Oh, I had simply gotten tired of complaining about this abject failure of a knot. This is the brush equivalent of a shit sandwich. It is difficult for me to find words for how garbage this product really is.
I will pull or dremel the knot out (pulling might be impossible since it holds roughly 17 Badger hairs) and put in something decent.
This episode has annoyed me enough that I'm considering writing to Mühle and to ask what the fuck they think they are doing.
The only acceptance here is that I wasted money unless I change that knot. There cannot be acceptance of the knot.
If you're interested in experiencing just how shite this brush is, I'd be happy to loan it to you before the exorcism.
Apparently I had some pent-up complaints that needed airing 😅
Tonight I used the Yaqi badger to compare it with the v24 Fanchurian I've been testing out over the last few days. The Fanchurian is certainly softer and denser, but the Yaqi honestly still made a great lather. It does do a worse job holding the lather in the knot (a lot falls through to the bottom) but still performed admirably.
Nocturne is a great scent. Unfortunately my wife doesn't love it, so I probably will stop with just the sample.
Lather: Chiseled Face Groomatorium - Pine Tar (sample)
Post-Shave: Thayer's Original toner; Alterra men natural ASB
2 passes on the head, 1 on cheeks and neck. Stellar shave!
Have you heard stories about musicians who've sold one of their instruments, later regretted it, bought the same model again and suddenly everything clicked between them and their instrument? I think the GC 2.0 is such a story for me. We didn't have the best start, someday I put it in a drawer and forgot about it... Until my recent misadventure with the Stando Perun made me dig it out today again! I gave it a nice ultrasonic bath, wiped it clean and put a fresh RPL in it. And damn, now we're onto something. This was just enough blade feel while still being mild enough. I guess if I am using the IV plate, it'd be enough for just one pass on the dome. I really like the fat handle - to quote Anthony Fantano: "Damn boy! He thicc, boy!". Looking forward to more shaves with it - it probably gave me the closest head shave in recent months , that's quite impressive!
Today's sample was graciously provided by @snooting@sub.wetshaving.social - thank you very much! Pine Tar seemed like a good fit for today. Woody, earthy, spicy, a bit dank and mossy. The initial impression is really interesting. A great autumn weather scent IMHO and the solid base of CFG is always nice to use.
Despite having a mandatory homeschooling day, I really got a lot done today - just not a lot for school 😅 tire change appointment for my car, grocery shopping, cleaning razors...
Now it's just tomorrow before a week of vacation time. Yay!
Lather: MacDuff's Soap Co. - Old Strathcona - Soap
Aftershave: Unilever - Brut - Aftershave
2 passes. Bowl lather. Excellent shave.
I don't really do sweet and sugary, so I'm off theme today.
I haven't used the Vector in a long time, but that can be said for all of my safety razors. I think the Vector is an incredibly clever design, but the razor's cap has a squared-off threaded bolt that the handle screws onto. Very cool idea, and very easy to cross-thread. I wonder how many replacement caps they've sold? Still, it's a great shaving razor.
Brush: Mühle Purist (21 mm silvertip badger, ebonite handle)
Razor: Mühle R41 GT Berlin edition
Blade: Feather new Hi-Stainless
Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Roman Spice
Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Roman Spice
Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Roman Spice
This concludes my run through all Seaforth! Fragrances. I skipped Sea Ice Lime because it shares the fragrance with Sea Spice Lime and nobody needs koolada in western Swiss November. With Black Watch, Sea Spice Line, Heather, Spiced, and Fleur de France, Dennis and Shawn brought five of my all-time favourite fragrances in wetshaving, an astonishing hit ratio.
One thing I realised over the last week is that i prefer the 20.1 base over highland, but I get great performance from both, so I conclude that I must prefer the uNoBtAiNiUm one solely because it's gone. Silly, but apparently I'm that guy.
Roman Spice was my AA setup, so it immediately felt routine. Great shave, nice šmellz.
The R41 GT still rocks, the Purist badger still sucks, now off to the office.