Later On

My shave today is based on the Van Der Hagen Premium Shave Set: a bowl, brush, and shaving soap for $10.59 on Amazon. Quite a few beginning shavers go for this bargain approach, and I thought it was fitting to include a razor of the same stripe—the Lord L6.

Let me remove all suspense: I got an absolutely wonderful shave—total facial smoothness with no irritation at all. So expensive kit is not required.

Here’s how it went. First, I soaked the boar brush while I showered—along with four other (Omega) boar brushes I’m breaking in. Back at the sink, I first went through the four Omega brushes, working up a good lather with each, lathering my beard vigorously, then rinsing brush and beard and proceeding to the next brush. This break-in exercise of course prepped my beard to a fare-thee-well.

Once done with that, I washed my beard with MR GLO, rinsed partially with a splash, and worked up a lather with the Van Der Hagen brush using the soap and bowl shown.

I in fact got a pretty good lather. The brush is not very good—it lacks a center—but it worked, and the soap was okay. In fact, I liked the soap and bowl combo: the bowl fits well in the palm of my non-dominant hand and worked up the lather was a cinch and a pleasure.

The Lord L6 with a Zorrik blade did a good job on the stubble: the razor’s head is fine, and maintaining a good angle quickly erased stubble.

I have to admit that for the second and third pass, I shifted to one of the Omega brushes. They are simply better, but keep in mind this entire set-up—brush, bowl, and soap—was $10.59. And as a starting point, it works. (The first step up would be to get an Omega boar—you can secure an excellent boar brush for around $10, so that would indeed double your cost, but the brush would be MUCH better. And instead of spending the $10.59 on the Van Der Hagen set-up, get a good $10 puck of soap—from one of the artisanal vendors, say—and use a coffee mug or cereal bowl you have on hand, and you’ll be better off.)

After the third pass, a splash of Woods aftershave from Saint Charles Shave, and I’m ready for the Boxing Day sales—except I’m not going to them, or even near them.

Really, a terrific shaving result.