Head & Face ShavePre: Hot shower. Lucky Tiger Face Wash
Razor: iKon ShaveCraft #102 Slant with iKon tuckaway handle
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (2nd use)
Brush: Semogue 1250 boar
Soap: Myrkviðr by Los Angeles Shaving Co.
Post: Fine Snake Bite
Technique: WTG-->XTG-->ATG/clean-up
Awesome shave! This was my first time using
Myrkviðr. Very easy to load as I would expect from a croap even using my Semogue 1250 which is still being broken-in. The scent is not my favorite, but it is unique. It doesn't matter anyway because it doesn't linger. The post-shave feel was incredible. It was at least as good as any tallow-based soap I've ever used (I'm including XXX and Cella). The lather was dense and slick, but not so thick to get in the way. I'm still getting the hang of a smaller brush. I went from an Omega PRO 48 (#10048) which I still love, but I have a problem face lathering with the Omega on the side of my face. I have to essentially paint my temples. Otherwise, I get soap in my eyes. The Omega is still a very good choice for head shaving due to its ability to cover a lot of real estate. That said, I'm finding the smaller brush accomplishes the task just fine, but with more strokes.
This was my first use of the
Fine Snake Bite. It might have a slightly longer cooling effect vs. that of
American Blend, but it's negligible. I prefer the American Blend scent over Snake Bite, but I have nothing against it's capability of a warmer climate aftershave. I suspect all of the Fine line offer the same feel, but I'm anxious to continue to try them all with the sampler I received from
Maggard.
About the beard balm. I have a van dyke. While the beard balm is quite effective at keeping the beard tame, the real reason I use it is for it's nourishing and protective properties. I tend to get quite chapped around my mouth and the creases surrounding my nares. I have found no better product than
1740 Beard Balm that completely eliminates this problem for me. If I skip just 2 or 3 days, I begin to get chapped again. I have their peppermint scent as well, but I prefer the coffee infused version. I can't tell any difference in performance, but I like the light coffee scent. It's slight enough that only my wife smells it when she kisses me, otherwise no one else gets close enough to smell it. They do use one of my favorite coffees, Death Wish Coffee. Specifically, I prefer
Death Wish's Valhalla Java Odinforce Blend, but that's for another forum...
I was very pleased with this shave, and I'm very impressed with Myrkviðr. I made a point to have pork chops for breakfast, however, to counter the vegan formula.
FYI, Myrkviðr is pronounced "mirk vitter". It's Norse for "dark forest".