SoTD for Wednesday, January 21, Single Edge celebration day 7. Valet! Pre-2x hot towel cycles followed with clove balsam oil Soap- la Pere Lucien Brush- Ever Ready w new synthetic knot #3 Razor-valet Blade- feather Rinse- Osage Aftershave- vintage Mennen Skin Bracer Lotion- Kiehl's Cologne- TSD English Fern Lots of new stuff today. I have several Valet razors, but have used them sparingly, as I have only a small stash of perfect vintage blades. But I keep getting more Valets in mixed lots. Not junkers, but nice cased razors. So I finally took the plunge and bought the current production feather valet blades. Unfortunately, the feather blades do not fit the tabs in my favorite Valet razor. One of the tabs on that one is in the far right of the top bar on the 'T'. However, the slot on the nonsense letter in that position on the Feather does not extend that far. I guess the fact the blades exist is enough to mitigate the fact that they don't fit every model of Valet. Maybe I can modify the blade... but that is for another day. I also finally dipped a toe into the world of French soap. I got some La Pere Lucien. Lovely stuff. Thick, rich, slick and cushioning. Everything one might want from a shaving soap. It took me a couple tries to get a usable lather. It was too soapy the first couple times, and was actually sticky. But with a little practice, I got the feel of the product and it came together. I used my newest restored Ever Ready brush. This one holds a synthetic knot like it's brothers. This one is set a little deeper, basically just to see how it's performance will differ from the other synthetics. This brush took the most work to get it back on the road. The wooden handle was sanded (and sanded, and sanded...) and eventually finished with several coats of Tung oil. It really made the wood come to life. The collar did not need much work. Just an expansion of the hole and some sanding to make it shine. I have to do the letters and it will be good to go. The previously mentioned blade shaved well. Nothing crazy. Comparable to quality single edge blade of the standard type. Due to my shaving mishap from Monday, I had to be careful under my nose, so today the goal was an easily achieved DFS plus. One pass with a touch up follow through. I am very happy with the performance of the Valet Feathers. It makes my small collection of Valet razors into something more than a curiosity. The blades are a bit pricey. About a dollar each from the place I got them. So still a little bit outside the daily driver price range. But then again, this week I saw VDH branded Dorcos at Target... $3.96 for 5(!). So maybe the price is not so bad for such a specialized blade. I wrapped up with an assembly of my usual suspects. Osage to cut the soap film, Skin Bracer and Kiehl's for my tag team aftershave and TSD English Fern to tie it all up in a fragrant bow. Have I mentioned recently how much I love the TSD cologne? The performance is so good that it makes my usual cologne seem weedy and pale. Best stuff ever. Go buy some.
Wednesday: hot shower w/Pecksniff's Ginger Flower & Patchouli body wash ShaveSecret PSO Schick EasyRider 2 passes Schick (2) VDH Deluxe boar D R Harris Windsor cream in a warm bowl Thayers unscented w/aloe D R Harris Windsor AS Very nice two pass shave this morning.
Wednesday, Jan 21, 2015 Mystic Water shave soap Omega Pro 48 brush EJ89L razor Crystal blade, day 1 Clubman Special Reserve AS New set up. Two pass, no touch up leisurely shave this morning. Ready to start my day with the help of two cups of dark roast coffee. Dave
Wednesday hot shower Savile Row 3824 Myrsol Emulsion Mama Bear's Spellbound Woods Gold Tech/Gillette 7 o'clock Green Permasharp Stainless (3) ice cold water rinse Monster Block Alum ice cold water rinse Tend Skin Myrsol Plastic Shave mixed with a pea sized amount of 444 Dior Vetiver Today's shave was so smooth I had to check to see if it was loaded with a blade,it was.I've gone almost a full pass once or twice without a blade being loaded Ahh senior moments,gotta love em Stay frosty,my friends!
SOTD Wednesday 1-21-2015 GEM Micromatic Bullet Tip GEM Stainless Blade Noxema Tiki Fougere SS GP Scuttle Lijun Finest Badger Dickinson's WH GB Body Lotion British Sterling ASL On the lower level of my shave drawer lives the denizens of my razor collection; the SE horde. I haven't used the GEM MM Bullet tip for a long while. (I need to show some of the other SE's some love as well.) The Bullet Tip is super smooth and a very mild shaver compared with the more aggressive GEM MMOC. It's hard to believe these two razors are brother from the same family. For those who are thinking of trying the SE Type razors, this is the perfect transitional SE razor. Last time I used the Lijun Badger the knot came out when cleaning it after use. I glued it back into the handle and it's fine now. The Chinese manufacturer doesn't use much glue in their manufacturing process; I saw only a very small residue in the knot hole. Still this is an excellent brush and I have no complaints about it's performance.
Felt like having a very mild shave today so I grabbed the Personna injector. Razor: Personna injector Blade: Schick Brush: SOC Boar Soap: Mysic Water Unscented A/S: Humphrey's Cucumber and Melon Witch Hazel It was indeed a very, very mild shave. I find it hard to get a close shave with this razor though. Having said that - I still like it. Photo: SOC Boar in full bloom - and the Personna razor. Taken from above.
Today's shave. I just went for one pass and got DFS. Prep: hot shower, Neutrogena Face Wash. Brush: Turkish #6. Razor: '62 Gillette Slim set on 3. Cream: Gada Cool Mint. Post: cold water rinse, Stirling Lemon Chill WH. Hair Product: Dapper Dan. This shave was pretty comfortable today. It didn't take more than 10 minutes from start to finish. That included combing my hair.
That razor looks like the little brother of the robot Gort from the movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still"! I love it! http://www.jeffbots.com/gort.jpg And don't get me started on Star Trek tribbles!
∙Gillette post-WWII Super Speed variant ∙vintage Wilkinson Sword blade ∙VDH soap 2 pass DFS+. Followed up with Lucky Tiger Lotion and a Skin Bracer chaser.
Thursday's Nivea Men's Face Wash Proraso Green Wild Cherry PTS Schick L-1 Personna Injector CWR, Asma Alum Block Thayers Rose Petal WH Aqua Velva The Proraso Green Shave Cream face-lathered well with my Wild Cherry PTS Brush. Two passes with my Schick L-1 and a new Personna Coated SS Injector blade gave me a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, alum block, and a final cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayers Rose Petal WH and then Aqua Velva after shave. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...
SOTD - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 Hot shower Prep: Homemade Lime PSO Brush: Vulfix 374 Super Cream: Castle Forbes Lime Razor: Weber PH Wave handle Blade: Gillette 7 O'clock Black (5) Post: Thayer's Cucumber WH Aftershave: Speick ASL - Don
I used the eshave one last week. I've mainly been using the synthetics, but it's fun to try out the badger again. I love the tight lush feel of this one, Gary.
Here's how I plan to shave Thursday morning: Neutrogena Men Facial Wash Large Horsehair Barbershop Super Speed/7 AM day 3 Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill SS Gold Bond Moisturizer Alcolado Glacial Menthol Splash Pour Un Homme de Caron EdT Back to the deep freeze for me and I can't wait - any time I use my Glacial Lemon Chill soap I know I'm going to be treated like a king. The scent is brilliant - it's a perfect balance of intense menthol and fresh lemon, the lather is a pleasure to work with, and within seconds the powerful arctic-like effect hits like ten tons of icy bricks. Not that I want to sound so biased, but these Stirling soaps give me the BEST skincare of all soaps I tried in my entire life. The Gold Bond moisturizer and the Penguin will also do a number on me! (Man oh man, it's going to be so much fun shaving!)
Plans for January 22, 2015 On day 21 of my 30-day journey, I plan to use my Mongoose loaded with a Feather Pro blade and my Kent BK4 brush. Thanks to all my friends for sharing their photograpy talents and learnings in this month's SOTD posts!
Hot shower with Yardley oatmeal and almond soap Blade... rapira platinum lux Razor... Gillette ball end tech Brush... seafoam b&b essential boar Soap.... tiki surfs up
