The surprisingly excellent RazoRock Old Type

Even though I know that the RazoRock Old Type is surprisingly excellent, I am still surprised each time I use it by how excellent it is. Today was no exception.

The prep went well, and this Plisson European Grey is a wonderful brush, whipping up a good lather from Eufros Vetiver de Haiti. Vetiver to me has the odor of spring, when you dig up the ground to plant flowers and seedlings.

The Old Type is an uncommonly comfortable razor, and I forget just how nice it is from shave to shave — and then (surprisingly, given the comfort) it also is highly efficient so that i three passes I had a perfectly smooth face. A splash of Fine’s Clean Vetiver finished the job. It has, as you see from the label, a touch of menthol, but a hint rather than a shout, and this morning it seemed just the thing.

And sunny day and cloudless sky, and the weekend is forecast to be 20ºC (68ºF). Time to break out the Nordic walking sticks.

A Bay Rum morning — I love the Omega Pro 48 (10048), and the vintage Merkur white bakelite slant’s not bad either

My Pro 48, now well broken in, delivers delightful lather while massaging my face lightly: a knot that has a long loft and strong resilient fibers, once loaded with lather, does a wonderful job. I do, of course, wet the knot well under the hot-water tap and let it stand, dripping wet, while I shower, so when I go to load the brush the knot has been soaked.

Meißner Tremonia’s Bay Rum has a fine fragrance and lathers easily and well. Though it contains clay, I did not have to add any water during loading, perhaps because the Pro 48 contains ample (but not excessive) water even after a couple of good shakes.

Merkur’s vintage white bakelite slant has plenty of blade feel but for some reason does not thereby seem threatening — and it does a wonderful job. As I think about the shave, I wonder whether there was not a little to much blade feel — perhaps it’s time to change the blade to make the slicing smoother. I think I’ll do that and honor it with one my Astra Kermik Platinum from a small stash that was gifted to me by a kind and generous reader. (I use those blades sparingly. I imagine the razors consider getting such a blade a badge of honor.)

A splash of Dominica Bay Rum and a new week begins well. (I’m sure some of the softness of my skin is due to Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave.) The day is very bright, without a cloud in the sky.

Henson Shaving makes a standout razor!

I just recently learned of the Henson Shaving razor. It looked intriguing, so I bought one, and today is my first shave with it.

I began, as always, with the prep. (That’s why they call it “prep.”) Another Mystic Water shaving soap today, Field of Dreams (scroll down at the link):

The inspiration for this soap comes from my own memories of hanging out at my brother’s Little League games and my uncles’ baseball games every summer of my childhood: the leather glove, the dirt of the infield, freshly cut grass, and wood notes. 

Certainly the fragrance is appropriate to the season with MLB getting underway, and I found the fragrance quite pleasant. The lather, as always, was excellent, thanks in part to the excellent Edwin Jagger synthetic shaving brush, whose knot has more texture than the Plissoft sort of knots.

Now, the razor. It comes in you choice of color: Silver (Aircraft Aluminum), Jet Black, Steel Blue, Rocket Red, Military Green, Purple, Tan, Coral, and Azure. You could buy 3 razors of different colors — say, Red, Silver, and Blue — and make 3 different razors using 3 from a choice of 6 combinations of the 3 colors (first, either Opt 1 or 2; second, either Opt 3 or 4; and third, either Opt 5 or  6):

	Opt 1	Opt 2	Opt 3	Opt 4	Opt 5	Opt 6
Cap:	Red	Red	Silver	Silver	Blue	Blue
Baseplate:	Silver	Blue	Red	Blue	Silver	Red
Handle:	Blue	Silver	Blue	Red	Red	Silver

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I, however, purchased only one razor.  It’s fit and finish were first-rate — threads work smoothly, everything fitting together with total precision. The pattern on the handle is interesting and provides a good grip. The base of the handle is rounded, so you won’t be standing this razor on its base (nor do I do that with any razor).

Henson Shaving made a brief video that discusses some of their design decisions. In addition, you’ll find much more information on their website (which includes a list of vendors who stock the razor, here and abroad).

The US price is $50, and the razor comes as Model AL13 and Model AL13 Medium (slightly more efficient) and also in Titanium (substantially more expensive). The difference between the AL13 and the AL13 Medium is, I imagine, similar to that between the RazoRock Game Changer .68-P and .84-P, both of which are quite comfortable and (for me) similarly efficient.

The head design looks unusual — in part because, as the video explains, they wanted to grip the blade firmly near the cutting edge to eliminate any flutter/chatter. Bending the blade over a hump in the baseplate will made the blade rigid in one direction (the edge will remain straight) while still allowing movement in the other direction (the edge as a whole can move up and down). That up-and-down movement is restricted by clamping the blade close to the edge, and the Henson takes the clamp very close to the edge, which (combined with the guard) minimizes the chance of nicks.

And in fact, the Henson baseplate lacks a central hump: the baseplate is flat and supports the blade except for close to each edge. The cap then bends the blade slightly downward at each edge, imparting rigidity and also clamping down on chatter because the distance from bend to edge is minimized.

I will note also the head covers the end tabs of the blade, something I like (and something the Utopia Care and King C. Gillette (among others) fail to do).

It’s clear that a lot of thought and iteration went into the design. So how does it shave?

Great, in a word. Despite the somewhat odd appearance of the the razor head, I had no problem at all in finding the right angle — and a bad angle causes disengagement, not cuts. The razor is among the most comfortable razors I have ever used. It’s totally nonthreatening, the polar opposite of yesterday’s Utopia Care. And withal it does a very efficient job of removing stubble. I like it so much I’m thinking I’ll try the AL13 Medium (just as I have both a .68-P and .84-P Game Changer). But for me, the AL13 does a great job.

This razor would be an ideal razor for a beginner because of its comfort and disinclination to nick (while still being very efficient). I’m updating my list of recommended razors to include the Henson.

A splash of The Shave Den’s Patchouli-Rose aftershave, and the weekend begins.

Utopia Care safety razor: Efficient but uncomfortable

I got the Utopia Care razor from Amazon.ca for CAD 11.00 (US$ 8.75) because why not? It comes with 20 Derby Extra blades. Amazon.com did offer it, but it’s no longer available. That may not be a problem…

First, of course, comes the prep. Coconut Sandalwood turns out to be an appealing fragrance, and I enjoyed the lathering. Then I put razor to face.

The razor feels good in the hand, with good heft and feel. The handle is about the same length as yesterday’s King C. Gillette but a better design in that it includes a grip at the end to help with the pass against the grain.

On the face, the feel is a different story. “Threatening” is the best one-word description that occurs to me. This is a razor with a chip on its shoulder, and you feel you had better tread carefully. The blade feel is highly noticeable, particularly the edge of the blade.

That said, I suffered no damage — no nicks, no burn. I attribute this lack of damage to:

1. Use of Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-shave, which provided glide and protection, and a good lather from the Mystic Water shaving soap.
2. Being extremely careful to ride the cap, with razor handle well away from my face, and using very light pressure.
3. Stopping instantly if it felt the stroke was going wrong and resuming carefully, usually from a different direction and making sure the cap was in contact with my face.

Despite the somewhat nerve-wracking experience of the shave, the final result was as smooth as anyone could want. Still: this razor is definitely not for a novice — indeed, it’s not for me. YMMV, of course, but this one will go to Goodwill.

Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and the King C. Gillette turned out to be quite nice and cheaper than other Edwin Jagger razors. 🙂

Continuing the coconut theme, I used a splash of The Shave Den’s Coconut-Lime-Verbena aftershave milk, and the balm effect of the aftershave was welcome.

I have one more new razor en route, based on a recommendation Mantic59 mad in Sharpologist: a Vikings Blade Chieftain. Given Mantic59’s experience with the razor, I have high hopes for this one.

King C. Gillette safety razor + Mystic Water Leather & Smoke shaving soap = fine shave

Pcmpted by a reader query, I ordered a copy of the King C. Gillette safety razor, named in honor of King Camp Gillette (b. 1835 in Fond du Lac WI; d. 1932 Hollywood CA) and gave it a go this morning, using one of the Kiing C. Gillette blades that came with the razor.

But first, the prep. I really like this Yaqi brush with the transparent amber-like handle. The knot has a relatively short loft, but it does a good job. The soap is another sample I got with my Mystic Water soap order, and I definitely like the fragrance of this soap — this sample I’m saving to use again. The lather was quite good because Mystic Water makes a good soap.

The razor is not exactly a clone of the Edwin Jagger head, but it’s definitely a close cousin. The primary difference visible to my eye was that underside of the baseplate, which differs from the EJ razor and which has zero effect on the shave. So far as cap, gap, and guard, there was no difference that I could see, and in shaving with it, I found that it shaved much like an Edwin Jagger razor, which is quite good.

The razor has good heft and is well made. Like the EJ and some other brands the cap and baseplate don’t cover the end tabs of the blade. I understand the idea — by leaving the end tabs exposed, it is easy to adjust blade alignment — but I prefer that the end tabs be covered, and if the razor is made with close tolerances, manual adjustment of alignment is not needed. This razor seems to have good close tolerances.

The handle treatment is idiosyncratic: textured at the top, smooth at the base. But it worked fine. The handle is longer than that of most razors, but not so long as to be awkward.

On the whole, this is a very good razor indeed, and at US$25 a very good bargain.

Three passes left my face totally smooth. Again I noticed the presence of the pre-shave particularly in the second pass, and it was there for the third as well.

A splash of The Holy Black’s Gunpowder Spice aftershave, and I’m ready to join in the bright, clear, sunny day.

The RazoRock Adjust delivers a fine shave

Prep as usual, this time using a sample of a Mystic Water soap. Ginger Pear is a very nice fragrance. Despite the clay, I had no trouble loading the little horsehair brush (which I left to soak while I showered).

The Adjust feels enormous, mainly because of the length of the handle and the heft of the razor. As I took the first stroke I was startled by how good it felt. “Must be the Grooming Dept pre-shave” was my first thought, but as I continued to shave I realized that, though the pre-shave doubtless helped, credit must go also to the razor’s head design. This is an extremely comfortable razor, something I did not expect from its appearance (a somewhat formidable head) and how it feels in the hand.

As I continued the shave, I realized that it’s not only quite comfortable (and I had adjusted it toward the + side — more aggressive), it was stripping off stubble like nobody’s business. After three passes I had yet another exceptionally good result.

I’ve now learned — in the sense that I don’t have to try to remember — that after pass 1 and pass 2, rather than rinsing my face before re-lathering, I just wet my hands and press them against my face to ensure that it’s wet. This is what Grooming Dept recommends when using the pre-shave, presumable to avoid rinsing off the pre-shave that remains. After the third pass, I of course do a full rinse.

A splash of Vitos Lavanda as aftershave, and the day begins. I’m sitting here feeling my face, still surprised that a razor that looks (and feels in the hand) bulky can do such a fine job. At $15, it’s a bargain. (Sold out right now, but you can sign up to be notified when it’s available.)

Current brush collection

I found places on the shelves for the three new brushes. Below is a photo of the collection as of today (click photo to enlarge). I also updated the earlier post that provides more detail on the collection.

How frequent can something “exceptional” be?

I was going to describe this morning’s shave as “exceptional,” when it occurred to me that I now get shaves of this quality fairly often — three or four times a week. But when my face is totally smooth, and feels that smooth when I rub it in any direction, and my skin is soft and undamaged, and the shave was thoroughly enjoyable — when all that happens, it feels exceptional and to some degree amazing (perhaps owing to memories of my horrible high-school shave experiences).

The “exceptional” impression is enhanced by the quality of the tools used to achieve the shave since those increase one’s enjoyment. This morning I have a handsome new brush, a Yaqi 22mm whose amber handle is comfortable and provides good grip and control. Van Yulay’s Puros la Habana has the invigorating fragrance of a fresh and unsmoked cigar. And Yaqi’s DOC razor is both comfortable and efficient.

This morning I noticed the presence of the pre-shave particularly in the second pass. I doubt that it works on any particular pass, though. My noticing it is just an accident of attention. I am still very happy with the pre-shave, and I now can remove the small amount needed without conscious effort: with my fingertip I squeeze a bit to the side and up against the edge of the tub, which clips it off from the mass in the tub. Massaging it into my stubble is now a practiced, pleasurable ritual (one that has an actual payoff beyond the pleasure of the ritual).

Puros la Habana aftershave balm is very pleasant and has a quick drydown with no residue on the face. It did leave my skin feeling good, but the soap itself doubtless helped. The ingredients of Puros la Habana shaving soap:

Stearic Acid, Coconut Fatty Acid, Palm Stearic, Castor, Glycerin, Potassium& Sodium Hydroxide, Aloe Vera, Coconut-Tallow-Lanollin-Babassu-Manteca-Argan-Emu Oils, Shea & Kokum Butters, Sodium Lactate, Calendula, Extracts, Poly Quats, Allantoin, Silica, Bentonite & Kaolin Clay, Tobacco Absolute, and Fragrance.

Manteca is pig tallow, aka lard. (Google Translate has it as butter, but the soapmaker says in this context it is lard.) And despite the presence of two clays, loading the brush was a snap, requiring no extra water.

The balm’s ingredients:

Water, Aloe Vera, Glycerin, Emulsifying Wax, BTMS, Stearic Acid, Emu Oil, Glycerin, Abyssinian Seed Oil, Argan Oil, Allantoin, Pau d’Arco, Ylang-Ylang, Tea Tree, Hydrolyzed Oat, Holy Basil, Liquid Silk, Germaben II, and Fragrance.

A great way to start the day.

Yaqi’s “cashmere” knot with Love Bombs and the Stealth

I think the fragrance name is intended as an adjective modifying a plural noun, but my ear-mind connection keeps construing as a sentence with a singular subject — as in “People say love solves things, but often love bombs.”

Be that as it may, the lather is excellent in composition (it’s the CK-6 formula) and fragrance (Dark Chocolate, Rose, Rosewood, Bergamot, Tea, Orange, Lemon, Black Pepper, Ginger, Palo Santo, Vetiver, Cedar, Tobacco & Rose Absolute). Unfortunately, this was a limited-run soap and it is no longer listed on the Phoenix Artisan website, though perhaps some vendors might have some stock on hand.

The brush is interesting. It’s a 22mm knot (the bunny/Easter-egg brush I used Saturday had a 19mm knot), but feels a bit smaller because the bristles are so very fine. It’s an unusually fine and soft brush, though with reasonable resilience. I would say that the difference in feel between a silvertip badger and a Plissoft knot is about the same as the difference between a Plissoft knot and this knot. 

In terms of actual performance, it does a fine job: it loads easily and works up the lather well. But I’m certain that many men will say that it’s too soft on the face (speaking of the feel of the brush and not the resilience of the knot). I like it, though I like it in the context of enjoying variety and having many other choices available. I think it’s worth noting that Yaqi titles their catalog entry as “Yaqi 22mm Soft Cashmere Synthetic Hair” (emphasis added).

I have other brushes with a gentle feel from having a fluffy (and resilient knot) — the Mühle silvertip, my G.B. Kent BK4, the custom brush with the snakewood handle, the Fine Classic — but this brush is not the same: the knot is not fluffy but reasonably dense. It’s simply that the bristles are so very fine that it is soft, but with the density the knot doesn’t have the quick give, the immediate yielding that the gentle knots have. This knot stands up to pressure more than do those.

If you like variety, it’s certainly a brush worth getting, and it will define one extreme.

The shave itself was excellent. This time I particularly noticed presence of the pre-shave on the second pass, but the entire shave went well — two-day stubble, good prep, and the Stealth pretty much guaranteed that.

A splash of Love Bombs, and the week’s underway.

For Easter: The egg-shaped Yaqi Bunny Shave Brush in Blue with a Tuxedo knot

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had order three brushes from Yaqi. They’re here, and this one seemed highly appropriate in view of the memes of the Easter holiday. The base of the brush has a silhouette of a bunny.

I do like Pan’s Pipe, a soap in the Vol. 3 formulation from Dr. Jon. The lather’s fragrance is pleasing and with The Holy Black’s SR-71 slant I easily achieved a very smooth result, with no damage at all (thanks in part to Grooming Dept pre-shave).

A splash of Diplomat aftershave, and the weekend begins.

I deem the brush now broken in

Today the brush acted like a regular silvertip badger brush, making an excellent lather (ably assisted Phoenix Artisan’s Dapper Doc in the CK-6 formulation). This brush has a somewhat coarser feel on the face than some of my other silvertips — no hooked tips on this one — but it is a pleasant feel and a firm brush. I feel now I can move on to other brushes.

I do like the Lilack & Fig fragrance of Dapper Doc’s, and CK-6 lather is exception. The Fatip Testina Gentile glided through the stubble without incident and left my face particularly smooth, ready for a splash of the matching aftershave. A good start to a new day.

Savannah Sunrise and the Gillette Heritage

The brush is acting so much better. I’ll use it again tomorrow and then declare it broken in and put it back in rotation. The problem was simple: I just had not used the brush enough.

This morning it did a wonderful job with Savannah Sunrise, whose fragrance particularly appeals to me: Orange Blossom, Peach, Gardenia, Jasmine, and Honeysuckle. The lather was applied to stubble prepped with Grooming Dept pre-shave, and it struck me that this pre-shave brings out the best in the Edwin Jagger head (which is the head design of the Gillette Heritage razor shone). It made the razor glide easily, smoothly, and comfortably and left a BBS result.

A splash of Savannah Sunrise aftershave, and April begins — photo below is from my walk yesterday:

Brush coming along and I like D.R. Harris

You will note that this morning I used the DOC razor that matches the brush handle. And the knot really feels quite different this morning, much friendlier to the lather.

I used MR GLO as the pre-shave since I’m using a shave stick, Marlborough by D.R. Harris in this case. Ieasily worked up a fine lather and, as noted, the brush accepted the lather readily. Three passes with the razor easily and comfortably removed all roughness, and a splash Marlborough finished the shave with the wonderful woody fragrance.

Spring is advancing quickly. This is one of eight trees ranked in front of the apartment building. This one’s on the end, so it caught the morning sun while the other trees were still shaded by the building. I’ll take an afternoon photo soon to capture the full glorious length of the row.

Another exquisite shave, with notes on brush break-in

Today I soaked the knot of this brush, a step I normally omit when the brush is badger. However, given that this brush is still learning the ropes, it seemed a good thing to try. I also selected Otoko Organics, which is unlike other soaps, thinking that it might help the break-in along by presenting a different detergent profile.

And of course I began with Grooming Dept pre-shave. I think that the rubbing with wet fingers in the second half of the application contributes to its efficacy. Specifically:

1. Wet stubble.
2. Rub a pea-sized amount of pre-shave into the stubble, all over, massaging it well into skin and stubble for 30 seconds.
3. Wet fingers and continue to massage your face. I did a second wetting of my fingers this morning, followed by more massaging for a total of 30 more seconds.

I then rinsed my hand, loaded the brush, and began the shave. The pre-shave’s glide seemed more pronounced this morning, but that’s probably a combination of things — the application technique, the Otoko lather, and the excellent MJ90-A, which truly is an excellent razor.

I noted the glide was particularly pronounced, and also that the brush performed better — either the break-in is progressing, or Otoko works especially well with the brush, or both.

Three passes left my face perfectly smooth — the exceptional smoothness that is such a pleasure — and a good splash of June Clover finished the job.

Ultra-smooth with Creed Green Irish Tweed and the iKon stainless slant

The shave began with Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave, and then Creed’s quite good (although overpriced in terms of quality per dollar as compared with some of the premium artisan soaps) Green Irish Tweed shaving soap. The lather from this soap is excellent. This brush has two interchangeable knots: the black and white Target Shot synthetic and this silvertip badger. I’ve used the badger infrequently because (a) I like the synthetic, and (b) the few times I’ve used the badger knot it did not seem to accept lather so readily.

This morning it occurred to me that the brush may simply require some more break-in. New boar brushes will actively kill lather until they are used enough that whatever kills the lather leaves the bristles. Badger brushes are not so reluctant to lather, and in my experience after I’ve used them once or twice they perform as well as they ever will. However, this may be an undertreated exception. I’m going to try using it daily for a while and see whether the performance improves. It’s not a bad knot, it just has an odd hesitancy in its relationship with lather, as if it were not yet ready to fully embrace lather and lathering.

iKon’s stainless slant, here with a DLC coating on the head, is right now my favorite slant. Once I moved the handle farther from my face and lightened up on the pressure, it’s performed flawlessly, and the smoothness of my skin following this shave is remarkable.

A small splash of Creed Green Irish Tweed EDT as an aftershave, and the week begins, a week that will take us into April. Spring is definitely here.

Sometimes you don’t realize you’ve missed something until you encounter it again

I like Van Yulay’s Achilles shaving soap a lot: the ingredients, the fragrance, and the performance, but what struck me especially this morning, after not having used it for quite a while, is the fragrance, which I realize I’ve missed. The lather was also extremely good, and with the iKon Shavecraft 101 I achieved another unusually smooth shave result. A splash of Achilles aftershave, and the weekend already looks (and smells) good.

Warm Woods and a fine shave

A woods-themed morning shave. I do like the Green Ray brush, whose knot differs from yesterday’s synthetic, also from Phoenix Artisan. Both brushes are very nice, though the feel on the face differs somewhat. This morning the lather from Meißner Tremonia’s Warm Woods was very nice, and the Rockwell 6S with the R4 baseplate did a great job.

I finished with a splash of Woods from Saint Charles Shave (though the photo shows the back of the bottle — I took the photo early this morning).

Friday already looks good.

Spice and smoothness

Barrister & Mann Reserve shaving soaps are very nice indeed — another instance of a super-premium soap:

Potassium Stearate, Glycerin, Aqua, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Potassium Tallowate, Potassium Safflowerate, Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Milk, Sodium Stearate, Ricinus communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Sucrose Cocoate, Sodium Lactate, Fragrance, Tocopherol Acetate, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Safflowerate, Linalool, D-Limonene, Coumarin, Eugenol, Hexyl Cinnamic Aldehyde, Alpha-Iso-Methylionone, Citronellol, Geraniol, Cinnamic Alcohol (Cinnamyl Alcohol), Isoeugenol, Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamic Aldehyde (Cinnamal), Evernia prunastri (Oakmoss) Extract

As you can see, this soap has more “commercial”-sounding ingredients than the typical artisan shaving soap, but the overall outcome is quite good. (The Barrister & Mann Excelsior base is more typical of an artisan shaving soap, but even that has some ingredients not found in most artisan soaps — for example Tetrasodium EDTA, which improves performance in hard water.)

Phoenix Artisan’s Amber Aerolite brush easily evoked a superb lather — and it’s worth nothing that B&M recommends using a synthetic knot with the Reserve shaving soaps.

Three passes with the stainless steel Mamba did result in one small nick, but My Nik Is Sealed took care of that instantly. A good splash of Reserve Spice aftershave, and the day begins: V-Day.

Third-pass protection again observed, in a violet-oriented shave

The side-label on the tub of soap is now the rule. I have just a handful of tubs yet to label, and those I’ll do today. The labels are a big help in scanning the stacks of soap and bringing to mind soaps I had sort of forgotten about.

Once again I applied Grooming Dept pre-shave following the full procedure: massage it into my wet stubble for 30 seconds, wet my fingers and massage for 30 seconds more. Then I worked up an excellent lather from the Eufros Violetta, and thoroughly enjoyed the fragrance.

The razor is the stainless steel version of the Baby Smooth, which has noticeably less blade feel than yesterday’s V3A. Still, on the third pass I did not the glide was better than in times past and the protective aspect was fully present.

A splendid shave, topped of with a splash of vanille violette EDT.

Third-pass presence of pre-shave

It often happens that some things occur repeatedly before I notice, so that when I do notice, it’s as if they are new when they are not. Perhaps that is what happened in today’s shave, when, after prepping with Grooming Dept pre-shave and lathering with Declaration Grooming’s fine bison-tallow shaving soap, I did the first two passes with no issues. The Maggard V3A was doing a good job, and I enjoyed the glide and the action of the blade.

Then on the third pass I noticed that the razor really was gliding and cutting nicely. The experience seemed somehow better — and more noticeable — than the third pass I usually do. It was odd. I think I need to pay attention to the third pass and see whether I was just noticing (belatedly) what now the third pass is always like. I do attribute this to the pre-shave, because part of what I experienced was very good glide, but also good engagement of blade with remaining stubble — and that last might be due to the V3A razor head.

At any rate, it was an excellent shave, leaving an exceptionally smooth result. Again, I note that the Chatillon Lux aftershave leaves a slight moisturizing residue, so that my face does not feel quite so dry as after using a regular aftershave. I’m undecided as to whether I like that.

Brilliant morning sunshine, but it may be a trick. We had that yesterday and then it clouded up.