Razor: Ever-Ready 1914
Blade: Personna PTFE SE
Brush: Copper Hat Boar
Soap: Like Grandpa Wild Rose
Aftershave: Like Grandpa Wild Rose Balm
Other: Thirsty Badger lather bowl
Like Grandpa has been a favourite in my den for quite awhile now. I picked up this soap about a year ago and was quite taken with it. My only knock on it was the lack of a matching post shave and I had been bugging Ken ever since. Every now and then he would tease me about keeping my eyes open, so you can imagine how quick I hopped on the pre-order when the balm was announced a few weeks ago. This showed up in my den late last week.
The Wild Rose is somewhat like you expect, it is a floral, but not your typical Rose scent. This Wild Rose has a bit something different. It just has a bit of zip to it, making it a more masculine touch. The soap formulation is a vegan base. It is formulated in way that makes it an easy lather in pretty much any water content. For me, I find the slickness good, both lathered and residual. The post shave is average, I wasn’t left dried out but I wouldn’t skip a post shave, and now I don’t have to 🙂
I lathered up with my Copper Hat boar brush. I’ve used it quite a bit and it is starting to break in nicely. The shedding has tamed quite a bit and now I find 1-2 hairs a shave. Hoping that stops all together. The brush looks gorgeous, but I’m still not crazy about the knot. Boar’s typically aren’t my thing and this follows the trend. I also think this is a set too low for my tastes. It has an aggressive amount of backbone and doesn’t splay like I would prefer. This would be a non-starter as a face lathering brush but works out ok with a bowl. I may give it a re-knot at some point.
The razor today was an Ever-Ready 1914. I picked this razor up while antiquing on vacation. It came in a small case and I would say it would be great for travel. I really like my Ever-Ready 1912 so I was intrigued at how this would hold up. The feel of the razor is very similar. While being a bit less aggressive, it has the same feedback and the blade tension gives the same face feel. I was really happy with it. A big win and a heck of a bargain.
I finished up with the matching post shave balm, very timely with the bit of a sun burn from yesterdays activities. Ken has started whipping the balm prior to packaging which changes the texture and the look to the balm. I think it actually performs a bit better as a result. The balm is a bit heavy compared to your typical balm, but performance it fantastic. If you have really dry or damaged skin, I highly recommend giving it a look. It is also nice that I can now carry the Wild Rose scent just a bit longer with the post. Thanks Ken!
Oh yes….. and this Wild Rose scent, it is a limited edition. $5.00 from every product sold goes directly to the Ronald McDonald House Northern Alberta. At the time of this writing, there is still some available for purchase, so head over to https://likegrandpa.com and pick yourself up a set. You will be supporting a great cause.
