Saturday's shave:
A couple of new-to-me items for this morning's shave:
(1) Noble Otter "Lonestar" shaving soap
(2) The Golden Nib boar brush
OK, so the soap. This is the third Noble Otter soap that I've now tried. The first two (Barrbarr, and Noir et Vanille) were just "OK" in the scent department for me. But this Lonestar is definitely one that I'm on board with! I can see why Don really liked it. I dig it, for sure!! In a word, this is delightful. It is a wonderful, floral scent that really impresses me. It's not "in-your-face" floral, but more "graceful", if that makes any sense. On the SOS scale, I give it a solid 3/5, and it reminds me of spring, no doubt, especially the two times I was stationed at Fort Hood, TX. I always made a point, in the spring, when I was in Austin, to stop by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The Bluebonnets and the Indian Paintbrush especially, are stunning. Indeed, those two flowers really paint the landscape of the hill country when in season. This soap conjures up such images for me. I'll be picking up a tub of this soap when late winter hits for two reasons: first, to have it ready to go for spring; and secondly, during those long days of winter, this will provide a much needed pick-me-up out of the doldrums that winter offers at times.
Next, the brush. I decided to order a smaller boar knot from The Golden Nib, as well as an inexpensive handle. Once I set the knot, it specs out at 22/54. This is a fantastic brush! My goodness, I'd only done a couple of lathering break-in sessions prior to this shave, and now it's already soft tipped! Crazy! And it can generate some phenomenal lather something fierce! Yes please!
The shave itself was a simple, quick, and highly enjoyable 1-passer with the Fatip Grande (w/Polsilver SI). Riding the cap is definitely key to this razor. But truth-be-told, it's not really one that I favor much. But then again, I've only used it twice now, so perhaps I'll change my tune one day.
Finished up with AoS Lemon aftershave balm, then some Sampson's unscented balm. I was going to leave it at that, but later decided to add some AdP Colonia just for the fun of it. A nice start to the day.
