SMF

Hello Chris,
While I generally agree with the above posts, it IS fun to experiment. What I'd recommend is using something like Olive Oil or Walnut Oil - if you dont like it it wont go to waste - and it works very similarly to those pre-shave oils.

Tabac

Muhle R41/ Rapira
Thater 24mm Silvertip
Valobra Almond
Tabac asb

Last shave for a few weeks, growing a beard.

Tabac shaving soap (lathered with a Thater or Simpson) + splash + balm. I could haply use it winter-long.

chris, The AoS soaps are, reportedly, made in Italy by Valobra, and are very similar-identical, performance wise, to Valobra's own shaving stick. I think the stick is very good and prefer it to the 3T's hard soaps. I wouldn't put these soaps in my highest echelon (Tabac, Wilkinson Sowrd, Palmolive, ...

Muhle R41 w/ Rapira
HL Thater 24mm Perspex
Valobra Almond soft soap
Nivea Sensitive asb

Very nice brush. I've had several RV brushes, and the handles and workmanship have always been excellent, although I'm not particularly fond of TGN knots. Afraid I agree. I had a small two-band (Finest?) - scratchy tips, bad dye job, ok-at-best lathering. And it wasn't a cheap brush either, handle ...

Squire wrote:Sam the only defense to the Europe vs USA argument is we can beat their socks off in basketball.

White guys only would be a good game

Chris, Harper,

Yeh I guessed it was unlikely. Even the Trumper soaps from about 5-10 years ago list just a couple of ingredients. Probably safe to assume they're all animal fat heavy, though.

Before writing this I went and checked my 35 or 40 year old bowl of Harris "Cologne" shaving soap that I bought at Madelios (an upscale modest department store in Paris at the time) and it is still good. The soap is no harder than it ever was and it still lathers about the same (not espec...

Dave, yeah the Almond creams are all great. Not as exciting as some others but I have come to appreciate them again. No color which is great for your better brushes and that metal Trumper tube, as Gordon said, can't be beat. Max I agree with this. When we start experiementing with soaps and creams ...

Squire wrote:I mash it into a cup, bowl or plastic container and lather directly on top of the soap.

The barbers who use it lather on it like a puck...but without mashing it. Bit messy. ps excellent cheap/European/tallow/stick. Arko, Palmolive, Speik, Wilkinson Sowrd. They're the best soaps around imo.

Another +1 to Trumpers soaps just being a bit disappointing if you're used to Tabac, Cella, the tallow sticks etc...it works well enough and comes in some lovely scents, but your expectations are probably too high.

An altenative is to swap with one of the interchangeable Edwin Jagger handles.

I have a few water decals from pre Vulfix days. I have to say I like the brush. The handle is very comfortable, but I too cant see a big difference in hair quality. It reminds me of the Best Badger from the Carter days. Im not necessarily sure it warranted the money I paid, but I do have one :) Isa...

[scratches Thater brush from list of future purchases] I have two and am about to pull the trigger on a third. Certainly among the best I have owned and used. I haven't noticed this phenomenon. Don't shortchange yourself based on reading a couple of forum posts--Thäters are excellent brushes, and t...

Lovely looking brush. I'd love to own one, but these LE's are far above my price range I fear.

Enjoy that pulchritudinous wee man toy

It turns out I took a naturally very conservative angle of attack when using a DE. I was rewarded with excellent results almost immediately, and sort of thought similar; why would anybody use a cartridge? Then I used a few different styles/brands of DE and began to appreciate how, manipulated in a s...

Top five? In no particular order: Tabac Trumper Sandalwood (more for the scent than the performance, which isn't shabby) Palmolive Stick, chopped and pressed Speick stick, chopped and pressed P160 Tipo Morbido Nice picks. Jettison the GFT, swap the Palmolive for Wilkinson Sword and the P160 for Cel...

Dave, I know of this phenomena. Some brushes do that and some don't. I have no idea why. It doesn't really matter as it doesn't manifest itself in use, but its sort of interesting. ps Buzz I don't think its a quality thing, the HL Thater brushes do this and theyre possibly the best brushes you can b...