Stephanie is in my prayers, Jason. Safe travels for you all also. I'm glad your Father in Law is there holding down the fort this week.
My problem the first time around was I listened to all of the MWF tricks, “bloom it”, “use more water”, etc. I even watched a video where a guy took four minutes showing how “easy” it is to get a nice lather with MWF The second time around, I jus treated it like any other soap. I don’t bloom it first and just load the brush and bowl lather it. Sometimes I add just a touch more water. It works every time. Don’t overthink it!
You may notice an uptick in male cats sniffing around. I like Pinaud products. They are inexpensive, generally long lasting since they don't skimp on the scents, and available at many of my local barber supply shops. Decanting into glass is a must do. Keep in mind if you are married, your other half needs to approve too. There is at least one ebay seller that offers 1.7 ounce samplers so you can be disappointed on multiple levels. Seems like I've seen multiple 30 DC using their VIBR.
Hello friends, Today's shave was with the 3rd razor from the auction. It is a DE razor....and that's about all I know of it. But I'll say this , it shaved damnnnnn good! There is no markings of any kind on it and all the seller replied was"pas de nom" . Tried a Rapira ( I'm loving these blades) that was used twice before paired with proraso green, unknown brush...see the pattern? ...and Stirling balm. My sinuses are clear , my head and face baby smooth and I'm not feeling like I got taken in this deal. Just cleaned and sanitized it again and I think it's going to my God son as I've put together a starter kit for him which I have high hopes of him using. Since he is a military man now, im adding in a tech travel kit also since he sure packs that gear in tight for those hikes and other such maneuvers they must do. Since I have no boys to pass my stuff on to someday, I figured I may as well familiarize him with some of his inheritance to be. Hope he will enjoy it as much as I am now. Tomorrow I will just randomly pick a razor and gear and see how it goes. Until then...Good evening.
All right. I have the Tabac ready to roll for Tabac Tuesday! Gonna go at it with a stiff custom made boar brush! I'm going to load more than I think it needs, and bust out a great lather. On this topic however, this may not make a difference, but out of curiosity I used filtered water this morning for my Arko shave. I noticed that the lather came together much easier than before. Again, I'm not sure if it is from the filtered water or my skills improving. I will try the filtered water again tomorrow morning to test my hypothesis.
My plan is to live to 100+ years, and shave till I can't hold the razor anymore, in which then hopefully a young nurse will assist me in this task. But.... if you can hold out , I'll research the family tree in the meantime and get back to you.
I'd say yes and yes. Water makes a difference they say and your skill is also improving, although you may not notice. I say Bully on the boar! My boar lathers any soap like a king.
Forgot to include this with my report. These blades came with the auction razors. Anyone seen/used these before?
Wow, I take a vacation and I more than 600 posts behind. In going with the Decadent December I pick a shiny Koraat and a gift from my Secret Santa, Oleo El Caballero for the return shave. The soap was very wet and slick with a great scent. Unfortunately the edge is need a visit to the touch up stones. Irritation A Closeness B+ Smoothness B+ Sharpness B Razor: Koraat 7/8 half hollow Strop: Dry Gulch Black Latigo Brush: Thäter 2 band Pre: Nivea Soap: Oleo AS: Speick AS, TSD Milk ASB Scent: Penhaligon’s Hammam Bouquet
If you have hard water, the first thing the soap has to do is precipitate out the minerals. Then it can make lather. ARKO is easy lathering, and Tabac is no slouch, either. Did you get Tabac in a hard puck or cream? The cream should work up easily. The puck does require a little more loading time than softer soaps but it's worth it. Never seen those particular blades. The package notes "Made of genuine Watch Spring Steel". Wikipedia notes that; These steels are generally low-alloy manganese, medium-carbon steel or high-carbon steel Could just be a marketing ploy for regular old fashion carbon steel.
DECember Focus On! Proraso Red SS Semogue 1305 Suribachi bowl Gillette Aristocrat Personna Blue Proraso Red AS Put together an impromptu scuttle for a warm lather. Cool temps here on the South Coast so I didn't do my usual cool water shave. The boar brush and sandalwood soap seemed to like it. I could defiantly smell the soap with my slightly stuffy nose. Full three passes, pushed my luck with some clean up, finished DFS all the way to my lower neck. The previous owners of this DE knew about riding the cap. Nickel showing up top, but the guard bar is still shiny gold. Mass produced soap and AS? I like it. Good Shaves Y'all!
Welcome back Keith! Beauty of a setup there. Great shave Rick! Aren't these old razors intriguing? Would be cool to know who used them and what soaps, blades, brushes, etc they used for shaves.
