SOS July 2019

Yeah. I figured for sure this set would appeal to your sense of style. The Rich Man shaving brush was the necessary final touch that I needed for the set. This one is so cool. I might transplant over my soap and splash of Catie's Bubbles "The Dark Side" to this razor/brush/stand combo.

I'm very surprised that "The Deal Maker" soap is discontinued. I had to order 2 'used' containers from ebay. It's a solid performing soap and it smells just like Fahrenheit. It's a shame it's not made anymore. It really should have taken off as a product. I'm surprised it didn't.

 

Thanks Gary!

 

Number three of the three Napoleons in my den. A wonderful shave from the biggest blade I have. I refreshed it last night to level the playing field with some 3 micron lapping film, then 1 micron, followed by my Escher, some stropping, a little pasted strop, and some more stropping.

At least for now, the pecking order is as shown at the bottom of this post.

Today’s shave:

Hot water preparation
T&H Ultimate Comfort PSO
Jeff’s Lavender Mystic Water Soap
Savile Row 3824
John & Wm Ragg Napoleon 15/16
Thayers Witch Hazel Rose


...top to bottom is the current ranking - interesting that it came out smallest blade to largest blade...


Happy shaving - Karl

 

Thank you, Gary.

 

Saturday 6th July



Pears Glycerine soap
Stirling Electric Sheep Shaving soap
VIG Shaving 24mm Pure Badger Brush
Focus R28 Slim Al with a Kai Blade
Witch Hazel
Palmer's Unfragranced Moisturiser
Pinaud Lime Sec Cologne

2 passes and a touch-up for an excellent finish

 

It seemed a Ball End to me...

 

Thank you Douglas!

 

07/06/19 Shave of the Day
Face Wash with Ludington Glycerin Sandalwood Bar Soap
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements High Jump 47 Conditioning Shampoo Puck (W/ Yucca Root & Cider Vinegar)
The Holy Black Trading Co. Ruby Red Creeper Tallow Shave Soap
Wolf Whiskers RCE# 47 Custom Fluted DWW-3 25mm Black Wolf 3rd batch Synthetic hybrid/fan knot
Creative Flame Pottery Stoneware Shaving Scuttle
Smart Helix Apollo Stainless Steel Razor UA19028 Mild Setting
Bolzano Superinox Blade - 7th Shave
Shavex Alum Block
Thayers Lemon Witch Hazel Astringent with Aloe Vera Formula
The Holy Black Trading Co. Ruby Red Creeper Barrel Aged Aftershave Splash
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Mentholated Mysterium Serum Advanced Fragrance & Alcohol Free Aftershave Balm
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Cold Spices Natural Deodorant - New Sport Strength Formula ​

 

i don't understand sir..gillette super stainless blade .the spoiler..?

 

Razor: Maggard AlumiGoose
Blade: Feather Professional (5)
Brush: Wild West Brush Works Diablo 2 Band
Soap: Ogallala Bay Rum
Aftershave: Ogallala Special Reserve Double Strength Bay Rum Cologne
Bowl: Junichi Tanaka Lathering Bowl-Blue

Sticking with SE and Bay Bum this month. I ordered another Bay Rum Limes and Peppercorns. My friendly enable Guy (@ram57) mentioned that I would be very happy with this aftershave. Anyway, a great shave today. It's been around 100 *F here for this last few day, however, after a very long cold Winter there are no complaints fro me. Enjoy the Summer one and all!!!!!!!!!

 

Everything is just STUNNING Steve.

 

awesome shave sir..lovely pic..

 

Thanks so very much Gary.

 

So...how was the shave, Steve?

 

Ariana & Evans | Project C
APShaveCo. Elegant Emerald | SynBad 24mm
Durham-Enders | Enders Speed Shaver | Schick Proline B-20

​

Project C thankfully returns a second time as a SFWS Facebook group soap. I passed on it last year, but after more experience with Ariana & Evans soaps, I decided to pick this up strictly for the performance coupled with a scent profile that seemed to fit my preferences.

The Ariana & Evans soap base is among the very best currently available. While there's essentially nothing upon which this base can improve, its most extraordinary attribute is the absolutely stellar post-shave.

This rich tallow base has plenty of ingredients that can potentially color a fragrance, but I find this is primarily evident upon cracking open the tub. Each one of them pours out a milky cocoa scent that, depending on the strength and character of the intended fragrance, may briefly bleed over into the first few moments of the shave. Knowing nothing about soap making, I suspect that after successfully duplicating a known fragrance, the artisans' biggest challenge is probably accounting for transformative effects of the soap base.

Project C is no different, but the ultimate results are that the soap simply mutes some of the more intricate notes, and given the nature of the delivery, there's simply not enough time to appreciate the development of a complex fragrance. The soap, in this case is a tease for what's yet to come by way of the splash.

Given this, I'm inclined to comment on my impressions of the splash first, and then I will explain what the soap is unable to convey. I used the splash on a non-shave day, and I applied it to my head and face immediately following a shower. I did this the day before I actually shaved with the soap. This allows me to more carefully scrutinize the soap later, since the basic profile, as my nose interprets it, has already been explored.

Project C opens as a familiar boozy cola but with a twist of bitter citrus along with an abrupt medicinal and perhaps metallic intrusion. This is eventually intertwined with a gentle spiciness and rose. The fragrance becomes more oriental with thick syrupy resin, moderately sweet florals, and cured tobacco, before giving way to dry woods and worn leather. The established sweetness prevails but remains guarded. Spicy vanilla and cardamom invade the dry down early, acquiring more spiciness with time. It's at this point in which the scent becomes more gourmand. This is followed by a brief resurgence of leather before settling back into a softer, sweet, powdery vanilla and rose. Just when the fragrance seems to have faded, the initial fizzy cola waxes and wanes.

While the boozy opening is enjoyable, it's been done. The real allure for me from Project C lies in the heart and protracted dry down. Certainly there's nothing groundbreaking about gourmand vanilla and cardamom and even leather, the delivery of which is what makes this particularly enjoyable to me. While I enjoy sweet fragrances, they're not always wearable for me. Project C perfectly rides this line and makes it a win for me. Over the course of a typical work day, I lost track of the fragrance after about 5 hours, but it was resurrected with the evening shower.

The soap surprisingly carries this fragrance well. The cola aspect is more citrusy and the cognac is perhaps more recognizable. Overall the soap is less sweet, the resin is softer, and the aldehydes struggle to pierce through. The gourmand vanilla and cardamom own the stage for the most part, but leather does play a role just prior to finishing up. I detect very little powder aspect in the soap.

Project C is apparently a dupe of Roja Parfums' Enigma pour Homme. After a quick search, I discovered it's a rather pricy fragrance, but if Project C is accurately reproducing it, I can't see how I can avoid picking up a retail bottle.

 

Thank you, Doug.

 

The Sunday Way Of Things:

prep-Nivea 4 Men Bodywash(Energy)in shower
shave-Gillette Foamy Menthol
razor-Gillette Sensor Deuce Pivot DisposeABLE
A.S. Clubman Reserve Gent's Gin

 

Picture and write up Matt.

 

Good shave Paul.