Razor: Parker 96R TTO
Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword
Brush: Yaqi Silvertip Badger
Soap: Barrister and Mann 42
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann 42 splash
Other: Thirsty Badger lather bowl
I have to admit, I’m a little embarrassed. I’ve never read or seen the classic story “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. I never seem to find the time to pick up a book these days, and I’m not sure my first introduction to the classic should be through film (thoughts?). So, at first, I didn’t get the 42 reference for this tribute soap. A little googling found that 42 is the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything“. I don’t know about that, but I do know that this is an interesting offering from Barrister & Mann.
I’ve always found the B&M product to be very good performers. Nice lather, good cushion, plenty slick, nice post shave feel. Aftershaves perform well also. Scent strengths are very good, packaging is some of the best in the biz. My trouble with B&M is that I’ve found a lot of the scent profiles to be over complicated or not that appealing. I’ve had a few sets pass through the den that didn’t make it by a few shaves (Night Music, Arctique, Rhapsody to name a few). I find that this is probably going to fall in to the category of something that I will be moving. Not that it is a bad scent, it is actually quite nice. It has a bit of floral, a bit of sweet citrus (lemon sugar, it is almost honey like), and a spicy tea note to bring them together. It works pretty well and I can pick out all the notes. If you are a fan of that scent profile or are a Hitchhiker’s fan, this would be an awesome addition to your den. For me the scent profile is just OK, and I would never reach for this over the other abundance of products I absolutely love that I already carry.
The Parker 96R is another thing I’ll likely move on from in my den. It isn’t a bad razor. It has nice heft, feels well built, has a not too aggressive/not too mild shave. For me there are two big knocks on this razor. 1. it has an extra long handle. I prefer short handle razors so this long guy just doesn’t feel comfortable. 2. for some reason there is one spot on my face that this razor ALWAYS bites me. Other than that spot, I get a great shave, nice and smooth, no other issues, so I don’t think it is an alignment issue or anything like that. My guess is that it is user error, that I’m always hitting the angle wrong in that spot due to the extra long handle.
The Gillette Sword is becoming a favourite blade of mine. Not too sharp, nice and consistently smooth. I will need to pick up some more for sure. The Yaqi badger was fantastic as always. Both of these were the highlights of the shave.
The weekend is almost here, hope you have a fantastic day!
