May 2018 "Who went to a bonfire and left Samurai in charge?" Edition Day five on the edge, fourteen on the stick. Kept the faith today...stuck to my focus and did the normal two pass KungFu.... Let's talk shave sticks and face lathering. If you've not tried, you should. It's fun. My opinion on sticks, ranked. (Mostly for newer guys) Arko La Toja DR Harris Boots UK (drug store private label) Honestly, pucks are just malformed sticks. It's permissible to rub a puck on one's face, turning any fave soap into a face lathering beast. Try WILLIAMS like this. Yes. That soap. Try everything like this. Why not? It's MAYhem.... Now if @NCoxSTL doesnt show up soon...I'll get bored and start acting up. Pray for one of us. And it wouldn't really be me if I didn't mention. All is quiet in Colorado. Have a fantastic Friday!
Peaches posted a new Message. She speaks on Economic Theory, Minimalism, and other life changing ideas like "a sense of lack".
Fatip Day#13 Razor:Fatip OC Blade: Astra Soap/Balm/Splash : Speick Time pressed 2 pass and jawline clean up as busy this morning. A pic may or may not follow later depending on how the day goes.
Friday May 11 - scary razors cont'd. Today I used the Wayback Machine to retrieve the first razors I used before going Braun and then Philips Electric (they were still sitting in my medicine cabinet with sets of original Gillette brand carts). The one on the left is a Trac II and the one on the right is a Sensor Excell, which I believe was Gillette's first pivoting head razor, unless the Atra came before it. Anyway, the Trac II will be today's shave and the Sensor Excell tomorrow's. Gillette Trac II / Gillette cart (1) Simpsons CH2 Chubby Synthetic brush Vitos Eucalyptus shaving cream Alum, Thayers Witch Hazel Rose Petal, and Lucky Tiger It appears I have learned a few things since I last used this razor. Such as how to make and apply lather. When I think back to when I first started wetshaving with carts and what I thought a good lather looked like, I just wince: I might as well have been dry shaving. Little items like ride the cap, no pressure and stretch the skin also seem to translate well to cart use. What does that all add up to? A good shave. I did my normal 2.5 passes in my normal pattern and was rewarded with what is, I would have to say, a BBS. The alum sparked a little in a couple spots but generally wasn't bad at all. The Thayers WH calmed any irritation down right away, and the Lucky Tiger balm finished off a very good shave. I noticed that today I had no trouble shaving all the nooks and crannies with the non-pivoting head razor: when I first used carts, I preferred the Sensor Excell because the Trac II tugged and was difficult to handle on the curved areas. It will be interesting to see tomorrow what I think of the pivoting head of the Sensor Excell now that I am used to shaving well with non-flexing razors. I also noticed that the cartridge didn't get all gummed up today the way I remember they used to. This might have something to do with using a decent soap applied in a good wet lather to well-dampened skin in place of my pitiful early Williams semi-lathers or a dash of foam. Anyway, the cartridge is all rinsed clean and ready for the next shave, whenever that may be. After trying the Sensor Excell tomorrow, I intend to shave for awhile with these razors and see how many shaves I can get out of these particular carts. I will then go back to my originally scheduled May program of shaving with my Supply Co. injector and seeing how many more shaves I can get on that injector blade before it packs it in (it's up to 18 now)...
May 11 SOTD: Razor: Gillette Fatboy Blade: Sputnik Brush: PAA Atomic Rocket Lather: Soapy Science Doc's Special Blend Aftershave: Old Spice Fresh Additional Care: Stirling Unscented PSB I saw this new soap pop up in a few discussions, and after reading a bit about it, I decided to give it a try. The scent has a lot of peppermint and wintergreen, and it is somewhat reminiscent of Stirling Frozen Tundra to me. The site lists some citrus, rosemary and basil, but I did not get too much of any if these. Performance wise, this seems to be pretty good, maybe even great, but I want a few more shaves with it to make final judgement. It was definitely slick, with a yogurty lather, just the way I like it. Nice cushion and the post shave feel seems to be as good as some of the best soaps I have tried. It is all made even better when I consider that an eighth grade young lady made it. Here is a shot of my brush after my shave (face lather): I am off to work to finish up this week. I hope everyone has a great day!
Great photo and report Jim. While the soap sounds very nice, I really need to thin out some my current soaps.
May 11, 2018 Cobra Classic Feather Pro Rubberset 400 #3 with WSP HWM AOS Peppermint Cream Before I get into the shave I have a confession. Having a couple of adult beverages and looking over various shave forums is always a dangerous activity for me. Even more so with all the new stuff coming out. I am a weak person and caved ordering a Karve 3" D Plate razor. No I know for certain, I will be listing some of my razors for sale. It has been a very quite week at the office which has allowed me to focus more on enjoying my shaves. The Cobra Classic continues to impress with super close and smooth shaves provided I do my part. The "Snake" will punish sloppy technique. Three passes with minimal touch ups left me with a near perfect shave. As usual my lower right neck spoiled the results. I hope everyone has a great Friday.
SOTD May 11, 2018 Prep: Cold water and Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap Blade: Schick Razor: Schick M1 adjustable injector Brush: Omega 10049 boar Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat Post: Witch hazel, Fine American Blend aftershave Continuing the alphabetical march through my injectors brings me to the last Schick in the collection - the M1 adjustable. Excellent razor. I normally use setting 7 and it always provides a smooth shave. Today was no exception. The Fat's lather was optimal and all came together quite well. Friday shaves are always a highlight. Enjoy your day!
Day 170 No shave today. It was borderline needing one and I gave it a pass for hopefully half-day Friday. If I had to grade today, I think this would be it... Irritation A+ Closeness D Smoothness N/A Sharpness N/A Not a lovely 7/8 blade, but in @Keithmax fashion, I will post a pic of my last straight, a smiling 6/8 WB wedge in honey horn acrylic. Enjoy your day.