What soap/cream did you use today?

That artwork has always appealed to me.

It is interesting.  In addition, this is a soap used in barbershops in Italy.  I have found that soaps used in European barbershops are always inexpensive and good.

Second shave with the new Ethos King of the North. I gotta say I think the Dragonsbeard F base has been tweaked and is even better than before. The creaminess, protection, slickness and post-shave are simply incredible.

Stirling Sandalwood

8/19/42

I don’t believe I’ve tried the Soft Heart base before but wow is it wonderful!  With Omnibus on deck now it looks like this will be my only chance with Soft Heart.  I can tell you that the artwork on the label is not appealing to me but the scent of Rhapsody is so I picked the tub up.  I have Rhapsody in a Glissant base and these two compared are pretty dissimilar.  The Glissant has more of the heavy pear blossom. The Soft Heart has more wood bleeding though.  Don’t get me wrong, blindfold me and I’m identifying both as Rhapsody but they are dissimilar from each other.  Haven’t decided which I like best.  Perhaps I’ll just enjoy them both and not think about it too hard?  Add to that the Aftershave is different than both of them and I can report I like both soaps better although the aftershave dry down really brings forth some sandalwood which is nice.  

Rhapsody in Soft Heart is a very nice soap indeed! Fine choice.

Windsor (D.R. Harris & Co. Ltd.) vetiver cologne
Shave 21 ・ 88 g left

Over the weekend I culled the hoard by nearly 650 grams. Most of my creams are now hand soaps. They never treated my face too well. Their lather was too thin. But on my dirty paws, their creamy goodness does wonders. All the emollients that were supposed to keep my face feeling smooth work pretty well on my palms. I just squeeze a tube of shaving cream into a pump bottle and set it next to the sink. It doesn’t take up too much real estate, and there’s no need to screw off a cap, so there’s no mess. But most important, they smell fantastic.

Every week I cook up a new scheme for diminishing my soap hoard. Here’s the latest. I figure most of my soaps will be usable for at least a decade before they go off. But the matching lotions will probably be good for only a few years before they lose their savor. So, my current plan is to focus only on soaps that have accompanying balms or aftershaves. First up is Windsor with its milky partner. The soap has a pleasant, warm black pepper note that I don't get in the milk, while the milk smells far rosier than the soap. Load the soap heavy. Two-hundred swirls are not too much. But go easy on the milk. It's pretty rich. All told, a good pair.
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Razor Edwin Jagger DE89 ・ Blade Gillette Silver Blue ・ Brush Phoenix Shaving Amber Aerolite ・ Hoard 17,031 g (⇣694 g)

   

C&S No. 88. I think this soap was made by Valobra, like the older AoS soaps. Although this is a tallow soap, and I used to really like this one (and its brothers...), now, after using a lot of the modern high end artisan soaps (I use mainly Grooming Department), I feel this soap is mediocre at least. It is just amazing how these modern soaps have changed our daily shaving fun for the better.