Executive Shaving Set

Discussion in 'General Shaving Talk' started by Tim Spencer, Jul 17, 2018.

  1. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    Razor - OneBlade Genesis
    Blade - Feather FHS-10 HI-Stainless *Fresh Blade
    Shave Brush - EcoTools "Kabuki" Retractable Synthetic
    Shave Soap - Mama Bear's "Acqua di Gio" Type
    Soap Bowl - Iris Hantverk Dark Gray Concrete
    Aftershave - The Shave Den "Acqua di Gio" Type Witch Hazel in an Custom Pottery Dispenser by 3 Points Pottery
    Preshave Oil - Lather & Wood's "Unscented"
    Post-Shave Balm - Nicci Marie Hyaluronic Acid Anti-Aging Face Serum
    Deodorant - Tommy Bahama "Set Saîl Martînique"
    Fragrance - M. Micallef Osaito

    Tuesday morning I am unleashing my newest shaving set. I call it "The Executive Shave Kit". This is what I imagine Elon Musk or Bill Gates have in their giant bathroom to shave with.

    ***EDIT - 10-out-of-10 shave. As good as the best shaves I've ever had and considering this is the first time I've used this razor, that's saying something. I wanted to find fault with this razor because of the $399 price tag, but, I could not find any stylistic or shave-oriented fault with it. It's preliminary, but it seems like this could be the best razor in my den in terms of pure shave ability. I performed a 3-pass + touch up shave. No nicks, no weepers, no irritation and I found that it required fewer strokes of the razor over each section to remove the hair. My beard hair is tough, but my skin is sensitive. So, I'm a challenging subject for any razor. If your razor can perform a full 3-pass AND a touchup session and leave no irritation, you have what amounts to a perfect razor. The post-shave is BBS+++. As good as any shave I've gotten. 'During' the shave it was very comfortable. Effortless. I 'dared' the razor to give me razor burn. I couldn't seem to pick a bad angle despite not having used the razor before and not knowing what would work or not work, I seemingly could do no wrong. No other razor was this effortless, ever.

    I want to put out a recommendation. Since this razor is so good at preventing a poor shave, and because Mama Bear soap worked so well with it, I'm recommending that people focus on pairing very 'slick' soaps with this razor and not worry so much about 'protection'. This razor seems to do a very good job at maintaining proper blade contact and angle. I believe a 'slick' soap would work best with this razor.

    I'll say this. What I expected a $399 razor to provide, it did. I have zero criticism of it other than the price, but could it be justified if it's the best? That is something each individual person must decide for themselves. How much is the 'best' shave worth to you? I'm a weird dude. I'll pay ridiculous prices for shaving gear for various reasons.

    Next, the ECOTOOLS brush. I'm well read on synthetic brush technologies. I had to find a brush that would fit in the 'groove' of the Iris Hantverk shave bowl's lid. Weirdly, the Iris Hantverk shave brushes look 'wrong' aesthetically with the dark-grey concrete bowl. I couldn't find a good, inexpensive shave brush that matched the color theme and would fit the bowl's open 'groove'. I sat and thought about how I could solve this issue and thanks to my previous knowledge from reading, I found out that synthetic brush knots were made from the technology that came out of cosmetic makeup brushes. So, I started looking for a makeup brush that fit the groove and BAM, found one. And.....at least with Mama Bear glycerin-based shave soap, it works extremely well! Despite the small knot size it held 3-passes of lather. The synthetic hairs on this are thinner, softer and hold water BETTER than the synthetic brushes I currently use, however, the softness of this brush doesn't lend for as good an exfoliation as my other synthetics.

    All-in-all, a ridiculously fantastic shave and the products really worked out. The Shave Den's Witch Hazel aftershave with menthol along with my magic antioxidant face serum tightened up the skin. My skin literally feels marble smooth. I love the new shaving set.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2018
    steve207, PLANofMAN, Keithmax and 8 others like this.
  2. Paul Turner

    Paul Turner outside the quote(s) now

    How do you like Mama Bear's soaps?.....thinking of trying one or two in the not too distant future.
     
    Edison Carter likes this.
  3. Tim Spencer

    Tim Spencer Well-Known Member

    I dig the Mama Bear Soaps. I've found that if you have sensitive skin like me, that pre-shave oil guards against irritation. I think a few of her soaps can cause a 'burning' sensations for some people, including me, on the 3rd pass of a shave. Pass 1-and-2, it's fine, but on pass-3, I start to 'feel' a slight burning sensation. Because I had tried glycerine soaps early-on in my classic-wet shaving trials, I ordered and tried pre-shave oil. It worked incredibly well to moisten and protect my sensitive skin against irritation. I suspect that 'some' Mama Bear soaps have this issue (not all) due to the fragrance oils she uses. Mama Bear soaps are very fragrant. I think that other soap artisans are using ingredients that 'buffer' the skin against their scent oil's irritation, much like a pre-shave oil does.

    Strangely, I once emailed Mama Bear soaps asking if it would hurt the soap performance to melt it in the microwave to fit in my different bowls. She advised against that. For over a year I didn't melt any of her soaps and instead "shredded and pressed" the soaps into my bowls. Until one day I just decided to try microwaving very, very lightly for one of her soaps ("Bounty" I believe) and the result was that the performance and lather seemed 'better', and not only that, but the irritation seemed lower to non-existent. So now I put slices of her pucks then melt in the nuker and pour. They work fantastic for me, better even.

    I chose Mama Bear glycerine soap for the Iris Hantverk concrete bowl because the bowl is small, and doesn't give much room to 'load' the brush. So a small brush is needed, but also a proper form-fitting soap is also a very handy substance to use in this constrained, limited situation. I was able to cut and melt nearly half the Mama Bear puck and put 'just' the right amount into the bowl to allow for proper brush loading and to prevent massive over flow of lather during loading. The brush I chose also loaded SURPRISINGLY WELL despite it's size and held on to a lot of soap. I was 100% sure going in that I would need to "re-load" the small brush several times during the shave. Nope. That little brush seemed to be tailor-made to work with a glycerine shave soap. I feel like I got SUPER lucky that my product choices all worked precisely as I predicted in the aggregate, but also worked together BETTER than I presumed in some respects. (ie, the slickness of the soap working perfectly with this razor and the glycerine not only being perfect for the bowl, but also being great for loading in the tiny brush knot beyond any reasonable expectation).

    I think that Catie's Bubbles, Country Club for Men, Crown King, Razor Rock (semi-cream) soaps are better 'overall', in terms of skin protection, but there's no question that Mama Bear soaps perform functionally well for a shave. My shave this morning was spectacular. I credit the addition of pre-shave oil (and of course a great razor) in achieving a '10' rated shave.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2018
    brit, PLANofMAN, Keithmax and 2 others like this.
  4. Paul Turner

    Paul Turner outside the quote(s) now

    Thanks Tim...quite helpful.
     
  5. Rusty blade

    Rusty blade The Good Humor Man

    Nice looking kit...appropriately named. Well done.
     
  6. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

Share This Page