Norsemans shave diary

Discussion in 'Shower or Shave of the Day' started by Norseman, Aug 16, 2012.

  1. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    Monday 10.09.2012

    Late last week, I was out shopping for some new wool clothing for my 8th month old baby girl. This place is a wall-mart type place, but deals in textiles and cosmetics only.
    Anyway, I was walking through the perfume section and just happened to lay my eyes on a wonderful thing. A man’s traditional wet shaving product, manifested in an Erasmic Shave stick, some shaving cream and a boar brush of some kind. I just had to get the shave stick, and quickly added it to my cart.
    Coming home I placed it in the Den, and thought nothing of it.

    Mondays are shave stick day, and I had planned on trying out one of my D.R. Harris sticks. However when reading a thread about Erasmic sticks, and the reviews where practically glowing, I just had to bump them up to the top of my list.

    Soaked my brush, my razor and the stick in the same pool, while doing my pre shave routine. Feeling refreshed and ready for the shave, I started smearing my face with the stick and watched the lather grow. For about five seconds. I put on some more product, and that helped. But the lather appeared thin, airy and foamy. And for every passing second the lather seemed to diminish .
    My razor for this evening, was the lovely Merkur Progress. In it I had placed what I thought was a black Gillette 7’o Clock blade. But closer examination showed that this blade is in fact the Russian made blue version.

    I also used this blade on Saturday, when I shaved with the magnificent ShaveDen Wheat Cream. This never made it to this “diary”. But it safe to say that I enjoyed a fine shave.

    The jury is out on the blade, though. It worked fine, but I’m not able to say more than that just yet.

    It did not take many strokes when I realized that the Erasmic lather is not worth half the price for what I paid for it. And considering that I only payed about $6.5 for it, that really says a lot.
    It was my worst shave to date. The razor tugged, teared and wrecked just a tiny bit of havoc on my face.
    I tried to add more soap to the mixture before my second pass. But it was as futile as resistance J
    It is safe to say that after three passes, I did not even make it to CCS.
    A shot of Prorasos finest splash, a dab of Prorasos old formula balm and I was ready for another shave. I didn’t of course. But I was tempted.
    Instead I tried to bowl lather some more of that Erasmic stuff, but failed to make a better batch of lather.

    This crap (pardon the French) of a soap not only messed up my shave, but it also managed to deflect my attempt of giving the blade a proper testing. So the first thing I just had to do, was to read more of those glowing Erasmic reivews. This time the reviews where a bit more nuanced.
    Quite a few still reported good results with it, but I did also find that I was not alone in my experience with this soap.
    I will probably give it away.. preferable to some dude I do not like :D


    My fellow casualties of bad lather was:

    FaceWash: The usual
    Razor: Merkur Progress
    Blade: Gillette 7 o'Clock - Russian blue
    Soap: Erasmic Shave Stick
    Pre-shave: None
    Brush: Merkur Futur brush
    Rinse
    Aftershave: Proraso AS Lotion
    Aftershave: Proraso AS Balm - Old School

    DSC_0352.JPG
     
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  2. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Sorry to horn in on your private journal here, but there are several varieties of Erasmic sticks floating around. The one in the black and red packaging was a fairly recent reformulation of the Erasmic shave stick and listed palm oil (sodium palmate) as the first ingredient. The stick did not work, and in a rare move by the manufacturer, they admitted it was a terrible formula and returned to a tallow based formula. I didn't want you to make the wrong assumption about all Erasmic shave sticks based on a discontinued product. The packaging is nearly identical to the old formula, the main difference is the ingredient list, and the newer formula had wax paper around the stick rather than the traditional foil.
     
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  3. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    No problem. I always enjoy good company :) Besides, this was good info.

    The one I have is using sodium tallowate as their first ingredient. I guess that makes it tallow based. Didn't work for me :(

    DSC_0355.JPG
     
  4. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    The reports on that one have indicated that it is one of the hardest shave sticks out there and it benefits greatly from a soaking before use. Put it in a cup of warm or hot water for 3-5 minutes before use. It may keep you from having to toss it in the trash.
     
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  5. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    Actually, I did that too. I soaked it in warm water for at least three minutes. But it was warm/lukewarm, not hot.
    But I'll give it another go. It will give me much needed practise after all.

    By the way, would it benefit from adding some of Trumpers skin food to the stick before working on it?
     
  6. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    No. But some people use Trumper's as a pre-shave balm before lathering. I really don't know how it would work with a shave stick. I've always used Trumper's skin food after the shave.
     
  7. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    I was hoping some glycerine might help. But thanks for the feedback.
    I really appreciate it :)
     
  8. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    I didn't think about that. Hmm. There's cheaper options than wasting Trumper's Skin Food. Look in the maternity aisle in some big grocery store, there should be some liquid glycerin there. Nursing mothers use it as a salve, kind of like chapstick, but for other areas of the body.:ashamed001:
     
  9. Ryan B

    Ryan B Knight of the Soapocracy

    I have a stick of Palmolive and Erasmic (Tallow based). I have to get around to experimenting with them, since I know more about how to use one now.
     
  10. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    Once again, interesting.
    I do not think we have that on our side of the planet. Since I have two daughers, one aged 2.7 and another aged 0.7, there has been nursing in the norsehome since early 2010. And I have never heard about that. But then again, I do miss alot :)

    I will have to check that out.
    Thanks :)
     
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  11. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    It's just one of those little nuggets of information our female forum members occasionally drop into our greedy grasping hands. I suppose if you had been the one nursing your miniature Norselings, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now.:p I'm reminded of the joke about mothers and fathers and their involvement in the raising of children. The puchline of the joke goes something like this: "The father is vaguely aware of some short people living in his house."
     
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  12. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    He he, good one.
    Norseland has a compulsory 12 week paid paternity leave, so this vague form of awareness will soon evolve into a panic stricken awareness when I get the sole daytime responsibility for the little Norseling.
    No wet nursing, though. That would be awkward :)
     
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  13. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    Thursday - 11.09.2012

    After a long evening driving my parents to and around Ikea, it was nice to come home to a nice refreshing shave.
    After last days experience with the Erasmic, I felt the need to try another unused stick in my den. And since my favourite in the scent department is D.R. Harris’ Marlborough, the choice was easy.

    After the usual shower and face wash, I started applying the soap on my face using the glue stick method, and started building my Santa Claus beard.

    Although the lather appeared to be slightly thinner than usual, it looked dense enough to provide for a terrific shave. But my razor spoke otherwise.

    The first pass was less than smooth and gave me a slight tugging sensation. However it proved to be irritate-free and did the job satisfactory.
    The second and third pass went fine without any incidents. But I retired the blue Gillette 7’o Clock blade afterwards. It was its third shave, and I reckon it took quite a beating with the Erasmic lather.

    A rinse and drop of lotion later, and I was ready to try some aftershave milk from the ShaveDenShop. I received two samples, and a full size. And I cannot for the life of me remember what scent it was. I remember that one smelled like the salad on a Big Mac, and the other ones smelled pleasant.


    FaceWash: TBD Facewash
    Razor: Merkur Progress
    Blade: Gillette 7 o’Clock blue
    Soap: D.R. Harris Marlborough
    Pre-shave: Still none
    Brush: Frank Shavings Finest Badger
    Rinse
    Aftershave Lotion: Proraso AS Lotion
    Aftershave Balm: TSD AS Milk

    DSC_0372.JPG
     
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  14. crackstar

    crackstar Israeli Ambassador to TSD

    Great photo, Frode! :smiley respect:
     
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  15. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    He he, thanks

    I have never had such fun using a drying machine before :)
     
  16. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    Wednesday - 12.09.2012

    Now, I had planned on sticking with the Progress for the remainder of the week. To prepare for my blade testing that I hope to get started on monday evening. And since the Progress is more similar to the Merkur HD than the Futur, I thought it would be a good idea to practise using this one. As a matter of fact, I still believe this.
    But what I believe and what I decide to do in such trivial matters are seldom the same thing.
    Especally since I had a conversation with a fine gentleman from the Den, where he describing his feelings for the Futur. I just couldn't just let this wonderful razor remain unused in the weeks to come. It is, in my very limited experience, a more entertaining razor to shave with.

    I had some difficulties deciding what the soap for this evening would be, but I settled on the Prorasos Green, old school edition.
    I was also curious about the MWF soap. It's been a while, and my first impression was not particularly positive. And when you have a product in such good standing, and your own experience is less than good, it is only natural that you start second guessing yourself and want to try again.
    So I loaded up my brush with some fat, just for the lathering itself, and maybe put a layer on my face before going into the shower.To get the feel of it, I guess.
    And it lathered up so beautifully, without any effort or use of the Force, that I just had to do it properly.

    Showering and washing my face with todays arrival, the Musgo glycerine soap, and I was ready to shave.
    I lathered my face with the remaining wool fat from my brush, but the magic had faded and I just knew that if I was going to do this soap justice, I had to do it properly. So I removed the soap and went back to plan A.

    It is only fitting in these election times to say that I felt like a real flip flop... again :)

    Anyway, the Proraso soap also living up to its reputation, did not let me down. A lovely refreshing lather. By the time I got to the shaving part, I had actually forgotten about its cooling properties, and for a few seconds I was convinced that I was doing my first cold shave.

    The Futur, for the time was set to 2, and was a joy to use. I did have some difficultes with the first pass. Nothing major, but with less than excellent technique and a too low a setting did not do this razor justice.

    By the time of the second pass, and with the razor set to 3, the universe was in balance once again. I had a wonderful pass across the galaxy that is my face. YOu know a few twinkling stars, one for each daughter. Two twin nebulas of nasalness and a swallowing black hole of chatter. :)

    The third pass was the touch-up pass. I have always had a closer shave on my right side, so when shaving the left side, I set the Futur to warp 4 and engaged. And I believe it worked. At the time of this writing, which is about half an our after the shave. It feels I got a closer shave on the left.

    No major cuts, one very small nick that the cold rinse took care of, followed by my favorite AS splash. Let that one work while cleaning my shaving kit and it was time for some more of that delicious milk. This one was scented Cedarwood, and as mentioned above it smelled like lettuce from a Big Mac. However, when applyed to the face the most wonderful smell appeared. It smelled like Marlboroughs little brother, and without the dirty ash tray feeling I get the first minute after I put it on.

    I rate the Shave a DFS after three passes. One WTG and two XTG.

    I used:

    Facewash: Musgo Glycerine Soap
    Soap: Proraso Green, Old formula
    Brush: Merkur Futur
    Razor: Merkur Futur
    Blade: Astra Platinum
    Rinse
    Aftershave lotion: Proraso
    Aftershave Balm: TSD Milk - Cedarwood

    DSC_0380.JPG


    Note to self: This post is way too long. You need to cut back on your ramblings
     
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  17. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    MWF performs best when it is well hydrated. Soak the puck (cover it with water) for a few days and the puck will swell and expand. When you see new or fresh cracks appear in the top of the soap, it is time to add more water. If you have the MWF ceramic bowl, this is an easy process, and a new puck will expand to almost fill the bowl on the sides, and will rise almost to the top of the bowl. It will leave enough room to close the lid though.

    EDIT: This will help, but not cure MWF's tendency to dry out on the face. If that happens take the loaded brush (you did face lather, right?) and add more soapy goodness. This will also rehydrate the dried lather on your face.
     
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  18. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    As always, good info. Thanks
    I do not have the ceramic bowl. Just a refill puck placed in an Ikea container, but I guess the principle will be the same. I just hope they do not rust :)

    [​IMG]
     
  19. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80102919/
    Stainless steel & plastic. You shouldn't have any problems. Just remember to cover the puck with water until the water is just above the surface of the puck. Check it once or twice a day, adding water as necessary. by the end of the second or third day, the puck will no longer absorb any more water. Pour off any excess water, leaving about a teaspoon sized amount in the container. If you load your brush off of the soap frequently, using a wet or very damp brush, you shouldn't have to add any more water to the puck.
     
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  20. Norseman

    Norseman misunderstood Dark Lord of the Sith

    Excellent. The process has been started, I only hope I remember to add more water to it. :)
     
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