SoS: November 18, 2013 - November 24, 2013

That razor is a beauty!

 

Ten Shaves: Day 2

It's the coldest morning of the season here : 14 F
Naturally, I decided to give cold water shaving a try again

Prep: cold water rinse, Proraso Green PSC
Soap: LA Shavings Woody Lavender (2)
Brush: HIS Synthetic
Razor: Maggard MR10
Blade: Gillette 7 o'clock sharp edge yellow
Post: cold water rinse, Shea Moisture AS Elixir, Krampert's Finest Frostbite

Very cold! Great DFS! My face feels smooth and chilly and happy. My second attempt at a cold water shave was much better than my first. The soap lathers gloriously and provided plenty of slick protection... No burn or weepers. I may add a balm later if my face dries out on this cold day. 

 

6/8 Toyo
TOBS Avacado
homemade brush
The last of the TOBS Avacado.

 

I forgot how absolutely perfect Palmolive Menthol is....

 

Sunday morning, November 24, 2013

Schick E2 Injector with Schick blade, (3)
Semogue 1305 boar bristle brush,
Arko shaving soap with hot water lather,
finish with cold water rinse for a CCS!

 

@crackstar: Don´t worry Jeff.

The next shave will (hopefully) be better. I had problems,shaving with the Merkur 37c. Don´t know why...Keep your head up and keep going.

 

Outstanding! Congrats on your first complete straight shave! I am glad that you have found the experience to be rewarding and fulfilling. It will only get better and better as you progress in your technique with the straight razor. Welcome to the "Brotherhood of the Blade" Sir Kevin!

 

Razor: Merkur futur (S5)
Blade: Wilkinson Sword UK (D5)
Brush: Vie Long 24mm White Horsehair
Pre Shave Soap: Musgo Real Lime Basil Oil Soap
Pre Shave Oil: Homemade Lime & Spearmint
Soap: B&M Seville
Post: Monster Alum Block
Aftershave: Myrsol F/Extra

 

SOTD Sunday 11-24-2013

6/8 F. H. Loeffler, "Our Drummer", Full Hollow, Spike Point
Proraso PSC
Al's Bomb SC - Boheme
GT G4 Scuttle
Parker Badger
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Nivea Replenishing ASB
British Sterling Cologne

A cold and frosty morning in the Applegate. The Al's SC lather warmed in the Scuttle gives up a layer of warmth and fragrance that the Drummer uses to do his work; a close slick and comfortable shave. Sunday morning shaves are for opulance and relaxation. This mornings shave fulfilled that need.
BTW, looking at all the beautiful shaving brushes being sported this morning I must admit, my "Brush-O-Meter" has pegged out at the "WOW" level!

 

That's a nice looking razor you've got there.

 

Thank you. The blade in the photo appears to have a gold finish (it doesn't)—as it is merely a reflection of the warm lighting that creates the 'golden' effect.

 

23.11.2013

Prep: FitjarSoap Pre Shave Soap
Razor: Merkur HD
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (3)
Brush: Frank Shaving Chubby Badger
Soap: Sterling Cool
Aftershave: TOOBS Shave Shop
Moisturiser: Fitjarsoap Shea Butter Moisturiser

Another fine result lathering the Stirling soap. Not as good as last time, but still more than sufficient.
The flavour for the shave was the Cool scented soap, and although I felt just as cool as always, it proved that I am sufficiently cool on my own.

The procedure was almost the same as last time. I loaded the brush for forty seconds and transferred the brush to my scuttle to build my lather. The first stage was the foam/mousse like lather, and following the advice of Mr. Ryan B and other experienced Stirling shavers I added lots of water, probably around 1dl. And that helped quite a bit. The foam developed into the kind of lather we like to see in our shaving. Granted I probably added a little too much water, since the lather was a tad “wetter” than it was yesterday. But it felt slick and elastic and ought to perform just fine.

Unfortunately I never experienced that. The shave itself was rather horrid, the reason for that was the blade and razor combination. Apparently the Polsilver SI on its third shave loaded in a Merkur HD razor is not my cup of tea.
With multiple small cuts on my neck I looked like I had been shaved by Windom Earl

After the shave I put on some TOOBS Shave shop AS and I finally achieved my Macauley moment. It also smelled pretty bad, so I can understand why it is being discontinued.

 

I strive to find ONE quiet morning in which a leisurely shave is possible. Sometimes it is Sundays, but more often, because of all the events taking place on Sunday at work (the church), my Mondays wind up being the quiet day-off that allows for real relaxation.

 

It's indeed a super-nice soap. Tomorrow for Menthol Monday I'm going to use the Glacial - man oh man, is that stuff ever BITTER-COLD! (I test-lathered it already!)

 

Sunday morning, November 24, 2013

Gillette Fusion Proglide Power 'Olympic'
Gillette Fusion Proglide Power Multi-5 (day 8)
Gillette Proglide Clear Gel
Walgreens Witch Hazel
Gillette Cool Wave


I feel so good after this morning's shave. The combo of Fusion and Clear Gel is just fantastic and so forgiving on my skin. DFS plus! Wow! I always get such close shaves with the Fusion Proglide. My lather skills have gone down the drain lately, but I'm happy to discover how great this Gel is! I love it!

 

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Prep: Warm shower, Homemade Cedarwood PSO
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89L
Blade: Crystal (1)
Cream: C.O. Bigelow
Brush: Vie-Long Horse Hair 12705
Post: Witch Hazel, Nivea Men Sensitive Post Shave Balm
Cologne: Canoe

It's been a few days since I contributed to this thread. Friday, I did something I rarely do. I skipped shaving. Saturday, I got back in the groove and used the same setup I used today. Both Saturday and Sunday shaves were near BBS. It sure it nice to be using the EJ DE89L again after using the Merkur 39c for a few days. I'm not sure I really like the aggressiveness of the 39c when I can get just as good a shave with the 89L. Anyway, it sure feels good to have a clean-shaven face no matter what razor I use!

Have a great day!

 

Sunday



A quick face wash with Nivea for Men Sensitive face wash.
Gillette Rubie DE coupled with Q-Ball Platinum Plus.
Speick Men SC whipped with Semogue 1520 boar in Steve Woodhead mug.
3 passes (WTG/XTG/XTG) followed by luke rinse, Ajanta alum applied for 1 minute, then rinsed off with cold water.
Finished off with Nivea for Men Sensitive face cream.

This was my first time using my new Gillette Rubie razor. I can't say I love it, but I did notice one thing.. I could shave like an idiot and still come out nick-less! The head is very sensitive to angle, so if slight off it won't shave effectively - also it clogs more often than I'm used to. And the weight is non-existent which I'm not fond of. But here's the thing: It was very cheap and I got it for two things - to try a "Tech" (the head is supposed to be a Tech design) and to get myself a cheap travel DE razor. And for that - mission accomplished!

Not my most close shave, but it was sure irritation-free so I'm quite happy with it.

To round it off - to those who've tried the Speick cream, only to dump it on it's scent and go Speick-free in the future: The cream smells no way near the soap stick! I like'em both, but the cream has a mix of the soap and then bubble gum and toothpaste, whereas the soap is much more Speick herbal in line with the lotion from Speick.

 

Soap: Stirling Glacial
Brush: VDH Boar
Razor: '60 Fatboy "5"
Blade: Voskhod (3)
Post: Osage Rub

Glacial is as advertised. Nice, cold and slick. Near BBS with the Fatboy and Voskhod blade.

 

Unfortunately you can only "like" someone's post once. Otherwise I would have "liked" this post two or maybe three times. I look forward to joining you in the not too distant future and receiving the secret handshake.

 

Wade and Butcher Wedge
Eveline SC
Vintage Kent Brush w/Silvertip knot
TSD 2x Iced Cracklin' Firewood Splash
Tet-a-Tet Balm