View attachment 37378
Sotd - 17/7 - 25/7
Travel kit - all cold water shaves -
Razor - Yaqi DLC double open comb mini
blade - Lodz Polsilver (7 uses)
brush - Satin Tip 'The Purest' synth
soap - Vie-Long tallow stick
post - allum
a/s - Nivea 2 in 1
balm - BBA (not used)
scent - ADP Leather colonia.
Back home - yesterday -
Razor - Cobra Classic
blade - Schick Proline (no idea - think these blades are immortal)
brush - Semogue 1305 boar
soap - Wickham Citrus Musk
post - witch hazel
a/s - Wickham Citrus Musk
balm - Aloe vera gel
scent - Instituto Espanol Gotas Frescas Eau de Cologne concentrada.
Results - all good.
The heat! the horror - the horror! A sensible person might point out - 'what do you expect in Andalusia in July - you twat,' - but even the locals were bitching about it - 'joder! - hace calor muchos muchos.' - if you ever wanted to know the Spanish for f**k - it is the first word in that sentence. Upper 30's most days and actually past 40 on three. Normally you get a breeze off the sea in Malaga but the air was dead still - I've only experienced temperatures like that in Cordoba and Seville before. On the upside - it is gazpacho season - served chilled with ice cubes in a glass - makes perfect sense - delicious - any decent place will make it fresh every day - it is never the same twice. I shaved pretty much everyday - it helped a lot. All using cold water - well - it wasn't actually that cold coming out the tap - more tepid. My skin seems to love shaving this way - don't know why - if I didn't live in Scotland I would consider doing this all the time. The Vie-Long tallow soap is superb - aka old formula Lea - this has become my number one choice for the travel wash kit - Connaught carry it - if you fancy a go. Mind you my other half did point out the ridiculousness of me bringing Spanish soap back to where it is made. I ignored her jibes - girl bears don't understand these things. The wee Yaqi double open comb worked great - it is very efficient - and because I was shaving most days I could do with a single pass with a touch up of the problem spots. I took the BBA balm with me - a fine product - but it was the last thing I wanted to put on my skin in the heat and didn't use it. Picked up a bottle of the excellent Nivea 2 in 1 - the alcohol based one - as an alternative. Much more suitable for the conditions. The major innovation was buying a couple of big bottles of Spanish eau de cologne - kept in the fridge between uses - which we liberally doused ourselves with it after showering - three a day in this case - wonderfully refreshing and cooling. The scent is pretty ephemeral but leaves you with a lasting freshness. Unisex. Nice - I think this will become a part of my washing routine permanently. We had the Puig Agua Lavanda and Heno de Pravia agua de colonia. The 'h' is silent in pronunciation of the second. The first is pretty self explanatory - the latter - the Pravia is more your classic cologne scent. The name means 'the hay of Pravia' - Pravia is a place in the Asturias - northern Spain, up towards the French border - and apparently the formulation was inspired in 1903 by the company founder trying to recreate the smell of freshly harvested hay. Gemstone sell both these things if you want to try them. They don't cost much. I purchased the Instituto Espanol colonia concentrada pretty much on a whim - what a product - the scent longevity is amazing - lasts all day. I'll pick up a stock of it next time I am in Spain - 4 euros odd for a 250 ml bottle. Like the Pravia - it is a 'classic' cologne scent. Lovely - so all good - I like travel shaving - the simplicity of it - no faffing about - there's your kit - get on with it. Mind you - it is good to get back to the den though - lots of toys in the box. Have fine shaves gentlemen - one and all - yours - I.
