Wee Scot, Virgilio Valobra, Maggard V2 open comb, and Barrister & Mann Reserve

No photo today. All shots were out of focus. I hope the camera’s not dying.

Virgilio Valobra has an almond fragrance, apparently beloved by Italians, and comes in a bar. The soap is the consistency of putty, so it’s easy to mash it into a bowl.

The Wee Scot is a workhorse, and the lather was excellent. I have my Maggard V2 open-comb head on their MR7 stainless handle, a very pleasant and well-balanced combination, and once again the V2OC proved to be extremely comfortable and extremely efficient, resulting in a rather easy BBS result.

The Barrister & Mann Reserve Spice aftershave just arrived, and I like it quite a bit. Ingredients:

Witch Hazel Water (Hamamelis Virginiana), SD Alcohol 40-B (Alcohol Denatured), Water (Aqua), Organic Licorice Root Extract (Glycyrrhiza Glabra), Glycerin, Taurine, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorella (Chlorella Vulgaris)/White Lupin Protein Ferment (Lupinus Albus), Eleuthero Root Extract (Acanthopanax Senticosus), Organic Alcohol, Fragrance, Salicylic Acid, Allantoin, Organic Aloe Leaf Extract (Aloe Barbadensis), German Chamomile Flower Extract (Matricaria Recutita), Provitamin B5 (Panthenol), Sodium Lactate, Neem Leaf (Melia azadirachta), Amino Esters-1, Ivy Gourd (Coccinia indica) Leaf Extract, Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Fruit Extract, Aloe (Aloe barbadensis) Flower Extract, Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum) Leaf Extract, Turmeric (Curcuma longa) Root Extract, Red Seaweed (Corallina officinalis) Extract, Benzoic Acid, Citral, Oakmoss (Evernia prunastri) Extracts, Cinnamic Aldehyde (Cinnamal), Benzyl Benzoate, Isoeugenol, Cinnamic Alcohol (Cinnamyl Alcohol), Geraniol, Citronellol, Methyl Ionone Gamma; Alpha-Iso-Methylionone, Hexyl Cinammic Aldehyde, Eugenol, Coumarin, D-Limonene, Linalool

Not your everyday aftershave, eh? But the fragrance is appealing and it feels quite good on my skin. It’s also available in Classic and as a mentholated aftershave.

Midnight Stag and the 102

My Rooney Style 2 Finest is, as the name suggests, a very fine brush, and today I used it with Chiseled Face’s Midnight Stag. Again I did palm lathering, which I like because it makes it easy to work a fair amount of water into the lather.

I returned to the iKon 102 with great pleasure. For me, this is a superb razor: extremely comfortable and never nicks, yet I easily achieve a pure BBS result. Today was no exception.

A good splash of Midnight Stag aftershave, and I’m looking forward to the weekend.

Weber polished-head razor goes to auction

This Weber polished-head razor with a Weber Bulldog handle is now up for auction on eBay.

Omega, Phoenix Solstice, the Rockwell R3, and Pinaud

The Omega 20102 is a fine bruhs, and it produced a great lather with Phoenix Artisan Solstice. I did palm lathering this morning, working a fair amount of water into the lather, so my stubble was well-prepped when the Rockwell R3 with a Rockwell blade mowed it down. A good splash of Pinaud Classic Vanilla finished the ritual.

Later today I’ll be listing the last of my Weber razors, the Polished Head on a Weber Bulldog handle.

Gillette flat-bottom Tech goes to auction

This flat-bottom Tech has a full-size fat handle. It is more efficient, it seems to me, than a regular Tech, and seems also more solidly built. It’s listed here on eBay.

Interview with the CEO of OneBlade

Interesting read. The OneBlade is quite good, but I find I prefer the DE format: less rinsing required.

The Wee Scot and Asses’ Milk shaving soap, with the iKon H2O and Grog aftershave

A very nice shave indeed. You may have noticed that I am liking my Wee Scot a lot these days. I have no idea how it has fared under Vulfix ownership, but mine was purchased a decade ago, while Simpson was still independent, and it’s a wonderful little brush. It easily worked up an excellent lather from the Asses’ Milk shaving soap shown, and lathering with it put me in a good mood for the shave.

The iKon H2O is a two-piece razor like the Pils, in which the handle is attached to the baseplate with a roller bearing so the handle can turn while the baseplate remains fixed (and vice versa, of course), so tightening the razor feels exactly like tightening a three-piece razor. This is an asymmetric model—comb guard on one side, bar guard on the other—but the sides are well matched for comfort and efficiency, so I use it like a regular razor.

Three passes, BBS with no problems, and then a good splash of Tallow + Steel’s Grog aftershave.

A great way to start the day, this shaving thing.