Haven't posted for a few days - been busy bonding with my new reptile killer...
Face Wash : Musgo Real O Melhor Exfoliant Soap (Box on left)
Pre-Shave : Razorock Peppermint Professional Shaving Lube
Soap : B&M Seville
Brush : Shavemac Silvertip w/ Blue Marmorite Handle
Razor : Mongoose SE
Blade : Kai Captain Mild <4>
Post-Shave : Emu Oil
After-Shave : Floid Black Label
An absolutely wonderful shave today - one of those shaves that makes you think the day ahead is going to rock...
The Amalgamation of Musgo Real and O Melhor has intoroduced some new products worthy of condiseration, and the exfoliating soap is one of them - I believe it uses seaweed agar as the exfoliant, and is pleasantly perfumed. Followed up with the Razorock Peppermint pre-shave that I've mentioned before - pleasantly bracing and sets the face up beautifully for lathering. A seriously fine lather today - hard to go wrong with the B&M Seville, especially with a Shavenac Silvertip whipping up the lather. The brush, aside fro looking pretty cool (to me, at least) offers a choice of silvertip grades. This one is quite dense but by no means a lather hog, and feels great on the face.
I've been holding off on commenting about the Mongoose until I've given it a decent try out. Wow, just wow. This razor is so easy to make friends with. It has a really serious heft in the hand, along with excellent balance. I notice
@Leisureguy wasn't too keen on the spiral knurling without any cross-checking in the other direction, but for me it was a non-event. Grip was secure and confidence inspiring regardless of direction of shave or where abouts I held the handle. Atb first, I was concerned at the sheer width of the razor but needlessly so as it has turned out. It's no more difficult to manoevre the many DE razors. When I first got the razor, I took the wimpy option and bought a pack of Kai Captain Mild blades. While I can easily get a very fine 2-pass result, I find myself hankering for a sharper blade. If it were a DE, I'd be diving for a Polsilver or a Feather. This will be solved very soon - a selection of Feather's offerings is on its way from Connaught shaving. It's interesting that there is so much more choice in SE blades for these guys than for the vintage Gems, Everreadys etc - Feather offer 4 different blades and Kai 3. It seems that the biggest differences between these blades are the thickness of the steel, and the depth from cutting edge to back of blade. The more assertive blades are a little deeper which increases the blade reveal. The workmanship in the razor itself is faultless, and the mechanism for mounting the blade is totally secure. Really a fantastic shaver, and already a member of my "inner circle".
A quick but sparing application of emu oil followed by a generous splash of Floid Black Label, and I'm officially a very happy camper with a very smooth countenance.
PS : I meant to include a box of Kleenex in the photo for
@Pjotr's benefit - it seems that talk of SE shaving makes him quite emotional. I'll try to remember next time
@Pjotr