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Synthetic Summer

Late post.

I jumped back into Synthetic Summer with the PAA Solar Flare. The Solar Flare made amazingly plush lather with Haslinger Schafmilch. I completed three passes with my MMOC #3 and finished with Skin Bracer for a DFS/BBS shave.

The Solar Flare is a fantastic brush. It cannot be compared to a great Badger brush or excellent broken in Boar brush. It has to be experienced and judged on its own merits. It is incredibly soft on the face, holds a lot of soap or cream, splays easily, and generates copious amounts of lather via face or bowl lathering. It is different and simply wonderful.
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This is just gorgeous! Shape, color, etc. It almost transports you back to another era. Gorgeous!
 
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never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
20210610
Synthetic Summer
Razor: Pearl Flexi v2 (Setting 6)
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (5)
Brush: Edwin Jagger Imitation Horn (25mm Synthetic Silver Tip)
Bowl: Captain's Choice Copper
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Aftershave: Bootlegger's Bay Rum
shave 20210610_093652_2.jpg
 
20210610
Synthetic Summer
Razor: Pearl Flexi v2 (Setting 6)
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (5)
Brush: Edwin Jagger Imitation Horn (25mm Synthetic Silver Tip)
Bowl: Captain's Choice Copper
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Aftershave: Bootlegger's Bay Rum
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If I had to choose between the brush and the silver bowl, I’d go for the B&B spirit and steal both!

PS. The “B&B spirit” being the “both”, not the “steal” part!
 
It’s been a crazy this week, and the past few weeks, so I’ve only been shaving a couple times a week. Awesome have today.
Razor: Karve SS OC-A (pass one) SB-B (pass 2&3)
Blade: PolSilver (1)
Brush: RR400MB
Bowl: Timeless
Soap & A/S: CC Venture
Have a great day y’all!
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never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
If I had to choose between the brush and the silver bowl, I’d go for the B&B spirit and steal both!

PS. The “B&B spirit” being the “both”, not the “steal” part!

Thank you. The silver bowl was not expensive. I'll check to see if it is still available and PM you the link. It is great for storing a full sized soap puck and has plenty of room to load your brush. :)
 
2nd SS shave
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Pre:-
Razor: Gillette Rocket HD (French HD500 set) 1st use
Blade: Treet Dura Sharp Carbon 3rd use - retired
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Beehive G5 fibre
Cream: Musgo Real
Post: TFS Witch Hazel, Epsilon Amber splash
Result: CCS

A razor like an old friend, super comfortable and easy to use. The Treet was on the limit and degraded significantly during the shave which resulted in a CCS only.

On the brush: I like it. Building lather in the Pereira is easy but the water release from the brush even after a light squeeze is still unpredictable. Strong backbone and needs a bit of convincing to splay but once it opens up you get a hint of scrub and this really a first time in a Synth for me :thumbsup: (see my intial ramblings in the beginning of the thread). Painting naturally works fine as well and the grip allows for various finger positions. If you are not on the search for super soft this might be the right Synth brush for you.
 
RR Bruce synth brush
RR SLOC + WCS 84s handle (George Jetson Edition)
Feather (1)
PAA Ice Cube 2 pre-shave soap as stick
Haslinger Schafmilch as stick + Don Marco soap
Dickinson's witch hazel with Pereja Limon Kolonya
Proraso Green Balm

The RR Bruce (Little Bruce) is one I don't use too often, but coming back to it, I'm really not sure why. Everyone says the Plissoft knot is last-generation and obsolete, but I don't think that's really true. Sure, there is not a lot of backbone, despite that it did a fantastic job today. For the $9 this cost, it's impossible to complain.

Just for investigation, which are the "new generation" fibers? The cutting edge? The ones that really upped the game?
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
Just for investigation, which are the "new generation" fibers? The cutting edge? The ones that really upped the game?
In my opinion, the Timberwolf and Tuxedo knots have really improved upon the synthetic brush’s feel and handling. The Tuxedo leans towards more backbone. Whereas the Timberwolf leans towards softness, but still has more backbone than most. There are so many knot variations now, it’s hard to pick. But on the bright side, most synths are so cheap you can try a lot of brushes for a fraction of what one good badger will cost.
 
In my opinion, the Timberwolf and Tuxedo knots have really improved upon the synthetic brush’s feel and handling. The Tuxedo leans towards more backbone. Whereas the Timberwolf leans towards softness, but still has more backbone than most. There are so many knot variations now, it’s hard to pick. But on the bright side, most synths are so cheap you can try a lot of brushes for a fraction of what one good badger will cost.

Strange, other resources I usually scout say the Tuxedo is old gen and "passée" :blink:

I'm genuinely looking to up my synth game after the disastrous experience with the T3, but as of now I can't really grasp the "tiers" and "gens" of the synth world, it seem all so subjective without real categorization. Marketing departments should really do better in that regard.
 
Just for investigation, which are the "new generation" fibers? The cutting edge? The ones that really upped the game?
It can be confusing, because vendors use their own names for each type of knot, plus some types are more or less the same except for coloring. For newer generation, I think of the PAA Roswell Grey (Silksmoke), Yaqi Mew Brown (Synbad), the Cashmere (Angel), Quarter Moon, and others that have come out more recently. There's also the Omega Evo and the Muhle STF, though I've not had one of those.

Take the Roswell for example, it is soft, has some backbone to it, but splays easily. It's not stiff as a board. Another thing I like about this knot is it seems to hold water better; water does not drip out of it and spray all over the place.
 
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BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
Strange, other resources I usually scout say the Tuxedo is old gen and "passée" :blink:

I'm genuinely looking to up my synth game after the disastrous experience with the T3, but as of now I can't really grasp the "tiers" and "gens" of the synth world, it seem all so subjective without real categorization. Marketing departments should really do better in that regard.

But the Tuxedo is quite a bit newer than the Plissoft etc, and still stands up to the best of the newest crop in my opinion. If you want a brush with some backbone, but still soft, the tux is hard to beat.

It can be confusing, because vendors use their own names for each type of knot, plus some types are more or less the same except for coloring. For newer generation, I think of the PAA Roswell Grey (Silksmoke), Yaqi Mew Brown (Synbad), the Cashmere (Angel), Quarter Moon, and others that have come out more recently. There's also the Omega Evo and the Muhle STF, though I've not had one of those.

Take the Roswell for example, it is soft, has some backbone to it, but splays easily. It's not stiff as a board. Another thing I like about this knot is it seems to hold water better, water does not drip out of it and spray all over the place.

PAA does have some wickedly good brushes. Not only are their knots really good, but their handles are as good as it gets in my opinion. I love a nice heavy retro handle. PAA brushes tick all the boxes for me. But they do change the names on ALL of their knots. So until the internet sleuths figure out what each knot is, it can be a guessing game.
 
Since the only 2 synthetics I currently have are the T2 and T3 and since I’m hooked on Proraso Red’s scent, I decided to change razor in order to avoid the “Groundhog Day effect” on the photos.

Trafalgar T2
Edwin Jagger DE89 long handle
Astra SP (4th shave)
Proraso Red

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PS. Nothing wrong with the DE89, but I’m going back to the Gillette Goodwill and the Groundhog Day effect tomorrow.
 
Since the only 2 synthetics I currently have are the T2 and T3 and since I’m hooked on Proraso Red’s scent, I decided to change razor in order to avoid the “Groundhog Day effect” on the photos.

Trafalgar T2
Edwin Jagger DE89 long handle
Astra SP (4th shave)
Proraso Red

View attachment 1280136

PS. Nothing wrong with the DE89, but I’m going back to the Gillette Goodwill and the Groundhog Day effect tomorrow.

The scent of the Proraso Red splash is fantastic, it is my absolute favorite!!
💈🖖🏼💈
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
SE SOTD, Fri, June 11th 2021

Razor: Yaqi Excalibur SE, excellent tame mid range, light weight and very easy to manipulate for a large wide 50mm blade IMO. Good daily driver for some folks.
Blade: Chinese blue 50 mm, sharp and smooth, longevity ??. received these with a Shavette ordered months back.
Soap: Razorock XXX, nice clean scent when it dry's down + excellent lather qualities.
Brush: Yaqi lucky dice 26mm tuxedo knot synthetic, excellent lather generator with cloud like soft tips, great scrub + excellent lather painter. This handle would be ideal for large hands & has good ergonomics IMO.
Pre Shave : Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser + a dollop of clear Aloe Vera gel on the cleaned beard area.
Prep: Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave: Razorock XXX with witch hazel + a dollop of Nivea balm.
Results: CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + no weepers = :a17: Excellent shave with my Yaqi Excalibur SE + a Chinese blue blade.

SE SOTD, Fri, June 11th 2021.jpg
Yaqi #1 Roll of the lucky dice 26mm Tuxedo knot (2).jpg


Have some great shaves!
 
Today the PAA Amber Aerolite made fantastic lather with the Ach. Brito Mogno shaving cream. Then I lightly swept away the cream 2.5 times with my Ever-Ready 1912 and not a whisker to be seen or felt. Finished with Aqua Velva Ice Blue, a great start to the weekend.
The PAA Amber Aerolite makes tremendous lather, has great backbone, and very soft tips.
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1958 Super Speed (D2)
Gillette Nacet Stainless (10)
RazoRock BC Silvertip Plissoft
Barrister & Mann Latha Lavanda

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Being one of my favorite synthetics, one would think the BC Silvertip would be called into play more often. I may need to address that deficiency. I'm not sure how to describe it, but this brush has such a different feel (in a good way) from any of my other synthetics including my other RazoRocks. I really like this brush. Be well and stay safe...
 
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