Shave of the Day 2014

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I should get around to trying the speick sticks I bought close to 18 months ago
 
I like the after shave and bought the soap for that reason. It got delivered to work and for some rain or other had never made it home. Hopefully I will remember tomorrow.
 
Speick... Speick Active... What's the difference?
 
Brush: Aesop - 23mm STF
Soap/Cream: Mokosh
Razor: Weber PH w/- Bulldog handle
Blade: Permasharp Super
After-shave: Speick lotion



The better half bought me a gift, some Mokosh Shave Soap. Right from the get-go the ingredients get my thumbs up
Extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, unrefined shea butter, cocoa butter , lye, macadamia oil, avocado oil, apricot kernel oil, bentonite clay, essential oils of cedarwood, geranium and patchouli, and rosemary leaf extract.

Most importantly no palm oil - an essential for me. Try not to buy this stuff but if I find it in the stuff I already own then it goes into the shaved shave bowl to be used indiscriminately.

So I thought it most appropriate to lather up with the Aesop veggie brush - keeping it all ethical. Be honest the lather was a little disappointing. It just would not thicken up no matter how hard I tried. I charged it up heavy and slapped it a little harder on the face but even when I got it thick the stuff seemed to thin, as if being absorbed by my skin. I assume this is because of the olive oil and the absence of traditional thickeners such as tallow. No matter I still shaved. The Mokosh provided excellent glide - some of the best I have experienced. However, it did lack cushion and the requisite protection that goes with that. So the shave was a little scarier than I would have liked but, bottom line no major injuries. And I feel pretty good right now, my skin feels so good must be those oils and that scent!!! Cedarwood, geranium and patchouli, man it's a magical scent and takes me back to some happier freer place of my youth - maybe Byron?

Positives:
- simple honest ethical ingredients
- scent
- glide
- scent
- post-shave feel

Negative:
- cushion
- protection

I'll try lathering this soap in a bowl next time and maybe use another brush. I refuse to discount it because it doesn't lather like other soaps, but I like my cushion and protection so I'll work at it. Failing that I'll find something that adds the missing body to a lather and might mix the two - hmmmm Speick comes to mind. I'd like to retain the glide and the scent. Mmmmm. These are the sort of companies I like to support and I will continue to do so….especially noting where they are located. Poor backward folks. But, hey, its frontier country and someone needs to balance out the 'frontier' mindset. ;)

Otherwise, razor and blade performed as well as they could and should. The Speick is a revelation each time.

Oh yeah I don't think I've ever talked you guys through the best $1 ever spent. The little bowl in this photo. $1 from Vinnies and it is the best. Been using it for about 3 months and treat it with kid gloves - too afraid to smash it - I've never seen another and can now not do without it. Its main role, which is performs impeccably, is keeping the lather warm. So between passes the brush laden with yoghurty goodness goes into this little clay bowl (they all fit perfectly) and the bowl sits in the hot water I have in the sink to rinse the blade. The weight keeps the bowl steady - had many that toppled - but the dimension and weight of this one are perfect. Also nice and tight so it keeps the brush and lather nice and warm. Great little thing. If you find one buy it!…even if just to send to me as a spare. This is a face lather's scuttle! Also a handy bowl to keep my razor in - head down - between shaves.
 
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Nice review & pix.

As I stated with Valor - the main ingredient being olive oil is going to damn that soap to relative mediocrity. If your Aesop couldn't get a good lather going there's all you need to know. Olive oil is good for hand soap but not shaving soap. Sounds as if like the Mike's I have that the oils that are in the soap really take care of your skin - so it'll still be a handy part of your rotation.

Likewise I got my shaving bowl from a Vinnies a while back - haha undercut you by 40c though IIRC! I think it was a 60-70's soup bowl but the design is very handy. Very similar look to these but all brown glazes on mine.
il_570xN.353770781.jpg
 
Great photo Nick - you're pretty handy with a camera mate.

I've now bought about a dozen bits of pottery from Vinnies. My shaved shave soap (incl. palm perpetrators) bowl is one.



Was OK as a brush scuttle weight-wise but was a little too wide to keep the heat around the whole knot.

This little brush scuttle is a little less perfectly made…though it still brandishes a maker's mark.



But it just fits right around the knot perfectly. Great for pre-soaking the brush before the lather too.

 
Nice review Stillsy. You could try adding a few drops of glycerine to the lather. That may push it over the edge...
 
filobiblic said:
Nice review Stillsy. You could try adding a few drops of glycerine to the lather. That may push it over the edge...
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Thanks mate. Just added it to the shopping list for today…now I'll actually look forward to pushing the trolley around!
 
eggbert said:
I should get around to trying the speick sticks I bought close to 18 months ago
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You won't regret it.

SmallYetDeadly said:
I have speick stick on the way. PJ seems to like it and he is good with the software picks ill admit :)
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Ooooohhhh SYD you're such a charmer! My Arkobro!

Anyhow back on.....

A variety of obscure reknotted brushes
SPUD and Schicksa (shave No FK (fuck knows))
But the most important ingredient of course is the ARKO!!!! Yes, shave no FK with the ARKO!!!! stick and, in spite of the fact that as far as hard soaps go it's relatively soft, I don't appear to be making a dent in it. My quest to monster this one down to nothing in one fell swoop appears to be waning. I really need to throw in the odd SIM or a cream to spice things up. It's gradually getting nice and hot here in WA. Time to bust out the creams.
 
Brush: Vintage butterscotch Simpsons
Soap/Cream: La Toja Stick
Razor: Weber PH w/- Bulldog handle
Blade: Vintage 'French' Wilkinson - shave 6
After-shave: Skin Bracer

Another great shave from these 'French' wilks!!!
 
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Drubbing said:
Not much. The Active has a fresher scent - soap and spalsh both.

I think I perfer the original though, I reckon I get a better lather with it.
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Thanks Drubs.
 
stillshunter said:
.............Try not to buy this stuff but if I find it in the stuff I already own then it goes into the shaved shave bowl to be used indiscriminately..............
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I'm not sure where to start with that sentence. Aside from smoking it, I wasn't aware that you could actually grow that stuff in Canberra.
 
Pjotr said:
I'm not sure where to start with that sentence. Aside from smoking it, I wasn't aware that you could actually grow that stuff in Canberra.
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I still believe Canberra/ACT is one of the only places where growing amounts for personal use is decriminalised. Not that it helps me much as:
1. I live in NSW, and
2. I'm definitely not a fan of it smoked...
….though I am a big fan of it harvested as an alternative source of fibre - better for the environment than cotton that's for certain.
 
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