Tonight's shave

Razor C-MON Cadillac it is perfectly in the middle of 5/8" and 6/8". I touched up the edge from 5k Naniwa then 8k Naniwa and finally 12k Naniwa. It gave an ok shave but not near as smooth and comfortable as my japanese razors. I'm thinking it may need a little more time on the 12k.

Strop Bakersfield Barber Supply Russia Shell. I was very surprised how good of condition this was in. I had to get this strop because my parents and my sisters were born in Bakersfield. I was born on Travis Air force Base in '82. We moved around and in '91 moved back to Bakersfield and I've pretty much been here ever since. So having a strop from this city is really cool.

Brush Lowborn Supply with 26mm AP Shave co 2-band Gelousy SHD (A2) this was the first use of this handle and knot. I love the shape and color of the handle. The knot, what can I say, other than I FREAKING LOVE THIS KNOT. The tips are softer than any other badger knot ive tried. I will definitely be getting more of these knots. To me it's better than the Shavemac, Elite, and every other knot ive used.

Lather Bowl Captains Choice Lather Bowl. I really like this bowl. I would like one a bit wider though. It is a great lather bowl though.

Soap Crowne and Crane Tobacco Leaf and Amber. There is just something alluring about this scent. A slight sweetness and a depth at the same time. Great slickness and just a great soap all around.

A/S Crowne and Crane Tobacco and Amber balm. This is the first time using a balm, well besides Proraso White A/S balm. This is more like a thick lotion. The balm left my face feeling so much softer than with splash. I will be getting more balms as I have never really tried them since I dont normally like lotions at all.

Fragrance Axe daily fragrance Oud Wood and Dark Vanilla. I found this at Marshalls. I didn't know Axe made cologne. But this cologne is amazing. Woody and sweetness blended perfectly. So I shave at night but before going to work I use cologne. So this cologne was what I wore this morning.

So do I

Wow, that is quite the set up

Thank you!

It could really be swedish steel. I have a hard time honing it just as the heljestrand frameback.

This is not like the other french framebacks I have.

Keep on the look out on the french eBay. They are not that rare.

Blade World Master
Brush BSSW
Prep Pre De Provence Sandalwood Bar
Soap & Splash A&E
Balm A&E Post Shave Serum

Shaving nirvana with this ultra-light Solingen blade’s 1st outing. What a treat!

Thank you. The next shave will be trying the C-MON HF then the C-MON Special

Yesterday’s shave was a test of 2 stones just for fun, a pure, smooth butterscotch kiita vs a super hard, super dense green asagi that a friend of mine dubbed ‘the boulder’. The interesting thing about the asagi edge is that I finished it with a hard white Mikawa nagura, no tomo was used. This nagura was part of a 6-nagura lot, all of which are excellent. In testing them, I found that this stone, stamped with a dealer‘s stamp (I assume) and ¥1300 was hard and extremely fine. I also assume that it’s a koma. It takes some time to raise a slurry with it on the green stone.

The kiita is easier to use, slurries a lot more easily and is very smooth. I finished both edges on thin slurry, but some clear water strokes probably could have boosted the kiita edge a bit.

The edges were indistinguishable on the WTG pass, and I’d give the kiita edge the slightest advantage on some parts of the face - like under the jaw - on the ATG pass, but I may be imagining things. It was that close. Anyway, it was fun to get out some different stones and take the test Monkeys for a spin.

Today’s shave was #104 on the Filly 14 Sub Cero. Still no tugging, but certainly not like fresh off the hone 100+ shaves ago. Soap was 3P lathered with a Simpsons 58 and Myrsol Agua Balsamica finished up.

Friodur 17 sporting an edge fresh off of the kiita barber’s hone. Great shave thanks to Pannacrema Nuávia Verde:

Quick change of the blade and we have Part 2 of the Robert Williams custom named “Duo.” This blade is longer and a bit thinner, but still sporting the exaggerated monkey tail.

Stirling’s Electric Sheep was a nice compliment to the razor.

Another excellent shave from this Duo. And a family picture with the entire setup.

Enjoy your shave.
Tom

Puma 9 5/8

Cella shaving soap + Vitos tabacco

Blade Heljestrand MK10
Brush BSSW
Soap MDC Agrumes
Splash Myrsol Agua De Limón
Balm Nivea

My 1st ever MDC shave resulted in some skin irritation and rash. This shave however was perfect. Subsequent elimination of products through experimentation isolated another, more likely source of that burn.

I was concerned my newly acquired MDC soaps would end up being unusable for me. This shave all but eliminated my concerns.

It seems the true culprit was a combination use and of my particular mode of use of Alum. Prior to now I was very aggressively applying the alum post-shave and not rinsing the astringent before using other post-shave products. This burn had been intermittently recurring and I was blaming new soaps from time to time, for the irritation. I have been working on narrowing down products and testing others before I finally cut out the alum and now can enjoy all the soaps/splashes/balms I currently own.

Now I truly understand the high regard for the MDC soaps. This was a most comfortable and enjoyable shave. Further, this combination was excellent; I do not hesitate to recommend pairing this soap with this splash!

This John Clarke & Son is a bellied hollow and the Velcro ripping noise it produces reminds me of some wonderful SEs laying dormant in my den. Clean shaven once again

Hot water preparation
AOS Lavender PSO
Savile Row 3824
Castle Forbes Lavender Shaving Cream
John Clarke & Son NEVA 11/16
AOS Lavender After Shave Balm



Happy shaving - Karl

I seem to have neglected to post today. Hishakaku 500, likely named after the character in the 1960s cult Japanese yakusa film. It’s one of the finest razors I own. It’s finished like a sword, even the nose is finished like the rest of the razor. It’s impeccably ground, and though it’s 1/4 hollow, it’s ground so thinly at the edge that the bevels are difficult to see. That makes honing more difficult. Even the scales are very nice, somewhat uncommon with Japanese razors. Soap was MdC in a brain bowl, brush was a Simpson 58, and AS was SMN lavender. I stayed BDBS for hours.

Tonight's shave was with a wonderful Solingen Made razor, for the French market. I had a silky smooth, 2 pass shave, that left me BBS. Zero issues, from a very well made razor.

Razor- Puma 69.
Brush- RazoRock 400. High Mountain Badger knot
Soap- ARKO
Aftershave- Florida Water

Also going with some Solingen steel this evening with a Coronia 36 “High Class”

Enjoy your shave.
Tom

fine shave Tom,cool looking razor..

bellied hollow? I'm not familiar with that one.

Love seeing that razor. In that lighting it looks like a golden lined cloud. I always do a double take when you post it.

Another factory fresh gem, I love the name too.

I am inspired, tomorrow I will bring out my Friodur.

Wednesday shave: Wacker Huntsman



Thursday shave: Dorko

Thanks Keith. It’s a unique razor, unlike anything else I have, and super fun to use. Lucky find for sure.