SOTD
February 16, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Blackland Blackbird
Blade: Voskhod
Lather: Route 66 The Black Pearl
CK Scuttle
Brush: Semogue 610
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH.
Aftershave: Route 66 The Black Pearl
I really love Route 66 The Black Pearl, and here's why. Slick, cushion-y, easy to lather, fantastic scent, great post shave skincare. Winning!! TBP balm is on point too! Fantastic shave with the BB! Smooth 3 pass shave, it helps that you use a high quality soap. Remember that fellas. I'm enjoying the CK scuttle, perfect size for my liking. A warm lather feels great in the early morning.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

Great pic Doug. Your red tip is in Great condition.

February Focus - German blades

February 16

Razor - Merkur 23c
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie Long 12601 The Pony
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold rinse, Alum, The Veg

Onward to the sixth blade out of seven in our tour of Germany. By the way, has anyone seen any of the Cartel boys lately? The last I saw of them they were in a beer garden somewhere in Germany after finding these blades. If they've been mixing German beer and Russian vodka, well, they'll wake up eventually. Maybe. Or not.

The blade of the hour is the Croma Diamant, made by Feintechnik GmbH who also produce the Bolzano. So, hopes are high that this will be a great blade. It's also the blade that is being manufactured in the famous episode of How It's Made. Well, famous to us anyway. If you've never seen it it's worth a look. I like going back to it occasionally just to watch it all again.

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I'm not sure why they show Merkur blades in the beginning then switch to Croma. Probably a sponsorship thing. Anyway, off we go to give this blade a try. It is a stainless blade with Chrome and Teflon for the coating. In the video you see them adding the chrome layer in the vacuum, then spraying the teflon on afterwards.

The Pony and Tabac for a great lather. First pass WTG and I have a word for this blade. Rough. Again, we're not talking Chinese rough, but not smooth. It didn't do a horrible job on the pass but boy I felt it working. No nicks etc. but after the first pass I find myself wincing in advance, just in case it turns totally south on me. Too many shaves with bad blades and the feeling is a warning. Second pass, XTG, is equally uncomfortable. Now, it's not so bad I can't continue, but if this was not a trial I wouldn't be using it for two more days. I have better options. Like Derby. The Croma is not the sharpest blade in the batch and even the Teflon, which I love, can't smooth it out. Needed a third pass, ATG and G-slide. My neck is now nice and red and I'm anticipating some burn from the alum. Finished the third pass with a midling DFS. Hit my face and neck with the alum and got a burn. Not as bad as I thought I would but it's there.

So, No BBS. Deduct 1/2. The roughness, or perhaps more accurately, lack of smoothness, deducts another 1/2. Alum was a bit warm. Not as bad as I thought, but the redness remains. That's another 1/2 deduction. Final score on this one today is a 3.5 I'm hoping for better tomorrow!

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Great video. Your posts are very informative. I can't wait to try wilkinson sword. At the moment I am sticking to feather to regain some consistency to my focus. Next month is trial month though!

I was not a fan of the croma blades. I really like Wilkinson and it is the blade of choice for my fiancé. They are also locally avalible at my local small pharmacy. They keep them right next to the Schick injector blades.

I was rushed with a last minute meeting with a store manager of my local grocery. I was hoping for a job but again it fell through.

Proraso White
WD synthetic 20mm
Gillette Super Speed
Astra SP (2)
Axe Shield

Quick 2 pass and I managed a BBS except on my neck where I got a very nice DFS. No burn from the tap water. It has enough chlorine in it that it burns as much as Alum most days. I used one of my more mild aftershaves since I dislike using strong smells for job interviews. XTG followed by an ATG buffing pass. My neck shave was G-slide in opposite directions N/S and S/N. Back to my normal chunks of shaving steel tomorrow.

Focus: NF Brush #8 - Feb 16
New Forest Tambootie wood handle w/ two-band badger knot​

Another one of the five wood handles that Peter made.
This morning it was one of the Tambootie handles (the second out of two)
I really like this two-band knot - dense, soft and a lathering machine.
The wood handle was also very pleasant to use this morning.

I'd rate it an 8.5/10 which is, I think, a tie for highest rating (with the other Tambootie handle actually).

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This is beautiful country, Chris. I hope you are having a good time.

Are you used to Old Types? I found last month that I had to really focus not to get missed spots. Angle on those is more specific than my other DEs I think.

Nice B&W!

Thanks Charlie! We're trying to figure out a way to stay!

Feb 17 Focus Shave 13

Today's razor is a Portland Razor Co Western grind kamisori on it's second shave after a refresh on Shapton 12/16k then Dovo red/black paste.

Very smooth edge an uneventful 4 pass shave, no blood no fuss. I really felt I nailed this shave. Alum test gave zero feedback. I was surprised that the shave was not BBS, just DFS.

Irritation A+ Closeness B+ Smoothness A+ Keenness A-

Huntlee
Simpson Tulip 2 Super silver tip
Woodhead scuttle
PRC Western grind kamisori
Harold Russian leather strop
Lucky Tiger AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Davidoff Silver Shadow

Thanks!

The only blades I have found locally around here are the CVS and Walgreen blades, which are Israeli Personnas in disguise, and VDH blades in one spot and the Microtouch One blades at Walmart. Apparently your pharmacy is better stocked than any in the STL area.

Walgreens in Denver is carrying Gillette branded DE blades now. Will issue a full report confirming this on Thursday when I get home.

This is my second go round with the Old Type. I did a few days shortly after I got it, 15 days in October, and 16 days this month. Sometimes I feel like its really great and sometimes I wonder why I need to go over spots so many times. It seems like my hardest areas are where the angle changes and where stretching my skin makes the whiskers lay down. You could be right. The most efficient angle feels pretty narrow at times.

I'm with Neal, I haven't seen anything other than those he mentioned in any of the drugstores in Atlanta. There are a few independent drug stores that might have premium blades, but I haven't gotten around to checking them out. The local Walgreens does carry the GEM Super Stainless SE blades by Personna. And there is an Asian grocery store near me that carries Wilkinson Sword DE, but they seemed very expensive.

CVS carries their own branded SE as well. I think they are GEM in disguise. I also saw them in Walgreens at one point. As for the price? Yes, all more expensive than other options but that's the price you pay for convenience I suppose. I haven't bought any of the DE blades nor will I. If they'd start carrying some other brand I might be tempted to try.

My local pharmacy is a tiny locally owned place and a 10 pack of Wilkinson sword blades is a whole $1.29 plus tax. I like them pretty well but I like other blades more. My fiance gets 3 shave day showers out of each one and she shaves every other day so a 10 pack lasts 2 months sometimes more. I like GSB, Astra and Kai way too much to buy the Wilkinsons for myself. My beard eats them dull in 2 days.

Two Russians and the Kai. If I ever find Ivan and the boys I"ll send them around with some vodka for your good taste.