SoS: May 12 - 18, 2014

SOTD Tuesday 5-13-2014

EJ/Elite Neon w/Personna Medical
Proraso PSC
Al's Shaving Cream - Boheme
GT G4 Scuttle
Omega Boar
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Gold Bond Moisturizing Lotion
Stetson Cooling Moisture ASL

Time to show the DE's some love. I'm likin' the Stetson.

 

Cobra Classic
Feather Pro
Simpson P8
LASS - Woody Lavender
Nivea Energy A/S

Dior - La Collection Couturier Parfumeur Leather Oud

 

Tuesday
hot shower
R.V. Sambar Antler,Flat-Top,2 band,d01
Proraso PSC
RazoRock Captain's Choice
ATT M1 Kronos/Super Iridium (1)
cold water rinse
Monster Block Alum
cold water rinse
Thayer's Lemon WH
C.C. Co9t
C.O. Bigelow Bay Rum Cologne

Nice and smooth shave,BBS face and dome,smell pretty dang good too!!!

Stay frosty,my friends!

 

How do you like the Al's Calypso SC Guy? What is it's characteristics?

 

Have a great trip Kevin. Sample some of those great Napa Valley Wines along the way.

 

Is alum something I can buy at the local drugstore, or does it have to be ordered?

 

Is alum something I can buy at the local drugstore, or does it have to be ordered?

I purchased mine from the Whole Foods store in my area.

 

SoS - Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Hot shower
Prep: Tea Tree & Lime PSO
Brush: Simpson Duke 3
Cream: Speick
Razor: Merkur 38C
Blade: SuperMax Ti
Aftershave: AV Ice Blue

 

I had to order mine. None of the stores near me carry it. A little block will last you quite a long time.

 

This particular Calypso (Bay Rum) I had Al add a tiny bit of menthol to it for the summer months. Like Goodfella's which I also have, lathers easily, the razor glides and post shave is good. You probably feel the same with Boheme. As for fragrance strength, I find it to be on the lightest side compared to my other Bay Rums (12 of them) but is a nice clean smell. I have the full 8oz tub so if you would like me to send you some to try out Bruce, send me your address and I will be happy to do so.

 

Thanks Guy. Your review answered a lot of the questions I had about this scent. I am about to order some more SC's from Al's and I was looking at this scent. Seeing you had used it; I wanted to get an actual user I trusteds view of it. (Product descriptions are often a lot of hype.) Thanks for the offer but, I will be getting some in the near future. I only have the Classic Brand Bay Rum SS and the Ogalalla Bay Rum & Sandalwood SS and I have been looking to add another Bay Rum SC. I am a believer in the Al's SC as far as performance...great stuff!

 

One that I really like and performs and lathers just like "the bomb" is Taconic Bay Rum but Taconic fragrance IMHO is more robust and lack of a better term sweeter as Taconic uses Jamaican Spiced Rum along with the EO. I didn't think I would like the Taconic but pleasantly surprised, so much so I went out and also picked up the Taconic Tequila Lime.

 

Troy, how did the Glacial Wintergreen lather for you? The reason I ask is because I find the new version is much easier and better at lathering than the original one. I also find the menthol effect to be so potent that it lingers for about twenty minutes after a shave and the the scent is heyyyyyyyyy, beautiful! I aslo find that after the menthol effect finally wears off, the soothing and moisturizing effect takes over to make your skin feel great. I recently bought two of these soaps from Rod and I'm so happy I did. It's definitely an indispensable part of my soap rotation.

 

Jeff, the Glacial Wintergreen was a little tough to get whipped up, but did fine when I started with a drier brush and loaded long enough. I used the scuttle this morning instead of my face and it worked fine. I loved sitting here for around half an hour with a nice cool face. It does make my eyes water by the end of pass 2, but that's just part of the enjoyment! Sadly, once I use up this sample, I will be Glacial free for several months due to a self imposed soap sabbatical, but I have a new bottle of M-Bomb to kick everything else up a notch!

 

Hubris
My shave yesterday was so easy and smooth, I thought I'd turn up the Futur to 3 and have a go today. After the first pass, I was thinking that this was the greatest thing - I was expecting to get as close in two passes that I get in three with my SC101. On my face, I might get away with two careful passes, but I wasn't as careful in my second pass, so I got some weepers and burn. My neck also did not appreciate the extra blade gap, so I've got some burning there, too. I dialed down to 1 for the touch up, and that went ok.
All in all, I get a nicer more comfortable shave with my 101 or Old Type. I could see using the Futur on 1.5 or so, but that kind of defeats the idea of an adjustable, IMHO.

 

SOTD:
Razor: Merkur 42c
Blade: Personna
Brush: Vulfix 1000a
Soap: Ogallala Bay Rum + Ogallala Bay Rum, Sage & Cedar
Aftershave: Pinaud Bay Rum

 

Planned Shave 5-14-2014 ...

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The funny thing for me was that the first time I test-lathered the Wintergreen, I found it lathered very easily. I agree that starting off with a slightly drier brush and loading a bit longer helps. Also, with all the Glacial soaps - especially the Spearmint what I do is I'll gradually add a palmful of water on my brush as needed and then I load a little more soap and if necessary a little more water. Then I examine the lather and if I'm satisfied with the consistency I'll start lathering myself right away. If I think the lather is still a little thin, then I'll add a little more soap. This way I get a very good lather with the Spearmint. I find the Wintergreen lathers great for me right away, and so does the Obsidian. The Spearmint is the only Glacial variant which needs a little coaxing, but it does work very well if you apply a little effort. The cooling effect from all three Glacial variants is arctic-like.

 

Tuesday morning -


Prep - Noxzema & hot towel
Lather - Mitchell's Wool Fat & suribachi
Brush - Omega 40033
Razor - Gillette Single Ring
Blade - Feather (3)

2 pass
Warm water rinse & cold water splash
Alum block & Witch-hazel AS

 

Revisited the Stirling Glacial Wintergreen for this evening's headshave.
Prep: warm wash with Stirling Barbershop bath soap
Lather: Stirling Wintergreen Glacial
Brush: Stirling best badger
Razor: Weber PH
Blade: Gillette 7 OC SP
Post: cold rinse and Captain's Choice Cat O'Nine Tails.

Lathered up on my scalp after loading up the dryish brush. Lather was slick and shiny! I had let the stubble go for a couple of extra days so it took 3 passes to get a passable shave. Not gonna happen again.