Very nice, Jason.

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This morning’s shave was with a custom razor that I took back to the stones to get adequately sharpened. Wasn’t convinced I’d gotten the job done until I set down the blade on my chin without my typical smooth, suave and oh-so-gentle technique. If this was Forged In Fire, AJ Markaida would be proclaiming “Iht wheel caht!” My wife happened to walk in at the drawing of first blood. As she spun around on her heel and mumbled, “I can’t watch this” under her breath, I still can’t see this as anything but a win.

i have cypress/ vetiver ,and wood and spice soaps, balms and creams.all are excellent. very slick stuff,nice face feel. proraso call them there single edge line.one may think its for straight razor guys but not sure..i find them better than the orig red ,white and green, but i love those as well.there is nothing i don t like about proraso products...

I'm still filling in the missing pieces of the Red, White, & have the Green set. Enjoy them all, too! Good to know the next version is even better. I've only seen the tubes of cream soap for the Single Edge, but if the Proraso business model holds true those will be available in tubs next.

I did quite a bit of self actualized enabling reading up on sandalwood AS. There's different interpretations on the theme, but I kept hearing that Proraso uses sandalwood EO rather than scent oils or alternatives & other scents that layer up. I ordered Proraso from dermstore.com. With the New Customer discount got the 100ml bottle shipped for $11.70US. That gives me one more unique combo to work in this month of no repeats!

My bowl was smooth. I do remember you told me earlier that a ridged or bumpy bowl would provide better lather. The plastic one has a rougher texture so in theory it should generate more lather...but based on my latest shave...I think I wasn't using enough water..I added a bit more and I got huge amounts of lather this time. Appreciate the suggestions!

True. I loaded the brush a bit more and added more water this time and that seems to have done the trick!

Agreed. Seems like I wasn't using enough water. The high gloss sheen is a good tip. I'll look for that when adding water bit by bit. Thanks!

the creams i have are in bags with caps on them ..for lather machine or dispenser ?

I appreciate the concern, Randy, but as I said the first time- If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't. Probably not until Springtime anyway. I'm not sure what the deal would be this time, to be honest. Regardless, I don't think an LE every two years is all that onerous...
You do realize the irony here, you -who spent a great deal of time/gear/resources on multiple Shavey awards- asking me to think about scaling back...et tu Randus?

I haven't started with any bevvies yet tonight, but now that you've got the thought planted...

NOVember; showing my sensitive side

Proraso Green tea & oat SS
B-400 Brush - Omega 98 knot
Osaka Suribachi bowl
The Bunny OC adjustable
Schick Chick blade
Proraso Green tea & oat lotion
An easy choice of soap & AS though I don't "need" a set up for sensitive skin. I enjoy the scent of this line as it reminds me of muscadine grapes picked fresh from the vine. Using my freshest boar knot threaded on Tom's @twhite Rubberset 400 styled handle reminds me why I like a scrubby fresh one. I gave the brush just seconds to get wet leaving it with that not quite broken in feeling. Easily loaded the soft soap and bowl lathered up a batch & a half of fragrant wet yogurt. The prototype injector, also by mechanical wizard Tom, fitted with the middle aggression NOTSO comb gave its standard smooth close reduction. No blood shed, matching AS applied, and I packed the grandkids up to visit with my parents. While we were there I let one of the 7 year olds give me a 1/2" buzz hair cut. My Melody did well, though she was apprehensive about the comb-off neck trim. Understanding that just like shaving, if she didn't get it just right it would grow back, she grinned and did a fine job. Tipped her a dollar for the great service. We made it home in time for my famous grilled cheese sandwiches & tomato soup.
Good Shaves Y'all!

Shave # 4 in November

Razor: Merkur 23C
Blade: Personna Red
Preshave: Neutrogena Skin clearing Shave cream
Lather: Arko Shave stick
Brush: German Boar
Postshave: Pacific Shaving Company Caffeinated aftershave

Good shave. I just just one small point where It was almost a bleeder but not quite. I figured out what as causing my lower amount of lather with the Arko. Thanks to a few suggestions from our wise members in this thread I realized that I wasn't using enough water!

Once I loaded the brush a bit more and added even more water than usual I had a huge amount of lather! I had more than enough for 8-9 passes. I had to toss out most of it but at least now I know that if in doubt...add a bit more water!

Still Loving the Merkur 23C! Adding the Neutrogena as a preshave did wonders for the dryness from arko. Skin felt a lot less dry. I only used it for the first pass underneath the arko. Because it goes on clear and does not lather it's perfect for the task. The gylcerin base in that soap also provides a nice cooling sensation. It's def a good fit with Arko for sure! Makes me think other clear shaving cream might be useful in the same way.

Great pic, Rick, but are you sure those are matching software? The SS looks to be the White, while the lotion looks to be the Blue? I could be mistaken- Randy has just ordered me to consume some fine BC beers...

Nice photo and shave, Rick. Great day with the grandkids.

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Appears so. Check THIS out!

NOVember is NO whatever you want it to be! Apparently.

November 17

Razor - Fatip (Agressivo smoothus)
Blade - (Russki platinus maximus)
Soap - Wheat State Barbershop (Sopius flatlandius)
Brush - Tweezerman Badger (Flopimus shediferous ultimas)
Post - Alum (ouchius testerino)

Everything looked pretty good off of the randomizer though it picked my very first brush purchase, the Tweezerman badger. Talk about a cheap brush. My goodness I haven't used it in months and had forgotten two things about it. Number one it has zero backbone. As in floppier than a 1988 computer disc (that will resonate with the older crowd) and it drop bristles so easily that it's probably still dropping them as it sits by the sink. The Wheat State soap isn't bad, but it got no help from that brush.

The razor/blade combo of the Fatip and Rapira PL - hard to beat. And, in spite of having a difficult time of getting lather with that brush I did manage a very nice three pass near-BBS for the finish with alum just a touch on the warm side in a few places.

At the conclusion of the shave I gave the brush a cool scientific name, then decided that the entire shave deserved some creativity, thus the labeling. I also retired the brush forever from use in my den. It won't even get a second turn this month. Done with it. I dug enough badger hair out of the soap to build my own badger. And there's no market for build a badger. Only bears.

Have a great Sunday!

You are correct Jason. The scent of the White soap & Blue Lotion is similar, but it appears I don't have a matching set. They do make a White (pelli sensibili anti-irritazione = sensitive skin anti-irritation) lotion, and Blue (protettivo e idratante = protective and moisturizing ) formula line.

So now I need tube of Blue soap and white AS!

Edit; The Blue is available in a squeeze tube of cream or spray foam can - no tub yet. I prefer hard soaps to creams so I'll wait them out on both that and the Single Edge products.

Every little trick helps.

Hey, just hand the brother another Molson and let him decide, will ya? No, seriously, I hear what you're saying. His generosity on the first run was absolutely amazing, but whatever he decides I'll support. Especially if he decides to have another Molson. Just saying.

I use a 2011 R41 and find it is very sensitive to what blade I use. The only blades I use are GSB and Iridium Super. I found Feathers in this razor did not work well for me but many other use Feathers in their R41s. Also I get fewer shaves per blade than on other razors.

That being said the advice earlier is the same as I would give: Ride the cap and stretch your skin flat.

Ahh...the Tweezerman brush...it looks suspiciously like the Escali brush which was the first brush I ever used. God that brush was a shedder! I swear it left more hairs on my face than I shaved off! Thanks to some of the generous PIF's I have received from the members here, I understand what a good brush is actually like now. I would recommend to the Cartel that we that particular model good sir. No others should suffer the indignity!

Sunday Shave

Queen Charlotte Soaps and my BK8 can only mean one thing, time for some hot lather. Fired up the tea kettle and had a nice hot lather, the razor is holding its wonderful edge and the end result, epic.

Irritation A+ Closeness A+ Smoothness A+ Sharpness A-

Razor: Friodur 8/8
Strop: Kanoyam
Brush: Kent BK8
Pre: Nivea
Soap: QCS
AS: Fine American Blend AS, L’Occitane ASB
Scent: YSL Rive Gauche

the sandalwood aftershave ,i read somewhere that it was true indian sandalwood. very nice stuff.

that is cool, love to have one..