Calvin Klein's Obsession For Men Shave Kit...DONE!

Discussion in 'General Shaving Talk' started by Tim Spencer, Jun 8, 2016.

  1. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    Well,

    You can't have too much of a good set of shaving, grooming and hygiene products. I have assembled some more good stuff for your viewing pleasure.

    First, the Obsession For Men Product Lineup!
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    Contains the following:
    Calvin Klein's Obsession For Men Cologne
    Calvin Klein's Obsession For Men Aftershave
    Calvin Klein's Obsession For Men Deodorant
    Mama Bear's Obsession For Him Shave Soap
    Mama Bear's Obsession For Him Bath Soap
    Lather & Wood's Preshave Oil
    Retseliney Vegan Hyaluronic Acid Face Serum (post shave balm)

    NEW PICTURE 1 YEAR LATER WITH NEW LABEL ON SOAP BOWL!
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    The next iteration of this theme is for my Royal Water Cologne, which is still in a state of flux with my product choices and I reserve the right to edit this product list and update with new photos as I find the best products to put with this. For now, this setup has the following products:
    Fragrance - Creed's Royal Water Cologne
    Shampoo - Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Lemon & Sage
    Bath Soap - Alaffia Lemongrass Citrus African Black Soap Bar OR Shea Terra Organics Lemongrass African Black Soap Bodywash OR Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Lemon-Verbena Bar Soap
    Shave Soap - Mama Bear's Bounty Shave Soap
    Aftershave - Country Club For Men's 1837 Aftershave (Specially made for me with custom color! And they don't even carry this product anymore! Woo hoo!)
    Deodorant - Organic Essence Lemon Tea Tree Mint Deodorant


    NEW ADDITION!!!!!
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    NEW ADDITION!!! BAY RUM!!!
    Cologne - C.O. Bigelow Apothocary No. 32 Bay Rum
    Aftershave - Gabels Bay Rum Aftershave in a brown, old-school Apothecary Bottle
    Deodorant - Sam's Natural Bay Scent
    Shave Soap - Ogallala Shea Butter Shave Soap


    Razor is a DaveOcean33 "ATLAS". He believes in a 33-degree blade angle The quality of the build is not up to what I expect even for a $25 razor like this. It's wonderful eye candy but has not held up under use very well. After 3 blade changes, the interior portions where the razor blade touches the razor parts is now worn and the initial coating is simply wearing away. IMO, had this razor been built with better intent for longevity, it would be a worth recommending. It remarkably resembles the Joris razors that cost many times more in price and when this razor sufficiently wears out, I will likely be replacing it with an expensive Joris. It's no longer available and I cannot find it anywhere now. Seems to be discontinued or DaveOcean33 went out of business.

    **I also want to give a shout out to Dandy Shaving Company's Cold Spice Soap which is Bay Rum scented and IMO, the best Bay Rum scented soap among the 5 different soaps I tried, but my skin doesn't react well to tallow soaps and it's a very heavily mentholated soap, which is an acquired 'feel' that I just couldn't get past. However, if you like mentholated tallow soaps, THIS should be your choice as the scent is perfect.**

    **Stephan's Bay Rum Aftershave was the runner up for the aftershave and is, IMO, just as good and also seems to have a longer lasting scent**

    For the Bay Rum containers, I utilized my color laser printer and Avery Labels along with Krylon's "Preserve It" spray coating to protect the labels from elemental damage.


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    The center piece of this kit is the wonderful and beautiful custom shave stand built by Robert Evans of "woodshoprobert" on Etsy. Just so you know, I went through THOUSANDS of Google Images on a search to find this obscure custom stand. It took weeks to even settle on this one as the item I wanted after looking at so many pictures and products.
    https://www.etsy.com/shop/woodshoprobert
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/244446279/shaving-shelf-for-soap-razor-and-brush?ref=shop_home_active_1

    The total cost with shipping was around $70 for the stand and as you can see, it's worth it. He put up with my requests and even a revision during construction. His patience was appreciated as I was quite talkative and asked a lot of questions. I was able to send Robert my brush and he cut the brush slot to fit the handle. The results were fantastic and I wanted to share them with you.

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    The razor is an antique circa 1907 Gillette DE Razor. I purchased this from Razor Emporium. They have sold me 3 revamped razors total (one of them is still being plated). Their work is immaculate as you can see. It's my prize razor in my collection thus far and a beauty.

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    The next item is the brush for the OFM theme. Unbeknownst to Robert, I had purchased more than one Every Man Jack Brush.

    So, while he was using one brush to cut a precise slot, I was doing a project of my own and painted a polyurethane finish on my brush in order to match the shiny coat Robert would put on the shave stand.

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    The next item in the OFM theme is the beautiful Fossil Onyx Shave Bowl I could not find any brand name for, although my best guess is that it's a Colonel Conk bowl. These bowls are, unfortunately, no longer sold anywhere. If you're lucky you might find one on Ebay or Etsy. They are very beautiful bowls and I'm shocked they are no longer being sold.

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    NEW LABEL 1 YEAR LATER AND STILL GORGEOUS!
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    The surprises kept coming with this shave kit as, yet again, a product description failed to correctly depict an item I would receive.

    I ordered this "Honey" Mango colored bowl and as you can see at this link, it does NOT look like the bowl above.

    I actually LIKED the bowl's color better than the "honey" color I originally came up with. The bowl being a different color was a problem only because I bought this Gentleman's Hanger honey colored brush to match it:

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    Uhh, you can see my problem. Even worse, when I searched the web for a matching colored, glossy brush, I couldn't find anything to match the bowl! Luckily the brush was bare wood with no finish. So, I went BACK to Home Depot and bought Varathane Wood Stain in the Golden Mahogany color:
    [​IMG]

    I also applied the same clear coat finish to the stained brush and it became the beauty you see above. A match to the bowl. I ended up with a better color than I first envisioned with that bowl and just "went with it".

    This whole project took me a long time to complete. It was actually my FIRST PROJECT, not the black shave kit I first posted on here. THIS was SUPPOSED to be my "first" project folks. But it took WAY too long to complete. LOL

    So, there you have it. My most recent shave kit. You're welcome. I hope you enjoyed viewing this post as much as I'll enjoy using this shave kit. :D
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2018
    brit, RyX, wristwatchb and 5 others like this.
  2. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    Nicely done! and that old type is gorgeous!
     
    Robyflexx likes this.
  3. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Impressive! While others, myself included, are hit or miss with our products, You Sir are raising the bar by creating Art with your themed collections.
    Have you considered starting a Collection of Collections?
     
  4. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    Yeah. That razor is really amazing looking. I just got the shave stand last night and threw these pictures and review together late. I haven't even had a chance to shave with it yet. I'm not sure what blade I'm going to put in it first. I figure a Gillette blade.
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2016
    RyX and whiteboy_cannon like this.
  5. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    I don't know if anyone has been making "themed shave kits", since I'm so new to this hobby. I just have a very strong pull to organize products into a 'theme' that looks nice. I bet other people here have enough gear and products to put together some awesome sets. I wouldn't mind links to old kits, if any, and/or anyone assembling something awesome from items they have.
     
    RyX likes this.
  6. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    I will try to do some product reviews at a later period of time once I've had more time to compare and have been at this for a longer time. I don't want to form opinions too early. As it stands now, I really like the Royal Water scent, but I want to pair a light mint citrus aftershave with it and a good deodorant. I'm not sure the combo I have is the best one I can find, so it may take more time to get a great product combination with that cologne.

    I'm very satisfied with my Green Irish Tweed and Royal Oud product combinations. Royal Water is still undergoing evaluation. I may also build product combinations for other colognes in the future. However, I've invested a great deal of time in the last 2 months on these kits. I need to scale this back and 'enjoy' the things I've put together for a while.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2016
    RyX likes this.
  7. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Please do! Enjoy the work you put into gathering each set.

    I'm still not a year into the "shaving like my ancestors" thing. My kit is very hit or miss, but you have enlightened me. The closest I've come to matching up a scent portfolio is M&L's Florida Water and Gingers Garden Acqua di Florida.
     
  8. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    I'm still trying to find the perfect products to use with Royal Water cologne. It's a challenge to keep the intended smell with supporting products. This may take a while.
     
  9. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    I've been hearing/reading things about Florida Water. What's it smell like? I've heard it's like a citrus scent.
     
  10. ob1page

    ob1page Frozen in Phoenix

    For me it starts off with a very light citrus note but it is quickly overtaken by spice. Cloves and cinnamon are the strongest spice notes but there's also a flowery note. Nothing is overly powerful and it's very pleasant. I like to use it following a spicy or barbershop scented soap as it compliments them very well. It's a great cologne especially when you factor in you can pick it up for around $4 at your local CVS.
     
    Robyflexx likes this.
  11. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    Hey all,

    After months of product R&D. Comparing over 20 products and testing them and figuring out the right combination, I now present to you, the FINAL Royal Water shave kit product lineup.

    Creed's Royal Water Cologne
    Shampoo - Tea Tree Lemon & Sage
    Alaffia Lemongrass Citrus African Black Soap Bar OR Shea Terra Organics Lemongrass African Black Soap Bodywash
    Mama Bear's Bounty Shave Soap
    Country Club For Men's 1837 Aftershave (Specially made for me with custom color! And they don't even carry this product anymore! Woo hoo!)
    Organic Essence Lemon Tea Tree Mint Deodorant

    This combination is some mystical stuff.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 10, 2016
  12. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    I have updated this shave kit with a new set of products. BAY RUM!!!!
     
  13. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    I have updated the Royal Water Kit pictures with a new vinyl label on the soap bowl. Definitely improved.
     

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