February 2022 30 Day Rule/Focus and Discussion. All Are Welcome!

Great shave, Barry, as always! Really glad to see born razors have found a home where they’ll be used. I used to use the Personna PTFE Gem blades, but since switching to Pella, I’ve never looked back. Since beards differ, I won’t talk about blade longevity, but will say that for me the Pella blades provided more smoother shaves. NHope you enjoyed your green tea this morning, my limey friend!

 

That is a nice collection of folding knives. Thanks for sharing Charlie
Is today a no shave day too.

 

Nice collection Charlie! Most of mine’s with my grandson, Kevin. I did keep a few for myself, two William McHenry customs, and a mammoth scaled AG Russell one handed knife. All three date from a New York Knife Show I attended thirty years ago.

 

Thanks Joe. It's a bunch of odds and ends, but they all hold special memories.

I hope you have a great weekend!

 

Very nice looking collection. For the uneducated like me, what is a knife roll? I'm sure I can google it, but would love to see what your friend made for you.

 

Thanks Jeff. I would enjoy seeing photos of your knives as well.

I spent my teenage years going to knife shows with my Dad on the weekends. Fun times.

 

Fabulous shave report and dual shave Barry. I have yet to try the Ted Pella blades.

 

Thanks!

I found some leather knife rolls on Etsy that I really like. I may eventually pick one up.




A friend, who is a hobby seamstress, is making me one out of soft denim material.



My Dad had some old knife rolls. Sure wish I had kept one of them. We always assumed they were originally made for cutlery salesman.

 

SRS # 638

Rating: 5 / 5

Razor: Wade & Butcher 13/16 “Bow”
Brush: CRD Patriotic Swirl 26 mm Synthetic
Lather: Blackship Grooming Company La Concorde
Aftershave: Black Ship Grooming Co. La Concorde
Additional Care:
Stirling Alum Block
Stirling Unscented Glacial Balm
Thayer’s Witch Hazel - Original

Fabulous barbershop shave on this chilly and icy morning here on LI. I am up early today to get my son to his Ju Jitsu class.

The scent description of La Concorde is describe on the Blackship Grooming website as follows: “ Our La Concorde scent was inspired by a classic French name Barber Shop Scent but has our usual twist on it. This will remind you of sitting in the barber chair as they sprinkle the powder on the brush. You smell the powder as they use the brush of those loose hairs. That fresh clean smell will surround you as you go throughout your day. You'll find yourself catching wafts of La Concorde as you go about your busy days.”

I will agree with the scent description especially the last sentence as I will get frequent reminders of the fresh clean scent throughout my day.

I have used a few of the Blackship Grooming Co. products, mainly soaps in the sample form, with great results.

The W & B straight took care of this morning’s growth easily. The post shave routine has left my face smooth and refreshed with no signs of irritation.

I hope you all have a great day gentlemen.

 

Beautiful collection of knives Charlie.

 

Very nice Charlie.

 

Thank you Jeff.....y'know, when my Stephan BR runs out I'll have a decision to make. New BR, or find a place to order another Stephan.

 

I tore my apartment apart looking for the Swiss...no success.

 

Thank you Joe....I'm always happy and confident after thouse OUTTAs.

 

My Oro Valley is just like your Triumph..3.0 oz.

 

SOTD SATURDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 5, 2022

Since lime seems to be the only scent that doesn’t give my bride migraines, I limed it up big time this morning. My favorite modern artisan razor, hands down is Victor Creazzi’s “Bone Mosaic” 7/8 a SanMai technique pattern welded Damascus straight razor I admired for almost a year before I finally pulled the trigger. Vic makes two types of straight razor, his fancy models, all SanMai Damascus with the buyer’s choice of scale and his monosteel collection.

The latter were crafted from 1095 steel, but I believe he is switching to 52100 for his fancy razor edges and for his monosteel blades. Both 1095 and 52100 have corrosion issues if the blades aren’t properly cared for. I use Japanese Cammelia oil for all my straights. But 52100 is harder and holds an edge better than 1095 according to my amateur bladesmith son.

My plan is to order a new monosteel crafted from 52100 in the next month or two. My son, Ben, teases me and thanks me for buying him all these great straight razors, hence my intimations of mortality! He’s the one who’ll inherit my modest collection of straight razors. Any safety razors remaining will go to my grandsons, Kevin and Anthony. My modern artisan razors make up the smallest part of my straight razors. I currently own a Rigarazor, a Yurii Kravchenko, and two Creazzi razors. All the rest are vintage.

“Bone Mosaic” 7/8 is one of those razors that I enjoy looking at as much as shaving with. It is incredibly well-balanced, and Vic’s edges are amazing. I participate as a shaving mentor on one of the better known dedicated wet shaving forums, and always suggest to new straight shavers that they start by focusing on just very gently scooping away the lather WTG on their cheeks. I was thinking about those directions during my own mug shave this morning. That's exactly what it felt like with this magnificent razor. Two and a half passes left me porcelain smooth.

My noggin shave was every bit as good with the Feather AS-D2. This little DE is one of the most misunderstood safety razors out there. It’s narrow sweet spot can be quite a challenge for many who discount it as “too mild” because they never took the time to master it. I’ve bought three of these razors for less than half price and distributed them as gifts throughout my family from disgruntled users who never took the time to learn its sweet spot. Loaded with a Kai or a Feather blade which it was designed around to tame, it delivers a remarkably efficient smooth result as it did this morning. Two ATG passes and your happy narrator is velveteen smooth from noggin to neck.

RAZOR: Victor Creazzi’s “Bone Mosaic” 7/8 (Mug), Feather AS-D2 (Dome)
BLADE: Kai DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: JT Custom Sapele/Resin Handled Omega Pro48 Boar Knot
CREAM: Castle Forbes Lime
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys WH. Finished with Royall Lyme AS/Cologne Splash.

 

Aaaah, just a routine shave with my Edge Gel(moisturizing). Now you're going to say, "What does he mean...JUST". Well, there isn't a real fancy way to work with a gel, foam, cream....you just (oh there's that word again)DO IT. But with my recent errors, that upgrades the "fancy" persuasion a bit. I wanted to make sure I didn't iss anything on the cheeks/sideburns. Therefore, a little more time Working South Porcupine was OK-no "injuries". North Porcupine has been a troubled spot of late, but I got through it fine with the gel. Course I had to be more careful, so I wouldn't call that part "just routine". Cactus Nation was good, especially in making the careful North-to-South moves around the Adam's Apple. Upon my first pouring out of the Vetiver A.S., I got a bit of a Niagra Falls result. I had to think quickly so as not to lose the A.S. off my hand and into the sink. It worked out well, for the most part. Guerlain's Vetiver is a classic scent, all right. Will repeat tomorrow. Outta This World Excellent.

 

Joe...The Ted Pella blades for me feel more assertive than Personna..That said, i hope they keep their smoothness as i continue to use them as i prefer to use a blade with smoothness over sharpness and longevity....Have a great weekend.

 

Saturday Morning Luxury Thorn Shave

Razor: Leaf Thorn
Blade: Astra SP
Brush: WCS synthetic
Soap: Talbot Shaving - Howick Hall
A/S: Old Spice


From the first stroke I could tell the Thorn is much more to my liking. I could immediately tell the razor was efficiently engaged at the perfect angle. The angle is very intuitive, but I had to guess whether it was shaving or not with the Twig. The Thorn provides comfort, is not aggressive, and I received great feedback from the razor. Three passes on the face required no touch ups at all. Head shave was done in two passes with touch ups required as head shaving is done without the aid of a mirror. In short, the Thorn performed as efficiently and as comfortably as my favorite razors. No irritation at all, true BBS with normal amount of passes, today's shave with the Thorn is a big winner.

I have never used Talbot Shaving Soap. The sample was included in a bulk BST purchase last year. In the container it had a beautiful floral fragrance that I was really looking forward to. The soap lathered and performed beautifully. Perhaps the sample was old, but it became an unscented soap when I lathered it up. I will attribute that to the unknown age and small sample size. The lather was indeed excellent.

 

Awesome shave, Paul! Congratulations!