Duly noted. I'll do my best to turn things around pronto!

First shave of the month:
GEM MMOC
30DC brush
Haslinger Schafmilch
Pinaud Clubman


Couldn't ask for much more out of a shave.

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In my current focus, I've completed three shaves each with the Voskhod and the Polsilver SI. Both are excellent blades, but my initial impression is that the Voskhod is a bit smoother and more forgiving. It's very hard to nick myself with the Voskhod; however, I had a few small nicks using the Polsilver. I'm hoping this focus will allow me to dial in the various Russian blades I plan to evaluate. Next up is a Perma-Sharp Super blade.

I'm not great about pairing soap or cream and aftershave scents. I usually don't give it much thought, as the scents don't stick around too long. I did ask my Bride how the CF Lavender and Alt-Innsbruck paired this morning. She gave me a 7 out of 10. Let me put this in perspective. In Keith's world, a 7 out of 10 would likely earn him a smart aleck remark from his GF. He might also find a new violin in the closet (retaliatory purchase). At 6 or below, new bows would also start to appear around the house.

It would not surprise me that the ATG got you. Many folks avoid ATG until they have perfected their technique. Having said that I jumped in with the ATG passes early on, figuring I might as well get all the learning done at one time. I know Andrew asked how often are you changing the blade? I would suggest 3 or 4 shaves at most in the beginning and then change them out. Once your technique is solid, you'll likely find you go much longer between blade changes. If you need any advise or help let us know. Otherwise good luck and keep up the good work.

Every 3 shaves I swap them out. Today was shave 2 with this blade

Good deal. Just keep up the good work. We all have off days. I started getting consistently good results around 30 days. About 90 days in I had another big improvement. It's like anything that requires muscle memory. The more you practice and pay attention the better the results.

If the border were closed, I'd lose some of my favourites (CL, Stirling, B&M) but I'd do ok with Canadian software. Off the top of my head- Tallow&Steel, Henri&Victoria, First Canadian, Midnight&Two, Soapy Bathman, Elvado... only Soapy Bathman is from this province, though.
FWIW, 4 of my vintage Gillettes (OT, NEW LC, Prewar Tech, BallEnd Tech) are all Made in Canada as well.

Danger 1, Field 0

NOVember Shavus Interuptus
with a side of Molested Williams

Williams Shave Stick; Vintage
30 DC LE Cashmere Brush
Osaka Suribachi ceramic bowl
Ming Shi 2000S Adjustable
Personna Lab Blue blade (3rd)
Alum, Clubman Lotion après-masage


As I was preparing for a leisurely rainy day shave, I got called out. I had dry rubbed the soap stick around the bottom of the textured bowl. Phone rang needing me to be away fro 20 minutes. So I swiped my moistened & shook out brush across the soap flakes and laid the brush in the bowl. When I returned the soap hadn't sprouted or bloomed. It had softened enough to lather up quickly, but no determinable scent but for a ghost of Barbershop. So I adulterated the lather with a dribble of Ed Pinaud's finest. ( @jtspartan - My AS is labeled in English/French) In keeping with established procedure this third shave with an adjustable DE called for same blade at highest setting. Boo Ya! Well scented lather applied, I took Clone in hand and spun it up to Warp 6. It's not the Enterprise so there isn't a number nine. WTG pass being wary of the greatly increased blade gap was quite audible. Not SE Gem type, as there's a muted buttering toast tone. Relathered and went ATG for a more confident pass. Still plenty of creamy Barbershop lather for XTG and all's well. With that much done I went for chin buffing. Scored a 1/4" nick under the curve, no blood. Might be a slight scrape on my laryngeal prominence. Alum swiped quietly but for the under chin error. Revisiting the soap scent booster the AS applied with comfort. I'm getting the angles with this long handled heavy tool. A DFS or better and time will tell if it's as long lasting as a Bunny shave.
Good Shaves Y'all!

Tout est bon, mon ami!
That is near the boundary of my functional French. Anything more I'd just be quoting from Pepe LePew...

What is an alum block. I hat asking newbie questions lol

Jason, all questions are welcome! Keep 'em coming. We're all here to learn and have fun.

Alum is best used in your post shave routine to seal up any nicks and let you know where you might have gotten too zealous and overshaved. It will sting a little if you shave too close or nick yourself. It's a nice skin toner as well. Apply it to your wet, freshly shaven face, leave it on for a minute or less, and then rinse it off with clear water. I'll go for stretches when I'll use it, and then I'll skip it for a month or more. Only you will be able to tell if it gives you any benefit. More info here:



A block of alum will last you for several months, unless you drop it. Then it breaks in a zillion million pieces.

He used to play for the Canadiens, right?

Wednesday November 1 - on Focus so far

Pre-shave: hot shower with Alepeo Black Soap paste
Rockwell 6s on plate #3 / Topaz Platinum ( 1 )
Semogue Owners Club cherrywood boar brush
RedDragon homemade glycerin bay rum soap
Osma Alum block and Clubman VIBR

We had our first snowfall last night. The ground has remained covered in a thin layer of white all day. It had little chance to melt off because the weather was grey, overcast and windily chilly all day. Perfect weather to match my mood - I have a cold with a runny nose and a sinus headache... Bah! Humbug!

On the positive side, I tried a new shower product today - Alepeo Black Soap paste, which Fendrihan just started carrying. It's a northern African soap made primarily of olive oil and laurel oil, and is supposed to be very good for the skin, especially oily skin or skin with a tendency to acne. Unlike the black soap Neal has mentioned, this stuff has no burned plantain in it and is not at all gritty. The primary active cleansing ingredient is the laurel oil. Which also give it a very pungent odour of penetrating herbal oil. It did leave my skin feeling oil free and clean but very soft and well moisturized everywhere.

It also left my stubble stripped of all oil and possibly easier to cut.

I used the first of this month's two soaps today. I swirled on the puck in the mug for several minutes, adding water on top of the puck about three times, until it eventually loaded my brush with lather. Having whipped the soap while loading, I skipped using my bowl and went straight to my face. I was able to paint two passes worth of decent coverage with what was in my boar brush. The lather appeared only grudgingly but didn't dissipate during use. Slip, glide and protection were okay but not outstanding.

The Rockwell 6s on plate #3 gave me the usual efficient and error-free shave. Two passes to a DFS. No kick from the alum. The VIBR provided a warming burn and then settled down.

My face does feel softer and drier now then it usually would half an hour after my shave. I think the difference is that black soap. I think I will add it to my routine this month and see how it performs over a longer period.

I'm not so sure I will use this RedDragon soap every other day this month as I intended though. The performance is not fabulous. I may try one of the pucks that were stored wrapped in saran wrap and see if it's better. If not, I will just write off the $1.00/puck I spent on it a decade ago as a waste of shaving money and use them as handsoaps...
Tomorrow should be a better shave with my Italian frankensoap. And maybe my sinuses will feel better too...

Edit:. Further investigation has revealed that the reason this particular puck of RedDragon bay rum soap has no detectable bay rum scent left is that it was originally a puck of dragon's blood scented soap, which is also a much lighter scent in the first place...

I don't try. Mom's mother spoke Cajun French, but she married a guy with Pennsylvanian Dutch heritage. On top of that my folks moved to Chicago when I was young. I can pronounce Polish words quite easily, but sometime the extra silent letters in our antique Louisiana French throw my tongue. There would be issues if I brought what little I know to the interwebs. A word like "Couillon" in Cajun means fool, joker, nitwit, or simpleton and might be used as a term of endearment. I gather it's quite vulgar in modern French.

Don't know that one. The one French Canadian profanity that many English Canadians would know translates to English as 'tabernacle', actually.

This is the thread where it's ok not to know what to do. Ask anything you like, we'll try to help.

An Alum block is one of the only ways to gain truly objective feedback with regard to your technique development.

Sacré bleu !

Tabernak.

And then there's "phoque", which in French means a seal, a furry marine mammal, and when spelled phonetically in English becomes unprintable...