Getting with the OCtober theme: Today I used my DOC Evolution with a Super Iridium blade. Four passes, zero irritation and a whisker short of epic. I am very impressed with B&M again. It made a very wet slick lather, can't wait to try it with a straight. Irritation A+ Closeness A Razor: DOC Evolution -Iridum Super Brush: Omega Pro Pre: Nivea Soap: B&M AS: Fine Snake Bite, Speick ASB Scent: Amouage Memoir Man
Us too. We just started getting frost last week. Not going to be a very pretty fall though. Leaves are dropping without really turning much.
Maybe try giving it a wash/conditioning and a good combing out? Sometimes my brushes get too dry. It seems like the hairs get brittle and will break off a few. The spa treatment seems to cure it until winter rolls around again. It also doesn’t seem to happen unless one sits unused for a while.
10 OCtober This blade is officially done. Pre-Shave: Hot Shower Brush: Omega Boar Brush 81064 Soap: Pipe Smoke, Uncle Jon's SS Razor: Valet VC2, Autostrop Blade: Feather FAS-10 Carbon Steel(CS), Feather Seikan (8) Post-Shave: Cold Water rinse, OSMA Alum block and Virgin Island Bay Rum After Shave, Clubman Photo: I haven't used my boar in awhile and have been thinking about putting it in a cup of water to help with the brake-in period. I read here that if you put a brush in a cup of water then stick it in the fridge for three days it will come out with split ends. I had the brush pretty broke in before but it had to much loft for me and was just too floppy, so I gave it a hair cut. Now I have to start all over again trying to break it in. I recently ordered this bottle Clubman Bay Rum from the interweb. This morning I tried pairing it with a soap and came up Uncle Jon's Pipe Smoke. I think the scents are close enough to complement one another. The AS has a very clovey, cinnamon smell. The Wife thought it smelled of "Big Red Gum". Now on to the reason we are all here, "The Shave". Today was day 8 on this blade. The blade gave just as close a shave as it has before, still not BBS, but no where as smooth. As a matter of fact this shave was as rough as the first shave with the blade. Tonight I will put a new blade in it then strop it twenty times. So as there is no questions as to how those twenty times will be counted, 1 time is the back and forth motion down the length of the strop.
SOTD October 10, 2017 Prep: Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap Blade: Schick Razor: Schick G1 injector Brush: Semogue boar Lather: Palmolive shave stick Post: Witch hazel, Fine American Blend aftershave WTG, touch up Shave stick focus is back in action. Today's results were quite good. Easy and slick lather was produced with the boar brush and soap stick. Nicely hydrated and stable. Overall nice shave. I'm still experimenting with the pre-shave soap but have to say I'm really enjoying the results I'm getting so far this month. Enjoy your day!
OCtober10, 2017 Timeless OC 0.95mm with Triad Ti Aristocrat Feather Shavemac LE with DO1 2 Band Flat Top Reef Point Test Depth Witch Hazel with Menthol Cool Water EDT Overall a very good shave this morning. The big Flat Top is just a lather making machine. The over the top backbone and scrub are a real pleasure face lathering. I decided to just stick with a traditional 3 pass shave this morning. With touch ups on my jaw line and lower right neck, I managed to catch the baby. However, I did end up with several weepers due to operator error. A splash of witch hazel with menthol followed by Cool Water EDT and I am ready for the day. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.
Great SOTD photo! You can almost feel the texture. It is amazing that you can get eight shaves out of a blade! I'm a big fan of Omega boar brushes as well. I hope yours performs better for you, now that you have reduced the loft. Have a great day!
I haven't heard of freezing a wet boar brush to break it in before. What I have heard about - and done - is lathering the brush and then letting the soap dry on it. That does encourage the ends to split without being too hard on the bristles themselves. With the freezing I would worry that the ice might break off a bunch of bristles or even force the knot apart. Unless you just dip the brush so only the tips are wet... When I tested my vintage DE PAL Gold Thin Hollow Ground carbon blades, I found 8 or so shaves was the maximum I got with normal use. When I stropped the blade with a vintage stropper (called a Stanford 5- second Sharpener) I could run it to 40. I wouldn't be surprised if you get similar performance.
Thank you Clint. I will be trying to get at least 8 shaves from the next blade once I start stropping. That's the test for the month any how. It is not as floppy now, so it is better for me. Now I just got to try and break it in. I wasn't going to put it in the freezer just the fridge. I got the idea from HERE, it's a thread by @BambulanceMan. If I could get a blade to run out to 40 shaves I wouldn't care if the shaves weren't as close as I would like and it would be prove that stropping does help. The reason I'm testing this is someone said it wouldn't help and that the CS blades were not worth buying.
