I reckon it was a special soap that came out during the beginning of the pandemic - something that, in hindsight, we should have seen coming but still ignored until it was too late. It seems like it's not available on the DG website anymore, bummer. I still have Texas on Fire by Stirling as a smoke-heavy scent that I really like, but that is even more polarizing.
DG isn't as hyped anymore as other artisans nowadays compared to when I was starting out in early 2020; back then it was all the rage. Fortunately Scott seems to do well and even still has some shaving brushes up.
I'm back in nursing school as of yesterday and it's quite boring atm. Hope everything will turn more interesting soon. I'm now looking forward to tomorrow's BVWSC shave to break up the tedious routine...
Yeah, I don't really miss it. Seems like at that price point, their only good brushes are the black fibre synthetics.
I'd even call it an awesome handle, but when that is what they call medium... IDK. My grandpa's vintage brush also required that my dad and me sanded down the glue of the new knot and carefully widened the yellow bakelite with a Dremel, so no idea what it is with East Germany and tiny shaving brush knots. 😅
I find it intriguing too and I believe Mühle can make great products... if only their knots weren't so small 🤔