Musgo Real - New Scents

I was running out of Musgo Real shaving cream, which is my favorite by far, so I had to put in an order with Bullgoose Shaving for some more. 

That's when I found out that MR has released five new scents.  Orange Amber, Spiced Citrus, Lime Basil, Lavender, and Oak Moss, in addition to the classic.

Curious, I went ahead and started doing some research on the new flavors.  Without being able to nail down anything too specific, it started to look like Oak Moss (pictured above) was the way I wanted to go. 

But, if I have learned anything in researching shaving creams, aftershaves, colognes, and any thing else that's scented, it's this: everybody's taste is different.  What I love you may hate.  What you call the second coming I will call the next going.  Nothing that I can think of is as individual as one's personal taste and distaste.

Bearing this in mind, I ordered a tube of the classic scent as well, one that was proven the only way it can be - by personal use.  I am SO glad I did.

On the morning after it arrived, I opened up my tube of Oak Moss MR Shaving Cream and lathered it up.  It looked like MR, it lathered like MR, certainly it FELT like MR; but good lord, the smell.  I scraped it off my face with my razor for the first pass, gave it some thought, then opened the classic scent.

In case you didn't catch it, I didn't even finish my shave with the OM MR.  The scent that so many swore by on Badger and Blade was a bust for me.

Don't take this as a reason not to try it, because Musgo Real is a damn fine shaving cream.  And like I said, you just might love it.

Vidyut Supermax

 

I tried these blades out last week.  I've been in a rut as far as trying new things - I guess I really like what I've been using (lately it's been Nacet blades, Musgo Real cream, plus my other staples) so much that I haven't wanted to deviate from the norm.  But if we don't try new things, we can never have new favorites, right?

Well, that's not what happened here.  I wasn't impressed with the Vidyut's performance - I ended up with quite a few nicks and had to do an extra pass to get the shave I expect from my Nacets.  These were such a ho-hum experience, in fact, that there is little I even care to say about them.

I keep trying to find new blades that are as good as Nacets (if not better) but I'm not having much luck.  There was a type of Gillette that my pal Joe gave me to try... it was an absolutely superb shaver, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.

Hopefully I will have a review of those up before long.  In the meantime, it's back to Nacets.

Blade disposal

I tend to use my blades maybe four to six times before they get too dull for an effective shave.  At this point they tug rather than cut the hairs and are uncomfortable.

Generally I remove the blade from my razor and drop it in the trash.  Recently I was out in the sticks, and didn't want to leave the blade lying around, so I put it in the front pocket of my Dopp kit to dispose of later.

Then I completely forgot about it.

A few weeks later, I was emptying out my Dopp kit and felt something in the front pocket (it turned out to be a pair of tweezers).  I reached in to pull them out and my finger nail caught the fabric, tearing it a little.  I jerked my hand out with a mental "WHAT THE HELL?!?" and stared dumbly at my split nail.  Being more careful this time, I reached in again, and cut nearly half of my finger nail off.  It was as painful as it sounds.

It wasn't the fabric catching my nial (duh); it was the used blade I had forgotten about.  It decided to remind me.

So I carefully removed it, tossed it, and examined my injuries.  My middle finger nail was cut about halfway across and halfway down.  It sucked.

So, I began looking into ways of safely getting rid of blades, when I found these:

I found a few on Amazon for three to six bucks.  There are vintage ones too, that look like lighthouses, barber poles, UPS trucks, snowmen, and who knows how many other things.  But you could always make one like the tin can example above.  The idea is to have a place to store them that they won't spill out of and won't cut through.

There are plenty of good reasons to do this; I will cover two. 

One, you can be sure what happened to my finger won't happen to yours, or anyone else's in your family - this is especially important if you have small children in the household.

Two, the blades are made of high quality steel.  Keeping them together like this makes it easy to recycle them.  You won't likely get any money out of it, but it's thre right thing to do.

Plus, if you get one of the vintage banks, think of the style and character you can add to your shave den!

I'm back

Sorry for the downtime everyone; work and school have kept me quite busy. I have been sorting through some information to put on the blog, so have a little patience and there should be some new posts soon.

Thanks for looking!

Gilbert Henry Bay Rum

I received this bottle of Gilbert Henry Bay Rum from Chris Paczewitz, co-owner of the Gilbert Henry Company. I found it waiting for me at home and couldn't wait to give it a try. The company has the kind of start up story that I love to hear - he couldn't find what he was looking for, so he made it himself; some trial and error later, and we have the final product above.

This morning I went through my regular shave routine, but substituted the GHBR for my regular Art of Shaving Sandalwood Aftershave. The scent was perfect - not overpowering, not too sweet, just the right balance of bay rum and citrus.

The application was a surprise. It went on smoothly, but there was zero greasyness to it, and my skin felt very clean afterwards. It was almost a sort of powdery feel when I put it on.

My original attraction to theArt of Shaving was not only for the quality of their products, but the story of the companys creation, very similar to Gilbert Henry. The difference is that AoS was bought out by Proctor and Gamble. I don't have a problem with that, but I enjoy supporting a small business with a great product.

It looks to me like the Gilbert Henry Company is just that.

For more information on the company or their products, check them out at

http://www.gilbert-henry.com

Shaving in space

I was fortunate enough to make it to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum the other day. I made my way to a section displaying a bunch of Apollo 11 mission equipment, such as suits, survival gear, video equipment, cameras, and even a few personal items.

Among those personal things, donated by Astronaut Michael Collins, was this:

That is a Gillette Adjustable Razor and a tube of Old Spice Shaving Cream.

The Adjustable is a single edge safety razor; it was available in any drugstore at the time, as was the Old Spice.

I was pretty surprised to see a safety razor in the Air and Space museum; just thought I'd share a bit of shaving and aeronautical history.

Edwin Jagger Best Badger Shaving Brush

I had heard a lot of chatter about how much of a difference a good shaving brush makes. I didn't know first hand, since most of my shaving was done with a boar hair brush someone gave me.

I received an Edwin Jagger for Fathers Day. It's a Best Badger with a faux ivory handle, and it is all I have used since I took it out of the box.

Imagine the difference between driving a Maserati and a Pinto. That's about the feeling.

The brush lathers so much better than my boar brush that it isn't even possible to do a fair comparison. The lather these guys on the shaving vids on Youtube get? I can do that now. With far less effort, I get way better results. I can stir up a mountain of cream in no time, and it stays ready until my last pass. Plus, it's much softer and comfortable on my face.

One problem I have with this is that I need to reevaluate all my soaps with the new brush. So far I have only used Lavanda and Mikes.

Honestly, though, this isn't a problem I mind having. I'm looking forward to trying everything again and seeing how it all works under new circumstances.