The Wanderer's Journey

[AimlessWanderer]

Shave complete, and aftershave gel would be the best description for the P&B Spitfire. Having now read the ingredients and seen Aloe Barbadensis extract as the first ingredient, that makes a lot of sense.

Very easy to apply and absorbs well. Non-greasy. The scent really caught me off guard.

I knew it was leather, tobacco and juniper, so I expected more subtlety than what I got. As I first raised my hands to my face, I was hit with something strong and medicinal. More wintergreen (root beer) than gin, to start with at least. Once applied, that mellows nicely, and the other scents start coming through. I can detect the tobacco an leather elements, but it evokes other stuff too. Chocolate, cough sweets, heavy machine shops, and a hint of dentist. I like it!

It's still more balm than lotion in my book though, so at some point, I'll be adding a bottle of what many here simply call splash. Not until I've given each of those samples a try though.

 

[Esox]

Wickham Scottish Heather is a soap I'm interested in. I'll be curious about your thoughts on it Al.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Wickham Scottish Heather is a soap I'm interested in. I'll be curious about your thoughts on it Al.

I went to put all the samples in the little cardboard box I still had from my Shavedash order of samples earlier in the year, and discovered Wickhams Irish Fern is still lurking in there untouched. Doh! So it seems I haven't tried any Wickhams soap at all yet.

Don't hang around waiting for a review from me though, Mike. These latest samples were just to nudge my order into free shipping, and will be kept in the drawer in case I get bored of using up everything else I'm trying to work through, so no idea when it might get used. In the pot, it does smell nice though. Light and fresh. Not as "green" as the Irish Fern, and certainly lighter than the Shamrock Tweed.

 

[Esox]

Doh! So it seems I haven't tried any Wickhams soap at all yet.

You're missing out.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Not to worry, I have a brand new cake of the awesome Mitchell's Wool Fat softening up overnight. I'll not feel like I'm missing out when I get that back on my fizzog. I'm REALLY looking forward to using that again! The perfect template for testing out the various post shave concoctions too.

 

[Esox]

Not to worry, I have a brand new cake of the awesome Mitchell's Wool Fat softening up overnight. I'll not feel like I'm missing out when I get that back on my fizzog. I'm REALLY looking forward to using that again! The perfect template for testing out the various post shave concoctions too.

I have three tubs of Wickham now so I'm set for a while. I might just order another tub of Shangi La though...

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I have three tubs of Wickham now so I'm set for a while. I might just order another tub of Shangi La though...

Which other two do you have, Mike?

BTW - I just realised my ramekin is currently empty, as I finished the latest portion of soap I'd served up in it a couple of shaves ago. That means I can scoop out a little bit of that Scottish Heather to have a couple of test shaves with it over the weekend if you want me to. I'm going to get a shave or two with The Fat first though.

 

[Esox]

Which other two do you have, Mike?

BTW - I just realised my ramekin is currently empty, as I finished the latest portion of soap I'd served up in it a couple of shaves ago. That means I can scoop out a little bit of that Scottish Heather to have a couple of test shaves with it over the weekend if you want me to. I'm going to get a shave or two with The Fat first though.

I have Wickham Club Cola, English Rose and Shangri La. The Club Cola smells like lemon meringue pie. Nice, light and fades quickly but smells delicious.

No rush, Al. I'm more interested in the scent of Scottish Heather than the performance. There is no poor performing Wickham 1912.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I have Wickham Club Cola, English Rose and Shangri La. The Club Cola smells like lemon meringue pie. Nice, light and fades quickly but smells delicious.

No rush, Al. I'm more interested in the scent of Scottish Heather than the performance. There is no poor performing Wickham 1912.

Ahh yes, I remember you talking about English Rose now. I'll scoop enough out for a shave or two within the next few days, and let you know what it blossoms into.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Thanks to the joys of migraines, the Mitchell's was left sitting in water longer than I expected, and glued itself to the bottom of the pot. I managed to loosen it with a teaspoon, and flip the softened side to the top, ready for my first shave with The Fat for way too long.

Bliss. Despite the pea-souper post migraine brain fog, it lathered an applied effortlessly and perfectly, and the blade (a fresh Indian Gillette Wilkie) sailed through. I'm glad I made the detour away from this soap, as it makes it all the better to come back to.

Post shave today, is Wickhams Russian Leather. Very old fashioned scent. Not necessarily in a bad way, but not necessarily in a good way either. It smells OK, but doesn't smell like "me".

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Today was a test shave of Wickhams Scottish Heather for Mike @Esox

Performance was very good. Maybe the best sample I've used so far. In fact I might have finally found a soap with a performance on a par with Mitchell's, albeit twice the price, and without the lanolin fueled post shave feel. I need to spend a little more time with both to be sure though.

Scent was very light and fresh. The anise came through for me, as did the thyme, on a grassy and almost flowery backdrop. Pleasant as it was, it was also light enough that I could zone out of that while shaving. It doesn't demand attention like some scents do. I wouldn't expect it putting up a fight and clashing with post shave scents either. If you want to be immersed in a sensory experience, this ain't the soap for you, it's more like fresh air wafting off the brush, just missing the peatiness of a true moorland scent.

Finished off with the DR Harris Arlington aftershave, which works very well indeed as a follow up to that soap.

 

[Esox]

Today was a test shave of Wickhams Scottish Heather for Mike @Esox

Performance was very good. Maybe the best sample I've used so far. In fact I might have finally found a soap with a performance on a par with Mitchell's, albeit twice the price, and without the lanolin fueled post shave feel. I need to spend a little more time with both to be sure though.

Scent was very light and fresh. The anise came through for me, as did the thyme, on a grassy and almost flowery backdrop. Pleasant as it was, it was also light enough that I could zone out of that while shaving. It doesn't demand attention like some scents do. I wouldn't expect it putting up a fight and clashing with post shave scents either. If you want to be immersed in a sensory experience, this ain't the soap for you, it's more like fresh air wafting off the brush, just missing the peatiness of a true moorland scent.

Finished off with the DR Harris Arlington aftershave, which works very well indeed as a follow up to that soap.

Thanks Al. I thought it would be a light fresh scent, if maybe a bit more present than it seems to be.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Thanks Al. I thought it would be a light fresh scent, if maybe a bit more present than it seems to be.

To someone else's nose, it might be. However, I find it quite incidental. If I didn't know they'd tried to create a specific scent, I'd just consider it "soap scented".

 

[Esox]

To someone else's nose, it might be. However, I find it quite incidental. If I didn't know they'd tried to create a specific scent, I'd just consider it "soap scented".

Hmmm. I've found all the Wickhams soaps I have to have a fairly strong scent, but only the rose is intrusive. It has a synthetic note to it I dont much like.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Another great shave with Mitchell's today, rounded off this time with Wickhams Citrus Musk. Pleasant, but a little plain, although I do prefer it to their Russian Leather. On the whole, I prefer the scents of the Harris samples better.

Started another batch of homebrew today too. I decided to reuse the bottle from the cheapo Superdrug stuff, and I'll be skipping the aloe this time though, so it doesn't go cloudy. I've got the essential oils dissolving in alcohol, and will add the witchhazel when it all looks homogeneous. Probably should have waited till the brain was working better, as I've double glugged the Frankincense, when I should have only single glugged.

You can probably ascertain how precise and scientific I'm being from that last sentence.

Other essential oils are one glug each of nutmeg and cedarwood, one and a half glugs of sweet orange, and two glugs of rosemary. I'll let it stew, then add additional glugs as required. The sum total of all the glugs so far, is a small enough percentage of the overall mix to let me do that.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

They say bad things come in threes, well for a tightwad like me, I guess for me that includes purchases.

I had the Connaught order come in last week with the Mitchell's soap and dish, P&B Spitfire post shave gel, and the various samples, then I placed an order for a welsh slate set of three hones which should be with me this week. Finally, this evening I succumbed and ordered a Razorine.

It's something I've had my eye on for a while, a shavette that takes full DE blades. I find the design quite intriguing, as it combines the head of a closed comb DE with the handling of a straight. I think it could be a great practice tool for developing my straight shaving, while being a good solid razor in its own right.

The supplier I ordered it from (Sweeneys) offers free shipping and free blades with it, plus of course it comes with the drawstring pouch, so it seems a good buy for the money (around the same price as my Jagger). That should be me officially "done" in terms of razors now, barring having to get replacements for anything in the event of breakage etc. As I've also got enough blades for a couple of decades of DE shaves, and (hopefully) have everything I need in terms of abrasives of maintaining my two straights, my ongoing purchases should be limited to just software and the occasional replacement brush.

4 x DE, 2 x shavette, 2 x straight, and 2 x hollow ground SE for novelty shaves. I'm happy with that.

Just checked the homebrew too. The essential oils all seen to have dissolved just fine. I put a small amount on the back of my hand and waited for the alcohol to fade, and it seems it could stand a fair bit more scent, so I'll add a few glugs tomorrow, and see if I can correct the imbalance from over glugging the Frankincense. Once the scent balance seems right, all I have to do then, is top it up with witch hazel, and after a couple of days that should be ready to use.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I felt brave today.

After another awesome shave with Mitchell's, I decided to revisit the cheapo Superdrug Sierran Breeze, and see if it smelled any better following a less scented soap. Very little improvement. It still smells like urinal blocks. I'd happily buy the Forest Fresh version again, but this version will be going down the drain, and the bottle possibly repurposed for another batch of homebrew aftershave.

Talking of which...

I've added more essential oil to the current batch, and am just waiting for all that to dissolve. I should be able to retest the scent on Wednesday, and see if it's ready for the Witch Hazel.

I do feel a lot better for having gotten a few Mitchell's shave in, so I'll try to be disciplined now, and go back to one of the other soaps I need to use up. Probably the Goats Milk.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Served up another 20g or so of the Bundle and Rust Goats Milk soap in the ramekin, and kicked myself for not having done that with Mitchell's. The last puck of Mitchell's went manky before it was finished, so I ought to let this puck dry out fully, grate maybe 1/4 of it into the ceramic dish, and wrap/seal the rest up and stash it back in the drawer. 20g to 30g seems a sensible amount to serve up at any time. That's 40 to 60 shaves of the softer soaps, and double that for the hard soaps like Mitchell's and Palmolive.

The shave with the Goats Milk was perfectly adequate, but far from Mitchell's quality. Good enough for DE, but not (this time anyway) good enough for a straight shave. However my current system gives me options on standby for the straight. I have the new Mitchell's dish and soap, and the wooden bowl that I used for playing around with bowl lathering creams, is still packed with grated Palmolive. The ramekin is reserved for using up the backlog of craft soaps (currently one whole tin, and two part tins), and the occasional sample. I can use any of those for DE, and at least two of them for straights.

DR Harris Bay Rum was choice of aftershave today. I'm quite liking these Harris aftershaves, even if I'm not enthralled over the price of a full bottle. I suppose you get reasonable value in the long run though.

I checked on the homebrew while I was in the bathroom, and when I held it up to the light, I could see that some of the essential oil refracting, and it looked like it was being held in suspension rather than dissolving. A good shake seemed to remedy that, but I need to let it settle again now, to see if it stays homogeneous. I'll not bother testing the scent again till that's known.

Still no sign of the welsh slate hone set, so I'm assuming he hasn't posted it yet. His ebay listing does specify he only posts on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and I ordered it Thursday morning, so I might have missed that week's mail run. I do know the Razorine is in transit though, so that should be here by Thursday this week.

I also received a note from the seller, specifically advising me to put the plug in the sink before swapping the blades, as he's had several people contact him to say they dropped the nut down the drain!!! Apparently he's getting in touch with Gianni to order some spares for those who lose them irretrievably.

So much for keeping things simple, eh? New batch of homebrew on the go, Mitchell's to process, new style razor to learn, all the new aftershaves to assess, and new hones to lap and learn to use too. Should keep me busy a while.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Goats Milk soap followed by P&B Spitfire post shave gel today. Great shave. I might treat myself to a fresh blade tomorrow though. In fact, the Razorine might be here tomorrow...

The homebrew batch failed. It looked ready for the next stage, but when I added the witch hazel, it became a cloudy mess, like soluble cutting fluid in machine shops, with a topping of undissolved oil. That all went own the drain (I probably have the best smelling drains on the street) and a fresh batch was started. Oils and alcohol will be left for about a week this time, shaken every day for good measure.

I might buy a bottle of aftershave too. I know I have the samples to keep me going for a few shaves, but ought to have at least one bottle of store bought stuff. The decision is whether to get another bottle of te cheapo Forest Fresh, try Doug's reccomendation of Old Spice Fresh Lime, try Rave's recommendation of Reuzel, follow Jim's tip off on Clubman Special Reserve, or go to one of the aftershave sample companies online, and get a crap load more samples...

 

[Somerled]

I might buy a bottle of aftershave too. I know I have the samples to keep me going for a few shaves, but ought to have at least one bottle of store bought stuff. The decision is whether to get another bottle of te cheapo Forest Fresh, try Doug's reccomendation of Old Spice Fresh Lime, try Rave's recommendation of Reuzel, follow Jim's tip off on Clubman Special Reserve, or go to one of the aftershave sample companies online, and get a crap load more samples...

Don't buy anything right now Al. If you can hold off for 7-10 days I'll send you some samples of what I have.

Just ordered some small atomizers. Once they arrive I'll fill them up with various concoctions and send them off to you.