West Coast Canadian Pass-around Box

[Snidely]

Shave number one out of the box.

I spent some time going through the box and deciding what I'd like to try. For today:

First Canadian Simcoe Sandalwood soap
Feather razor
Simpson Berkeley brush
Astra blade
Clubman after shave

The First Canadian soap is quite soft and I use my thumbs to mash a sample into the bottom of a bowl. It lathered quickly and the lather is rich, thick, and slick. I like this soap a lot. The only downside, and this may be due to the age of the sample, is that the scent is hardly noticeable.

I had tried First Canadian Vetiver soap in the past, so I knew I was dealing with an excellent shaving soap. Disappointed that there wasn't more sandalwood smell. I like the soap a lot, so I may contact the maker and ask if he'd be game to try a more strongly scented batch. If not, his vetiver soap makes the same great lather and has a neat, earthy scent.

The Berkeley brush is tiny compared to other brushes I've used recently. I had one of these in the past and PIFed it. I liked it, but got on a boar brush kick and wasn't using it. I think I'll use it all week to give it a fair trial. I face lather, and the brush feels good on the face--just small in the hand.

The Feather razor is a cheap looking plastic and metal affair. Looks are deceiving. I loaded it with the familiar Astra blade (I don't like to try out both a new blade and new razor at the same time--I don't know whether to attribute the shave to the blade or the razor.) It is a twist open razor. The blade seated tightly and perfectly centered. It gave an excellent, mild shave. Mild like a tech, with an even safer feeling. The razor feels like you would have to really try to get a nick or scrape. I don't know how much these razors cost, but if they are inexpensive, they are a good deal. A homely, good performer. An excellent, mild shaver in my view. Close, comfortable shave. No nicks, no irritation. I'll shave with this razor again tomorrow. My reaction after the first shave is that it is a good, mild shave.

After shave. The always welcome Clubman. Face feels good.

 

[Pepin]

Thank you for the nice review.

I also tried several of the First Canadian Shave Co. soaps, I like the lather I get, but as you pointed out the scents are very weak (almost being non-existent).

It would be nice if he offered strong and weakly scented versions of soaps.

 

[royal52]

John, I actually just threw that Feather Popular DE razor in the box right before meeting with you yesterday.

It is quite mild I agree.

You can get them for a little over $20:

http://www.italianbarber.com/feather-popular-double-edge-safety-razor

 

[Snidely]

Shave #2 from the west coast box.

Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender soap
Simpson Berkeley brush
Feather razor
my own Astra blade
my own Ogallala Bay Rum after shave

Used the Berkeley brush again. Getting used to the small size. It works fine as a face lathering brush. Might be too small for a bowl. It isn't at all scritchy and feels nice on the face.

The razor--Feather "Popular" again, with Astra blade again. This is a nice shaving, mild razor. I like it a lot as a shaver. It is not pretty to look at--frankly cheap looking with plastic dominating. But a great shave. Jeff says it is in the $20 range in Canada. At that price this is a great deal. Especially good for travel or camping, where I wouldn't want to damage or lose a much more expensive work of art. But it would make a great everyday razor too.

The soap. I admit I didn't get the best lather with this soap. I'll try it again tomorrow. I want to like it because it smells wonderful. They absolutely nailed it. Perfect quantity of perfect lavender scent. Smells like the flowers--herbal and warm. And a nice strong scent to enjoy during the shave. Right now, my ideal soap would be a combination of First Canadian for its latherability and Mystic Waters for its scent. All that said, the lather I did get was slick and I had a great shave. It just wasn't pillowy the way I like.

The after shave. My own Ogallala Bay Rum. I love this stuff, but it can burn too much after a rough shave. The Feather/Astra and the slick Mystic Water soap gave a smooth, close and completely irritation free shave. The Ogallala Bay Rum finished it off perfectly and with just the right amount of bay rum afterburn.

 

[skip]

Jeff says it is in the $20 range in Canada. At that price this is a great deal. Especially good for travel or camping, where I wouldn't want to damage or lose a much more expensive work of art. But it would make a great everyday razor too.

$23.50 in Toronto

 

[Snidely]

Shave #3 out of the box

La Toja cream
Simpsons Berkeley brush
Merkur 25c long handle open comb (my own, but I'll be putting it in the box)
Astra blade
Clubman AS (my own, but there is a good sized sample in the box)

I put a dab of La Toja on my cheek and attacked it with the Berkeley. Quickly had lots of slick, persistent lather. The cream seemed thirsty--it took several dips of the small brush to get it as moist as it wanted to be. The lather was slick and cushiony. Not much scent--maybe a light, medicinal, soapy, barber shop-ish smell, but not much of it. it was harder to rinse off than most soaps and creams. Took a few more splashes than usual to get my face well rinsed. All in all an excellent cream. I may not be buying it for myself simply because I like a bit more scent, but the shave properties are great.

I'm getting used to the small brush for face lathering and liking it a lot. Feels good on the face. I think I will be claiming it from the box.

The razor is an almost new Merkur open comb. This is maybe my fifth or sixth shave with it. A good shaver, but just a bit too mild for my liking. I tried it for a few shaves when I bought it a couple of months ago. It gave a good enough shave, but I have a couple of other razors and I just didn't find myself using this one. Better it should find a new home than sit in a drawer. It gave me a good shave this morning. A very mild entry to the open comb razor world.

Clubman AS. I love this stuff. I'm an old guy. This stuff smells like the barber shops of my youth. Happily my wife is fond of it too. Mainly alcohol, antiseptic and astringent. A lovely barber shop scent and a smooth face feel after the alcohol evaporates.

Another good shave. Face feels great.

 

[royal52]

Nice reviews John.

Are you going to try one of the open comb razors in the box?

 

[Snidely]

Shave #4 out of the box

Mystic Waters Jeff's Lavender soap (again)
Simpsons Berkeley brush (again)
older Gillette open comb razor
Astra blade
Ogallala Bay Rum AS (mine)

I wanted to give the Mystic Waters soap another try. Love the scent. This time I double up on both the loading and face lathering time. Left the brush a bit damper when loading (the soap had a tendency to get a bit sticky when loading first time I tried it). I got a nice, thick, slick and wonderful smelling lather. Continuing to like the Berkeley brush.

The razor is an older Gillette open comb. It is a brassy gold colour. Ball handle. Longish curled over teeth on the comb. I'm no expert at identifying these things, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say it is a Gillette "New" long comb. Whoever put it in the box can verify (or correct) this. Anyways, Jeff suggested I try one of the older open comb razors in the box. It gave a fine shave. Close. No nicks or scrapes. But not quite as comfortable as I like--I'm left with a somewhat irritated neck. I'd say it is mid-range on the aggressiveness scale--comparable to a Merkur HD or EJ 89, and certainly a bit more aggressive than the new Merkur 25 open comb that I used yesterday.

The Ogallala Bay Rum aftershave was probably a mistake. This is not the AS to use after a shave that irritated my neck. Too much burn on the neck.

The razor was the only variable in the mix, and the shave was a bit irritating on the neck. So the razor, and maybe my technique with the open comb, get the blame.

 

[Snidely]

That's it then. I'm traveling this week, so I'll get the box packed up and shipped to Comet in Montreal. Ulricus and canphan are not able to take the box at this time. I'll skip over them and maybe the box can circle back to them later.

Some thoughts on how the box has evolved..

Lots of brushes in both boar and badger. No horse hair though. If somebody has a Vie-Long horse hair to contribute it would round out the brush selection.

Lots of razors and a good variety. A mix of open comb and safety bar, new and old. Even a couple of straights and a straight-like handle that holds a half of a double edge blade.

Tons of soap samples. Holy cow. Maybe too many.

A lot of them are artisan soaps that are probably only locally available. This is both good and bad. Good--I get to try artisan soaps from other regions. Bad--if I like the soap I may not be able to buy it. I like to try soaps that I know I'll be able to find easily if I want to get some.

Some of the soaps are soft and can be mashed into a bowl. None were labelled as melt and pour. I don't have much luck lathering from tiny samples of hard soap, so I stuck to soaps that were soft enough to mash into the bowl, like First Canadian or Mystic Water (in the other/East coast box there were a couple of melt and pour soaps like Colonel Conk and Ogallala which I also tried--cut off a chunk, put it into my bowl and nuke for 10 seconds).

Only a few creams. I tried one, La Toja, and got a great shave.

Very few after shaves. Too few really. I'll put a couple in, but the box could use more.

As for what I'm taking out and putting in:

I'm taking:
-- the Simpsons Berkeley brush. Nice brush. I used it each day and enjoyed it.

I'm putting in:
-- Merkur 25 open comb razor. Used fewer than 10 times. A mild, good shaver, but it wasn't getting used. Better put to use than sitting in a drawer.
-- Cyril R. Salter Indian Sandalwood shaving cream. This is a big sample, about 4 ounces, because I'd like everyone to try it. It is the best shaving cream I've ever encountered. Effortless, thick, slick lather. Nice rendition of sandalwood scent.
-- Lucky Tiger After Shave and Face Tonic. Original bottle, 90% full. This is their fancy stuff in the small brown bottle, not the blue stuff in the quart jar. It is very soothing, almost like a lotion or balm. It has a nice, but very short lived tangerine scent. But, fancy or not, it is just too mild for me. I like my after shave to show a bit of shock and awe--alcohol sting or bay rum burn for me. This has none of that. The opposite really. I think it would be perfect for someone prone to razor burn.
-- Ogallala Bay Rum after shave. About a 4 ounce sample in (of all things) a hot sauce bottle. That's a well washed hot sauce bottle. I love this stuff. Nice, fairly persistent bay rum smell. Fairly strong bay rum burn. Wonderful face feel for the rest of the day. Ingredients: witch hazel, water, alcohol, bay oil. Shake very well, the bay oil separates out.
-- Alum matches. A couple of books. This is my favourite nick treatment, especially for travel. Looks like a booklet of paper matches, but the match heads are alum. Tear one off, dampen it and touch the nick. Then throw it out.

That's it then, I'll pack up and send tomorrow.

 

[Nick_O]

Thanks for a great week of reviews Snidely. Very good reading.

 

[royal52]

Those are some great additions to the box John !! High quality stuff.

 

[i_dont_bite]

I loved the Cyril Salter Sandalwood. Fendrihan sold out for now though. Will grab it when it comes in.

 

[Snidely]

Mailed it.
On its way to comet in Montreal.
Canada Post tracking number 0310123000406895
Theoretical delivery by Wednesday the 6th.
We'll see.

 

[Comet]

Will keep an eye open for it! Looking forward getting it.

 

[JimmyTheChooch]

Great thread with some interesting reviews. Sorry I missed out on the pass-around box but maybe round 2?

 

[Nick_O]

Great thread with some interesting reviews. Sorry I missed out on the pass-around box but maybe round 2?

Do it

 

[BRITD]

See, this is what happens when they removed Geography from the school curriculum. A "West Coast" Canadian box ending up in Montréal.

 

[Comet]

Hey guys I have the box. I can't believe what a variety of soaps creams and blades there are inside. For my first shave I chose their mark your open chrome razor with a big bang played I also usedI also used the ceryl sandal sandal wood cream which was in a small Tupperware container. Finally I top things off with the Lucky Tiger aftershave and face time. I must say it was my first time using an open comb razor. I must say I really enjoyed the razor. The Cyryl Saltet cream was fantastic as well. Lucky Tiger was nice with a pleasant scent and only a slight burn.

All in all my first day was most enjoyable I got to try lots of new things. I can't wait until tomorrow not sure I'll try next

 

[Pepin]

Yes, the Cyrill cream is very good; thick rich lather and a wonderful scent.

Did you put anything on after the Lucky Tiger has subsided?

 

[tonich]

See, this is what happens when they removed Geography from the school curriculum. A "West Coast" Canadian box ending up in Montréal.