Thank you, Blair! I don't know that straight razor shaving will ever be my go to but it's something I'll dabble with off and on. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Thank you, Blair! We had a great week last week and got the whole show down. Now just clean clean clean from here on out.
July Focus Barrister & Mann~~Morris & Forndran~~Portland 1905 First use of a B&M "Reserve-Base" soap. This stuff is extremely "gooey" loading and when it first meets wet skin, it doesn't readily emulsify. My first thought was, "This is like trying to mix oil and water". Very reminiscent of Mystic Water soap...the goo, that is. The Lavender is interesting, appealing and not at all what I was expecting. Having recently used lavenders from Meißner-Tremonia, AoS, Chatillon Lux, MdC and Fine, I was ready for a fairly straight forward French Lavender." Au contraire, mon frère". Not being a "Frag-Head", my olfactory-sense vocabulary is limited to garlic, basil, thyme, etc. So, I am compelled to borrow from the B&M website: "Barrister’s Reserve Lavender is as smooth as lavender can get. Based on a beautiful aftershave from Wales, this is the scent described by famed perfume critic Luca Turin as "Summer wind made smell" and 'the greatest lavender of all time.'" That's no help, is it How about this: Smells good. And honestly, who wants 5 soaps that smell exactly alike? Not Primo. Back to the lathering... Not to be dissuaded, I worked the goop into my face with the heavenly 28mm Blonde Badger 2XL. Unsurprisingly, the goop turned glorious and the resulting glory was, indeed, a slick, shiny base. The Portland 1905 has a bit of a "smile", nevertheless, gives a great, close and smooth shave. I keep opening up a cut from a bad set-down three days ago, but otherwise, two passes for a DFS+++ Usual post-shave routine, except for the B&M Lavender AS. Love the juice. If you love lavender as I do (@Karl G ), it would behoove you to take a look at this product.
You imply Mystic Water Soaps have "goo"...yet I've seen comments that they are pretty flat at the beginning, that is of the 3x milled persuasion. MW4Men is on my shopping list...when, I don't know, but might you straighten out this "flat goo" mystery?
Mystic Water soaps are not triple-milled, Paul. They do produce a gooey mess before proper hydration.
Been focusing on this particular edge forward shaving device that recently came back from honing. This particular Honemeister likes Sharptons, and goes to 30k grit. So far, so good. I want to see how well I do maintaining on pasted balsa strops. Things seemed very sharp if not a little crisp for the first few and are smoothing out more as I go. Probably try hitting the pasted balsa once a week. The razor is shaving in top form. First run with the newly added Stirling Triumph. I had the sample size of one EdT and decided to get the set. The Blue Ming was on hand to help make sure we got the lather shiny and sloshy the way I like. A bit of a dress up scent that the Lovely Mrs Headroom was fond of. Be careful not to overdose on the AS though.
Your warning about overdosing on the aftershave makes good sense to me...I was PIFed an A.S. that is about the same size as Triumph, but it had no name....someone suggested it might be the Avon Chess Set, and that indeed could be. Thing is, I got the cap off, tilted it to pour, and got Niagra Falls. I need to negotiate it before using it again. Smelled nice though.
Nice! Don't be afraid to finish up with one of your other tools. I gave myself 100 days, mostly with the same straight, only using a back up straight to confirm the condition of my edge. I finished with another razor for a month. Since I was successful in subscribing to the 30DC philosophy of eliminating variables for learning DEs, I thought I should do at least the same thing on edge forward devices. Take your time and enjoy it. In the beginning, I set aside an hour to straight shave. I can do one in 5 minutes now, but grab another tool if that's all the time I have.
Based on the look your bride gave me when I gave you that razor, I’m glad to hear you didn’t hurt yourself. It makes me feel safer. I still have spots I can’t get quite as smooth with a straight, because ATG in some parts of my neck is almost impossible. I have a couple of spots that get a WTG and two XTG passes, and I call them good. Keep on with it, and it will get less awkward. Congrats, and welcome to the Dark Side, Jim!
