Thanks for your interesting report.I've been curious about the new Semogue line, particularly the horse knots, so I broke down and ordered the Galahad g3 premium black horse, the Pharos g3 pure black horse, and the Torga c3 finest mistura. In looking at the tips of each brush before use with a 10x achromatic triplet loupe, the tips of the premium black horse and the pure black horse knots appeared to consist of finely tapered hairs blended with hairs that appear to have been clipped. The premium knot had more finely tapered hairs at the tip than clipped when compared to the pure knot. This differs from the Vie-Long horse-hair knots in that the Vie-Long 50/50, 33/66, and 25/75 mane-to-tail blends all consist of finely tapered hairs without any noticeable clipping. The tips of the Torga mistura knot as viewed with the loupe revealed the badger hairs as tapering to a fine tip with the boar tips already starting to split. It would seem that some sort of prior treatment is being applied there during manufacture and may account for the claims that little or no break-in period is required straight out of the box. As far as animal smell goes, I did not detect any at the start; indeed, it seemed that a little bit of perfume might have been applied to mitigate matters here.
In order to clean them a little as received, I gave each of them a test-lather, palm-lathering with Stirling sheep soap and following the same procedure in all cases, one exception being that I soaked the mistura knot a little bit longer in advance. Both the premium and the pure black horse behaved similarly, with lather left on the palm versus lather in the knot being pretty much the same. The mistura knot differed from this in being quicker to arrive at the desired result, plus having more lather in the knot relative to lather the same amount of lather left on the palm.
After rinsing and drying out, the horse knots now appear to smell a wee bit "horsey," the pure smelling just a little bit more "horsey" than the premium knot. The mistura, on the other hand, smells more like a new leather shoe as just purchased.
Here are a couple of shots of them, just out of the box, followed a first test lather comparison. I took a chance on the yellow-handled Pharos as it does not appear to have been shown by users on the forum before, and the product shot as advertised suggests a very loud coloration. Thankfully, it is not as loud as marketed, but it does have a fairly strong turmeric coloration, which I hope will fade a little through use.
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Mistura May Madness
- Thread starter TBoner
- Start date
Thanks for your interesting report.
No new conclusion from my end. Just a great knot that checks all the boxes for me.
Hows that vitos soap? Which smell is it? I was browsing ebay and saw they sell bricks of it, in like cinnamon and such.
After loading some mwf, another shave with the mistura. Its.. a little hard to tell with mwf, but I bet this is a regular soap/croap eater.
Look over here... post no.17.
Vitos Tabacco EU PIF
As the prospect of committing to 500ml of cream can be a bit intimidating I will PIF 6 times a 15ml sample to B&B members from the EU. This PIF will be open for either the first 6 to join or next Saturday. Cheers Hannes
www.badgerandblade.com
You're welcome. Glad to be of service.
LOTD 5-23-21
Used the Torga c3 mistura on its first real shave run today, with Stirling "Queen of Hearts" shave soap. After a soak, then a shake, the brush preformed wonderfully in loading from the puck, and it especially excelled in building lather on my face. There is a very nice scrubby sensation that is not scritchy at all; it really felt great on the skin and the short loft had plenty of backbone. (A better feel than my old Vulfix mixed knot, I have to admit, the latter feeling a bit tired in comparison.) Lather as shown in the accompanying pic was after lathering my face for the first pass. Plenty of lather left for the second pass, plus touch-ups. All-in-all, the brush seems totally dedicated to face-lathering. Given its size, I see no reason to use it for bowl-lathering, and as the knot size is all that I need to shave with, there is no reason for me to move up to the larger SOC version.
Thought I'd make some comments on the other aspects of the shave as well, which was excellent overall. Used a Razorock Lupo DE razor with the combination OC-SB head and a Vi-John platinum blade. I use the milder 0.72mm OC side for the first pass, followed by the more aggressive 0.95mm SB side on the second, except for the ATG pass at the base of my neck, where I switch back to the OC side (less loss of blood that way). Then the SB side for touch-ups. Closest shaves this old hand at straight-razor shaving has ever gotten with a safety razor. The Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap is very nice. I leave its loose lather on my face when applying the denser shaving lather. This way the menthol effect carries through into the start of the second pass, if you're into the menthol thing at the start like I am. If there are other mentholated pre-shave soaps on the market, I'd like to know about them. The Stirling "Queen of Hearts" shaving soap acts like any other beef tallow shaving soap that Stirling makes, which is to say that it lathers quite well for a decent price here Stateside. As named, it seems aimed at lady shavers, but I liked the scent description as given, " caramel, vanilla, berries, honeysuckle, amber, sandalwood, and jasmine[,]" and decided to order a trial puck. The scent, on the sweet side, is agreeable, ditto for the trial-sized after-shave vial, although I don't think I'll spring for the full-sized puck and AS. I found the scent hard to describe, so I asked my wife what she thought. She said, "confectionery," which is a pretty apt description, I think, as it does remind me of stepping into a pastry shop. The Stirling unscented witch hazel I use between the lather and the after-shave. A mild astringent, with a natural smoky scent. I like the to use it when there are not companion Stirling witch-hazel scents, as is the case with "Queen of Hearts."
Used the Torga c3 mistura on its first real shave run today, with Stirling "Queen of Hearts" shave soap. After a soak, then a shake, the brush preformed wonderfully in loading from the puck, and it especially excelled in building lather on my face. There is a very nice scrubby sensation that is not scritchy at all; it really felt great on the skin and the short loft had plenty of backbone. (A better feel than my old Vulfix mixed knot, I have to admit, the latter feeling a bit tired in comparison.) Lather as shown in the accompanying pic was after lathering my face for the first pass. Plenty of lather left for the second pass, plus touch-ups. All-in-all, the brush seems totally dedicated to face-lathering. Given its size, I see no reason to use it for bowl-lathering, and as the knot size is all that I need to shave with, there is no reason for me to move up to the larger SOC version.
Thought I'd make some comments on the other aspects of the shave as well, which was excellent overall. Used a Razorock Lupo DE razor with the combination OC-SB head and a Vi-John platinum blade. I use the milder 0.72mm OC side for the first pass, followed by the more aggressive 0.95mm SB side on the second, except for the ATG pass at the base of my neck, where I switch back to the OC side (less loss of blood that way). Then the SB side for touch-ups. Closest shaves this old hand at straight-razor shaving has ever gotten with a safety razor. The Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap is very nice. I leave its loose lather on my face when applying the denser shaving lather. This way the menthol effect carries through into the start of the second pass, if you're into the menthol thing at the start like I am. If there are other mentholated pre-shave soaps on the market, I'd like to know about them. The Stirling "Queen of Hearts" shaving soap acts like any other beef tallow shaving soap that Stirling makes, which is to say that it lathers quite well for a decent price here Stateside. As named, it seems aimed at lady shavers, but I liked the scent description as given, " caramel, vanilla, berries, honeysuckle, amber, sandalwood, and jasmine[,]" and decided to order a trial puck. The scent, on the sweet side, is agreeable, ditto for the trial-sized after-shave vial, although I don't think I'll spring for the full-sized puck and AS. I found the scent hard to describe, so I asked my wife what she thought. She said, "confectionery," which is a pretty apt description, I think, as it does remind me of stepping into a pastry shop. The Stirling unscented witch hazel I use between the lather and the after-shave. A mild astringent, with a natural smoky scent. I like the to use it when there are not companion Stirling witch-hazel scents, as is the case with "Queen of Hearts."
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Hey just on close inspection of your brushes, has anything changed bristle wise? I tried to get a close up shot but I couldn't do it (either camera couldn't or more likely, I lack the skill) I noticed a lot of the bristles were curved? They kinda look like hockey sticks now. Sorta.. brushing my finger through it? I see a few split hairs, but not a lot. Some hairs seem a lot thicker than the others.
MMM SOTD
Brush: Semogue Torga-C3 Finest Mistura 22/49
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: RazoRock SS Lupo 95 head on El Fantasma handle
Blade: Personna Red (6)
ASL: Iced Orange (home brew)
Another super shave.
The whole team performed faultlessly.
I do believe my Lupo 95 GT has joined my Yuma YM-403 on the podium in equal 1st Favorite Place.
Happy shaves guys.
Brush: Semogue Torga-C3 Finest Mistura 22/49
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: RazoRock SS Lupo 95 head on El Fantasma handle
Blade: Personna Red (6)
ASL: Iced Orange (home brew)
Another super shave.
The whole team performed faultlessly.
I do believe my Lupo 95 GT has joined my Yuma YM-403 on the podium in equal 1st Favorite Place.
Happy shaves guys.
I'll have to look at the tips again, once the knot has dried out. But, yeah, I know what your mean about curved, or hooked. Pretty sure I saw split tips when I looked at things out of the box, which would indicate boar. The tips of my Semogue 2020 best badger knot are fairly curved, or hooked. I have a macro lens which should allow me to come in close with a tripod for some comparison shots, if I find the time.
MMM SOTD
Brush: Semogue Torga-C3 Finest Mistura 22/49
Croap: CRS Classic Almond
Razor: RazoRock SS Lupo 95 head on El Fantasma handle
Blade: Personna Red (7)
ASL: Fine Snake Bite
An excellent shave.
I decided to bring some of my non-TFS soaps out of hiding to see if I want them any more. First up was CRS Classic Almond… after a few uses I left it open to croapify it, but after I put the lid back on I forgot about it. Anyway, it's very good so I'll be keeping it.
Happy shaves guys.
Brush: Semogue Torga-C3 Finest Mistura 22/49
Croap: CRS Classic Almond
Razor: RazoRock SS Lupo 95 head on El Fantasma handle
Blade: Personna Red (7)
ASL: Fine Snake Bite
An excellent shave.
I decided to bring some of my non-TFS soaps out of hiding to see if I want them any more. First up was CRS Classic Almond… after a few uses I left it open to croapify it, but after I put the lid back on I forgot about it. Anyway, it's very good so I'll be keeping it.
Happy shaves guys.
- Thread starter
- #255
So many great pics here, guys! I am digging the variety of knots represented, the variety of SOC handles, the way these mixed knots make beautiful lather out of every soap and cream...good stuff!
I've been out of pocket postwise due to work, but I have used my Mistura knots continuously, including an outstanding shave today with the SOC in Taj resin, a homemade soap, and a RR Gamechanger .84-P. I couldn't ask for much more out of a shave. The SOC has cemented its place as my best brush, and the Torga is just barely a notch below, but if you forced me to choose, I'd offer every soap I own that isn't Palmolive in order to keep 'em both.
I've been out of pocket postwise due to work, but I have used my Mistura knots continuously, including an outstanding shave today with the SOC in Taj resin, a homemade soap, and a RR Gamechanger .84-P. I couldn't ask for much more out of a shave. The SOC has cemented its place as my best brush, and the Torga is just barely a notch below, but if you forced me to choose, I'd offer every soap I own that isn't Palmolive in order to keep 'em both.
Really enjoying the shaves, this was a good idea, really helps to break in that brush, just to use it and feel it evolve over time.
First time use of an unscented soap called Canada that I acquired a sample of in a trade. Lathered well in the bowl, but the brush ran out of gas after the first pass and had to brush on lather from the bowl. I guess I underloaded it.
Missed a few updates in my Mistura journey, but I've not relented or gone back to using synthetics. With the way this SoC Mistura is performing, not likely too either.
Soap: It's been a while since I used PdP63. Think, possibly, because it's always been a pain loading it with synthetic brushes.
Brush: Not so with the Mistura!
Wonderful lather and very slick, completely different soap to what I remember from the last time using it.
(Big thanks to @Cal who generously piffed this soap to me many moons ago.)
Razor: I've not had this Eclipse Red Ring for very long, and tbh, not really had very consistent results. Shaves are mostly good, with just one or two sub par.
Decided it's time I made the effort to master this razor with all it quirkiness, and not get side tracked into using another razor for a while.
Blade: Loaded a fresh Polsilver SI, lined it up, and set the adjuster to what seems reasonable for me.
Result? - Best shave with this razor yet! Wonderfully smooth and irritation free.
Conclusion: Great shave all round. Everything performing to absolute perfection.
Dilemma: Don't know what I'm going to do with my small collection of synthetics.
Solution: Probably use them for cleaning keyboards and such things.
Note to Self: Must get another Mistura though. Need at least one other (or more) for rotation purposes.
Keep one in the car for dusting off the dashboard, the A/C vents, console, etc.
Convert one into a duster for talcum powder.
Gift one to a leg shaver in your household.
It's been an excellent and silky smooth shave. I don't know what I made different today, however, it just made click and all components worked together as precise as a swiss made clockwork. Definetely reached shave zen heaven.
What about the Mistura, you ask...? Exactly! You already know it...
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