March 2021 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion. ALL are Welcome!

Thanks, Jason!

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SOTD WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 10, 2021

Please accept my apologies for the lateness of this post. Yesterday SWMBO and I receive our second plague vaccine jab. Today Habitat for Humanity picks up most of my in-laws furniture, tools, and electronics. I'm glad its going for a good cause. There's also two or three loads of my stepfather's clothes to be dropped off at a local Christian Charity. But all was not strictly philanthropic. I was also able to sell his gun collection for a very nice profit to a local gun dealer I met a month ago when last here. He almost lost bowel and bladder control when he saw the immaculate 11 Diana Grade Brownings and the 8 Olin Model 21's in my father-in-law's gun safe. My wife was astounded at what I was able to sell them for. All I'll say is the guy took out a second mortgage on his business, and SWMBO and I are South Pacific bound (Bali, Tahiti) Cleaning out my wife's father's home has not been fun, but thank goodness I was able to start this morning with a crackerjack shave!

Every straight razor seems to have its own personality. This little, old Boker French Point is probably my second favorite cast steel razor. It's small and easy to maneuver, and has such a great buttery smooth edge. The only drawback is the old cast steel doesn't hold an edge as long as some of my other razors. But an even better surprise was discovering that I'd never unpacked my G.E. Jones Shake Sharp Model 1.5 safety razor with the black bakelite handle. This little SE beauty is one of the great secrets of the vintage wet shaving world. When loaded with two stacked DE blades - yes, it's an SE designed for DE blades - it'll outshave just about any safety razor around. They are hard to find, but once you have one in hand, loaded with two stacked DEs, you'll get it! It is hands down, my best vintage head shaver, definitely in the top three of all categories. The only modern artisan razors that give it a run for its money are the Supply V2 and the Colonial Silversmith. These three are easily my best head shavers. So after the three pass mug shave and the two pass noggin shave, I'm feeling refreshed, clean, and porcelain smooth.

RAZOR: Boker Sheffield Cast Steel French Point (Mug), G.E. Jones Shake Sharp Model 1.5 (Dome)
BLADES: 2 Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Knurled Aluminum Handled Hybrid Knot #007
CREAM: Nancy Boy Signature
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Nancy Boy AS Balm.

 

Wow, quite a curveball indeed, Joe. Sorry to hear that.
A great pic and shave at least. The brush is so unique...love the look of the twine/rope on it.

 

Another very positive review of the Mike's soaps, Clint. Has it risen to the top of your 'Artisan croap' list?

 

Very good description of the OT, Joseph. I've looked at that Paco Rabanne a few times. I saw it described as a 'classic, powerful Fougere'. Would you concur?

 

Nice, Myles! Looks like you've been able to build your den up quite a bit again, already. Well done.

 

Glad to hear the razor is a keeper, Danny. That handle looks like a bead-blasted version of a Razorock Radio Knob handle. Do you have both?

 

Thanks Jason!

 

Wednesday March 10, 2021
Razor: Hospital Razor
Blade: Wizamet (?)
Brush: Knothead Brushworks "The Kentuckian"
Soap: Ethos/DFS Colonia
AS 1: Humphrey's Alcoholado Maravilla 70
AS 2: Ethos/DFS Colonia
Fragrance: Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet

This is a Hospital Razor that I believe descends from the Krect family of razors. If not it has the identical handle some of them had. It was and extremely effective tool for removing the stubble and smooth too. Really surprised me and glad to have it in the den. Really surprised how good it cleaned up to almost like new. Hard to catch in the pics but has a decent blade gap and positive exposure. Had a nice lather from the soap and I hesitate to say it but the scent was reminding me of something and I couldn't put my finger on it. I'm probably going to hear about it but I always give an honest opinion for me and can only speak for myself. I get the lemon up front as others had said and not much else. Then it hit me............the scent reminds me of Arko. It certainly is a better lather than Arko but that's the scent to me. Not a bad thing but not what I was expecting. Anyway, everyone's nose is different. Can't help what I smell from it. Topped off with the BB which is a bright scent close to it. Hope all are having a great day as I got busy and am late posting this !

 

Zero need to apologize for a late post, Jeff. I'd have to apologize virtually everyday if the expectation was otherwise. Glad to hear you were able to sell the gun collection. No sign of any vintage shaving gear yet?

 

Asha is a much better student than I ever was. She will be teaching Master Level courses in the Fall so it is pretty cool for her. As part of her program she will be ready to be a professor when she completes her program. She said her long term goal is to be in private practice but teach 1 or 2 courses a semester and continue to do research work as well.

 

My lawyer, F. Baily van Wanderlust is current looking into rectifying that.

 

Fantastic shave and report Jeff. Great job on the gun sale. Many people would not have known the value and been taken advantage of. Your wife was lucky to have you there to help. Take care and stay safe.

 

Looks and sounds like a really interesting razor, Dave. I had never heard of it before you posted it in the BMS thread. Has sort of a Tech baseplate by the looks of it?

Love the detail work in that brush! Not as easy as it looks, believe me. Love that Blue metallic resin look, I have done a few myself like that.

 

Thank you Jason. I really like Mike's and will buy some more when these 2 are gone. Mike's and WSP Formula T are my 2 favorite artisan soaps now. For me they hit a good spot of value and performance. I do need to try PAA at some point as well. I did order a brush handle from PAA the other night. Come to think of it I have been doing a lot of retail therapy lately (shaving and non shaving related)

 

Post- border opening, If I ever wander south of the 49th, I'll let you and Mr. van Wanderlust know. I'll have my personal barrister and solicitor (Mr. Haywood Yaforgetitt) with me.

 

I would, Jason. I would also make the effort to score a vintage bottle.
From a basenotes.net forum:

Reformulations
This is a tricky thing to write about. To begin with, one person’s sense of smell will be different to another, so all ‘opinion’ has to be taken as just that – unless there is some concrete evidence of reformulation.

I have done several trials of the first 3 versions and found very little difference. The problem is…because of the age of this scent, even 2 bottles of the identical vintage can never be identical. Unless the bottles have been stored under exactly the same conditions (i.e. side by side!) then there has to be some kind of variation. In my case, I have purchased bottles from different parts of the world, which means different climates, temperatures, humidity levels, obviously totally different storage conditions etc. So, comparing the bottles I have is not particularly useful. Even if there had never been a reformulation to PRPH, a 40 year old bottle is going to smell different to a 20 year old bottle, so testing bottles in retrospect is not a reliable way to indicate that a reformulation has taken place.

Ericrico has written extensively on the forum regarding the intricate details of how the fragrance has varied over the years, and it is worth reading his posts for an expert opinion.

Here is what I am confident about. Paco Rabanne Pour Homme has undergone at least two significant reformulations over the years - and probably some minor ones too. One major reformulation definitely took place in 2001/2002, after manufacturers were forced, by the IFRA, to reduce the amount of oakmoss used in their fragrances (July 2001). This required a change to the PRPH recipe, which has always relied heavily on this particular ingredient. Another major reformulation took place to coincide with the latest packaging of 2010, and will be immediately obvious to anyone comparing Editions 5 & 6 side-by-side.

If you were to line up all 6 versions and test them, you would find that there has been a steady, progressive departure from the original, into a totally different fragrance. If I had to rank the size of these changes in numerical terms, it would look something like this:

1st Edition – 100%
2nd Edition – 97%
3rd Edition – 92%
4th Edition - Unknown
5th Edition – 50%
6th Edition – 20%

Meaning that the 6th edition has something like 20% of the characteristics of the Original, and that there is only a 5% difference between the 2nd & 3rd editions. Again, these kinds of comparisons are totally subjective, and in the case of a 5% difference, this could easily be put down to bottle-variance, and not necessarily a reformulation. I am not totally convinced that there was any change to the recipe from 1st to 2nd Editions. However, there is evidence of a reformulation for the 3rd Edition. 2001 was not the first time that the IFRA had put a restriction on oakmoss, as can be seen in one of Andrè’s posts here.

Tips for buying
I bought almost all of my bottles from Ebay, and had them shipped in from all over the world. I have to say that I was not optimistic about how well the product would have lasted, but I can say after purchasing 15 separate bottles, only one of them was disappointing enough for me to regret having made the purchase. What I learned from this particular sale was NOT to buy a bottle that was without its box. The thing that will help a fragrance to deteriorate quickest is sunlight. Although a box is no guarantee that the fragrance has aged well, If the seller doesn’t have a box, there is more chance that the bottle has been exposed to sunlight at some point over the years. Of course, you could get lucky and find one that has been stored well - but without a box, the odds are against it. The next most damaging thing is heat – which is what makes the sunlight so bad. Leaving a bottle in direct sunlight will not only expose it to harmful UV-rays, but also to an increased temperature. So, store your bottles in a cool dark place, along with the potatoes, dynamite, gunpowder etc.

When purchasing bottles that are not full, beware that the remaining fluid in the bottle is being exposed to the air that is in there too. This reduces the chances of the fragrance having held up well, and I wouldn’t buy one of these unless the price was very low indeed, or the bottle itself had some unique value to it. Besides, when you are paying for postage, the larger and fuller the bottle, the cheaper your scent will work out.

In the case of ‘atomiseurs’, note that some people have had the nightmare experience of a bottle dispensing all of its gas, (and a large amount of the fragrance) because of a faulty atomiser. I have not had this happen to me, and I think it is very rare. But in a case where you have a choice of similar age bottles, I would always recommend the ‘vaporisateur’. You can search the forum to read about those horror stories. I think there is also an argument that in two bottles of the same volume, one should get more fluid in a vaporisateur, because there is no gas being stored inside the bottle. Please comment if you know more about the science of this.

New legislation has been introduced in the US, and perhaps in some other countries, to prohibit overseas shipping of any product that contains alcohol. Because of this, you might have issues when ordering from the US.

My advice for ‘best buy’ is the 3rd Edition. Bottles are available in abundance, and although it might not be exactly the same as the original, the difference is slight, and not in any way negative (at least in my opinion). The fact that it is newer, also means there has been less time for it to deteriorate, and the availability of bottles means that prices are not too high either. Another advantage is that coding is clearer and more reliable.

 

Stunning Razor and Brush Dave. Arko!!! Arko!!! Thank you Dave. Thank you...Thank you. I almost ordered the soap and splash and was considering it again today. I am so glad I resisted the urge.

 

Me as well. Most all of it non-shave related, ironically. I forget sometimes that this really is an inexpensive hobby compared to a few others.

 

Outstanding shaves one and all Gentlemen. All I can say is if Myles doesn't think Williams smells like Moth Balls it doesn't He would know better than anyone