The Fruits of my SCAD

[Jack-in-the-Green]

Well, I just spent way too much at West Coast Shaving, and have a nice collection of creams making their way to me as we speak. I'm expecting the following:

D.R. Harris Winsor
Trumper Eucris
Taylor Eaton College
Edwin Jagger Sea Buckthorn
Erasmic
a travel tube of Istitut Karité

So, my thought is to spend a week with each of them, in order to really give each a fair evaluation, and to record my observations. Anyone who would like to join in on evaluating products a week at a time, please feel free to jump in.


I happen to have a small sample of the Erasmic, which I shaved with yesterday, and tonight, so I will start with that. I'll just keep adding to this post until I move to the next product, in order to keep some continuity. For reference, I've been using soaps almost exclusively for a while, and have decided to try creams for a while. I usually face lather.

Erasmic

Day 1: EverReady brush with TGN Finest Knot, C.A. Daniels Jester razor with Wilkinson Sword Trac II-type blade. (Yeah, I'm afraid I'm more of a regular geek than a shaving geek. Don't worry, I'll get the "real" razors out later in the week.) - First impressions: Attractive pearlised white cream. The scent reminds me of a milder version of Brut. I love the scent, but it might not appeal to those with bad memories of the 70's. Noticed a slight burning as I started lathering, but it quickly disipated. Lathered up pretty quickly and was fairly thick. Not terribly slick. Maybe I need more water. Got a very nice shave out of it, one of the better ones I've had. Does seem to leave a lot of residue on my razor, though.

Day 2: Gem SE and small vintage brush with Vulfix black badger knot ("The Exfoliator") - Still smells like Brut to me. Mmmmmm. Lathering up was actually a bit painfull. I've used this brush many times with soaps and found it pleasantly scrubby. I'm thinking the irritation I felt yesterday might not be a fluke. Foam has nice cushion and seems to be pretty stable, but a bit sticky. Halfway through my skin was getting so irritated I switched to the Jester razor. I think the combo of this cream, the scrubby brush, and the aggressive razor was too much. Not a good shave, and skin is feeling hot and raw. Tomorrow I'll go with a soft brush and try a lot more water.

Day 3: Ended up working a 14 hr shift. Too tired to shave. Sorry!

 

[StubbleShaver]

Eton College is amazing stuff! The Erasmic is good too!

 

[ironfisted]

I look forward to the next few days of your Erasmic reviews. I normally bowl lather but I was travelling a few weeks ago, so I packed the Erasmic tube and my old face brush and headed off to the cottage. When I got there I used the Erasmic to take off about four days of growth on face and head and I just fell in love with the stuff. I was using a fairly soft brush that has no identifiable branding, but is the brush my parents gave me 25 years ago when I started shaving. I have to admit, I found myself sniffing the brush after I was done. I loved the smell of the Erasmic. I can't say that I noticed a Brut smell, but perhaps that was what it was and I just didn't make the connection. I'm a Brut man, so it could be that those were the notes that hooked me.

 

[BrookR1]

I've been rotating my stash for a week at a time and think it's perfect. I want to continue with my favorite creams for more than a week, and the others I'm happy that I'm committed for only a week. With all of the soaps/creams I have, I'll see each two times per year.