Sandalwood is probably one of the most popular scents in the shaving world. Most major producers carry it, often mixed with other scents, like the infamous Castle Forbes "Cedar & Sandalwood". Crabtree & Evely (henceforth, "C.&E") have graced the market with their own interpretation. I received this cream as part of a large surprise package, but have since obtained a fresh sample from C&E in Berlin for comparison purposes. C&E stores have always left me with mixed feelings, because they sell country living for children trying to look, smell, and dress like their non-existant English grand parents. What few of their products I have bought over the years were always decent in quality and indecent in price. But I digress.

Let me start the review by stating that the cream holds well over several years, apparently.

Packaging: A dark brown glass jar. Thick, heavy, and with a rubber sticker at the bottom to prevent it from sliding around. A nice touch. The artwork is subdued, leaving the overall impression of something you would expect to find in a 19th century pharmacy. But this is purely hypothetical for the contemporary shopper, because C&E have replaced the glass with plastic in the meantime (without adjusting their prices, mind you). The new plastic jars are tacky, and cheap.

Texture: Mine has become rather dense over the years, but the sample was creamy, as it should be. Both textures work well. Loading a large brush is a bit of a challenge because the jar is not overly wide. Truth be told, the only jar wide enough for a large Thäter brush is Castle Forbes', anyhow.

Another one from the surprise package. The Gentlemens Refinery are a relative newcomer to the scene. Here is their selling proposition:

The Gentlemens Refinery was created to fulfill a purpose: the reintroduction of pure and natural products. Time and care was spent researching and developing a comprehensive personal care line that spans from pre-shave to after-shave as well as facial care. Every product is 100% natural, paraben and alcohol free. The Gentlemens Refinery product line is formulated with no artificial colors or fragrances and uses only the mildest, food grade preservatives when necessary. All ingredients meet BDIH* guidelines for Natural Certification, and Certified Organic ingredients are used where possible. No harmful side products are produced by the organic reactions used to form the ingredients. All ingredients are from renewable plant and mineral sources, and the environment is protected in their production.

Quite a promise. Let us see what happens when marketing meets shaving practice...

Packaging: A nice glass jar, but not as high quality as St James'. The artwork is trendy, and I cannot quite say that I am overly fond of it. 

Texture: Creamy on the sticky side. It is an OK texture, but loading a large brush is a bit of a challenge.

Scent: None at all. Which is quite an achievement, given the amount of ingredients that went into this cream.

About two weeks a surprise package full of shaving paraphernalia. Interestingly, only one of the 40 items contained therein was known to me previously. I shall review the products I like in good time. The first is a little known shaving cream by St James of London.

Packaging: Very nice glass jar, and artwork I really like. The jar is quite heavy, giving the whole package a nice gravitas.

Texture: Creamy on the fluffy side, which is a pro, because the jar is not too wide. Loading a large brush is still simple enough

Scent: Highly individual. The cedar note is quite dominant, but there are hints of flowers and spices. A warm scent I really like a lot.

Latherability: Did I mention that this cream is advertised as a brushless one? And it works. Using a brush to create lather makes it literally explode. The resulting lather is firm, rich, and creamy. A little cream goes a long way, and the lather lasts a long time, even when slightly cold.

Cushion: Very good. Glide is also good. No complaints at all in this department.

Moisturising: More than sufficient. St James also offer an aftershave balm which I shall review shortly. It is not required, though.

Price: Ridiculously low. The going rate in the US seems to be USD 16. The price in GBP is even lower. Compared to what some self proclaimed artisans charge, this cream is a steal. For starters, it will blow the hyped Bomb out of the water single handedly.

Overall impression:  A seriously good cream at a killer price. If you want an alternative to Caraceni, here you go. Enjoy.

Creationism is broken as designed: No-one with an IQ > 75 would try to "prove" something with faith and beliefs. The same can be said of honing. Honemeisters - genuine and self proclaimed alike - keep claiming that honing is not science. Instead, they claim it is a form of art. And artists, as we all know, produce works of art. And they come at a price.

However, creating a geometric shape (in this case, a cutting edge)  using a  well-known and heavily researched material (in this case, steel) is as scientific and technological as it gets. Of course, to bring the scientific insights in to practice turns in into a craft, but that does not make the underlying principles any less scientific.

Back when I put the following piece of SRP's FAQ together, I was using Bart's research. And the result was logically sound. Much to my surprise, the following change was made two days ago:

As you may or may not know, I spent quite a bit of time helping to build SRP's Wiki. A friend of mine just notified me of an interesting trend there. Or, rather, a sad one. There have been no changes for weeks. While I was still an active contributor, there was a lot of discussion whether a Wiki was the right format for a knowledge database. Here are some of the arguments:

Pecunia non olet. Well, sometimes it does. However, In this article, I shall not discuss taxes. Instead, I will focus on some successful marketing tactics employed in on-line communities specialising in straight shaving in the hope that you will find this extra knowledge useful.

Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. In the area of straight razors, things used to be quite simple. While there was limited interest in straight razors, and the market for them less than saturated accordingly, all one had to do was to provide superior quality at competitive prices. But things have changed over the past three years. Here are some recent trends:

The general consensus seems to be that the ideal beginner razor is a 6/8 hollow ground round point. The reasons given are quite convincing: It offers a maximum of manoeuvrability while still being easy to strop (keeping a small razor flat can be challenging); it can take a decent amount of lather (which is an advantage, because the less you need to rinse, the lower the risk of damaging your razor by hitting the faucet); and, maybe most importantly, it makes it easy to watch the angle of the blade against the face.

This blade angle is one of the variables most overlooked by beginners. Let me try and explain taking an image by Bart:

As you can see, the angle of the blade against the skin becomes shallower with each pass ("TG" meaning "the grain", "W", "X", and "A" meaning with, across, and against, respectively). A wider blade will allow you to watch that angle more closely.

Unfortunately, the blog software does not allow for the insertion of flash animations, but if you are new, you should follow this link: http://www.pbjsite.com/shave/whiskarmap/preLoader.swf It is map of (your) face which you can use to track your beard growth, then assign certain shaving passes to certain areas of your face, then print it out and hang it on your bathroom mirror. Yes, it sounds silly, but it really is very useful. Here is the original thread for more background.

Without razors, straight razor shaving would not be half the fun it can be. Maybe even less. However, there is a lot of confusion about buying razors. Especially amongst beginners. In this article, I will try and dispel some popular myths, give highly subjective advice on what to look for in a beginner razor, and highlight some common pitfalls.

If you have spent more than two minutes on any of the large shaving forums, you will have come across someone who claims to have just found the best razor ever. Forget it. There is no such thing. There are modern razors, typically from Pakistan, that will never take an edge, never work, never be worth their money. There are also certain modern production German razors that come with an 800% markup. But if you buy vintage, new old stock, or modern production from Germany (Revisor, Wacker, Dovo), France (Thiers Issard) or the US (Hart), these razors will shave. End of story.

Here are some more urban legends, and my personal take on them:

First there were hones. The pyramid honing scheme being a prime example of a useful, albeit debated, use of a progression. The idea being that gradual progression achieved through switching back and forth between hones of similar coarseness will minimise the risk of overhoning and the challenge of finding the right moment to switch from one hone to the next.

Then there were strops. Declared 'The Most Important Part of Straight Razor Shaving!' by some, they actually really are. However, some other people have now come up with the concept of strop progressions. The rationale being that there are whatever strops, and finishing strops. My initial reaction was, 'what a lot of bollocks.' After some careful consideration, and - I am not ashamed of admitting that I am always game for trying out strange ideas - thorough testing, I would like to slightly rephrase that to, 'what a complete lot of utter bollocks.' The strops tested were an SRD Premium I and IV (that extra long IV is really, really nice), an Illinois 827 (nice leather, but what an absolutely tacky and flimsy feel in comparison), and an Old Traditional. Well, what can I say. These strops range in price from USD 29 to USD 120. And they all work. I tried a few others (ao a Kanayama 50k). They also worked. Whether or not I will ever like the webbed fabric on the SRD strops, I cannot quite say. But it works well.

Relaxing. Satisfying. Enjoyable. If you have been using electric or cartridge razors so far, chances are you will not associate these attributes with shaving. For many, shaving is a daily chore. For us, straight shaving has turned this chore into a pleasurable experience. But before you grab your credit card and buy yourself straight shaving equipment, you may want to peruse this article. In it, I will try to dispel some popular myths; give some basic advice on which equipment to buy; and introduce you to some further internet resources in the hope that they will help you to make your first steps easier.

Dispelling some myths or, why less is more

If you have browsed this or other forums already, chances are you will think that unless you start with a whole array of expensive pieces of equipment, you are bound to fail. This is simply wrong. Let me try to explain why.