JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
Wow! Honestly, shaving is not supposed to be a 'hobby'. Collecting shave gear maybe, but shaving is still supposed to be a chore ... just less onerous when you do it right.
But this morning? I am disappointed I am done with my shave.
It did not last long enough.
I want to do it again.
And while I can say I've had some pleasurable shaves, I have not felt quite this way before today. I have been going through sample blades and I got an Indian Black Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum from a B&B member in a blade exchange. He raved about them. I liked the Russian Greens a lot, the yellows, not so much, but since I was on a Gillette 7 O'Clock kick, I went to the 'black ninja' next. Wow! I think I finally found a current production blade I like as much as my vintage Schick Plus Platinums!
I also decided to dive into my stash of Mama Bear sample scents. I was cutting them in half to try them twice, but I thought what the heck, let's use a whole one. I grabbed the 'Black Code' scent, which both I and my wife love. Armani came up with a winner with that one. Now, I can lather glycerin soaps pretty well. But today I had something rivaling Irisch Moos in terms of density and cushion. Maybe just a tad lighter, but slicker. This just happened to be the day I did my lifetime best glycerin soap lather.
The stars had aligned. This was simply magical. I had a shower first (the BEST prep, bar none), mashed the sliver of Mama Bear's Black Code into about a tablespoon of water in the scuttle, let it sit for a minute, then went to work. I had lather coming up over the edge of a DB 1.5 scuttle in no time flat! Looked exactly like meringue on a nice key lime pie.
The first swipe with the black ninja? I thought I was using a feather. Now I know the feather must be sharper, but I have not used a feather in several weeks, but man, this was sharp. And SMOOTH. I normally do a 3-pass with touch up and get a DFS but I couldn't stop. I did a 4-pass. The smell of the soap was intoxicating. The singing of the blade like soft music to my ears. I wanted to do a 5-pass, but I had to get a breakfast casserole out of the oven.
I finished off with some Thayer's witch hazel followed by a generous splash of Pinaud Classic Vanilla, which I fear has deposed Clubman as my favorite scent now. Mmmmmm.
I got a BBS save for one little spot on my left jawline which was my fault, not the blade's. I have had 52 daily DE shaves, no days off. I have had (in total) 3 very tiny nicks and about the same number of weepers over the last two months, so it's not like my shaves have sucked and I just got it together or something. This was just something special. It just came together perfectly for some reason.
I thought all you guys were simply nuts waxing all poetical about a shave ... until this morning. Yeah it's been fun, I haven't minded shaving, even looked forward to it a few times. But I've never had a shave occupy my mind for an hour afterwards, and I never wanted to go right upstairs and do it again. Right now.
I guess I'm nuts now, too.
But this morning? I am disappointed I am done with my shave.
It did not last long enough.
I want to do it again.
And while I can say I've had some pleasurable shaves, I have not felt quite this way before today. I have been going through sample blades and I got an Indian Black Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum from a B&B member in a blade exchange. He raved about them. I liked the Russian Greens a lot, the yellows, not so much, but since I was on a Gillette 7 O'Clock kick, I went to the 'black ninja' next. Wow! I think I finally found a current production blade I like as much as my vintage Schick Plus Platinums!
I also decided to dive into my stash of Mama Bear sample scents. I was cutting them in half to try them twice, but I thought what the heck, let's use a whole one. I grabbed the 'Black Code' scent, which both I and my wife love. Armani came up with a winner with that one. Now, I can lather glycerin soaps pretty well. But today I had something rivaling Irisch Moos in terms of density and cushion. Maybe just a tad lighter, but slicker. This just happened to be the day I did my lifetime best glycerin soap lather.
The stars had aligned. This was simply magical. I had a shower first (the BEST prep, bar none), mashed the sliver of Mama Bear's Black Code into about a tablespoon of water in the scuttle, let it sit for a minute, then went to work. I had lather coming up over the edge of a DB 1.5 scuttle in no time flat! Looked exactly like meringue on a nice key lime pie.
The first swipe with the black ninja? I thought I was using a feather. Now I know the feather must be sharper, but I have not used a feather in several weeks, but man, this was sharp. And SMOOTH. I normally do a 3-pass with touch up and get a DFS but I couldn't stop. I did a 4-pass. The smell of the soap was intoxicating. The singing of the blade like soft music to my ears. I wanted to do a 5-pass, but I had to get a breakfast casserole out of the oven.
I finished off with some Thayer's witch hazel followed by a generous splash of Pinaud Classic Vanilla, which I fear has deposed Clubman as my favorite scent now. Mmmmmm.
I got a BBS save for one little spot on my left jawline which was my fault, not the blade's. I have had 52 daily DE shaves, no days off. I have had (in total) 3 very tiny nicks and about the same number of weepers over the last two months, so it's not like my shaves have sucked and I just got it together or something. This was just something special. It just came together perfectly for some reason.
I thought all you guys were simply nuts waxing all poetical about a shave ... until this morning. Yeah it's been fun, I haven't minded shaving, even looked forward to it a few times. But I've never had a shave occupy my mind for an hour afterwards, and I never wanted to go right upstairs and do it again. Right now.
I guess I'm nuts now, too.
