SoS: June 12, 2017 - June 18, 2017

Originally designed for a hollow ground blade. But the original blade I have needs some sharpening work. So I used a modern SE blade and while it may look a little bit scary it was smooth and easy to use. A very close and comfortable shave.

 

Nice. Love that scary intimidating looking factor. I'm glad your shave was smooth and enjoyable.
Steve

 

Thursday's Planned Shave:

prep-Nivea 4 Men Bodywash(Platinium Protect)in shower
shave-Local Gent Soap(Fields&Streams)
brush-Stirling "li'l brudder"
razor-The Sensor Deuce Pivot + DisposeABLE machine from the makers of Gillette(thanks, makers!!)
A.S.-TSD Splash(Sub Zero

just mixin' and matchin' here.

 

June 14,2017

*Jamie's Night Shave*

Williams Wednesday! with a schick krona "spirit of '76 gold edition"

 

Barrister's Reserve - Classic
Ever-Ready 100T | Elite Razor Manchurian
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE (1)

​

Ever since Barrister and Mann's April Fool's soap, "Soapmakers of Awesometown", I've been anticipating the release of the Barrister's Reserve soaps. I was pretty happy with Soapmakers of Awesometown even though the reviews were mixed. I was primarily optimistic about the obvious advances made with hard water tolerance, of which I have some of the worst. When it was confirmed that Soapmakers of Awesometown was essentially a beta of the base that would ultimately become the Barrister's Reserve soaps, I was even more optimistic.

I routinely use the Barrister's Reserve splashes, and "Classic" is hands down my favorite. An apparent clone of Gillette's discontinued 1960's "Sun-Up" after shave and cologne, Classic is indeed classic. It stands out by being satisfied in the background. That's not to say it's a low-power fragrance, but rather one that gets along with practically anything. After the almost medicinal but clean initial notes, it dries down to a slightly powdery bitter citrus rounded out by what I believe is lavender which gets more woody as it fades. While the frag heads apparently hate this term, as an amateur, I'm compelled to describe Classic as a clean, "masculine" fragrance. With regard to the soap, off the puck and lathered, thankfully the Classic fragrance is not altered in the least.

I started with my usual barely damp knot and loaded just the way I would have loaded Barrister and Mann's Glissant or even Soapmakers of Awesometown. This was a mistake. I should have loaded about half that amount because the yield was more than the knot could hold. It's a good thing I'm a shower shaver, because I made a mess. Using the same amount of water was also futile. Barrister's Reserve is obviously quite thirsty. In fact, it may be the most thirsty soap I've ever used. However, unlike some, Barrister's Reserve broadcasts it. There's no wondering if that one last knot dunk was going to be too much. Until I achieved the right amount of water, my foundation looked like Spanish stucco. Yet, when I really pushed the water, the stucco popped with a slick and super thick, just short of pillowy, lather. I simply could not drown this soap. At that point, faced with an over-abundance of premium lather, I did something I haven't done since my early days of head-shaving. I lathered my entire head and face all at once. Typically, I do 2-3 passes on either my head or face, and then I move to the other region. When I began head-shaving several years ago, I quickly discovered that covering that much territory at one time will inevitably result in some dissipated or degraded lather, unless, of course I blaze through the passes. With Barrister's Reserve, this is clearly not an issue. I was able to perform an entire head and face pass in one lather application and at leisurely tempo without even a hint of lather degradation. In fact, the incredible slickness seemed to get slicker towards the end. Due to the success of the initial pass, I decided to treat the second pass likewise. I followed this with a clean-up pass to result in one of the best shaves I've ever experienced. The post-shave is absolutely stellar. I can't be more pleased with this soap. Of course next time, in the interest of conservation, I will be much more stingy with the load, but I definitely intend to perform a full head and face lather application since it worked so well this time.

It's no secret Barrister and Mann's Glissant has been my benchmark soap base for some time. However, in recent months L&L Grooming, Catie's Bubbles, and Mickey Lee Soapworks have caught up with it, and some others are very close behind. Noting that this is my first impression, I genuinely feel Barrister's Reserve surpasses Glissant by a small, but notable margin in at least a similar degree to which Glissant surpassed white label. It's my understanding there's no danger of the Barrister's Reserve base supplanting Glissant, and I believe this is due to the complexity of manufacturing.

There's no question most seasoned wet shavers will at least appreciate Barrister's Reserve's performance and some may even be surprised by the step up. However, this is also an ideal soap for beginners in that it's quite forgiving and extremely easy to lather in even less than optimal water conditions.

 

PARADIGM :: ROMERA :: TALLOW + STEEL​

 

That's an incredible shave! The classic is also my favorite. The soap base and scent are incredible.

 

I'm looking forward to this soap. I love the aftershave... thanks for the great review.

 

Agreed. Truly outstanding performance. B&M pulling away from the pack.

My pleasure.

 

SOTD

Chemicals
Occams Crushed Lime Cream
RazoRock Alum Block
Truefitt & Hill West Indian Limes Balm
Clinique For Men Maximum Hydrator

Mechanicals
SSA 4/8" Razor Re-scaled and honed by Danny Schulman
Semogue 740 Pure badger brush
Suribachi Bowl
Dovo linen/leather strop

 

June 2017!!!

Trials and Tribulations - SPECIAL AWARD SHAVE

June 14

Razor - 1959 Super Speed
Blade - (3)
Soap - Dirty Deeds Tobacco
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Post - Alum

My original plan for tonight was a tribulation Marvy shave......BUT.......my Shavey award arrived today courtesy of @Drygulch . As a recipient of the 30 Day OG award he gifted me a puck of Dirty Deeds Tobacco soap. And, in the style of an OG I reached back for a Super Speed and the best NOS blade ever to come out of Russia, the Sharp Star. Add a badger brush, albeit a modern Wolf Whiskers creation, and you have a classic shave in honor of this auspicious occasion.

One thing about Dirty Deeds, it's made with beer. So, my thinking was if I don't like the soap I can always melt it down and drink it. Right?? It's a unique formula, glycerin based and the tobacco scent took a bit to come out on the lather but boy did it ever. The lather was easy to get with the Wolf and some of the slickest I've found. Great consistency and thickness added to the great feel and result. Two passes for a near-BBS and the aroma is marvelous.

I squeezed the remaining soap out of the brush and had enough to easily do a third or even fourth pass. And the consistency was really interesting. Like a handful of whipped cream. Fluffy, peaky, wonderful stuff. Another fine addition to the Cartel den.

Also in honor of the 30 Day OG - a new avatar. Yeah, that's how I roll. Represent. (Throwing a poor representation of some sort of gang sign) Thug life baby.

 

I use Dirty Deeds soaps and they perform great.

 

That darn Rob brush, blackland Blackbird razor, barrister and mann

 

Yes....but are they done dirt cheap?

 

In this case, yep, $6.00 a piece.

 

Good morning all, 15 June SOTD
1952 Super Speed
Feather Blade
JR #153
Mr. Taylor Cream and AS




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Good Morning Everyone! SOTD 06/15/17

Gem Featherweight
Gem Personna (3)
Synthetic
Col. Conk Amber
Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block
Aqua Velva Musk A/S

Have A Great Day Everyone!

 

SOTD 20170615



Brush: J&T® apple / Cashmere synthetic 24 mm.
Shaving cream: Arko Men Fresh.
Razor: Fatip / custom handle.
Blade: 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (4).
After shave: Arko Men Cool after shave cream.

This shaving cream is new to me: a fresh cream with minty scent.

 

A feather weight and AV Musk...yesssss indeeeddddd.

 

Gillette New Deluxe BRW Improved Handle
Gillette Silver Blue
Semogue 2000
Stirling Gentleman
Superior 70

First shave with the Stirling soap (thanks @Bama Samurai) and it was nice. It loads quickly, has plenty of slickness, and leaves a nice post-shave face feel. I am impressed with my first go with it. Enjoy your day.