Back in the saddle again!

Ok, so things are back to normal on the vast open plains of my face.

On the recommendation of a good friend, I returned to the warm, wooly bosom of Mitchell's Wool Fat, and the lanolin did work a charm. My face feels better after last week's shenanigans, and shaving is once more a pleasure.

What's more, the very day that my last drop of that sweet, sweet TSD Aftershave milk went, I got a new shipment in. This time Old Spice Type, Bourbon Vanilla and Mayan Gold (I couldn't resist...it's just so tasty!). I wasn't sure about the Old Spice, but my wife seems to like it so there you go.

I also got in some shave soap from Susie's Bubbles--Citrus Sage with Shea Butter and Honey Almond with Goat's Milk. The scents on these soaps is something else. Sweet and fragrant....like candy. I'll let the MWF take care of me for a few more days, and then see how these guys shave. Thanks Suzie!

In other news, I am working with the famous "Swede".


No, not that one...

Gillette Super Platinums, commonly known as "Swedish Gillettes", are some of the priciest, and well loved, DE blades around. They are reputed to be smooth, sharp blades that last forever; one gentleman of note claims that he got 30 good shaves out of one--and, as most good blades give about 5-6, that is something else. I find them sharp, but smooth...hmmm. I'm not ready to give up on my yellow/green 7 O'Clocks yet.

So that's the current state of affairs. In the near future, expect an extended series of Brush reviews as I get a silvertip in a hand-carved genuine horn handle from Kimson Handicrafts in Viet Nam, and a pre-Vulfix Simpsons Duke 3 to try out. Yay!

Behold, a Stick Is Born!

I love me some Mitchell's Wool Fat. Great, great soap. Lovely smell, fantastic shave, excellent skin care. It was my first soap, and remains my favorite. However, I have found that since I first started this shaving bidness, I prefer shave sticks to soap pucks.

What's a boy to do?


Put the two loves together!

Inspired by a thread on B&B about turning a Tabac Puck into the highly coveted Tabac stick, I went to work on my battle-scarred puck.

First, I shaved the puck down into slivers using a vegetable peeler. I dropped the slivers into a glass bowl and tried a little "double boiling". The heat and steam softened the slivers a bit, allowing them to be reformed. I dropped the slivers into an empty "twister" deodorant stick and tamped them down with a marker. I added a few drops (DROPS! not splashes) of water now and again to add to the softness. Soon, I had this:



A MWF STICK!

After the stick set for a while, I tried it out.

Unfortunately, the soap set up too hard in the stick,and the twist-action broke when I tried to use it. I had to cut the bottom out and push up with my thumbs. Apart from this little mechanical trouble, the soap performs beautifully!

I've shaved with it and the lather was pure MWF. The shaving/tamping caused no permanent changes, and the stick form is PERFECT for lathering this notoriously difficult soap.

Score!!!

The First Sign of Addiction

I got a puck of Tabac in the mail last night.

This stuff gets tons of love on the shaving forums, so when I saw it for sale with free shipping, I had to get a puck. I thinks it's a law somewhere. However, when I got it last night, I looked at it a bit, sniffed it, thought "Man, that's a nice looking box, it sure smells nice," and promptly put it in a drawer and forgot about it.

I'm a Mitchell's Wool Fat man...I might have a problem.

Especially if my wife figures out how much soap I have, and how little I use.
And there's still more in the mail! Damn!

I GET it now!

So, I've been at this new shaving thing for a couple of weeks now. I'd heard lots of good stuff about it, and I was enjoying the whole learning and practicing thing, but I'll be perfectly honest...I wasn't enjoying the shaves. It hurt. My face was red and, sometimes, bleeding. I could see some improvement in my technique, but it was still unpleasant. Until this week. I finally learned the secret to a truly comfortable shave.

Woolfat.



Mitchell's Woolfat Shaving soap is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
It's so...old fashioned. There's no scent but CLEAN. Someone said it "Smells like my grandparents' bathroom." And that's exactly what it is. It's that old kind of soap made from things like tallow, and lanolin (that's the wool fat) and GOOD.

I tried it, and it was like a revelation. The scales fell from my eyes, and the whiskers fell from my face, and my skin cried unto the heavens "THANK YOU!"

Now, I want to shave every morning. I want to feel that smoothness, and I want my face to look as fresh as it feels.

I love this stuff.