One of the most coveted shaving brushes among serious wet shavers has always been the extremely difficult-to-find two-banded super badger grade hair by Simpsons.  Over the past few years and especially since Vulfix took ownership of the Simpsons, these brushes have been impossible to find except for very rare cases they get offered for sale on the second hand market.  Collectors of shaving brushes have highly praised these as being some of the finest brushes ever produced and there has been a great deal of speculation over whether or not we would ever see them produced again by Simpsons.

One of the best-kept secrets in wet shaving is Tabula Rasa, a very unique shaving product that creates an incredible lather and great shave for all skin types. Its all-natural ingredients include mango and Shea butter, as well as a proprietary Swiss-made cosmetic agent called "Stimu-Tex" for treating dry and sensitive skin.

Although it's technically a shaving soap, the consistency of Tabula Rasa is more like a dense shaving cream. It comes packaged in a large, double-walled, plastic tub and has a very dense texture, something between a traditional cream and a soft putty-like soap. The unique texture of this product makes creating lather a greater challenge than traditional soft creams, which can be easily whipped into lather in a lathering bowl with a wet brush. I worked with this product for awhile before I finally found the best approach for creating a rich and thick lather.

After the first challenge of selecting the appropriate razor for your wet shaving setup, then the question of which blade comes in to play. With the increased popularity of traditional wet shaving over the past few years, many different brands of double edge razor blades from different parts of the world have become readily available. While most are perfectly capable of performing the basic duty of cutting through hair, there are differences in each blade that have be taken into consideration.

Truefitt & Hill introduced the Pre-Shave Oil as part of its Ultimate Comfort line of products a few years ago. When I first picked up traditional wet shaving, I was introduced to the use of pre-shave oil as being a critical part of the preparation routine for shaving. As I learned more about proper shaving with a brush and moved away from cartridge razors to the double edge and eventually the straight razor, oils became less useful and I found myself getting a better shave without them. I've found that most pre-shave oil products are formulated with heavy base oils that leave a sticky and heavy texture on the face; however, the Ultimate Comfort Pre-Shave Oil is very different from the oils of other brands.

If you have visited any forum on the Internet dedicated to wet shaving, you have most likely run across chatter about that 'cheap' straight razor from Poland.  The Wapienica, or Wapi for short, is an inexpensive, but highly regarded straight razor made in the 70s for use in Russian hospitals.  The are all steel construction, including the scales, as they were autoclaved after use on patients for sterilization.  All Wapis are sourced out of Poland and are new, old stock, which means they are unused.  Supposedly a large stockpile was found in Poland that was never used, therefore they are being sold off by a Polish eBay seller. 

This is the new offering in the Commodore line of the Simpsons brushes now made by Vulfix. The brush is made with Best Badger hair grade. The Commodore line offers an entry-level brush that brings quality and performance at a very reasonable price.

Rooney brushes are well known among wet shavers for their quality.  Like Simpsons, Rooneys are made with a much denser knot than most traditional brushes.  I only recently started adding Rooney to my collection and have been surprisingly impressed with how well these brushes perform. 

Castle Forbes' offering in the aftershave line is probably their more traditional product out of their shaving triumvirate. Just because it is not as unique as their Pre-shave or shaving cream though does not mean it is not any less of a quality product.

Disregarding scent, all of the aftershave balms are completely alcohol free and are a thick balm which makes it easy to apply. Not unlike the pre-shave, you do not need very much product to get the job done at the end of the shave.

Parker double-edge razors are one of the newer brands on the wet shaving market today.  The razors are manufactured in India and have developed a following of loyal customers, particularly due to their attractively styled models and lower retail price point than the German-made Merkur razors.  Parker offers a good variety of razors with chrome and black handles and has recently started to advertise new models with horn handles similar to those offered by luxury brands Trumpers and Edwin Jagger.

The Castle Forbes line is relatively new and small compared to the big players on the market such as Trumper’s and Taylor of Old Bond Street. To make up for this they have come out with a line of products that is unlike any of the other players and have gained a cult following as a result.