July 30, 2023 – Ciao!
- Brush: Extro Cosmesi Tricolor Synthetic 26mm (Italy) #oldworld
- Razor: Hinne Travel Razor (Germany) #jetsetter
- Blade: Wilkinson Sword (Germany) (2)
- Lather: Santa Maria Novella – Tabacco Toscano (Italy)
- Post Shave: Santa Maria Novella – Tabacco Toscano (Italy)
Of the many shaves I had planned out, this was THE one that without a doubt was not changing. This shave meant a lot in many different ways and I’m proud to have had this forum to share a little bit about myself through these shaves.
I’ve think I’ve mentioned before the enormity of my recent trip to Italy. I am a citizen and resident of the United States. It was a trip I never imagined could happen, it was out of the world of possibility for me a 6 or seven years before. I was in a bad way for a long time. And there I was in Rome, Florence, and Venice. I was almost brought to tears many times. I wish I knew then what I know now and I still don’t know that much. But a little research and I found out that I needed to visit Santa Maria Novella while in Florence. It did not disappoint and neither does this soap and scent. They’re paired so well. It’s more of a croap in that Italian style, so fluffy and soft when given even water, mentholated and scented with just enough of the Tobacco scent to coming through during the shave. Splashing on the lozione and you know you’re instantly in for a luxurious treat. I don’t know the fragrance world at all but I you know when you know this scent is so luxurious and creamy and rich. Truly phenomenal. Kicking myself for not going full dickhole and buying the parfum while I was there too. I could talk for hours on the shopping experience there. But that’s for another day.
For the razor, this little travel set was my great grandfathers, my namesake, and passed down to me from my father lat year. There was still an old made in England Wilkinson Sword in it, but I decided to opt for a new German one. Here’s an albumof the razor. I actually got a pretty decent shave out of it but it really needed to work aligning the blade while tightening the cap down. I always marveled at his old razors in the box my father kept with some family keepsakes, these were next to Soviet bills he has on him when he left the peasant life of what is now western Ukraine as well as my grandmothers ration stamp book from the Great Depression. I’ve only known of him but proud I could shave along with him tonight.
There’s more to say about each of these moments, the games, Italy, life, tragedy, family heirlooms, soaps, razors, and the joy of it all. But I’ll tidy it all up and just give a big thank you to everyone who put so much into this as fellow players and most importantly organizers and judges. I feel privileged to have been a bit silly with all you good folks this past month and to hopefully have ingratiated myself to this community with a post or interaction here and there.
Cheers and stay fuckin rad everyone. Thank you thank you. 🤙
ROTY