30 Day Rule/Focus; October 2025. All Are Welcome!

Great shave this morning with my Presidential combination. (The shave soap&A.S. are called IKE(for Eisenhower), but it's described as a favorite of the next President after him(JFK). Whatever the story, it's a real nice scent. Clean, clear shave all across. No damage. 2 passes. Nice finish from the A.S. Strike Gold Shave now has a soap&A.S. named "Kennedy", which maybe I'll try next, but more to go on the Ike for now. As Outstanding As It Gets.

 

the Krona came in a case lot at a local antique fair.if i remember right..thought i would give it a ride..not into plastic razors of any type,incuding gillette war era bakelite,or gillette adjustables..but i use them all once in a while.since around 1962 ish,the only thing on gillette's mind was making razors cheaper and selling blades..i like my late model valet autostrops gc3 and 4,a coouple of schick injectors,and my razorock game changer .84P as well..

 

I am not into plastic shavers either for double edge Safe-T-Shavers unless for a very specific reason you need an all plastic shaver to have in your carry on bag for flying even some of the disposable models. The only models I would get in plastic are to get a 1988 shaver from Gillette just to have my birth year shaver but those are rare and expensive due to how few Gillette double edge Safe-T-Shavers were made after 1984 or so especially in the Super Adjustable I would want to have just so I know I would actually use the model sometimes especially on my birthday. The only way I would have a Double Edge Safe-T-Shaver with any plastic is if I had a modern butterfly style that had a grip that was plastic or rubber on the outside over the shaver as there are some of the few butterfly models from Chinese companies and Parker that have the twist knob near the head of the shaver that are not a specific 1960's--1970's ladies model from Schick that the entire handle is plastic.

I thought you had 0 modern shavers.

I would only get in modern a Wishi via Micro Touch One or the Van De Hagen short handle model for flying if I needed a full replacement of my Micro Touch One, probably going with Van De Hagen short handle model as it does not come with the stand I do not need and is easier to find online, not just on the As Seen on TV website for a new model. Reason for the model is to have a shaver that due to having the logo on the top of the shaver I can tell the front from the back, some blades like the older mid 2010's Personna 100 pack Made in USA only work one way, problem is on the Wishi model like the one I have in the Micro Touch One, the gaps for the butterfly top closure can be off so one side has more blade exposed.

 

26th October 2025.



​

Shaving Recipe for today.

Prep: Warm shower:/Cien Men Energize Shower Gel.

Pre:
Cold wet flannel to my face.
Pears Transparent Bar Soap.
Brush: Wilkinson Sword Boar.
Face Lather.
Lather: Wilkinson Sensitive Sword Shave Soap.
Blade: Bolzano Superinox Inossidable. (D2)
Razor: Parker 24C.

Post:
Cold Water Face & Head Rinse./Cold water face & head wash with brush squeezing's,/Alum Rub./Cold Water Rinse./Homemade (~Autumn/Winter mix~) peppermint lavender, eucalyptus, + Tea Tree essential Oils Mixed Together With Care+ Witch Hazel./Blue Stratos Original Blue ASL./ Nivea Men Replenishing PSB.

Greetings,

Relaxing Sunday Morning Shave.

Everything in my shave set up this morning worked together superbly.

An enjoyable 2 pass + pick-ups close comfortable shave with no errors to report. Finishing the shave off with a few small dollops of Nivea Men Replenishing PSB.

My face is feeling super smooth & smelling divine.

Keep safe and enjoy your Sunday ladies & gentlemen.

 

I looked up the blades you were using were an Egyptian made blade and found most negative reviews saying the blades were very inconsistent from blade to blade.

 

Reviews are just someone's opinion, that will be applied to any product that is mass produced. DE blades have to be one of most subjective items of all shaving products, I personally think the Bolzano Superinox are an excellent blade, however, the one's I have are early ones which where manufactured by Feintechnik GmbH in Germany where the QC quality was very good. They were originally made in Italy and later in Germany then shifted to Egypt where they still manufacture for the Italian market. If my memory serves me correct the original Russian Astra SP blades are now manufactured in India.. The world of manufacturing aim today is "quantity, rather than quality" that's why you will find the negative reviews that the new blades were very inconsistent. A manufacturer may have a million good reviews, but it's human nature to remember the bad ones.

Wet shaving is all down to technique & shaving confidence...It's inevitable that the customer is unfortunately going to purchase a bad batch once in while...Reputation and quality was paramount in most products produced back in the day, now it doesn't really exist anymore, using cheaper materials, cheap labour to produce more for maximum profit & greed.

 

the only modern shavers i have purchased were an ej89 7 years ago and quickly passed on,a weishi that i thought was absolute junk,binned that,a razo-rock mamba in stainless,which was too mild,passed that along,and my current stainless steel razor,the razo-rock gamechanger .84P,whichi like,and will keep just to ward off any other reason to own a stainless steel razor.i have used cart razors from 1981 ish to 2016,which were mainly gillette carts.so glad to forget about those,and look back and cringe on how many went in the landfill..i wish i had found out about Gillette DE at an earlier age,but they weren't around in drug stores much in the 1980's,or i didn't really pay attention if they were..carts were the main game by this point..my birth year razor is the m-4 black handled superspeed,thats why i have that one,and my birth year m-4 slim adjustable which was a mint condition set,i was offered good money and sold it.when i do downsize again,(first round i had over 140 razor sets)i will just keep the favourites,which will probably amount to about 20 razor sets,down from 70ish.which will consist of 2 gillette era valet autostrops,my new deluxes,an rfb or 2,my british aristocrats,a few various techs,2 schick injectors for head shaving,and my 1 stainless steel gamechanger..all the other stuff will be passed along all bakelite,all the war sets,adjustables and oddities..

 

fine sunday shaves gentlemen.

 

-The-Sunday-Shave-
canadian new SC
BBJ custom 10098
astoria



good morning gents
quick but fantastic sunday shave
fine astoria lather built with Jason's custom 10098
smooth 2 passer with the canuck new SC,minor pickups
matching splash to finish
awesome
have a fine sunday everyone
​

 

Astra blades are also still made in Russia, just hard to get due to restrictions most countries have on Russian goods so most just go with the Astra model made in India that has been there. You can still get the Gillette silver and Gillette Blue from Russia via China as one of the big countries importing the blades, because few if any other countries are making those blades, same for the Gillette Russia models.

I have Personna blades 100 pack made in USA when the quality control was not very good in mid 2010's from late 2017 some mid to late 2010's style as every so often I get a dud blade where the bottom or top side has a non smooth cutting surface still really sharp and the logo is faded on one side then thick hard to read on the other side. The mid to late 2010's Personna made USA blades 100 pack are unlike the no logo model I have from early 2025 where the blades are from the 2--3 blades I have used seem much higher quality control and the thing other people hate is being as thin as some of the standard style thicker blade brands from China and look closer to the Accutech Med Prep (brand that owns Personna) changing first the 5 or 10 blade dispenser to this style in 2010's to have the huge amount of the comfort coating then the mid to late 2010's Personna made USA blades 100 pack but moving the Red to be more like the mid to late 2010's Personna made USA blades 100 pack. According to the reviews the Persona Red stayed about the same in quality since the model manufacturing move to Germany for a new recently added compact 100 pack from Isreal just now the Persona red are made more like the old Persona USA 100 pack in thickness and on inspection for my dad (getting the blades for his birthday) looking for a Personna model that is similar to the mid 2010's Personna made USA blades 100 pack. I got 50 Persona Red for my dad's birthday along with 3 of these old but never opened 5 blade dispenser packs from Pre 1994--1995 in the early 1990's as the very last double edge blades made in bigger quantities until the double edge Safe-T-Shavers made a comeback for all of the world in the early 2010's.

 

Today's shave was a 9.5/10 as I had to use dial 4 due to skipping Saturday and this was right on getting a nearly BBS and will try dial 4 for tomorrow. Today was shave 4 on top/total for the FEIYU blade.

My sideburns they needed trimming, so I used my Philipps Norelco One blade 360 with the trimming guard on dial 3 and scissors for a few parts my shaver did not get.

The FEIYU I am finding out with sample of 1 blade is a well-made blade almost like the modern no label Personna 100 made in USA pack in the thinner thickness with similar quality to the Personna 100 made in USA pack is just very mild. the benefits of using an adjustable shaver are, I can use many different types of blades from mild to more aggressive up to a point.

I used, as always, my H 2 or 1962 Gillette Adjustable slim handle shaver without the case.

I shaved before the shower, so I used my shave lotion/soap home concoction on my face, where I kept the blade wet as needed. I did like most days since late 2017 a partial clean opening up the shaver in middle of shave to keep going before the final clean at the end.

 

October 26 SOTA

Good afternoon.

Schick I-1 Injector
Pella SE Blade (4)
JR #290 Cashmere Synthetic Brush
Stirling Spice SS and AS
Stirling Alum Block
Lucky Witch Hazel
Beard Growth: 2 Days



Did an easy 2 pass error-free shave this afternoon. There wasn't any blood lost during this session. Alum feedback was non-existent. Finished with the witch hazel and aftershave treatment. I smell fine and feel refreshed. Take care.

 

I have some Personna "Comfort Coated" in a blue & white cardboard box, with a individual blade in a plain white paper jacket with made in U.S.A. printed on them from 2015, I think which have all been consistently good with no duds I normally get 2-shaves from them very comfortable and efficient. I have the Personna Platinum (blue cover) (10 in each tuck) another acceptable blade that I've had no issues with, which I assume are made for m the European market, I also have the Amazon inhouse Solimo blades, and a few other inhouse brands such as the likes of Boots, Sainsbury & Tesco, Asda own-brands High-street bought blades which I believe are all personna, Edgewell Personal Care, Accutec made.

 

Thank you Gary.

 

Monday Afternoon 27/10/2025

• Razor : Aylsworth Apex Ti Grade 5 Satin finish DE. (Canada)
• Blade : Wizamet Super Iridium Stainless (1). (Russia)
• Brush : QAA Amber Aero light Synthetic . (USA)
• Soap : Fine Accoutrements Latigo. (Italy)
• Aftershave : 4711 Original Eau De Cologne Aftershave . (Germany)
• Weight : 57 grams. (Razor)

Hi all,
I had a simply stunning shave this afternoon with the Apex Ti.
I say stunning because I have the apex SS version as well but the Ti version is another step above it in smoothness.
The Apex SS version is very efficient and smooth also but you get the feeling it could bite if your technique is a little bit off on the day , where as the Ti version is somewhat more forgiving in my opinion.
I also found the razor very nimble and easy to use. No doubt helped by the light weight the second pass felt like it was for touch-ups only the shave was that good.

I was meant to use Kentucky rain shaving soap for the shave, but after bowl lathering the soap, I went to get a coffee and On return knocked the bowl of the counter with the coffee cup.
Obviously, it was meant to be The Fine accoutrements Latigo was an excellent replacement as Kentucky rain was from a small sample pot.

Finished of nicely with 4711 Original Eau De Cologne Aftershave.

1 pass WTG 1 pass ATG no touch-ups done.
No, nicks no worries.

Cheers.

 

The blue also come in a 100 pack from Germany too like above then the one I have as my avatar is the USA model. I got my first Personna 100 pack USA from Amazon in late 2017 and they have one of about every 10--15 is a dud at most so maybe Amazon got the mistakes at one point in 2010's given the poor logo all of them hoping people would buy the lesser priced models online, as my early 2025 Personna 100 pack made in USA without a logo seem to be even better quality then these older models from 2010. It is just the older blades are not nearly as good but are still very high quality just a dud can get though from time to time on the 2017 model where either a front/back or a top/bottom is not as good as the other side being jagged for the first few shaves. Amazon in house brands for double edge Safe-T-Shaving blades are no longer made and the other multi-blade are made to only fit Amason brand 5 blade shavers.

 

27 Oct 2025

2 Days growth

Cream/Soap = TOBS OUD
Brush = Old Vulfix 1000A 20 mm knot
Bowl = small porcelain bowl, 12 cm diameter, better size for this small brush
Razor = Gillette No 77 thin handle tech 1945
Blade = Henckels day 5 !!
Passes = 2 and done
Post = Usual CWR, Alum, rinse, pat dry, Thayers rose petal
ASL = Proraso with Oud
Scent = Burberry Hero

The Henckels is still going strong, smoother than when it started off on Day 1 but still cutting nicely, rinsing and drying after each shave and hand stroppping
Nice solid No 77 good grippy handle, no nicks no worries

Have a great one!

 

Nice setup and shave Barry. I do like my Bolzano's: it's been a while!

thanks Gary, yep, both are 400621, the one has visual pitting on the barndoors, the other seems to have been (0ver)polished, but I am finding this cosmetic differences shouldn't make a difference. I am not one to go and find feeler gauges etc to suss them out, just interested in how different they felt

thanks Gary

Thanks Barry, it has helped to stick with a setup for a while

No errors, super shave Barry

Well said, hence why I happy to just toss a blade if it doesn't impress.
Despite the history of the Germanic countries, when I was young Made in Germany was always a good thing when looking to buy quality goods.

 

Thank you Chris.

 

A nice shave this morning. That brush(Campell's 1939 Badger)really soaks up the soap. I ALMOST left it at just one pass, but decided to do the second. I wish I could find a cover for this bowl that has the soap(it's one of mine), so I could bypass the aluminum foil, which breaks a little as I lift it off for each shave. Such a nuisance, as the soap is so great. A small miss at the right-side sideburn area, otherwise clean and clear. No incidents of negativity. Very Outstanding.