The first New Forest

After I had started collecting shaving brushes I thought I'd get one made to my specification, little thinking what it might lead to. I bought a knot from The Golden Nib and contacted a turner on a shaving forum and he agreed to make the handle and complete the brush. This is it. At the time we christened it the Fido LE. I later added the logo when having a batch of New Forest brushes pad printed.

This brush had these dimensions:

Height 104mm, loft 55mm, knot 24mm with extra hair.

The brush delivers great results. But I wouldn't have used an extra hair knot if I had realised how firm the backbone would be.

Some time after I had this brush made and had completed the research for my Fido's Shaving Brush Blog I decided it would be fun to establish a new brand of brushes. The New Forest 2201 was launched in 2010 and sold out within a few weeks. I operate the same principle used for my first brush. I decide the type of knot and how many I want, and  my handles are made by a craftsman in a small workshop just outside my New Forest village.

As the saying goes; "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow"

New Forest Brushes will never be one of the big boys. But it ticks along nicely.

What a relief to get back to DE after a day off yesterday. In a rush so a quick one pass shave with a Wilkinson Hydro 5. Felt really rough by the evening. My shave with this combination will last all day - it's that close - and comfortable.

A blooming brush!

Some like to see a brush which blooms. Others see it as a sign of floppiness. This is the Vie Long 16510 silvertip. It has a 23mm knot set at a loft of 60mm. It is the softest haired brush I own. And it is floppy and unsuited to face lathering. But as usual, today I made my lather in a bowl and just gently painted it on. Simply sumptuous.

Changing the ritual

I've been following the same routine for a couple of years now - what I guess is a four pass shave. Down, up, across then a final tidy up mainly across with the last bit of lather squeezed from the brush and applied by hand. It's a BBS every time.

But on days when I'm in a bit of a hurry - not often in my retirement - I change the ritual to save time. So today I started with my usual down (with the grain) then did just one careful across my face (From right to centre, then left to centre) mainly against the grain. This saves a few minutes and still gives a fine acceptable shave.

I'm a creature of habit. And one of my habits is never to get stuck in doing the same thing indefinitely. So I like to vary things from time to time. It's why I enjoy having a collection of brushes, razors, creams and soaps. And varying the ritual.

History of 7 O'clock razors

This might provide a lead to someone doing some research:

History of 7 O'clock razors

"Only the smallest amount of cream is needed with the generous addition of water to produce a rich, creamy, silky smooth & extremely decadent lather resulting in a remarkably close shave."


This is the opening sales pitch for a new cream just launched by Simpsons.


It reminded me of something I've thought about recently. I always seem to end up with more lather than I need. Typical advice is to use about an almond size blob of cream to make lather in a bowl. I guess my almonds are on the generous side because I produce a lot of lather with most of my creams.


Fact is, you really do need only a small amount of cream, so to get better value from the more expensive brands perhaps we should take more care to get them to last a bit longer.


But I guess this applies to many things we regularly use?

Used pots

I posted a thread on TSR about used pots. Some useful suggestions were made. The container on my computer desk is the inside of an old Coates pot. The original pot is on duty in my wife's sewing collection.

The New Forest Tubby 2 is one of my favourite brushes. The two band hair really is a match for the Manchurian I was using last week. Not much left of the wonderful Coates cream - but some other pots still in the stash.

It's been busy here!

No time to spare

So back to my "old" way.

Five minutes, including a shower. I looked as though I had a shave, but I'm looking forward to having more time tomorrow for a decent shave. Not that I couldn't have improved the shave with what I used if I had given myself more time. If I was still working I would probably still be a goo and cartridge man. But having time for pampering is one of the great joys of my retirement.