Welcome to the wonderful world of wet shaving. This is were the AD (Acquisition Disorder) sets in. I am sorry to hear that the Arko did not work out for you. There are so many soaps out there, I'm sure you will be able to find one that your other half will like.
28 OCtober Back on Focus +1 Shave Pre-Shave: Hot Shower Brush: 28mm Faux Finest Badger, Frank Shaving(FS) Soap: La Toja Stick Soap Razor: Valet VC2, Autostrop Blade: Feather FAS-10 Carbon Steel(CS), Feather Seikan (9) Strop: Amish made Post-Shave: Cold Water rinse and Oland After Shave, Avon, Pheasant Decanter Photo: I went back to the Valet razor on Saturday and will continue to use it for the remainder of the month. Luckily for me the month only has a couple more days. I got the La Toja soap from a recommendation from a gentlemen across the street at TOST and picked it up about a week ago when I ordered some artist blades for my General Razor. It is a harder soap than Arko but produces a very thick lather just like Arko. Stropped the blades 15 more times before the shave than did 3 passes with the razor. Finished off a DFS shave with some Oland AS. The blade still shows no signs of decline with +1 shaves than the non-stropped blade. Stropped the blade another 10 more times than hung it up for the next shave.
Razor: Ever-Ready SE w/case 1914 Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1) Brush: Oscar 11 w/ Silvertip Soap: Route 66 Twisted Tweed A/S: Floid Blue
Haha thank you so much again for the arko. It still works out for me. I enjoy the scent and makes a great shave. I will still be using it
I see quite a few shavers using La Toja. I'll assume it's acceptable quality lather, but what does it smell of? Google translate is a big help; "La Toja" = "The Toja". basenotes.com lists the most often compared Grey Flannel as a whole bunch of scents; Top notes; Violet, Lemon, Orange, Petitgrain, Galbanum Heart Notes; Clary sage, Rose, Geranium, Base notes; Oakmoss, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Tonka
I have read many positive comments on La Toja shaving soap. How would you describe the scent? I am looking forward to breaking out my General on Wednesday. Great photo Amigo.
La Toja is made using the health-giving mineral water from the hot springs at the Spanish La Toja spa. To me, my tube of cream (same as the stick just more moisture in it) smells very much like I'm shaving with water from a mineral spa - a strong overlay of salts and sulfur that pretty much kills whatever other scents are put in the soap. Overall, I would simply describe it as "medicinal". It leaves one with a very good clean but dry face feel, however, and I imagine would be a wonderful soap for the complexion if used regularly by those with oily skin or a tendency to acne. (Edited to delete inaccurate comment about LEA shaving soap.)
I will have agree with @Screwtape on this one. To me it smells of soap. A different brand than Arko but a soap all the same. It does not have the lemon scent that Arko has.
Sunday October 29 - visiting a blast from the past Pal adjustable razor on lowest setting / Personna (4 or 5) Semogue Owners Club cherrywood boar brush Walter G (RedDragon) homemade bay rum glycerin soap Alum and Clubman VIBR Walter was one of the early eBay vendors of razor blades, razors, brushes as well as lighters and knives. He especially promoted injectors. He also made some homemade soap and I bought a few cakes. IIRC the soap was a glycerin soap with kaolin clay in it, cast in a small muffin tin to form a puck about two inches across and one deep. This particular cake has been sitting in a soap mug unused for about a decade when I decided to use it tonight on a whim. After so long exposed to the air, the scent is mostly gone. However, it lathered up well when I "super goop" loaded the brush in the mug and then face lathered. Working up a lather took about three minutes and three additions of water to the puck. I was impressed considering how long the puck had been sitting out in the open. (The others are wrapped in saran wrap and stored in airtight plastic containers.) The lather was slick enough for two passes with the Pal to bring me to a near BBS without any blood or drama. The alum rub was painless and the VIBR splash was pleasant. I am now thinking I may alternate between this soap and my frankensoap during November and see how long the two last.
OCtober!!! October 29 Razor - 1918 Gillette Old Style Blade - (1) Pre-Shave - Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap from Stirling Soap - Truefitt & Hill 1805 Brush - Jayaruh #54 Post - Alum Final setup for OCtober so it's back to the old man of the collection. No, not me. The '18 Old Style will finish the month in style. I'm pairing it up with the T&H 1805. An old razor deserves an old soap maker. I added the pre-shave today and trusted the Jayaruh #54 to handle the lather. Which it did quite well once I got the water right. 1805 seems to be just a bit finicky on water and is a bit thirstier than I expect. Took me a couple of tries to get it right but we got there. Did I mention the Feather blade in the Old Style? Yep, going aggressive all the way and the shave proved why that can be a good thing. Kept my concentration firmly on angle and keeping pressure off of the razor and did two passes and a few slides on the neck. As easy as that, the baby is in the house. Alum was mostly quiet. A few hot spots where I tend to get the corner of the blade in a bit harsh with this razor but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm looking forward to two more days with this razor. It's been a fantastic month of great shaves for me, and that's something I don't often get! Yes, I know, some of that is self-inflicted, but it's always either to prove the power of technique or keep the troops entertained. Both are worthy goals. I think NOVember will be changing the quality of my shaves overall. We'll see. Have a great start to your week!
Sunday Shave: I came home to find my new Gokumyo 20k stone so I touched up some of my razors. I guess my brain is still fuzzy from the jet lag and I realized halfway through the shave I had not stroped this razor after refreshing it on the GMK 20k , the edge was nice even without stroping. Just fell short of epic shave on both smoothness and closeness, still and excellent shave. Razor: Joe Edson western grind kami Strop: Dry Gulch Black Latigo Brush: M&F Blonde Badger Pre: Nivea Soap: Tabac AS: Clubman, Speick ASB Scent: Tabac
I actually didn’t shave today. I was too busy around the house. I can’t remember the last time I mowed down two days of growth. Off to choose my weapon for morning.
October 30 Weber SS Polsilver Super Iridium (1) Simpson Chubby 2 Super Mike's Natural Soap - unscented Thayers Lavender witch hazel and unrefined shea butter This is the fourth shave of my Russian DE blade and Simpson brush focus. The first three shaves with a Voskhod DE blade were fantastic. It is truly an excellent DE blade - very smooth and sharp - and a bargain at eight cents each! I'm getting better lathers with the Chubby each day by not starving the brush of soap or cream. No strong scents today, as I'm with my kiddos at the hospital. I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!
