I decided to give shave sticks a try this week. A shave stick is simply a stick of soap that you generally apply to your face, then face lather with a brush. I picked up a few brands to try from this great web store I found called the Shoebox Shave Shop. They also have a wide selection of brushes in stock, and I bought one to try in the coming weeks. The shave stick I reached for this morning was La Toja from Spain. I’ve heard a lot about this soap online in the forums and thought I’d give it a go.

Products:

Edwin Jagger DE89 Kelvin Safety Razor

Personna Lab Blue Razor Blade

La Toja Jabon de Afeitar Shave Stick

Semogue 1250 Boar Brush

Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

I finished two passes, one with the whisker growth, one across the stubble. Then I touched-up a few spots. The shave went well. No nicks or weepers. A Personna Blade was the first blade I used for my first DE Shave. I recall that it felt like it was tugging/pulling on my face. My razor skipped over my face resulting in a lot of nicks. It was not a good experience. I returned to the Personna to give it another try. A big difference in this shave . My technique has certainly improved. The Personna blade shaved smooth and sharp. What a change.

The La Toja shave stick was a different experience from the typical softer shave soaps I have been using. I wet my face, then rubbed the hard soap all over. Then I whipped a lather up with my Semogue 1250 that had been soaking in hot water for about ten minutes. Even though I was careful with the amount of water I used, the lather seemed a bit on the foamy side and somewhat thin. I added more soap from the stick to my face, and the lather improved. The first pass was slick, but the lather still seemed a little light. I ended up reapplying a little more from the La Toja stick for the second pass resulting in the same slick shave as the first. I used the remaining lather from my brush for a little touching up to finish things off.

The scent of La Toja is relatively mild. I smelled a light sweetness and a bit of powder to start. This fragrance dissipated quickly during the shave with just a light clean soapy smell leftover afterwards. I like a lighter fragrance in my soap, so I did not mind that it lost it’s smell quickly.

I like the shave stick experience. It is simple to use and would be convenient for travelling. I need to work on my lather technique and determine the delicate balance of product to water for better lather results next time. La Toja gave me a good shave, and I’ll be returning to it in the future.

Shave Rating System

Closeness – 4

Irritation – 4

Wounds – 5

Overall – 4.33

La Toja gives me my highest rating yet!

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