SOS: August 2018

Saturday Straights' Shave


Cold Water Wash
Colgate Shaving Mug Soap
Jayaruh #312
H. Böker 5/8
CWR
Florida Water

My prep was just a cold water rinse. The Colgate Shaving Mug Soap face lathered well with the Jayaruh #312 brush. I did two passes with the H. Böker 5/8 straight and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Florida Water. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

 

Wolfman WR1 with WH7 Handle
Israeli Personna
Nivea Lathering Shave Cream
Nivea Balm
Blue Aqua Velva

 

Saturday

Prep: Warm Shower-Stirling Sandpiper
Soap: RazoRock Tuscan Oud
Razor: Gillette Fat Boy
Blade: Schick Plus Platinum (20)
Brush: Elite Razor/WSP Silvertip-24mmx50mm
Aftershave: RazoRock Tuscan Oud

WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angles for my beard)

RazoRock Tuscan Oud today. 20 seconds to load the Elite Razor/WSP Silvertip brush. Easy, thick, slick, lather. Schick Plus Platinum still in the Gillette Fat Boy. Excellent smooth, close, shave. I finished with RazoRock Tuscan Oud aftershave.

Bob

 

Saturday's planned SOTD:

C. W. Beggs Facial Wash
Razorock Plissoft 26mm Monster
Bundubeard Rooibos SS
Fino ASB
Quorum EdT

This will be my maiden voyage with this new soap - it smells baie lekker. The Fino balm is a godsend for anyone who has sensitive skin!

 

Saturday, August 25

B&M Bay Rum~~Rooney Style 3~~1908 Gillette Old Type~~Super Max (1)~~Grand Bay Bay Rum
Have a great day!​

 

Shampoo - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements/Crown King - Atomic Age Bay Rum Puck

Razor - Antique Gillette 1907 Old-Type (fully restored and re-plated in gold by Razor Emporium)
Blade - *11th shave!
Shave Brush - 20mm GBS Synthetic 3rd generation
Shave Soap - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements/Crown King - Atomic Age Bay Rum
Post-Shave Balm - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements/Crown King - Atomic Age Bay Rum
Deodorant - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements/Crown King - Atomic Age Bay Rum
Cologne/Aftershave - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements/Crown King - Atomic Age Bay Rum in Stoneware Jug

***EDIT - The shave was primo! 3-passes, no discomfort, no pulling, fantastic glide and slickness and after 11 shaves, the blade is STILL mowing down hair. This is pretty amazing. Only one tiny weeper that immediately clotted by the end of the 3rd pass. BBS results. Really blown away by the Wilkinson Sword blade with this razor. Such a great pairing that works fantastic for me.

 

SOTD
Bay Rum Soap
Elk Antler Badger Brush
Henckels Friodur 72 1/2 Razor
Lucky Tiger
Ogallala Bay Rum After Shave
Have a great weekend!

 

Oleo Soapworks | Shiloh
PerFect Woodworks Infinity Brush | MAC Metalworks Synthetic 28mm
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Acqua di Parma | Colonia

​

The classic Acqua di Parma Colonia fragrance was the element that propelled me into this hobby. For years, I used grocery store brand shave soaps, Colgate, and Williams before I discovered the boldly fragranced RazoRock's XXX. My eyes and nose were suddenly opened to a seemingly endless realm of artisanal products and fragrances. As is typically my (expensive) custom, I immediately sought the original product that influenced the affordable RazoRock soap. I purchased a huge bottle of the AdP Colonia EdC along with the Collezione Barbiere soap from AdP. It was later that I'd discovered the original AdP soap that had been scented to match the eponymous fragrance had been discontinued, and the lightly scented soap I'd just purchased, while an incredible performer was a reformulation hardly even resembling Colonia. Thankfully, the EdC has always delivered. Over the years, my standards have matured, and I guess it's safe to say I've outgrown RazoRock. Taking nothing away from them, as they were quite the upgrade from Colgate. My tastes have just been honed with regard to performance and luxury post-shaves. So, in other words, I'm a soap snob.

Certainly lots of artisans have a Colonia clone or homage in their respective arsenals, but after a failed attempt to acquire Catie's Bubbles' Inspirazione di Parma, I essentially lost interest.

Recently, West Coast Shaving sent me a pre-release tub of "Oriental" which utilizes Oleo Soapworks' Canard soap base. I realized I didn't have a single Canard soap in my den. I'd used Canard previously when I participated in the Oleo test group. The artisan's token of appreciation for the participation was a generous sample of the final product. I never used the sample, because (snob alert) I don't like samples. The only time I use sample sizes is when I'm testing a product by request. Otherwise, I insist on the full package.

So why hadn't I picked up a retail-sized tub of this outstanding base? More snobbery incoming. I remember feeling a little vexed when "Smoke on the Water" was released as a Pasteur's exclusive, and then I just never looked that way again. With all the high-level offerings readily at my disposal, I'm afforded the luxury to be fickle, and I don't apologize for it. That said, it wasn't personal as Oleo's artisan is pure class.

Oriental reminded me of the stellar performance the Canard base offers. The only other duck fat soap I have is Bufflehead, and it doesn't even approach the performance of Canard, so I really needed this in my den. I thought that gap would be filled with the free tub of Oriental, but since West Coast Shaving is stuttering a bit out of the gate releasing the paired splashes, I put it on the back burner. Again, I'm a fickle consumer. Don't flinch---I may never see you again. Meanwhile a recent SOTD post from a fellow wet shaver featured "Shiloh" by Oleo. Once he confirmed this was an accurate dupe of Colonia, I suddenly found myself fresh out of excuses and resolved to dive into Oleo's site to pick up a set. Follow that up with blazing fast shipping, and we have today's shave!

Shiloh is indeed an accurate dupe of Acqua di Parma's Colonia projected with powerful scent strength that endures the 2-pass head and face shave. For those that don't know, the scent profile is a rich lemon-forward citrus followed by subtle florals and faint barbershop-esque powder before deepening to gentle woodiness by way of herbaceous lavender and clean vetiver. Colonia is romanticized Sicily in a bottle, and Oleo's Shiloh captures it perfectly.

I've recently commented on Oleo's Canard base performance, so the following will be a review: Canard is a duck fat base and is a moderately firm soap. It loads intuitively with a fairly damp---not dripping---knot. This is not a particularly thirsty soap, but it won't break down easily with higher volumes of water either. Face latherers can stop working the lather when a dense and slick low-profile stratum materializes. This is right where Canard shines. You can keep adding water and working it if you like thick gobs of lather, but for me, it just gets in the way and is completely unnecessary. Initial and residual slickness are high-level as is the luxurious post-shave.

The soap base itself precludes any real need for a post-product, but the alcohol-based splash is very basic and essentially serves as the typical astringency many of us want as a shave topper. The splash can be ordered with a menthol option, but I skipped it. As is, the splash remains true to the Colonia fragrance, and unless you're intimately familiar with the real thing, Shiloh could pass for it. The step-wise unfolding is a bit more distinct in the splash vs. Colonia, but it is essentially comparing to lemons to verbena.

I am so happy there's a high-performance AdP Colonia-style set readily available, now. Shiloh hits all the marks! I'm also excited to have re-discovered Oleo Soapworks.

 

8/25/2018 Saturday

Razor( s): OneBlade Core/ Gillette Guard
Blades: Feather FHS - 10(4)/ Gillette Guard Single Edge Cartridge (2)
Lather: Neutrogena Shave Cream
AS: Mennen AFTA/ Old Spice


I started with the `Core`. With each stroke the pain is something I can do without!! I persevered over my entire face, pain, nicks and pure discomfort caused me to switch over to the `Guard`. From there on, I was high flying with an easy, smooth as ice, clean and a BBS or better, with 2 passes, WTG/ATG and not much clean up, now I are happy. God be with each and all.

Bill

 

A top notch shave with one of my favorite razors

Hot water preparation
AOS Lavender PSO
Savile Row 3824
Mike’s Natural Soaps Hungarian Lavender
W&B 6/8
Thayer Rose Petal Witch Hazel



Happy shaving - Karl

 

The Saturday morning shave is one of the best things life has to offer.

This morning, it was the Chiller two band badger applied to one of my favorites, PAA's The Wow Signal soap. Putting those two together was like lightning. The lather flew out of the tub into the scuttle, and there was so much in the brush that I literally plastered my ugly face with the stuff.

The first pass raked off the thick forest of scrub that was growing, but I then decided to change out the elderly Voskhod blade for a fresh Rockwell. The next pass and a half resulted in a really fine shave. Even under the chin and front neck, where the whiskers are like metal rods, came out well.

A finish with a classic, Proraso green, and the day has well and truly begun. Now, coffee.

 

Shake Sharp/twin Supermax BDT. With apologies to my Blackbird, Karve, MMOC, etc , still the best shaver in my den.

 

Second shave with the Timeless Ti head today and it was just as good as the first.

Timeless 0.68 Ti head on Plaid handle
M&F Blonde Badger 3-Band
Luna Coco soap
Perma Sharp blade
SV Stella Alpina ASB
Bath House Cuban Cedar & Lime pre-shave oil


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Razor: Filarmonica Medallon Taurino 14 “Capote”
Brush: Whipped Dog 30mm HMW
Soap: Chiseled Face Trade Winds
A/S: Shulton Old Spice
1 of the 6 razors of the Medallon Taurino series depicting stages/scenes of a bullfight.

Enjoy your shave!
Tom

 

Thank you, Mark!

 

Wonderful picture, Mark!

 

August 25 SOTD:

Razor: PAA PHNX L-1
Brush: PAA Atomic Rocket
Lather: PAA Tombstone
Aftershave: PAA Tombstone
Additional Care:
Stirling Unscented PSB

 

Thank you Jim!

 

Pre: Warm water face wash
Brush: Omega 11137 Boar
Soap: Mitchell's Schafmilch
Razor: Colonial General Brass
Blade: Feather Pro Super
Post: Warm then cold water rinse, Myrsol F./Extra ASL

After reading @MntnMan62's comments about mixing MWF with Haslinger and who'd have thought two excellent soaps would produce another excellent soap.
I still prefer MWF but having another soap doesn't hurt.
Have a great weekend.

 

That Tombstone sounds great.