Razor: RazoRock SLOC 2.0
Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge Yellows
Brush: Sloyd 24mm Timberwolf Synthetic
Soap: True North Shaving Press Start
Friday, end of the week, time for something fun! Today I grabbed a shave soap that fit the bill, Press Start from True North Shaving. TNS is an artisan offering shave and beard products based out of British Columbia. This particular offering was a limited release (although you can still get some from Stonefield Shaving at the time of this writing) and the scent is bubblegum! That’s right, bubblegum. More specifically, this smells like the bubblegum sticks you used to get in packs of baseball cards. It is a very nostalgic scent for me, I’m instantly taken back to the days of taking my allowance down to the local convenience store and buying a few packs of Donruss, Topps, Fleer, Bowman, O-Pee-Chee , Score or Upperdeck.
The soaps from TNS come loose in a tin and wrapped in paper at a net weight of approx 4oz and a price of $15CAD. This hard puck will last you a lot of shaves for that price. Scent on these are about a medium or slightly less, which honestly is perfect for this particular scent. I don’t really want to smell like bubblegum after my shave. The base is a Tallow and Goat Milk formula. It loads and lathers fairly easily. Performance is by no means elite, but it is a good soap by all metrics and offers more than enough protection for a great shave. No matching post shave so today I opted to skip one and have no issues with dryness from the soap, a very good sign.
The brush today is my Sloyd synthetic. This was a brush made just for me by a local (Saskatoon, SK) woodworking artisan. I took a lathe class from him and we got talking about shaving. He wanted to try to make some brushes so in trade for a few of knots I had on hand, he made me this. The shape is very different than the average brush but it is extremely comfortable to lather with. The natural wood is just stunning. I don’t reach for it a tonne as I tend to gravitate to 26mm+ synthetics now but when loading from small tins and pucks, this brush diameter is a pleasure.
The razor I used today is the RazoRock SLOC 2.0. This particular razor isn’t my favourite to use but I did want to mention RazoRock during #CanadianWeek. They offer the best value stainless steel CNC razors I have come across. This particular razor if a CNC aluminium double open comb head with a 316 stainless steel handle. I really love the OG Sloc razor design so I jumped at the 2.0 even though it was aluminium. Light razors are typically not for me and unfortunately this is no exception. The razor head is extremely light and has a bit too much aggression/blade feel for me. I do love the vintage Gillette inspired handle so I will probably pair this with a different head in the future. Build quality on this is fantastic so if you want to get your feet wet with stainless steel razors without the big dollar commit, give RazoRock a look. They also offer some really great value soaps and aftershaves too.
Not the best shave I had this week but still pretty damn good. All for now – J
