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Ramblings of a MilkCrate

Between TJ MAxx, MArshall's, Tuesday Mornings, and Burlington Coat factory...one can pick up some quality shave gear for super cheap if they look out for it. It won't always be there...but when it is...it's a great deal. My latest "fetches" are a bottle of Thayer's Peach Witch Hazel and a very large can of Proraso Canned Goo!
 


Kept it in the Proraso family today and tried the green for the first time.

Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.

Shave-
Maggard Razor MR7
Astra SP (fresh)
Vie Long horsehair
Proraso Green soap

Post Shave-
Warm water rinse

Just due to curiosity, I switched back over to the horsehair. I think I found that this brush needs more work. Or my technique with this brush. Loaded up and ready to go. This brush seems to stick to itself when wet, maybe it’s too wet but doesn’t seem to be releasing water when lathering. I threw more product at it than normal and had a workable lather, but something was still off.

As to the scent, I’m not sure what I think about it. It’s ok. It doesn’t grab me like the Red, or GTB or other types of scents. I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. With this setup I walked away with a DFS for the win!

Wrapped up my shave with another splash of water and a quick towel dry. Followed this up with a splash of nothing and I assume everything was right as rain. Just using the soap alone, it had a great post shave feel. I’ll keep playing with it. Who knows, I may pick up the AS splash. Life is good!
 
Green is definitely a more soft soap/croap. It’s a medicinal smell, kinda like Vick’s, but I love it, especially with that good menthol kick.

Hope you figure it out!

Both Green AS and balm are great stuff.
 
Nice stuff Doug! I'm with you on the green...it's not that its unpleasant, but it's far from enjoyable outside of the menthol cooling.
 
I have the same Vie Long brush. I haven't used it in a very long time. But I do remember that after it became broken in I really liked it. But it was only AFTER it was broken in that I thought it was a great brush. I might bust it out again this week and report back on how I liked it.

The scent on Proraso Green is a really non-offensive fresh scent. It's not going to wow you but makes for a great no frills shave.
 
GearNoir said:
Green is definitely a more soft soap/croap. It’s a medicinal smell, kinda like Vick’s, but I love it, especially with that good menthol kick.

Hope you figure it out!

Both Green AS and balm are great stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was digging the menthol. Had a great post shave feel. Good to know about the AS.
 
dangerousdon said:
But it was only AFTER it was broken in that I thought it was a great brush.

The scent on Proraso Green is a really non-offensive fresh scent. It's not going to wow you but makes for a great no frills shave.
Click to expand...

Don, you pegged that whole shave spot on. I bought the horsehair at the same time I bought my boar. But that boar has way more mileage on it. I just need to keep cranking away at the horsehair and get it broken in real good.

Agree on the Proraso Green also.
 
Nice score on the Proraso!

Great read and shave, Tim!

I don't have a horse hair brush so can't help you there.

I agree with Don on the scent and well it's Proraso so a great performer. The aftershave is very nice!
 
Nice read Tim. Sorry about the credit card thieves. I work in the banking industry and it is really sad how these scumbags go about stealing personal information. Sounds like your bank was on top of it though before any major damage.
 


Last night I started a new rotation for the week.

Pre Shave-

Warm shower followed up with a warm water splash.

Shave-

Maggard Rszor MR7

Astra SP

Vie Long horsehair

Stirling Ben Franklin soap

Post Shave-

Warm water rinse

Stirling Ben Franklin AS splash

After recent shaves using the Vie Long horsehair brush, I believe it still needs some break in. It has not really received the attention that the Omega boar has. You can really see this when you have your other brushes side by side with it. So with that in mind, here we go. New kit change for the new week.

This time around, I really made sure that my brush was just damp. I also strummed it once on my palm just to break the surface tension on the hairs that were sticking together. I loaded the brush splaying as I went. Went straight to face lathering and just sprinkled a touch of water on the brush as I went. I was able to build a respectable lather this way and the lather was slick. This seemed to produce better results than I had been receiving with the brush. I did have enough lather for shaving, but I will increase my load time a bit for the next shave(s).

After the lather was dialed in, it was time to take care of business. Once again I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. Last night I also walked away with a DFS. I am impressed with that MR7, it delivers a very nice shave. Pairing that with an Astra SP and you can't go wrong.

Wrapped everything up with the AS splash and all was right as rain. Post shave was very good as well. This was a good shave to wrap up a busy weekend out in the Texas heat. Life is good!
 
Cvargo said:
Nice read Tim. Sorry about the credit card thieves. I work in the banking industry and it is really sad how these scumbags go about stealing personal information. Sounds like your bank was on top of it though before any major damage.
Click to expand...

Luckily the bank caught it quick. I just hate thieves.
 
MilkCrate said:
No worries, they don’t kill the horse to get it. It’s mane and tail hair.
Click to expand...

Interestingly, I believe I read something on the web a couple years ago ( so it has to be true...right..bonjour), that harvesting the hair from horses for brushes is more humane than harvesting hair from other animals for brushes. I can't back it up though...so take it with a grain of salt.
 
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