January 9 Planned

Muhle R41 head (2013) & Weber Bulldog handle
Astra SP (3)
Edwin Jagger XL Synthetic
Barrister and Mann Bay Rum soap
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and CC Bay Rum

I've been using this set up all month with either Jabonman Eufros Oriental Breeze or Kiss My Face Pomegranate Grapefruit cream (extra heroic). I plan to break out a new soap for the next few shaves, Barrister and Mann Bay Rum. With temps starting to get into the single digits, a Bay Rum soap just seems to make sense.

A two-pass shave (WTG and either XTG or ATG) seems to work best for me with this set up, regardless of blade choice. Based on the last few weeks of shaves, I'm sold on Astra SPs and Perma-Sharp Supers. I received some Polsilvers, so I'll soon be working them into the rotation. Voskhods are en route and should arrive by month's end.

I'm starting to like the EJ Synthetic brush after using it off-and-on for about a year. It works much better for me when I load soap off the puck, so I'm expecting good results with the B&M soap.

I have enjoyed seeing all the great SOTD photos and following everyone's progress this month. I hope all you all have a great week.

Veg removes epoxy. Just saying...

And paint, and chrome plating, and girlfriends....

I'd be worried about the knot and brush handle too.

Do you dip in the Veg or just use the fumes from the Veg?

Day 2 with 'big red', Omega Pro boar brush.

This is the first time I tried a cream with a boar brush. It took me a while to get the right consistency but by the second pass I had the lather in good shape. Today's razor is a shavette, Focus Slim A1 with a Perma Sharp blade. Nice shave but one weeper plus an operator caused a small cut. In the end except for the small amount of blood just light irritation and BBS.

Irritation A- Closeness A

Big thumbs up for the Bay Rum choice. Then you gotta go with Clubman Virgin Island Bay AS to top things off. Mmmm, Bay Rum!

Thanks! If the B&M soap performs as good as it smells, I'm in for a treat! I haven't tried the Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum AS, but I have some Captain's Choice Bay Rum AS all ready to go.

Monday, January 9, 2017

El Druida Manchurian
Krampert's Finest Frostbite
Wolfman WR1-OC with Darwin Deluxe Ti
Feather HS #2
Kramperts Frostbite Aftershave


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January 8 - PAL and brush focus

Gillette Black Beauty on 3
PAL Gold Thin Hollow Ground (5)
EBay artisan badger brush
The Eternal Tub of TOBS Avocado Cream ( croap )
Alum and ProDerma Primalan Almond Oil Emulsion (sample)

I used my third and final badger brush today, a brush I bought from a custom maker on eBay about 5 years ago. No makers mark or name on it and I can't remember who I bought it from. It has a nicely-turned imitation ivory handle and about a 24mm knot of good quality and decent density badger hair. I never used it much because it seemed too floppy on my face compared to my old boar brush, but it did okay today using the old-fashioned barber's "cradling" technique I recently learned.

I'm still not sure if I like any of my badgers much, though. I'll be using synthetics for the next few days and then will rotate through the boars and badgers again. By then I should have a good idea if I will continue to use the badgers if I keep them or if they should hit the road.

The PAL blade gave a good smooth shave in the Black Beauty today. The wrapper did say it was extra sharp and should be used lightly for "the first 3 or 4 shaves", and this was shave 5 on the blade, so maybe this was normal for these blades back in their heyday?

Anyway, the shave was a one diagonal pass and cleanup DFS with no complaints from the alum.

My skin seemed a bit dry today, so afterwards I slopped on a sample of an almond oil moisturizer that happened to be sitting handy. It seemed like good quality stuff - German, holistic, etc. - but I've never been much of a lotion guy so I can't really say if it's something super or not. It worked as well as Nivea Sensitive Balm if that helps.

I will continue running the PAL carbon blade in the Gillette adjustable as long as it gives smooth shaves and then try honing it with my old bladesaver and see how that works. The one thing I have been doing differently with this blade is not just rinsing it in the razor after each shave as usual but then also removing and drying it to try to prevent any rust. Frankly, even if it proves possible to run the carbon steel blade indefinitely by regularly honing it, I think I will ultimately prefer the convenience of stainless.

I merely glanced and the bottle, and then placing my right palm on the wakazashi, with my forearm resting upon the katana, I glared at the knot and it jumped out and ran away.

A Journey Down Route 66
8 January 2017

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Today marks the first usage of the Leopard in 2017. Identical in design concept to the Parker SRX, it provided a nice shave with Voskhod. I perceive Voskhod to be sharper than Shark SS, and chose the extra sharpness to compensate for the lower mass of the plastic scales versus the all-steel Parker. I know the photo is Shark, but I switched after the shot was taken. It worked out! Two passes with a Route 66 loaded brush provided the usual DFS experience. Today's AS is 2x Iced Barber Shoppe from the forum store. @wristwatchb - in honor of your most heroic aftershave choices recently (pomegranate is for heroes, too!) it's back to everyone's favorite paint thinner tomorrow, that being the almighty Lilac Veg. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.​

Have a Magnificient Monday!
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That was one funny movie and that scene alone was enough to put me in tears. That and his vision of her in his rear view mirror.

Happy Anniversary January!!

January 8

Mostly Shavettes

Razor - Fatip Piccolo
Blade - (1)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum

Late night tonight thanks to the company holiday party. Yes, we have ours after the holidays are over in order. And I kind of like that idea. Always a good night of food, bowling, ping pong, pool and booze if you want it. It's held in the Moolah Theater in St. Louis which also has a bowling alley/game room/bar/grill. Really interesting place. Anyway, that explains my long silence tonight. I only had one beer due to my pancreas but still had a great time and some great Italian food catered from one of the original Italian restaurants up on "the Hill" in STL. No Provel cheese though.

Due to the late shave (later than normal) I decided to go ahead and throw in a comparison shave for DE vs. shavette. I'll do two shaves with the DE blade, then two shaves with the Magic and shavette blade. The first blade I'm using is the Racer Stainless Steel from Lord in Egypt. This blade generally gets good reviews and is said to be on the sharp end of the spectrum. The razor is the Fatip as I wanted an aggressive razor to match up with the feel of the shavette.

Arko for the lather, as it has become my definitive comparison lather due to its consistency and resistance to human error. The first pass definitely makes me think this is a sharper blade than some given the feel of the blade in this highly aggressive razor. Still smooth, but definitely a hint of danger. No blood or other problems, and the second pass that followed brought a very near-BBS. I could go another pass and put the baby to bed but no point in adding irritation for such a small gain. I was curious about the irritation level anyway, and the alum was a bit surprising. Not bad. A few hot spots where I tend to have them near the goatee line but other than that really pretty quiet. All in all a very nice shave. I'll have to put one of these in a Tech one of these days and see if it's as sharp as I think.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine is delayed this week as I am working tomorrow to cover a shift while the big bosses have a meeting. Then off Tuesday. I'll still try to hang out here more tomorrow to catch up a bit.

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Thread hijack...

I'll bite.

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Cee-lo kills it

With clips from Kung Fu Hustle. On par with Kung Pow

Great setup and picture Mark. The brush is an eye popper.