SoS: December 8, 2014 - December 14, 2014

Nice razor!

 

Nope couldn't find it after all. Was the foam in a can in Pacific Rush I saw.

 

Beautiful razor!

 

Roll Tide!

 

I drop the 48 into that pint glass of water to soak for a minute before I shave..let the Omega absorb the excellence...

 

SoTD, Monday, Dec. 8, or, shaving like a king.

Pre- lavender eucalyptus pso
Soap- Bearded Jack's lavender eucalyptus
Brush- Anchorset
Scuttle- unknown vintage
Razor- Gillette British Aristocrat
Blade- Bolzano Superinox
Rinse- Osage
Aftershave- vintage Skin Bracer
Lotion- Score
Cologne- Aveda Men pure-formance



I never got a shave in yesterday, so I had big plans for the day. But I went to the post office to pick up a package. I was expecting a pair of slippers, but instead, it was the British Aristocrat I have been waiting to be delivered from France. I am excited about the slippers, don't get me wrong, but this was way better!
In any case, my plans unraveled, and in the excitement my shave got a bit random. It ended well, but my theme collapsed. Thankfully, 'theme' has very little bearing on shave quality.
I have mentioned many times how much I like Bearded Jack's soap. Today was especially good. Lately I have been boiling water to take in to lather. It is just so much easier than coaxing hot water out of my sink. My bathroom features the world's worst faucet. Because of this, I have bought a few old scuttles. Today was the maiden voyage for this one. I have also never used the brush. I bought it specifically for refurb, because I love this kind of handle, plus the knot is 25mm... which is crazy huge for an old brush. But looking it over last night, I realized that it is in perfect usable shape. I figured I would try it out to see how I liked the size. It all went great. The hot water, soap and brush came together and make a beautiful lather. Fast too. Is that the attraction of bigger brushes? Most of my other ones are 19 to 21mm. 4mm doesn't seem like much of a jump, but the overall percentage increase is significant.
The razor. Oh, the razor. This was my Gillette fantasy razor. I know everyone loves the Toggle, but honestly, they do not appeal to me. I am not wild about adjustables, and I think the Toggle mechanism is flat out weird. But these guys? To me, they are absolutely beautiful design. The pinnacle of the TTO type razor. Two things surprised me. First, the razor is quite heavy. Heavier than a Red Tip...maybe heavy like a Slim*. Second, the build quality is very, very good. With a lot of the 'fancy' Gillette razors, they feel like a regular razor.....but look nicer. This one feels special. I spent an embarrassing amount of time holding it, then another razor. Then holding it, and another razor... maybe I am trying to make myself feel better about how much it cost, but this is in my opinion, a higher quality razor than my other Gillettes. YMMV...
In terms of shave quality, a bit more aggressive than I was expecting. And of course I am talking aggressive in relation to other Gillette razors. So still quite mild. This was my first time using the Superinox blades. It was good, seemed quite sharp. With this combination, I got a BBS shave in two passes. And I wasn't even trying for BBS! I was only shooting for DFS... it is my day off, it was mid afternoon, and I am not going anywhere. Frankly the only reason I was shaving is because I missed yesterday! But, it went great, no irritation, no injuries. Today is also the first time I used an alum block. After realizing how unexpectedly close my shave was, I was sure I would feel all my mistakes with the alum. But no. Nothing. So, after cleaning up, I made myself smell nice so I could sit back on the couch... British Aristocrat? Totally worth it.

*I remembered that I own a digital scale for measuring epoxy resin ratios by weight. So, in the spirit of science, I decided to weigh these razors. Red Tip- 66.2g, Slim- 71.2g, and drum roll... British Aristocrat- 73.2g.

 

SOTD - Menthol Monday, December 8, 2014

Hot shower
Prep: Peppermint PSO
Brush: WD synthetic
Soap: Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill
Razor: Weber PH wave handle
Blade: Personna Lab Blue (5)
Post: Stirling Lemon Chill WH
Aftershave: Homemade Snowball Fight splash

- Don

 

What does the Marquis de Sade smell like?

 

It was a complete surprise. Grabbed it at Dollar General. Very cold and that cold lasts a very long time. Itsa keeper.

 

Oh dollar general! I'll have to check it out here in town. Thanks

 

Depends on whether he's had his bath or not. LOL

 

Dollar General...thanks for the info!

 

I was gonna guess absinthe and stale house guests.

 

Thanks Obi. It is an aggressive TTO but shaves very well. Avail at shave-a-buck for $15.00; Cadet TTO-14. Can't beat the price for a new razor that works!

 

Dollar General had it in Ohio.

 

I love it. Just happened to find it. It has a nice lingering cold and a very light scent.

 

9 December 2014 Planned Shave

I will have another go with the YUMA. I will discuss sometime tomorrow evening, schedule permitting.

​

 

Well I got a second shot of menthol on this Monday. - I get my haircut at one of those chain salons (salon is used loosely) - However the guy, Jimmy that cuts my hair must have been trained by an old school barber. He is also the most popular stylist / barber up there. 5 of a the ladies will be sitting around doing nothing while there will be five people in the waiting area waiting on Jimmy. Anyway, while washing out my hair after he cuts it, he wraps my face with a hot towel scented with menthol. - not very cooling but great for the skin and sinuses. Yes he gets an extra tip.

 

Again I think this is a case of YMMV. My batches of Yeti are colder than any of the Glacial's that I have or had as I sent a sample of the Yeti and my Glacial Obsidian to Bama Samurai that he is currently using. Could be just this batch or my face reacts differently to the soaps than others. Still have the Spearmint and custom blend that I made with the Spearmint that I call Glacial Mojito but my current Yeti is colder than either of these. I wonder what artisian will kick it up a notch. Not sure I want to find out.

 

And I have really enjoyed @ram57 enabling my frozen faces...they are both super cold...