Hey folks,
I'm another returner. I've been a long time fan of the forum and joined a good number of years ago. I posted lightly here and there as I got into wet shaving and thoroughly enjoyed all he conversations and advice. When covid hit I decided to grow a beard, but after a number of years of my kids refusing to kiss me and my wife staying ominously silent about it, I decided to shave it all off and get back into shaving.
Things have changed since I've been away - Lots of new artisan soaps and creams and people seem to be enjoying blades I've never heard of so I've been on a completely unnecessary spending spree. Got a Henson mild (Already think it's too mild), a tub of Barrister and Mann Seville (wonderful), lots of blades from Merz and Maggards (since you can't seem to get them all from one place), and an interesting plastic shaving bowl that has bumps all over the bottom of it. I also have some fruity samples of TOBs cream coming, since the B&M will likely be more of a winter soap for me.
My water here in the burbs of Chicago is a little hard and I've been struggling to get enough lather from my stick of Speick for three passes (probably not using enough soap). There's absolutely nothing wrong with my EJ D86 and has always given me very serviceable shaves but maybe not BBS, which is why I've always been hunting for that next razor, though intellectually I do recognize that it's probably a skills problem rather than a razor problem. I continue to not be able to lather DR Harris, and that's nothing new. I should just use remnants as a body soap and move on. I have and use two brushes - a Simpson Milk Churn and a Badger and Blade blue boar brush. Both are brilliant. Some favorite soaps and creams have been:
- Trumper Rose - This was my first soap, which I bought in London when I lived there and think it must have been pre-reformulation since it worked wonders but subsequent replacements have sucked.
- Speick Stick
- TOBs Sensitive Cream
- TOBs or Trumper Coconut - I forget which brand it was
- Tabac soap - Have bought this multiple times - love it!
- DR Harris Soap puck - I forget what smell it was - didn't get on with it at all and it drives me mad.
- DR Harris Soap on a stick - Didn't work for me at all
- Barrister and Mann Seville - Lovely strong smelling stuff that's made gobs of lather
- Castle Forbes Lavender cream - Good but didn't get me super excited.
- Proraso green in a tub and tube - both worked well but I wanted different scents
I also enjoy aftershaves a lot, mostly mixed with Nivea after shave balm:
- Pinauld Clubman - Reach for this the most
- Old Spice - UK version
- Tabac - Always bought this for my dad at xmas as a kid and I love it
- Proraso green - love this stuff
- Aqua Velva - Yes please but need more
Outside of shaving I'm a fountain pen user (50's Pelikan) and I shoot clays and hoping to get back into hunting. Good to be back. Hoping to be a useful contributor.
I'm another returner. I've been a long time fan of the forum and joined a good number of years ago. I posted lightly here and there as I got into wet shaving and thoroughly enjoyed all he conversations and advice. When covid hit I decided to grow a beard, but after a number of years of my kids refusing to kiss me and my wife staying ominously silent about it, I decided to shave it all off and get back into shaving.
Things have changed since I've been away - Lots of new artisan soaps and creams and people seem to be enjoying blades I've never heard of so I've been on a completely unnecessary spending spree. Got a Henson mild (Already think it's too mild), a tub of Barrister and Mann Seville (wonderful), lots of blades from Merz and Maggards (since you can't seem to get them all from one place), and an interesting plastic shaving bowl that has bumps all over the bottom of it. I also have some fruity samples of TOBs cream coming, since the B&M will likely be more of a winter soap for me.
My water here in the burbs of Chicago is a little hard and I've been struggling to get enough lather from my stick of Speick for three passes (probably not using enough soap). There's absolutely nothing wrong with my EJ D86 and has always given me very serviceable shaves but maybe not BBS, which is why I've always been hunting for that next razor, though intellectually I do recognize that it's probably a skills problem rather than a razor problem. I continue to not be able to lather DR Harris, and that's nothing new. I should just use remnants as a body soap and move on. I have and use two brushes - a Simpson Milk Churn and a Badger and Blade blue boar brush. Both are brilliant. Some favorite soaps and creams have been:
- Trumper Rose - This was my first soap, which I bought in London when I lived there and think it must have been pre-reformulation since it worked wonders but subsequent replacements have sucked.
- Speick Stick
- TOBs Sensitive Cream
- TOBs or Trumper Coconut - I forget which brand it was
- Tabac soap - Have bought this multiple times - love it!
- DR Harris Soap puck - I forget what smell it was - didn't get on with it at all and it drives me mad.
- DR Harris Soap on a stick - Didn't work for me at all
- Barrister and Mann Seville - Lovely strong smelling stuff that's made gobs of lather
- Castle Forbes Lavender cream - Good but didn't get me super excited.
- Proraso green in a tub and tube - both worked well but I wanted different scents
I also enjoy aftershaves a lot, mostly mixed with Nivea after shave balm:
- Pinauld Clubman - Reach for this the most
- Old Spice - UK version
- Tabac - Always bought this for my dad at xmas as a kid and I love it
- Proraso green - love this stuff
- Aqua Velva - Yes please but need more
Outside of shaving I'm a fountain pen user (50's Pelikan) and I shoot clays and hoping to get back into hunting. Good to be back. Hoping to be a useful contributor.
