SoS: September 14, 2015 - September 20, 2015

Saturday's


Dove Men Face Wash
Col. Conk Lime Shave Soap
Jayaruh #19 Best Badger
Schick L1
Personna SS Injector
CWR, Asma Alum Block
Thayers Lemon WH
Aqua Velva

The Col. Conk Lime Shave Soap face-lathered well with my Jayaruh #19 Best Badger brush. Two passes with my Schick L1 Injector razor and a Personna 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 Lemon WH and then Aqua Velva after shave. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

 

Thank you. I'm very happy with it.

 

The Crazy Ivan in SEptember!
September 18

Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie Long 12601 The Pony
Soap - TSD Lanolin Bay Rum
Post - Cold Water, Alum, Nivea

So, yet another Chinese blade from Crazy Ivan just to see if we can find one that actually works. I've tried a number of them. The Baili Blue, the Blendax and the Dying Duck, better known as the Flying Eagle, all horrible, terrible, awful, though the Wounded Wombat is still the worst of them all. So, now to the Patrix, made by the same company as the Blendax and honestly.....I was not looking forward to this morning.

So, I decided to stop being so negative, load up the blade and give it a run for its money. No matter what I was determined to finish at least the first pass and, who knows, might even find it to be able to complete the shave in grand style. Using the Pony and TSD Lanolin provided an incredibly good lather (I really like the TSD Lanolin....plan on ordering more) and I was set to go.

First stroke was actually not as bad as I feared. Just down the right cheek, yeah it was a bit tuggy. Ok, more than a bit, but not the worst Chinese blade I have tried. (Did I mention the Krappy Koala?) Went ahead and worked down the right cheek, then endured the extra pain of the right neck. Same on the left. Cheek which was bad, neck which was worse. But....if I'm getting a good shave it's worth it, right?

Yeah, I'm not getting a good shave. I ran my hand over my face as I rinsed it and wondered if I had even reduced the beard at all. It felt as rough as when I started. All that pulling and tugging and overall suckiness and I can't even tell I made a pass? Yep. It's a Chinese blade. Bailed out to my rescue setup...Merker 23c and Astra SP. Did a full three passes with that setup without so much as a pull, tug or anything except beautiful DFS result. Yes, boys and girls, the Patrix is as bad as the Blendax and the Baili but still not quite as bad as the Vomiting Vulture.

I'm really perplexed at how bad Chinese manufactured blades are. The Schick injector blades they make are really good. So, again, it has to be that a foreign company manufacturing in China apparently has enough weight to control quality while the Chinese native versions just don't care. I believe, though, through some research, I may have pinpointed the problem more precisely. Allow me to explain using what is a very familiar video to many of you.

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I believe the problem occurs because apparently they skip everything that occurs from around 2:02 to 2:26 on this video. They create blanks, then simply go straight to the packing process. Why bother with sharpening and all that? It just adds time and money to the process.

Well, after that fail it's up to Crazy Ivan to figure out what to do tomorrow. The good news is no more early Saturday shaves! As of 8 pm CDT today I no longer sell used cars. I have the weekend off before moving on to the next adventure. Have a great weekend!

 

Birthday Shave
Saturday, September 19, 2015


B-3 Satin Mongoose with UFO Titan Fine XL
Feather Pro Super #1
Varlet Mega Badger 29 X 49mm
MDC Le Bol En Bois Fougere
Alum, Dickinson’s ++Menthol, Cucumber Melon Whipped Shea Butter
Derby City Chop Shop Small Batch Shave Tonic
Brooks Brothers 1818

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Happy Birthday, Mark!. I did just notice that your avatar looks like a Texas cousin of @mrchick . Just saying.

 

Friday SOTN


First Full Straight Razor Shave

Pre Shave- Hot shower with Stirling SDM Bath Soap

Shave- Stirling SDM Shaving Soap
W&M Elliot Straight Razor
Stirling Synthetic Brush

Aftershave- my blood... Just kidding Stirling SDM Balm and Splash


First real shave with a straight tonight. 2 passes for a DFS/ BBS shave. DFS on the jaw line and sides of the neck and BBS on the cheeks and throat. Made it through with no cuts or razor burn so I must be doing something right. Will save the straight for my days off just in case this was a fluke. Hope everyone is having a great day/night and hope you all have a great weekend.

 

Planned Saturday afternoon SOTD



Schick type J razor
Schick injector blade
New Forest Alpolina brush
Myrsol Emulsion
Geo.F.Trumper Violet shaving cream
Royall Vetiver

Im planning to be up and out of the house early tomorrow, therefore will shave in the afternoon when I don't have to rush.

 

Have a great Birthday

 

Good job. I've spent the last two days contemplating trying a straight for the first time as well. It's only fear and common sense holding me back

 

The fear went away once I got halfway down my cheek. It reared its ugly head again when I got the neck though. I honestly think most people just psyche themselves up. But the fact that I have done more damage to myself with a safety razor helped calm my nerves once I realized after the first two strokes that my face was still there.

 

He is a handsome dude, isn't he?

 

Happy birthday!

 

Great smooth shave today with the Feather MR3. I really was pleased with the way the Dove Expert Shave Cream performed. I liked the balm also, may have to pick up another bottle.

Clayton

 

SOTD Saturday 19Sep15





Gillette Fusion Flexball ProGlide {D-18}
Pre-Shave: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap
Pre-Shave Oil: Tiki Bar Frosted Woodlands Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Mug: VDH Luxury Mug
Shaving Brush: "Oscar 11" Custom 24/48mm TGN Super Finest Black & White Resin Handle
Shaving Soap: Van der Hagen-Williams Shaving Soap aka Patrick's Blend
After Shave Alum: Razorock Ultimate Aftershave
After Shave Balm: Afta After Shave Skin Conditioner
After Shave: Captain's Choice North
WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angles for my beard)

 

Saturday 19.09.2015

Saturday morning shaves are always a treat. I usually do not have to rush it and I seldom has to shave at 6 am.

Today I shaved about 30 minutes after my shower, and I was interested to see how this delay affected the shave. I picked out a soap from Fitjarsoap and a brush from Lijun shaving, in addition to stars from my last shave, the EJ89 and Astra Superior Stainless blade.

The East-Indies soap from Fitjar is a pleasant scent, although not particularly powerful. For me that is a good thing, especially since combined with this brush the scent went from warm, spicy and sensuous to something that reminded me of cat piss. This brush apparently have too much of badger stink to it and it is affecting the lather. A fun experience.


I loaded the brush, started my face lathering, smelling the piss and started to shave. It was not the usual performance from both the soap or the blade. The blade ought to have more than three shaves to it, and the soap is usually more slick than this. It was still a good glide, just not a stellar one. After two decent passes I ended up with a comfortable close shave and I am happy with that.

I layer of aftershave later and I experienced the wonderful burn of Ogallala Bay Rum with Limes and Peppercorn. I am running low on this stuff and I really should find a supplier for a full jar.

Razor: Edwin Jagger de89
Blade: Astra Superior Stainless
Brush: Lijun Shaving
Soap: Fitjarsoap East-Indies
Aftershave: Ogallala Bay Rum with Limes and Peppercorn

 

Mark I wish you a "Happy Birthday"!!

 

Thanks =) Sometimes I don't feel like typing out the whole shave =P

 

Mark
That is a beautiful looking brush. Being American Made is the best reason to purchase it. Also have a Happy Birthday.

 

Gillette Rocket HD
Rapira Platinum Lux blade
Omega Hi-Brush synthetic
Palmolive stick
Floid Suave aftershave

Wow! The Rocket truly is "Heavy Duty" after two weeks with a Feather Popular!

 

Thank you Doug.