What's new

The dust has settled! (mostly)

Hi, gang!

After 18 months of sampling at least 80% of the popular items on this forum, the dust has finally settled and I’ve gotten the gear that works best for me. While it would be near foolish to claim this is the best gear in existence, I can fairly confidently say that nothing else out there is clearly better.

I’ve also settled on a simplified shaving routine. A single with-the-growth pass every other day after a hot shower gets me smooth enough for the girl I know and keeps all irritation at bay. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Now the gear. Some expensive, some cheap, but every item is (to me) the best in its class, and all of them combined cost far less than everything bought along the way. Such is this journey.


Razor.jpeg

Timeless Stainless Steel .68 Open Comb (plus the .95 OC plate)
What can I say that hasn’t been said a thousand times? This razor with the .68 plate gives one of the smoothest shaves you’ll ever experience, and the .95 plate provides just a hair more blade feel for occasions when you want to mix things up a bit. The open comb leaves plenty of lather behind for those who love to buff.


Blade.jpeg

Gillette Nacet Stainless
It was tough admitting to myself that I like this blade more than my Feathers, Med Preps, and Astra SPs, but the truth is I do. It starts off smooth and sharp and stays that way. It works equally well in both plates and never, ever, bites.


Brush.jpeg

Semogue 610 Boar
Holy friggin’ crap, this is a fantastic brush! The 610 made me purge my synthetics and my sole remaining badger, and caused me to buy several other boars just to compare. It also fully converted me to face lathering. A close second to the 610 is my Semogue Taj Boar. I love the way it feels, but it’s just a bit larger than I like for face lathering.


Soap.jpeg

Saponificio Varesino 70th Anniversary
I didn’t like this soap at first because I couldn’t figure out what it was supposed to smell like. I was too used to all the soaps that claim to smell like familiar things — barbershops, rums, tobaccos, popular colognes, the ocean — and 70th didn’t smell like any of those. I finally accepted it for the clean fresh scent it is and now I’m kinda sorta put off by soaps that try to mimic other smells. Scent aside, the lather and slickness can’t be beaten by anything, except maybe other SV soaps. I rate my SV Cubebe about a quarter inch behind 70th, overall, mainly because I think 70th compatible with more aftershaves.


Aftershave.jpeg

Saponificio Varesino 70th Anniversary
It smells like the soap, goes on like a light cooking oil, quickly dries with zero tackiness or oiliness, and leaves my skin feeling silky smooth all day. The same is true of my Cubebe aftershave, so I know it’s not a fluke. SV seems to have perfected their craft.


I do still have other gear, but most goes unused and will soon be part of a final purge. Things I’ll likely keep on hand include: 1964 Gillette Slim (my go-to travel razor); Feather, Med Prep, and Astra SP blades (I do really like them); Semogue Taj Boar (it just feels so nice, even if it’s a bit big for face lathering); Proraso Green cream (it was the first soap I bought and I love the way it smells…also used for travel); and several aftershaves, too numerous to mention, with Acqua di Parma and Floïd Blue leading the second string.

Newer items I’m interested in include the new Mühle R41 GS and the Semogue Torga Premium Boar.

That’s it for now folks. Thanks for reading, and I wish you well on your own shaving journey!
 
Totally agree on the Semogue 610. I only have about 4-5 shaves uses on it so far, and it is amazing. Great for building up a lather. I bowl-lather and paint on, so the scrubbiness doesn't affect my face. Good size, too, so there's less wastage and mess made.
 
Fantastic setup for sure. I agree 100%. That’s my favorite de razor. Love nacets too. Sv is outstanding! The 610 is great.
my only suggestion, the semouge mistura!

My only problem with badgers (and I assume the same would be true for blends) has been the scritchiness. I don’t mind the scrub of the boar at all, but the prickly badgers feel like little needles when I face lather. Note that my only experiences have been with a Simpsons Berkeley Best and a Semogue SOC badger, so far.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
My only problem with badgers (and I assume the same would be true for blends) has been the scritchiness. I don’t mind the scrub of the boar at all, but the prickly badgers feel like little needles when I face lather. Note that my only experiences have been with a Simpsons Berkeley Best and a Semogue SOC badger, so far.
The mistura is in a class by itself. Not prickly. (Not to derail the thread)
 
Good choice on the Timeless. I agree it's a fantastic razor. I'm really enjoying the Ti Slim plate. Same great shave but much narrower and easier to use head. Enjoy the shaves!
 
My only problem with boar brushes is when using a shave stick I can never, with any boar get a good second pass. There is never enough lather left in the brush. I find them good for one pass only when using a shave stick.
But it is a great brush.
 
Nice setup :)
curious if you tried the titanium version and or why the stainless ?
I have a long road ahead of me :)

I see that soap and hear so many raves about it ! Another thing I should put on my list :) OH this forum hahahahahah
 
@NicksDad nicely done... after a similar journey I came to pretty much the same conclusion.. Timeless Ti .95 SB and OC.... both fantastic. Nacet is my blade of choice even after working through several "premium" sample sets. I also just picked up a Semogue brush (Owners Club 2 band) and will use it tomorrow for the second time. I hope you enjoy your set up as much as I do mine..... and for many years
 
What a fascinating list. I've not used a single one of your desert-island choices, which says nothing at all about you or me, but rather just shows how diverse are the many products we have to choose from.
Me:
Fatboy
50-year-old Floris badger brush, rebadgered a few years ago
Nice, bright Utilemud lather bowl
GSB blades
Art Deco froggy blade bank
4711 cologne, used as an AS splash
No one soap or cream exclusively. Right now the rotation includes Speick cream, Fine Italian Citrus, both with matching aftershaves; MdC Agrumes and Rose; Tcheon Fung Sing Bergamotto Neroli, and matching balm when I (rarely) need an AS balm.
 
Semogue C3 Finest Mistura 22mm

View attachment 1261778
Jet Black resin handle, shaped anatomically for a better grip, mixed knot with boar bristle and finest badger

Knot: 22mm
Loft: 50mm
Handle Height: 49mm
Total Height: 99mm
Damn it. I'm not supposed to be spending more money right now. I actually have this handle in the Torga C3 IT. Not too excited about having two brushes with the same handle. But I do like my 610 better than the Torga C3 IT, so if I can get rid of the boar, I can look at picking up a Mistura.

Good to have goals in life!

Really, my ideal would be a smaller version of the SOC Taj in 22mm.
 
18 months is about right. That’s when I started settling into my favorites too. At this point the den starts getting smaller.

The Timeless 0.68 is the only DE that I have left. Great razor.
 
My only problem with boar brushes is when using a shave stick I can never, with any boar get a good second pass. There is never enough lather left in the brush. I find them good for one pass only when using a shave stick.
But it is a great brush.

I've only used a stick a few times, and it was before I switched to boar brushes. I can say, though, that 10-15 seconds on a hard soap like SV with a sopping wet 610 will just about create enough lather for the both of us. And I think the 610 is small enough that it doesn't really get a chance to eat lather.

Nice setup :)
curious if you tried the titanium version and or why the stainless ?
I have a long road ahead of me :)

I see that soap and hear so many raves about it ! Another thing I should put on my list :) OH this forum hahahahahah

I just prefer the weight of stainless, and I really wanted that handle. I do love the look of the polished titanium, though. And you should definitely try the soap!

What a fascinating list. I've not used a single one of your desert-island choices, which says nothing at all about you or me, but rather just shows how diverse are the many products we have to choose from.
Me:
Fatboy
50-year-old Floris badger brush, rebadgered a few years ago
Nice, bright Utilemud lather bowl
GSB blades
Art Deco froggy blade bank
4711 cologne, used as an AS splash
No one soap or cream exclusively. Right now the rotation includes Speick cream, Fine Italian Citrus, both with matching aftershaves; MdC Agrumes and Rose; Tcheon Fung Sing Bergamotto Neroli, and matching balm when I (rarely) need an AS balm.

From your list, I'd love to try a Fatboy, 4711, and MdC. I guess the dust could be kicking up again?
 
I've only used a stick a few times, and it was before I switched to boar brushes. I can say, though, that 10-15 seconds on a hard soap like SV with a sopping wet 610 will just about create enough lather for the both of us. And I think the 610 is small enough that it doesn't really get a chance to eat lather.

Because the way a shave stick is used you rub the soap on your face not the brush. You can only build up so much soap.
I've tried several good brushes but none hold enough soap lather for 2 good passes.
 
Top Bottom