SoS: November 30, 2015 - December 6, 2015

SOTD: Tuesday, December 1
MWF (Cavendish Tobacco infused)
Simpson M6 Manchurian
'55 A1 Gillette Red Tip
Feather (3)
HTGAM Cavendish AS

Have a great day!​

 

SOTD
Route 66 Sweeney Todd soap
TGN Synthetic Brush
SuperSpeed .G4
Feather blade (1)
Florida Water AS
Have fun!

 

Tabac Tuesday
cold water shave
Rudy Vey Sambar Antler Flat-Top,Shavemac, 2band,d01 knot
Alt Innsbruck PPE
Tabac SS
Feather AS-D2/Feather (1)
Bloc Osma
Tabac ASL
Can You Handlebar BDO
Tabac edc

Very smooth shave today,BBS all around!!!

Stay frosty,my friends!

 

I basically use equal parts of castor oil, avocado oil, grape seed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and vitamin E oil. I used to use more castor oil, but I find I like the thinner oil.

 

26-20! That was a close game. Maybe next year for Ottawa.

 

Super Adjustable (4)
Astra SP (2)

I bought the SA back when I was very naive and wanted to try an adjustable. It was cheap because it had a hole in the handle which I now know is a sign of internal corrosion. Frankly, I was never impressed with the experience of using it, particularly after getting my first Slim and experiencing such a smooth shave from it.

This past week, I must have read one too many postings on lubing TTO razors because I pulled out the SA and shot some WD-40 into the handle as it had always been a bit rough despite several soakings. Immediately, the TTO know smoothed out, including a very solid final quarter turn. So, this morning, I decided to try shaving with it one more time.

Immediately, I noticed a difference and that it was much closer to what I would have expected from a Slim. I can only assume that the WD-40 freed up something which was preventing a complete final quarter turn, thus affecting the aggressiveness of the razor.

All-in-all, a decent one-pass CCS. It's not as close a shave as I would have liked in some spots, but I think this may be due to the fact that the SA is known for being less aggressive by one setting than the Slim. Next time, I'll probably bump it to '5' or '6' and see what happens. Still, I'm glad to finally make peace with this razor.

JR

 

SOTD
Overslept shave.
December 1, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Grafco-Merkur 3-Piece Open Comb
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Mondial Sapone Da Barba Tabacco Verde
Brush: Semogue Boar 610
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Clubman Special Reserve
I'm getting into products that I have used sparingly or never, goodness this Mondial Sapone Da Barba Tabacco Verde is excellent. WOWSER. Clubman Special Reserve... I'm on the fence..
Congratulations to @jmaier our November NGA winner!
Thank you @Seabs @Boojum1 @Bama Samurai @clint64 for your generous donations.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

That's the overall impression I have on Clubman Special Reserve-from the reviews I see, it appears to be about 50-50. Makes me wonder if the Aqua Velva Musk (which I've tried and do like)is just as good or perhaps better than Clubman SR.

 

Mongoose / Hempel
Vie-Long
I Coloniali
CRSW​

 

5/8 Crown & Sword
MT Indian Flavor
franks shaving synthetic/homemade brush with big Omega S knot

I had to shovel snow before my shave so things were kind of rushed this morning. Decent shave but I didn't really have time to enjoy it. The yellow and black handle is junk but at least I got to try out the big S knot.
Have a good one.

 

Clubman SR is woodsy, musky, what the issue is it's way too strong!! I'll try it again before I decide whether to give this one to my son.

 

I switched to the fat boy today, not for any reason other than I felt like it. It did give a very nice shave.

Fat Boy set to 7
La Toja stick
Dorco 301 blade
3 passes and very smooth

 

Tyr's Day:

Prep: Hot shower, Nivea for Men Original Moisturizing Face Wash
Brush: Beeline Boar
Lather: RazoRock One-X croap
Razor: Merkur 41c OC
Blade: Bolzano (1)
Passes: WTG, XTG (1, 2)
Post: Cold water rinse, Bloc Osma Alum, Dickinson's WH, RazoRock One-X AS splash
Cologne: Brit by Burberry

I don't know when the last time I used a boar brush with a RazoRock croap was. Lathering was certainly different than the past month; I'm not saying better, or worse, just different. The different weight, length, and angle for the Merkur, coupled with a slightly less sharp blade in the Bolzano, made this a learning process all over again. Some minor irritation showed up even before the alum, which has my face feeling tight. DFS shave, considering.

 

SOTD 12/01/2015
Hot shower and PAA ATG
Omega Boar
Merkur 34C w/ Gillette Silver Blue
SC Passion Soap & ASB
Custom Shave bowl

 

Oh. Here you can see why I was confused. The text mentions the Berkshire type was used on all those roads. "The prototype, called the A-1, was broken in on the Boston & Albany Railroad’s Berkshire Hills, given extra tonnage and pitted against a Mikado for testing. The A-1 impressed the railroad so much that it ordered forty-five Berkshires for its own."

 

Beautiful razor, case, and blades.
I've probably said this before, but it still holds true.

 

smells the same as the old stuff(wife tested), but doesn't last as long.
it was very inexpensive,. so I guess you could spash it on a couple times a day

 

I've been thinking about selling or trading my C3 so I thought I'd shave with it today in case it leaves the den sometime soon. It was only the second shave with this razor and the nearly 90 degree angle is something that is easy to stray from. The shave seemed harsh so I am guessing I was over-doing the angle as the blade only had one use before today. What would normally take 3 passes took 4. Good result but not an intuitive razor for me - at least not yet.

T&H Ultimate Comfort PSO
Savile Row 3824
AOS Lavender Cream
Schick C3
Personna (2)
T&H Classic After Shave Balm



Happy shaving - Karl

 

December Focus

The Twelve Blades of December!

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 1

Razor - Post War Gillette Tech
Blade - (1)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Customer Silvertip A
Soap - TSD Lanolin Bay Rum
Post - Cold water, Alum, Clubman (without red hot sauce)

First up is the '46-50 Tech with a Centwin Super Platinum blade. Centwin is a product of India, from Malhotra Shaving Products. Malhotra is the smaller of the main Indian manufacturers (Vidyut Metallics is the big player) and makes blades under the Laser, Vijay and Topaz brands as well. This is the first Malhotra product I've used. Indian blades are usually pretty well made but since my experience has been Vidyut products we'll see if it carries over.

Using my Wold Whiskers brush again. Wanted to try it on all three of my top soaps. Just like with MWF and Tabac, it produced a great lather with the TSD Lanolin. Super soft feel but it loads soap like it can't get enough and really produces great face lathers with plenty to go three passes and more! I want another one of these. The lather was great from the TSD Bay Rum and it was good to get back to it after a month on a Rule - um, I mean No Variation. Yeah, that's it.

First stroke and I'm not unhappy with the blade. Seems to be smooth and pretty effective. The first pass was very smooth, in fact, nice bit of audio feedback and a good reduction. After a month on the pain stick this is a breeze. Seemed like the first pass ended in about two seconds. Nice. I've heard some say using pain sticks and straights improves your DE shave and I believe it! Second pass XTG and another smooth pass but there's quite a bit to go to get DFS. So, a full third pass ATG with a few neck touch ups and there it is. A very nice DFS, nearly BBS. Very nice, very smooth, very comfortable. Just a bit more work than some.

My first shave impression of the Centwin is positive. We'll see how it does on day two then give it a grade and recommendation. Enjoy December all!

 

Planned SOTD - 1 December 2015



DeFitch DE
Gillette Silver Blue
La Toja Shave Stick
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Alum
Pinaud Lilac Vegetal

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
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