Italian Shaving Experience
Just got back from a trip to Italy, and thought I'd share a couple interesting shaving experiences. I wasn't able to take the straight with me (carry on bags only), but I picked up a Cinghiale (boar hair) brush and some Proraso cream to use with my DE (picked up blades once I got there). I had always heard that badger was the best type of brush, and had only ever used super badger, but "when in Rome", right?
I was in Italy for a wedding, and the groom took a few of us to get a shave from an old Italian barber. I was excited for my first shave from a barber, and assumed he would use a straight razor. He ended up using a shavette, and seemed to do a few things differently than I would have expected. There were no hot towels, and the prep seemed fairly abbreviated. He used a boar hair brush and a cream (not Proraso, but a similar type of tube). The shave was fairly good, but he only did one pass, and I felt that I could have gotten closer on my own. The experience was intersting, but I'm still thirsting for a proper barber shop shave.
I've been using my new boar hair brush, and seem to actually get quite good results with it. It isn't quite as soft as my badger brushes, but it is nice and stiff, and works up a great lather. Once downside is that it doesn't smell great, but I'm hoping this will subside with a bit more use.
Any thoughts on the merits of boar vs badger?