Catie’s Bubbles Barnegat Bay, Plisson and Schick Dial

Proraso White Pre
Plisson Synthetic shaving brush
Catie’s Bubbles Barnegat Bay
Schick Dial @ 8, 8, 5
Personna (4)
Proraso Aftershave Splash

First try of the Italian formula Barnegat Bay shaving soap from Catie’s Bubbles. First impression is I like this a lot and I’m surprised that you don’t hear as much about the Italian formula soap compared to the French formula.

It’s a strong classic bay rum scent, which lasts throughout the shave with no hint of irritation. I was using the Plisson synthetic fibre brush today which lathers everything with ease and this soap was no exception. It’s been a while since I used this brush and its reminded me just what a great brush it is and I should really get myself a spare direct from Plisson. I think one of the acetate handles would be very nice.

Back to the soap, I found this to be a nice thick lather that was very slick and had great post shave skincare. I’m almost thinking it’s better than the French formula for me.

I had 3 days growth to remove today so I set the Schick on the highest setting of 8 for the first two passes then down to 5 for the final against the grain pass. The results were very smooth, one of my best shaves in a while I think.

Finished off with a splash of Proraso green aftershave splash, it’s my favourite aftershave and I really like the cooling menthol chill. When the two bottles I have are gone I’m going to buy the 400ml bottle.

Quick spray of YSL La Nuit De L’Homme EDT and I was all set for the day. I’ve decided I’m going to try to use the many little soap samples I have accumulated over the next month to clear a bit of space in the den.

Le Père Lucien & Standard Razor

Myrsol Emulsion as preshave
The Big Shave LE 2014 Super Silvertip
Le Père Lucien Traditional scent
Standard Razor Black
English Wilkinson Sword blade
Myrsol Agua Balsamica aftershave

Great shave today with the above combo. Last time I used this sample of LPL I was away on holiday and didn’t get time to blog about it. Good shave today again with it but I think I had a bit of trouble loading from the sample with my super silvertip brush. Previously I had used my 2 band New Forest badger brush which has a bit more backbone and a smaller knot. I’m going to try my Omega boar brush next time to see if that makes a difference.

I find this soap is really good and performs much better than MdC but with a similar herby mint scent. The lather is nice and slick and post shave feel is very good, not at all drying. When I had MdC before although it lathered easily I found it lacked slickness and dried my skin out.

Another great shave with the Standard Razor, it’s fast becoming my favourite razor and I’ve just ordered a second one in the raw finish with the stand on Massdrop which was a bargain. Although it’s a light razor I find myself BBS every time I use it with no hint of irritation. The vintage made in England Wilkinson blade is still going well on what I think is shave number 6 although I think it’s beginning to dull a bit now, I’ll try it for one more shave which may be its last.

Finished off with the Myrsol Agua Balsamica aftershave which is a good match to the scent of the LPL soap as its herby with a very refreshing menthol kick. As with all Myrsol splashes they leave the skin feeling great and the scent is still lingering now.

Razorock Tight Buns and Standard Razor

Myrsol Emulsion as preshave
The Big Shave 2014 LE silvertip
Razorock Tight Buns
Standard Razor Black
Vintage Wilkinson Blade
David Beckham Instinct aftershave

First try of the Razorock Tight Buns soap which I bought sometime late last year. Not sure why it’s taken me so long to crack this open and give it a try, maybe because it was a limited edition soap so I didn’t want to use it up too quickly.

The scent is based on Creed Green Irish Tweed and was a limited run of soap named after Ant “tight buns” Smith who posts on Facebook shaving groups and did quite a few YouTube videos as well. I like his humorous videos but he isn’t making videos anymore.

Loading up the damp Big Shave super silvertip badger brush was easy after letting a bit of water sit on top of the soap whilst I showered, after about 20 seconds the brush was fully loaded. I face lathered and soon had a nice thick slick lather with a nice scent. I’m told that it can take a few shaves on a Razorock soap to really get the true scent and strength to come through and whilst this wasn’t the strongest scent it was present during the shave.

Post shave feel of the soap was good and I didn’t find it at all drying.

I haven’t used the Standard Razor for a few weeks but it worked really well today with the vintage made in England Wilkinson Sword blade which I think is on its fourth shave now. I heard these blades last quite well and it showed no signs of deterioration during the shave.

All in all this was a really good shave with BBS results. I’m not sure whether it was the combination of soap razor and blade or even the Myrsol preshave but it was the best shave in quite a while.

I finished off with a splash of the David Beckham Instinct aftershave which is a sample given to me by a friend. It’s a nice scent and the aftershave felt a little oily on application and left my skin feeling very nice and smooth. It’s not an overpowering scent but I can still smell it lightly a few hours after my shave.

Nannys Silly Soap Signature

Proraso White Preshave
Silvertip Badger Brush
NSS Signature Bamboo & White Grape
English F/T Rocket
Gillette Swede (2)
Proraso Aftershave

First shave in 3 days this morning and it felt good to finally whack all those whiskers! I had the Soap Commander Resolution arrive yesterday, but for some reason the NSS was calling to me.

22/03/15 a Knockout shave

Proraso White Pre Shave
Omega 66 Boar
Knockoutshave Black Shaving Soap
Ever Ready 1912
Gem Blade (2)
Proraso Aftershave Splash

Better shave on the second outing for the 1912. Not sure if it was getting the knack back or the blade smoothing out.

Went back to the sample of the Knockout Shave Black soap I was given recently. I like the thick lather this produced which is very protective, certainly made the 1912 much easier to shave with and I think the tallow gives good glide also.

Finished off with a good splash of the Proraso aftershave which has to be one of my favourites and one of the few I am tempted to get a big 400ml bottle of. Leaves the skin feeling very good and I love the cooling menthol kick.

A Sterling Shave

Proraso Sandalwood Preshave
Omega 49 boar
Ever Ready 1912
Gem SE blade (1)
Stirling Tuscany shaving soap
British Sterling aftershave

Today was one of those days were I just couldn’t work out what to use, I decided in the end to use the made in England Ever Ready 1912.

SOTD 17/03/15

3P
Semogue Owners Club 2 Band Badger
Caties Bubbles LTV
Ikon 102 Slant
Lab Blue (3)
La Toja Aftershave

DR Harris Windsor – Full Tilt

Swagger & Jacks pre shave oil
Plisson Synthtetic Brush
DR Harris Windsor shaving soap
Ikon 102 on custom handle
Personna Lab Blue (2)
DR Harris Windsor aftershave
DR Harris Windsor EDT

Nice English products used in today’s shave, though I am a big fan of artisan products you can’t beat the soaps DR Harris makes in good old Blighty. A Royal warrant too.

SOTD 10/03/15 a Grandstaff shave

3P
New Forest 1901 2 band badger brush
Grandstaff Holy Smokes v2 shaving soap
Standard Razor – Black
Personna Lab Blue (2)
Pinaud Classic Vanilla Aftershave

Well I said in a previous post about Travis Grandstaff going off the radar…but he’s resurfaced! After that post I was contacted on twitter by a man named Michael who alerted me that Travis was back in business with an improved version of his soap. Surely that great soap couldn’t be improved upon, but it has.

SOTD 26/02/15

3P
Proraso Travel Boar Brush
Strop Shoppe Alpine Frost
Gillette Aristocrat #16
Gillette Bleue blade (3)
Superdrug Forest Fresh

Mike at ThePathToSmoothness very kindly sent me a few samples to try out and this was one of them. Mike is a great guy and you should check out his blog.

Onto the soap, this stuff smells really good fresh and woody with a nice pine scent.