I don't say this very often but, excellent shot.

Thank you, sir!

Beautiful picture, Mark!

Tonight's shave was very nice.
I used;
Hot water wash
Alpha T-400/ silvertip knot
RR MF
Ikon sbs (crosshairs exposed)/ Ikon bulldog handle
Rapira (3)
Aqua Velva musk
Tonight was very nice. The T-400 (still impressed). RR MF, very nice scent, top notch perfomance. Very easy to make a rich slick lather. The post face feel is buttery soft. The Ikon combo, still giving extremely close shaves. I haven't quite figured which side is more aggressive, but I'm preferring the crosshair exposed side. The mass of this thing takes some getting used to, but the results are speaking for themselves. I liked the scent of MF , but I had some difficulty making an after treatment. I decided to match it with Aqua Velva musk, maybe low tech for some, but it smelled close enough for me. (wife liked it as well, always a plus).
Hope y'all did as well, or better.

In keeping with a sort of theme, I used an old Japanese Straight Razor. I had a great 2 pass shave, that left me BBS. Zero issues, just a fine shaving razor.


Razor- Japanese "Old Cherry".
Brush- B400 By Tom.
Soap- Arko/Sandalwood scented.
Aftershave- Shulton Old Spice. Mmmmm Mmmmm Good.

West Coast Shaving | Oriental
RazoRock 400 | Noir Plissoft
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Phoenix Shaving | Speakeasy

​

Once again, West Coast Shaving dodged a bullet. If you read my impressions of " Pear-Brrr Shoppe", you'll recall that despite my aversion to fruity fragrances, I rather enjoyed it, and can appreciate the artistry involve in its formulation. That said, since I don't particularly want to smell like the fruity fragrance, Pear-Brrr Shoppe will not be one of the splashes I purchase. The other soap that was coming my way was also unknown to me. Imagine my disbelief when "Oriental" arrived having "rose" listed as the first descriptor. I've noted countess times that even though I find rose fragrances to be appealing, I often have to avoid them because, in most cases, if the rose is forward enough, it will elicit a wave of nausea and headache. I simply have an intolerance to the fragrance, regardless of my affinity for it. Out of the 5 launch scents that West Coast Shaving is releasing, how did they manage to send me the 2 with which I'm most likely to have a problem?

When I cracked open the tub, I was met with a bold, but pleasant rose. Given that this was only a soap and the fragrance, if undesirable, wouldn't linger, I reluctantly elected to proceed. Fortunately, soon after loading, the rose element quickly acquired a woodiness and musk that continued to descend to a resinous, more classic oriental as the lather was built. Once the lather foundation was fully established, the dry fragrance hemmed in the rose to more of a labdanum characteristic. Labdanum is one of my favorite notes, and despite its absence from the documented scent notes, it's the impression I get. As the two-pass head-and-face shave progressed, the fragrance continued to darken and acquire even more resin and ancient dry wood notes. In light of this being a head-and-face shave, it should be noted my exposure to the soap is roughly 15 to 20 minutes, and towards the end I began to note some smoky spiciness reminiscent of Madagascar vanilla bean. This is truly a lovely fragrance, and I predict will be quite wearable for me. I will certainly be picking up the paired splash.

The soap base paired with my test tub of Oriental was Oleo Soapworks' Canard (duck fat) formula. This is a moderately firm soap that loads best with a fairly damp knot, but not saturated and dripping. While Canard is not prone to easy break down, excessive water is not necessarily required. A dense and slick low-profile lather is forthcoming, and this is precisely the sweet spot for this base. More water can be added for a more voluminous lather, but its optimal slickness can be found prior to that. First pass and residual slickness are high level, and post-shave is stellar as with all the top-shelf artisans. Bufflehead is my only other experience with a duck fat soap, and Oleo's Canard has always out-performed it by a significant margin.

Once again, a post product is not needed with a soap of this level, but I don't feel like I've finished my shave until I apply a splash. I opted to use Phoenix Shaving's "Speakeasy" splash which is about as far into rose I can safely tread, and even then, only in cool climates. Since this was an evening shave, I had no qualms using it as I'll be indoors for the remainder of the day. This was a good choice for a pairing, but any oriental would do. A daring alternative could also have been old-school Leeming Pfizer's Black Belt. That is, until I can pick-up the true paired splash when these West Coast Shaving offerings go on sale later this week.

TUESDAY'S SHAVE​

Bath Soap - Brut Classic

Razor - Stirling Soap's Slant
Blade - *Fresh Blade
Shave Brush - 22mm "Synthia" Chrome Synthetic Nylon
Chrome Razor/Brush Stand
Shave Soap - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements "Et Tu"
Aftershave - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements "Et Tu"
Preshave Oil - Lather & Wood's "Unscented"
Post-Shave Balm - Nicci Marie Hyaluronic Acid Anti-Aging Face Serum
Deodorant - Brut Classic
Fragrance - Brut Prestige Silver EDT

August 20th
Razor: Timeless .95 SC
Blade: Feather New Hi Stainless (2)
Brush: Yaqi High Mountain Silvertip
Pre-shave: Stirling Mentholated
Soap: PAA Frost Byte
Stirling Bergamot Lavender witch hazel
AS: PAA Frost Byte

Menthol Monday!

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Date: 21 August 2018

Pre-shave:- Cold Water straight from the tap
Brush:- Platypus P&C LE 2017 24mm Manchurian White
Soap/Cream:- Barrister & Mann ~ Leviathan
Razor/Blade:- Karve 'D' / Vintage NOS Gillette Super Stainless (spoiler) #6
Post-shave:- Thayers Witch Hazel & Tea Tree Oil / Lucky Tiger Aftershave & Face Tonic / Lucky Tiger Face Moisturizer
Fragrance:- Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male

Thanks! Kids report next week. It was a good start to staff week today.

08/21/18 Shave of the Day
Face Wash with The Sudsy Soapery Sandalwood and Citrus with Charcoal and Cocoa Soap
Crown King Alt-Eleven Shampoo & Conditioner Bar- w/ Prickly Pear, Neem Honey & Yucca Root
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Prickly Pear ATG Pre-Shave Soap
Captain's Choice Sandalwood Shaving Soap
RazoRock 400 Solid Aluminum 24 x 57mm Plissoft Synthetic Shaving Brush
Creative Flame Pottery Stoneware Shaving Scuttle
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements PHNX Injector Type L-1 Single Edge Razor – First Use
Installed Injector Blade? - 1st Shave
RazoRock Alum Block
Homemade Lime Infused Witch Hazel
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Classic Sandalwood Aftershave Cologne with Alum
The Sudsy Soapery 100% All Natural Sandalwood & Citrus Creamy Aftershave Balm
The Sudsy Soapery 100% Natural Rain Deodorant​

Cool pic and effect Guy!
Steve

Thanks Steve!

How do you like the new PAA Single Edge?

It is a small world for sure! I'm in Oxford and not far for sure. I always enjoy your great photos.
Steve

New
Adjustable (Arko) Anything Goes and whatever else we decide AUGUST!!!!

August 20

Razor - Qshave (Futur clone) (6)
Blade - (19)
Soap - Stirling Bay Spring
Brush - Stirling Pro Style Synthetic
Post - Alum

I'm time warping again.



Um. No. Not that kind of time warping, though I did spend some time around the riff-raff tonight. (Some of you will get that reference...the old cool guys). Time warping as in delivering GrubHub until 11:30 then making a 30 minute drive back home from downtown STL to get my shave for the 20th done very early on the 21st, then reporting it here on the 21st but labeling it the 20th. Not confusing at all if you've studied temporal mechanics at Starfleet Academy.

I switched back to the Qshave tonight, still open to setting Holy Hell! The Personna 74 is on day 19 and there is a clear difference in how it performed a few razors back when it first went through the Qshave. The blade is not as smooth with the razor and the finish is DFS. In fact, I'd say it has slipped to a "normal" DFS which, for this blade, is weak. No blood, but with it dulling down that may not be a surprise. It's not time to give up on it yet, and it will get shave 20. Not as sure, though, that there is a 21 in it. We'll see about that after tomorrow night. Or is it tonight. Or tonight tomorrow maybe? Tomorrow tonight because it's today? Sheesh.

Oh - the soap was Stirling Bay Rum. I really like the traditional Bay Rum, though I've used Jeeves and El Caballero enough to notice the difference easily. I'm going to have to use those three back to back in a trial in the near future. Just to see which version of Bay Rum I really prefer. That is all.

​

SOTN
Gillette FTSS - Personna Blue (1)

Bowl lathered the shave cream . Excellent two pass shave and a clean up pass. I went by directions on the bottle first use. Much better bowl lathered !

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Good Morning Everyone SOTD 08/21/18

Ming Shi 2000s (set on 5)
Personna (1)
E-Shave Badger
Wit & Wisdom Spiced Cedar
Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block
Wit & Wisdom Spiced Cedar ASB

Have A Great Day!

SOTD 20180821.



M Keramiek / APShaveCo SilkSmoke.
Jabones by Luna “Higo y vainilla”.
SSSeygus 2015 SB.
Feather New Hi Stainless (7).
Floïd Black.