SoS: January 19, 2015 - January 25, 2015

1/24/2015 30 Day - Shave # 24

Prep - Hot Shower
Razor - Mongoose Satin B2
Blade - Kai Mild (6)
Brush - Rubberset 400 with WSP HMW
Lather - Soap Commander Confidence
Post - Witch Hazel and Clubman AS



I love weekends! Took the time for a full 3 pass shave this morning and caught the baby. Seriously this might have been my best shave ever not just the best with the Goose. Have a great weekend.

 

6/8+ C&S
QED Vetiver
homemade badger
The first pass kinda sucked so end up taking it to a pasted strop and then leather between passes and ended up with a nice shave. This knot is a terrible shedder thus far but I'll continue to comb it out until I no longer like it or it runs out of hair and then reknot it. Very nice feeling knot on my face, however. Have a good one.

 

Saturn's Day:

Prep: Hot shower, Neutrogena Invigorating cleanser, TSD Jasmine Sambac Preshave Balm
Brush: Beeline Boar
Soap: Speick cream
Razor: Merkur 41c 1904 OC
Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum (4)
Passes: WTG, XTG (9, 10)
Post: Cold water rinse, Bloc Osma Alum, Dickinson's WH, Speick AS splash
Cologne: Darley by Parfums de Marley

Broke out the Speick today to get the best mileage I could from my aging Bic, because I know the protection and skincare from the Speick cream and aftershave are top-notch. Excellent lather, but the blade was pronounced dead after two passes and a DFS. No bloodshed, but my throat's a little irritated.

 

SoTD Saturday January 24, or SINGLEMANIA!!, the pushbutton

Pre- Clove Balsam PSO
Soap-Panna Crema Namaste
Brush- Ever Ready w/ synthetic knot
Razor- Gem Pushbutton
Blade- Gem Super Stainless (2)
Rinse- Osage
Aftershave- Siete Machos
Lotion- Kiehl's
Cologne- 4711



SINGLEMANIA continues running wild! Today the Gem Pushbutton is on deck. Not a bad razor, but certainly one of the least glamorous Gems. I found it to be quite mild, possibly even the mildest member of the Gem family. Not a bad thing, but it took me three passes to get to BBS on my face, four passes on my neck to get to a DFS plus. Like mini golf, I quit on the fourth pass regardless of results. Over par is over par.
Today I used the lovely Super Stainless blade from yesterday for the second time. It was just as good as it was yesterday. I really have to get some more of these blades. You would think that having a stock of a few hundred blades would keep me from actively buying more. You would be wrong, but I can understand why you would think it.
The soap was Panna Crema Namaste. It is good stuff. Excellent lather. The first time in a while that I have blatantly made way too much lather. Usually I make just enough for the shave. Today I had a bowl full,or about enough for three shaves. Oops. Although it looks and feels about the same, it works up a little easier than the La Pere Lucien that I have been using for the last few days. Now I know. I am really happy with this soap, which is great. It isn't something I would have just normally picked out, but it came with some LPL from a TSD member. It enforced the fact that I should keep an open mind.
The aftershave today is my son's. He discovered it at the Hispanic grocery where I get Florida Water. We originally named it "7 macho goats". We don't speak Spanish. Then it became "burning goat", due to the label (seven goat heads around a flaming urn) and the high alcohol content. But now we just call it "goat water". This was next to Florida water at the store, and it is the mildest, most neutral aftershave I have ever encountered. That is why my son likes it. The fragrance is nice. Have you ever opened your clothes washer while it was filling to throw something extra in? You know the smell? Watered down laundry soap? That is exactly what this stuff smells like. Laundry water. I am probably making it sound way worse than it is, because in actuality, it is a very nice, very comforting scent.
Finally, I got around to using a teeny little sample bottle of the venerable 4711. It is the reason cologne is called what it is. I had high hopes for this stuff, because I love old stuff. But sadly, not impressed. It has a very light citrus fragrance. Not unpleasant, but to call it anything would be to imply that it caused me to experience feelings. It didn't. To sum up; I used it, I briefly smelled like an orange peel, then it went away. All in the space of about an hour. So I am glad that I finally tried it out, but I am very disappointed that it was such a wash. I was really looking forward to using this stuff. It's legendary. Maybe my sample was iffy. I don't know. I think I will try and give it one more shot before I write it off.

 

No, I have a water heater. I use it for my showers. Since I started my cold water shaves, I find I really enjoy them and don't need the hot water. Although, some mornings when I am rinsing out my brush that water seems very cold. When I was in Vietnam we didn't have hot water near by. I you didn't mind walking about a quarter of a mile, you could get a hot shower. I just used the water on hand for my shaves. I longed for a hot water shave. But, that was in the days of canned lather. I have had no problem lathering with any of my 15 soaps and creams. I did put together a do-it-yourself scuttle that I have used once. It did pretty well. I was thinking of breaking it out for my Sunday shave.

 

SOTD Saturday 1-24-2015

Gillette NEW Improved Tuckaway w/Crystal
Noxema
Tabac
GP Scuttle
Omega Boar
Dickinson's WH
GB Body Lotion
No 4711 EDC

 

How is the QED Vetiver?

 

Shave 24 January 2015

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The Durham Duplex with the Personna Pathology Blade 72-0200 performed far better than the Durham Dorset with the 72-0200 as seen in the SOTD from 18 January 2015.

Durham Dorset​

The stainless steel 72-0200 work well in this razor and provided a 2 1/2 pass DFS which could have been a BBS if I had remembered to keep the head flatter to the face during the entire shave. I don't know whether this razor will see regular rotation to the size of the head which makes it less maneuverable for me than DE, Injectors or SE systems. This will more than likely be used as a change of pace razor when I feel the desire for something different.

 

SOTD 1/24/15

Tim's Greek Peach soap
Plisson synthetic brush
ATT Open Comb Slant with Dr Bomber handle
Personna Lab Blue blade
Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm
Nautica Voyage cologne

First shave with Tim's Soap and the ATT Open Comb Slant razor. I am going to give some thoughts on the soap today and will give my thoughts on the ATT after a second shave tomorrow. First impressions were very good.

Tim's: The scent is as much cream as it is peaches. It is very pleasant, but perhaps a bit overly sweet for me ideally. I would love to see it balanced with something tart. The performance was among the best in a veggie soap. I think he is on to something with the avocado butter, because post shave face feel was very good.

 

Aristocrat Jr Weekend!

Friday


Saturday

 

SOTD - Saturday, January 24, 2015

Hot shower
Prep: Lime PSO
Brush: Plisson/L'Occitane synthetic
Soap: WSP Rustic Black Amber Vanille
Razor: Weber PH
Blade: Personna Lab Blue (3)
Aftershave: Clubman Special Reserve

 

SOTD 24 January 2015
Day 22 of 30
30 DAY RULE with a Slim

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J2 Gillette Slim Adjustable
Kroger Israeli Personna
VDH Kit Badger
TSD Lanolin Shave Stick - Barber Shoppe Scent
Today's Great Cheap AS™ is Aqua Velva Musk!


The best part of this month has been spending time using TSD Lanolin Barber Shoppe. It is a really nice scent and leaves my skin soft and mousturized. The Slim wide open on 9 and the Personna blades with TSD soap get me to DFS on 2 passes nearly every single time with little effort!

I hope everyone had a great Saturday!

Check out the 30 Day Crew as we write about our month of focus on razor technique and share our experiences throughout January. Read about it here:

30 Day Rule/Focus Pic and Discussion Thread- All are Welcome!

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Jeris, Osage and Florida Water...You are a hero of the old school! I love that product combo!

 

For my Sunday shave:

Nivea Facial Wash
Large Horsehair Barbershop
Super Speed/7 AM day 6
Euro Palmolive Classic SC
Lubriderm Unscented Moisturizer
Hega AS

I won't be using anything mentholated for this shave because it's going to be very cold again and I haven't shaved with my Palmolive Classic cream for a long time. I want to enjoy a nice shave with it since it lathers great and smells so nice, with wonderful post-shave care. For those who are not familiar with the Hega aftershave, it's from Sweden and it has a very pleasant and neutral scent and it soothes sensitive skin very well.

 

Sunday's Scuttle Shave

Nivea Men's Face Wash
Tabac
Wild Cherry STB
Schick L-1
Personna Injector
CWR, Asma Alum Block
Thayers Rose Petal WH
Aqua Velva

The Tabac Shaving Soap lathered well with my Wild Cherry STB Brush and home-made scuttle. Two passes with my Schick L-1 and a 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 Petal WH and then Aqua Velva after shave. The warm lather was very nice, and I must say that it was a very pleasant experience resulting in a great shave. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

 

Jeff, I have a bottle of Hega! Complements of @Omelmad

 

Saturday

Hot Shower
Kyoku for Men Exfoliating Facial Scrub
Dermalogica Close Shave Oil
Kyoku for Men Saké Infused Shave Cream
Semogue 1305 (but not really)
Merkur 34c
Shark Super Chrome
Kyoku for Men Razor Repair Balm

I had an interesting shave today. A very good shave. But not what I expected. The Kyoku "Saké Infused" Shave cream was a new product I have never tried. I ordered it along with the face scrub and after shave balm because I like trying new face and shave products. I had tried the scrub and ASB on a previous shave a few days ago, but the shave cream just arrived yesterday. I thought I had read that it could be used with or without a brush. Well, I tried and tried, but could not get any lather with my Semogue 1305. I ended up just smearing it on my face with my fingers. No big deal. I have tried lots of higher end shave creams over the years and many of them are brushless. The scent of the Kyoku was great. Kind of minty, menthol, and kind of fresh clean soap. My face was very cool with the cream applied. My shave was comfortable and smooth. Kyoku claims that their shave cream has "silicone micro-particles to coat the skin". Well whatever it was, I did get a good shave. I do like this cream, even though it doesn't lather.

It was also my second shave with the Shark Super Chrome, and it is turning out to be a great performer in my Merkur 34c. I did a two pass with only minor touch-ups and got a DFS+. I used the Kyoku Razor Repair Balm after a Luke warm rinse. The Kyoku Razor Repair Balm goes really well after the Kyoku Shave Cream. I'm not sure what it is, but they do work well together, as if they were made for each other. My face just feels great. My wife commented on how nice I smelled after using them both. So, another great shave today!

 

Schick E3
Ever Ready 500PBT w/ TGN Finest F2
Cella
Fine Clean Vetiver

 

Sunday's Planned Shave

Razor: Phoenix Double OC\Weber Bulldog
Blade: Super Iridium(6)
Brush: Vie-Long Pro Horsehair
Bowl: Woodhead Medium Scuttle
Pre Shave Scrub: SPAtopia Dead Sea Scrub
Pre Shave Balm: Prep
Shave Cream: Al’s Auguri
Post: Monster Alum Block
Aftershave: Muelhens 4711



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Shave of the Day

Saturday 1/24

Prep: hot shower, shea butter black African soap, shea butter conditioner
Razor: Morley 5/8 Clover
Brush: Rubberset 400-4 Badger
Lather: Scottish Fine
Shave: 3 passes; WTG, XTG, ATG + Cleanup
Post: Asus Velva Musk