Head & face shower shave. 2 days growth.
Technique: WTG / XTG / ATG/clean-up.
Prep: Shower.
Soap: Chiseled Face - "Summer Storm"
Brush: Ever-Ready 100T (my grandfather's, then father's brush) w/TGN Finest
Razor: Merkur Progress
Blade: Treet Platinum Super Stainless(1)
Post: Cold shower rinse. Chiseled Face "Summer Storm" Aftershave Splash. Death Wish Coffee infused 1740 Blackout Beard Balm.
I guess the stars were aligned. I received my Chiseled Face order as well as a PIF of a tuck of Treets today.
Straight off the puck, Chiseled Face's "Summer Storm" smells like wet earth and grass. A quick and perfect---I mean perfect lather develops the more subtle scents including musky floral notes and finally, ozone. Beats me how he so accurately reproduces a Summer rain storm, but this is spot on. The performance of this soap can not be out done by soaps three times the price. Chiseled Face may also be one of the more stable soaps I've used. A 45-second load yielded enough lather for a three-pass face shave followed by a three-pass head shave with clean-up. Just the time I take to perform a three-pass face shave would be enough for some of my other artisan soaps to begin to break down.
The Treet Platinum SS was a total surprise. I'm a long time Astra fan. A good friend PIF'd me the Treets, and I'm glad he did (Thanks, Mel). This felt much smoother than Astras, and I didn't know that was possible. The crown of my head can be a problem area, and my Treet-loaded Merkur Progress set at 3 glided over my scalp like glass. I was able to take long, fast sweeps on the third pass. BBS throughout. No weepers. No irritation. I can't wait to see how the Treets perform in a slant.
I finished off with Chiseled Face's "Summer Storm" Aftershave Splash. I recently commented that Chiseled Face's splashes are unique in that they clearly contain aloe, but they aren't sticky. It feels very nice and nourishing to my skin. My wife likes the scent, too. The earthiness vanishes rather quickly leaving a lingering musky floral, maybe jasmine, scent.
I've had some dry patches around my mouth, so I broke out the Death Wish Coffee infused 1740 Blackout Beard Balm for my van dyke. It's lanolin-based along with sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, and coconut oil. It's not only great for taming a wiry van dyke, it also heals chapped skin.
This was an outstanding, extremely comfortable shave.