From classic cream yesterday to one of the current "It Girl" artisan soapmakers for today's shave. I will freely admit to being a traditionalist when it comes to the software part of shaving, relying on the great standards like Musgo Real, DR Harris, Institut Karite and the like for my shaves. I have tried many artisan products over the years and been left underwhelmed by most, the few exceptions including St. Charles Shave, QED and LA Shaving Soaps. In my last purchase from Vintage Blades, I threw in a tin of Mike's Lime shave soap, just to see if the performance lived up to the hype. I did a couple of test lathers previously, and found that in my hands, this soap needed a good loading, so I took my damp SOC this morning and loaded from my tin of Mike's Lime for about a minute, giving me this:
This is a good, promising protolather, and after taking it to the bowl, swirling and adding what seemed like a gallon of water (not really, but you get the idea), I was rewarded with this:
The lather was rich and slick, and delivered a very nice comfortable shave. The scent was fantastic. It's a pretty simple lime scent, but was easily on par with what I get from Castle Forbes in terms of intense, pure lime. Color me impressed. At some point (perhaps even this year), I'll put Mike's Lime through its 3017 paces, and I have a feeling that I will be handsomely rewarded. As for the SOC, I continue to be impressed with how easily it handles everything I throw at it. With the bloom, it's a big brush, but the backbone of the knot and soft tips ensure good loading and an equally enjoyable lathering.
This is a good, promising protolather, and after taking it to the bowl, swirling and adding what seemed like a gallon of water (not really, but you get the idea), I was rewarded with this:
The lather was rich and slick, and delivered a very nice comfortable shave. The scent was fantastic. It's a pretty simple lime scent, but was easily on par with what I get from Castle Forbes in terms of intense, pure lime. Color me impressed. At some point (perhaps even this year), I'll put Mike's Lime through its 3017 paces, and I have a feeling that I will be handsomely rewarded. As for the SOC, I continue to be impressed with how easily it handles everything I throw at it. With the bloom, it's a big brush, but the backbone of the knot and soft tips ensure good loading and an equally enjoyable lathering.
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