SoS: December 12th ~ December 18th, 2011

Thursday Dec. 15

Great shave this morning
Threw a new feather blade in the super speed and that resulted in some blood letting. Only thing I don't like about the feather blades,The 1st shave with them is a gamble.
Lathered up some RazoRock classic with my trusty(and only)VHD boar brush and set off on a three pass calming shave. What a great way to say good night after a long night at work.
Only depressing thing is, all this fantastic lather left over when I was done....If only I could save it in a container for tomorrow*sigh*

 

Thursday

Dovo Best Quality 6/8
Altesse Badger
Ogallala Bay Rum Sage & Cedar
Royall Bay Rhum

Great shave today with the Dovo. Near enough to BBS in 3 passes that I'm pleased. The combination of bay rums got me off to a great start!

 

Thurday

I actually shaved last night as my little girls were having a bath and coordinating their efforts to try to flood the bathroom floor with me not noticing.

Valet Autostrop
Feather SE
Semogue OC - boar
MWF
Prorasso White Preshave
Prorasso White ASB

It was the first shave since Sunday (I think), hence the use of the preshave. It was also the first flight for my new SOC. I have to be honest....I am really happy to have one back in my hands...but not too happy about the next 8 weeks of dedication to get it fully broken in. The shave was great! I have NO idea why I decided to lather MWF with the untamed SOC...I should have remembered that I am useless in that department. Then to top it all off, I was going with face lathering...yeah...3 bad variable put together equals a failure and something to laugh about the next day! I did manage to get some pretty sweet slick lather for weach pass, I just had to reload the brush every time I went to lather up! I love using the Valet...there is just something awsome about it (Other than the shave lasting 36+ hours).

It turned out to be a great shave...and no my daughters didn't manage to flood the floor...this time anyway!

 

Bigelow Parkin, day 3.
Bigelow Parkin Razor
Gillette Super-Thin Blade
Omega Boar
Godrej Shaving Round

The thumb and forefinger grip on this razor encourages a delicate touch, and actually does permit a fair amount of control. Using it is getting easier and more comfortable, but at the end I realized I still hadn't done the best job on my neck.

Took this snap before putting stuff away. Not one of those pictures where you build up lather on the brush just before the shot, so don't judge Godrej based on this.

 

Thursday, December 15


Gillette New
7 O’Clock (Green)(d3)
TSD Acqua Di Gio Type S/S
Rooney Stubby 2XL
Superior 70

DFS++ All good.

 

Thursday:

Prosao Pre/Post Cream, hot shower and Noxzema face wash
Tabac soap
EJ DE89L w/ new Feather blade
Armani Code Black A/S

Love the scent of Tabac. Didn't get a great lather, but good enough so I didn't cut myself. Skin feels good with little irritation around my chin.

I've read that with hard water soap can be a pain. Great thing is, there's always tomorrow to try again!

 

Big hurry this morning, needed lightening shave-the best tool for that is the R41

Muhle R41 2011
Feather Blade
Valabra Stick
Omega Boar
TSD Iced Cedarwood Milk
Music-Pfish

-the monster R41 is my friend when I need a lightening shave-one WTG pass of it hovering over my face and some quick clean up
gives me a DFS+ shave every time. It's not comfortable, it's not fun, but a fine tool to do what it was bread to do.

 

Thursday, December 15th

Razor: iKon OSS
Blade: Gillette Super Thin
Brush: Thater Stout 1
Pre-Shave: Musgo Real Glyce Lime
Soap: D.R. Harris Marlborough
A/S: D.R. Harris Marlborough

The iKon OSS continues to impress. In fact, this is my favorite iKon yet in terms of the amount of aggression that I prefer and smoothness of the shave. A healthy splash of D.R. Harris Marlborough and I am ready for a busy day!

 

Thursday morning,

Schick G1 Injector Razor w/ Schick Blade (2)
Omega 20107 Boar Bristle Brush,
Arko shave soap w/ hot water lather,
finish w/ cold water rinse for a DFS!



Another fine shave with the Schick G1!

 

Thursday - another day closer.

Prep: Hot shower, soak brush
CD: Martin Scorcese Presents The Blues ~ Stevie Ray Vaughan
Coffee: Home roasted, fresh ground Kenya Safari Ridge, BLACK
Soap: Vintage Blade's house brand
Brush: Semogue 2000
Razor: Parker 80R
Blade: Voskhod, day 4, 3+ passes
Post: Cold water rinse, Osage Rub, Pinaud Clubman, hand strop blade
'Stache Wax: Steve's Own

Shave Rating: 4 Blades

Not bad. For me the Voskhods are an okay blade. Not one I would buy in bulk. But that's me.

 

Better today and did not get a chance to shave yesterday....Eagle Somerset, MEM olive shave cream, Futur Personna Plat., Paul Revere w EMS injector, Grafton AS balm.....angel and ornament before finishing Christmas Tree duties.

 

15 December Thursday

Well its really Wednesdy and Thursday as I didn't have a chance to post yesterday

Weds
Arko Stick
Omega travel boar
Gillette Milord w/ Lord Platinum (D2) and Astra SP
Alcolado Glacial and Nivea Sensitive

Well I tried the Lord Platinum and made it through about 1/4 of the first pass before I got rid of the blade. Might have dinged it in the travel kit, but it looked ok. Way too rough for a Lord Platinum. I put in a new Astra SP and got a fantastic shave, three pass DFS. Would have been great if I got some sleep, but you can't win them all.

Thursday
Arko Stick
Omega travel boar
Gillette Milord w/ Astra SP (D2)
Alcolado Glacial and Nivea Sensitive

I got about 10 hours of sleep and woke up to a fantastic shave. The Astra SP is just fantastic, a can't miss for me. The arko stick continues to impress, the lemon-cintronella-soap smell is still pretty powerful. What a great lather and shave this stuff gives me. Its so easy to lather. This stick will have a home in travel kit for awhile. This was a three pass DFS+++. I missed BBS because of one small patch on the jawline.

Have a great day.

 

How do you finf the Gold Dollar. I would eventually like to learn to hone and strop a traditional straight. As these are relatively inexpensive....I am thinking about getting one to practice with.

 

Have you heard something....I havent!!!! I seem to have fallen in love with the Japanese style.....but wooden scales would look really good.

 

Thursday
Sprock 6/8 - Simpson 57 - Maca Root Cream - Alum - Old Spice Whitewater

Another close comfortable shave with one of my favourite razors and a great supporting cast.

 

Thursday:
Very Quick Hot Shower
Merkur 45 with Supermax Blade
Semogue 830 Brush
Erasmic Supreme Shavestick
L'Occitane Eau des Baux Cologne.

No self pampering tonight At work I had a major equipment failure just before home time. When I did arrive home from the lab.......I had 15min to make myself ready to go out. SWMBO obviously doesn't like the slightly rugged look and I had to do a 1 pass shave with my Merkur 45. OK shave....all things considered. The 45 is a gem of a razor.

 

I get on with mine fine and I love the way it shaves however Gold dollars are renown for there poor quality control. I only have experience with mine but understand that common problems are warped spine, uneven grind, a blade that protrudes below the scales when closed and shoulders that haven't been ground back enough to let the razor sit flat on the hone, although sometimes you can angle the blade while honing to compensate. However the steel seems good and I have no problem with the edge it holds, it is certainly as good as many of my vintage razors.

As for whether its OK as a 1st razor, well its a lottery as to whether you get a good one or not. Mine just needed the shoulders ground down others are worse, for me it was fine and a bit of fun but I had some experience of working on other razors before I bought it. So on balance I would recommend a good shave ready vintage straight as a 1st razor that way you know what its supposed to be like and then if you feel happy to take on and solve the potential problems maybe buy a gold dollar then. As I understand it the higher model numbers tend to be better than the lower ones.

 

...and we miss you!

Ditto!

Double Ditto!

 

Thanks for that.....I may give it a miss. I have just bought a Shave ready vintage Ford and Medley......but I really dont want to ruin it. It has history. That is why I am interested in something which could be easily replaced or even discarded.