Razor: Gillette - NEW Flat Bottom Round Pin Knurled (UK)
Blade: Personna - 74 (Tungsten) (4)
Lather: Stirling - Ramblin' Man
Brush: Stirling - Finest in CravingShaving Blue Slate 26mm (15 uses)
Post: Sapone Di Paolo - Arancione (Orange)
*General Notes / TL;DR*:
Good shave, but a little razor burn. Trying out the new-to-me NEW Flat Bottom Round Pin as well as Stirling's fairly recent Ramblin' Man.
*Razor and Blade Notes* - Gillette - NEW Flat Bottom Round Pin Knurled (UK) ::: Personna - 74 (Tungsten) (4 uses):
A very efficient combo. This razor starts out feeling pretty good. Then during the second pass, I notice that I'm getting a couple of spots of razor burn. This one might be a little too efficient to be a daily shaver for me, at least with this blade.
*Soap Notes* - Stirling - Ramblin' Man:
Them: Citrus, Sandalwood, Musk, Cedar, Ambergris
Scent: This one is zesty citrus and is not shy about it. Maybe some of that zest is part musk or ambergris, I don't know. But I didn't pick up any sandalwood, and the citrus (talking about the soap and AS here) stayed dominant the whole time. A little too much for me, especially since I'm usually a night shaver. This one will help to wake you up in the morning!
It really reminded me of Baker Street. So if that's a favorite of yours, and you want a variation, then maybe get a sample of this guy.
Scent Strength: 6/10, very present during shaving.
Lather: Within the realm of a really nice lather today, just on the wet side of that range. This dense brush didn't really help. Excellent performance, though. Slick glide today.
* 20 second load with a lightly-wet, dense 2-band badger brush
* 4 tsp water to build the lather
* = 4 passes of lather
Bowl - I used the XL version of this bowl:
[ Ссылка ]
*Brush Notes* - Stirling - Finest in CravingShaving Blue Slate 26mm (15 uses):
Yeah, still not liking this knot nearly as much as my Maggard SHD or my Elite Manch, but that's kinda as it should be, since those cost a lot more. This guy is just so dense that it's a ball of soft tips. I would still enjoy it if I were trapped without another brush to use.
One of the things about this one is that because it is so dense, a stirring motion in the bowl doesn't get thesoap much into the middle of the knot. And if you forget that, then when you put knot to face, then the soap is gone and you're just dry scrubbing. Very disconcerting when you're expecting luxurious slick lather. I just have to remember that I need to jam it down into the lather several times and that will inject the lather into the center and change the experience very much for the better.
I also thing this guy may be a prime candidate for testing the backbone of bulb vs fan. Inexpensive, but soft. Some day I'll get the fan version and compare.
**Shave Quality**
During the Shave Feel:
Cheeks: Felt blade but comfortable
Neck: Felt blade but comfortable
After the Shave Closeness:
Cheeks: Near BBS - About as close as I'll ever get
Neck: Cut flush to where I just see the tips (above average for me)
