Delivery of Cadman shaving brush - L7 red carbon effect set with a 26mm TGN Grade A silvertip at 50mm
First impressions:
Opening the box, and wow this thing is shiny. The lacquer is polished really well. Against the black background of the tissue paper and box the red carbon effect is beautiful.
Out of the box, and the handle has a very tactile, rounded shape and is pleasantly weighted. It just feels nice to hold, it I s curved in all the right places to allow a good grip.
Now I have to qualify my opinions on the knot, by first saying that I am a relative newby to traditional shaving.
So far my only brush experiences have been with boar, with this in mind the knot seem very dense, and shows a pleasing three band striping. I cannot detect any smell any of the wet dog aroma to the badger, some mention.
Over the course of the day, I firstly used shampoo and conditioner to give it a good clean and allowed it to dry. Later that day I give it a test lather using DR Harris Arlington soap.
I have been using a SOC Boar most recently and I am surprised at how quickly this seems to pick up soap. I am not sure if this is because of a large knot, good backbone or just because the soap is down to the last few lathers and is very hydrated.
Palm lathering the soap quickly made a dense, creamy lather and squeezing the knot a small amount of water is expelled from the centre of the knot with the lather. I think it will need another shake dry in future.
Sunday:
I repeated the shampoo and conditioner in the morning and palm lather the DR Harris in the afternoon.
I always shave Sunday evening and used the Arlington and Cadman for the first time as part of a shave.
The brush was soaked in warm water as per normal and the soap was covered with a little water.
I shook the brush 4 times in sharp pumping motion and went to the puck. The brush seemed to suck up the soap and in 30 - 40 seconds I was ready to go to the bowl.
Gently working the brush, a creamy dense lather was quickly formed and once happy I went to the face.
Man, this brush is soft, it feels smooth as silk, although it is quite a big knot, it feels smaller than my SOC Boar and allows me to apply the lather in a nice, controlled way.
A uneventful 3 pass shave with my EJ89, and Astra SP (2) and I have a perfectly acceptable DFS+ / BBS.
No significant irritation and the Alum did not shout at me.
Over the course of the weekend it has not shed a single hair and has met all my expectations. I think this seems a very well made brush and I am very pleased so far with this purchase.
