Items by Wil Dorenbos

Found this one by accident. Joe had this Italian soapmaker on his site for bath soaps, I checked them out, and found they made a soft shaving soap too. Almond, of course, and I do not like almond. I have been shaving with this soap for a couple of weeks and the scent is growing on me. It is a soft almond scent, not overly sweet. Like Vitos. The price is good for what you get (they carry a 150 grams bowl, 250 grams small brick and 1000 grams brick). It is an artisan product, handmade in...

I wanted to participate in the november bay rum month, but did not have any bay rum soap. My daughter found me this one, all natural and hand made in the US. Price: 2,49 usd for a 3,5 oz (99 grams) puck. Quality: handmade; ingredients: glycerin soap, coconut butter, shea butter, castor oil, coconut oil, aloe vera, jamaican rum, ground allspice, ground cinnamon, bay essential oil, orange essential oil and Dead Sea Clay. Scent: I really like the scent, hard to describe for me tho...

This the standard Vie-long barbers horse brush, available only in brown hair. I have the no 2, the bigger version (handle is a bit higher 6 cm vs 5,5 cm, loft a bit wider than no 1: 20 mm vs 18mm; and 6 cm high for both). No 2 comes at 12 euros shipped in Europe, 15,90 world wide. Only lost a few hairs during the braking in, so quality is good. Hairs are fairly soft, and firm enough for me, without being prickly. For me the "extra" treatment (making the hairs softer) does not seem...

This one is also from their pro / barbers line. Extra does not mean extra quality hair, but that the hairs have been treated to make the tips extra soft. Price is good, some 13 euro shipped to Europe, some 16 international. It has enough back bone to easily lather soaps and creams, but feels quite soft on the face. Usually mane hairs are a bit prickly, but the treatment has cured that. Quality is good, only lost a few hears during the break in. No 1 is a medium size: the handle is about 2,8...

I used boar before I went for horse, so a combo of horse and boar hair seemed interesting. The only one I know of is made by Vie-long in 2 sizes (medium no 1 and large no 2). The brush is in their barbers / pro line which consists of 8 brushes. It has a wooden handle and fits both well in my hand as in my stand. Quality is good, hardly any hairs lost during the breaking in. It had a bit more back bone than an all horse hair brush, and as they also use mane hairs in the brush it was bit...

In my young days I used Sanders, as I like its scent better than Vergulde Hand. For quite a while this soap has not been available. Now it is back. It comes in a plastic container, puck 75 grams. Price (if you can find it downhere) varies from 95 cents to 2,95. My daughter had it at 95 cents :laugh:. I still like the scent. It had been described as "citrus/pine". In an instant I had a nice, creamy lather and the razor glided very well. I used a razor that has been described as very...

Costed me 10,98 shipped for a 24/63 mm knot (approx). Handmade in Pakistan. Beautiful wooden handle. Best is to wash it first, as the hairs seem to be dyed. Like the Indian brushes it sheds a lot, it does get better in time. Hence the 6 on quality. But it does lather quite well, from the very first time. The brush is a bit floppy (do not know which hairs were used here), so you have to use the paint technique, but either with cream and soap it will do a very good job. Brush feels good on...

I have this brush about 4 months now, so time for a report. Costed me 9,75 usd shipped, for a 30/60 mm brush (1,18/2,36 inch), with a plastic handle. Like the handle, as now I do not have problems with a wooden handle getting wet. This brush is meant for barbers / professional use. Quality is good, lost a few hairs in the beginning, nothing since then. The knot is fairly dense and made of 1 type of horse hair. It has backbone so I guess it is made of tail hair (the mane hairs are soft and...

My favorite in the Jaguar line. A nice, big brush for my big hands. Bigger than my Omega 10098. I use it for both face and bowl lathering. Works just fine, generates a lot of good lather in an instant. Brush feels good on the face, but has enough back bone. If you like bigger brushes, this is one you could try. About same price as an Omega 10098 (bit less), but imo worth its price.

Made by Evyap Turkey (also makes ARKO). Standard tube. Got it for free, so I do not know the price. I know now that I do not have a sensitive skin, but an oily skin, but I tried it anyway. The scent is mild, but nice, and not lingering. I like that as it does not interfere with the AS. It lathers just fine. Not very thick, but slick lather. Like all ARKO creams you need just a little bit more than from other creams. The razor glides well, no irritation or whatever. Result is a good, close...

It comes in a 70 grams plastic tube. Made by Wonder Products India, and marketed by J.L. Morison. Main ingredients are Glycerin, Aloe Vera, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil and Jojoba Oil. Tried it with an old-type oc, an Indian horse brush and a Treet Durasharp HiTech. A little bit gave me a lot of creamy lather. The lather was slick, so the razor could do its work easily. Result was a nice, close shave. The scent is hard to decribe. According to the manufacturer it is "a classic lingering musky...

I got this for my birthday, and have been using it for a week now. I do not use creams much, so I can only compare it to Palmolive. It is the house brand of a banned vendor here ;). I like the scent. Not too heavy, not lingering. It lathers nicely, it gives slick lather, not too thick (that could be me of course), razor glides well. Skin feels good afterwards. In the list of ingredients are also Methyl and Propyl Paraben, where Palmolive does not contain any. In a week (2 shaves a day) I...

I picked up a batch of these from the Bay, paid some 6 dollar cents per blade. Might be nos. 200 in a pack, 10 in a cardboard box. It is a coated carbon blade. Decided to give them a go in my new Feather AS. A nice, smooth and close shave. I only do 2 passes (WTG and XTG) and the blade was sharp enough for that (coarse beard). Results for me a lot like Feather :laugh:. So I will use these as my daily blade, and Feather for the weekend. I change blades after 2 shaves (one per side), so...

I bought this brush at Amazon for 4 usd. Now they are 8, but with "free" ARKO cream and Derby blades. Usually I prefer bigger boars, but I started using this one for the thread "Feather, measure of all blades (part 2 - the Tech)". The more I use it, the more I like it. It is a simple brush, not painted or whatever, but it fits perfectly in my hand, lathers just fine, feels good on my face, and doesn't shed. I prefer it over the 783, and use my 1056 less and less. The only real (and VERY...