Pick A Country Week 12/2 - 12/8

My Tabac adventure continues... Very wet brush today and about 20 swirls on the puck. I had the brush pretty full and got a small lather explosion when I face lathered it. The shave was good and I noticed more slickness but I still don't think I've hit perfection. Tomorrow, I'll try a little less water to see if I can get a denser lather. Today's was just a little light and airy.

2nd Merkur blade, same as the first so far but it did feel smoother than the last one on its first shave. Better lather helped I'm sure.

 

Thursday-Serbia Today

Prep: Hot Shower-Stirling Spice Bath Soap
Soap: Palmira Cream-Serbia
Razor: ’66 Gillette Slim (6)
Blade: MEM Super Stainless Platinum-Serbia
Brush: Whipped Dog Silvertip
Aftershave: AL After Shave Cream Lotion-Serbia

WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angle for my beard a bit)

Serbia was the destination today. I slipped a Serbian MEM blade in my Slim and lathered up with the Serbian Palmira Cream. I got a good close shave with no nicks or burn. I finished up with the Serbian AL After Shave Cream. It contains Vitamin E and Aloe Vera and left my face feeling “good enough to touch”.

Thanks to “Santa” for giving me the opportunity to try some Serbian products that we can’t get in the States.
FYI-The rest of Santa’s goodies are posted in the Secret Santa Gifts thread.

Bob

 

Finally nailed the Tabac lather! It was nice and creamy. I'm still going to say that for me it's not better than several other products like Proraso, Cella, Palmolive and Arko. But it's up there with all of those which is probably good company.

On the Merkur blades, I can say at least they're consistent. The second blade seemed to trail off on the second shave too. They start out just sharp enough but as soon as they lose a little sharpness, they fall below the threshold where they cut comfortably for me.

 

Friday-¡Bravo!España

Prep: Hot Shower-Stirling Spice Bath Soap
Soap: La Toja Stick-Spain
Razor: RazoRock Jaws OC
Blade: Personna Med Prep (3)
Brush: Whipped Dog Silvertip
Aftershave: LEA After-Save Balsalm-Spain

WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angle for my beard a bit)

I headed to Spain this morning with my La Toja Stick and LEA After-Shave Balsalm. The La Toja Stick always does a great job, but it lathered even easier with my new WD Silvertip! The Jaws OC and Med Prep are going strong on day 3. The Jaws OC gives an easy, close shave. The LEA After-Shave Balsalm contains Aloe Vera and Vitamin E. I prefer it over the Nivea Original ASB. The LEA does a good job of conditioning, has a pleasant fresh scent, and left my face feeling great.

I spent a good part my Honeymoon in Madrid and Toledo before heading to Portugal. I loved both cities and the people.

Bob

 

I thought about switching countries today but now that I've got the hang of Tabac, I decided just to stick with it. It's funny, I put way too much thought into that soap. Lathering it up the way I normally do with pretty much any other soap, right on top of the puck with a good wet brush, works great.

The Muhle R89 is working great for me too. I've been using this razor almost exclusively for well over a month now and it really is a joy to use. The aggression level seems perfect for a daily shaver and now that I'm good and used to it, I can get shaves just as close as with a more aggressive razor in the same number of passes and have virtually no risk of irritation.

After the first shave on my 3rd Merkur blade, I can say they aren't really that bad. They're sharper than a lot of blades I've tried and pretty smooth. The big problem with them is price and they don't hold onto their sharpness all that long. On the second shave they seem to trail off to the point where I have a bit of trouble finishing the shave with them. I might just finish off this pack using a new one every day. The first shave with them is really good so I'll just look at the bright side. Another week of good shaves

 

Saturday-Italia!

Prep: Hot Shower-Stirling Spice Bath Soap
Soap: Palmolive Menthol Cream-Italy
Razor: RazoRock Jaws OC
Blade: Personna Med Prep (4)
Brush: Omega 10066 Boar Brush-Italy
Aftershave: Proraso Green-Italy

WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angle for my beard a bit)

Back to Italy today! I used my trusty Italian Palmolive Menthol Cream, lathered up with my Omega 10066 Boar Brush, and went to work with Jaws and the Med Prep. I finished with the Proraso Green Aftershave. This was a great combination and a great, smooth, very close, nick & burn free shave

Below freezing here is south Texas today….very rare. I know…..we don’t have “real” winter like a lot of you, but it is sure cold for us. I am actually getting to wear a sweater today!

Bob

 

Sunday-Last Stop: India Today!

Prep: Hot Shower-Stirling Spice Bath Soap
Soap: Godrej Lime Cream-India
Razor: RazoRock Jaws OC-India
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless-India
Brush: Whipped Dog Silvertip
Aftershave: Shulton Old Spice-India

WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angle for my beard a bit)

Off to India today! I used the Godrej Lime Cream. It lathers easily and is good and slick with a great lime scent. I also decided to try my first Indian Super-Max Super Stainless blade (thanks Santa). I dropped it in my Indian made RazoRock Jaws OC and went to town. The Jaws and the Super-Max SS did great together: smooth, close, nick & burn free shave. I finished with some Original Shulton Old Spice, also from India.

Very impressed with the first shave using the Super-Max Super Stainless ($0.16).

Bob