Thank you gentlemen for the kind words. It usually comes out around New Years but it has been calling me for the last few weeks. I will use it again during the summer.
Sotd Prep: Hot towel Preshave: Proraso White Soap: T+S Merry Razor: 17/16 Wade and Butcher Square point Celebrated AfterShave: T+S Merry Still feeling some tingle going on from T+S Merry but the scent is amazing and the performance is even better! Boreal is still my favorite T+S scent though, just had to throw that in there. My condolences again go out to Jason Speigleman of The Shave Market. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Decadent December!! December 7, 2018 Razor - 1918 Gillette Old Type Blade - (1) Soap - Truefitt & Hill 1805 Brush - Vie Long 12601 The Pony Post - Alum First things first - apologies for the crappy picture tonight. The camera let me down, meaning I screwed it up I'm sure. But you get the idea at least. Time to switch it up after last night's almost too good to be true decadent shave. How about we go old school. "OG" Decadent. Yeah, that's the term. My oldest razor, the 1918 Gillette OT that was issued to a soldier back in the day. I need an old time soap. Well, T&H has been in business since 1805 so I'll use their 1805 soap that is named in honor of their first year in business. The brush? The Pony, of course. Horse hair brushes are as OG as it gets. And the blade? Gotta be carbon. So the Treet Dura-Sharp. I wanted a Black Beauty from Treet but don't have one so the Dura-Sharp is the next best in line. I had a couple of concerns about this shave. Well, one mainly. The scar from the pain stick is still lingering. Taking the 1918 and a carbon blade across it could be a bit risky. Angle and pressure control are not an option. They have to be perfect. So, I lathered up the 1805 and enjoyed its rather unique scent. I also admired its slickness. I guess it knew I needed help. I was able to get a near BBS on the first pass. Wow was that ever fun. No blood on the cut, nice smooth feel to the blade and I nearly stopped after one pass, in honor of those old-timers who would kick our butts for doing more. But, I wanted to keep going so I went for a second pass. Still smooth, still really comfy and the baby came into the room and demanded I stop. Who am I to argue with a happy baby? What a fun OG shave tonight. Looking forward to a couple more. Decadence from the past. A great way to end the day.
When I first started to think that there must be a better way to shave, and save money at the same time, like many of you I found my way to traditional DE shaving. Up until fairly recently I had stayed loyal to the first choices of DE razor, soap, brush, aftershave and blade brands that I initially picked when I decided to make a change. I accomplished what I set out to do - make shaving enjoyable and save money. Now however, in a relatively short time, I find myself with different razors, soaps, brushes, aftershaves, etc. The rabbit hole is never ending... but even with a slight bit of RAD, I know I can always sell what I don’t like. To keep the daily shaving routine fresh, I’m making a conscious effort to mix it up and use what I now have on hand. Based on seeing the different forum threads pertaining to SOTD and Brotherhoods/Clubs, I would like to use my own “day of the week” routine that I could use as a guideline for a while. Here are some ideas I have for my schedule. Some of these may already be in use by some of you, however I just want to insure I’m always looking forward to the daily shave. Made in America Monday *Shave with hardware/software that is made in the USA TTO Tuesday *Like the name suggests, use a TTO World Wars Wednesday *Shave with products that would have been used in the WWI or WWII eras (pre, during or post) Thrifty Thursday *Since a big factor in switching from cartridges was to save money, take this day to use “thrifty” products or purchases only Back to the Future Friday *IMO, one of the best movie trilogies is Back to the Future. This day will be for using shaving gear that Marty McFly may have seen in the different time periods he traveled; regardless if we saw them on screen or not. “Single-ish” Saturday *To insure I use razors other than DE’s, Saturday’s would be for any razor using a blade with only one edge (GEM, Injector, Shavette, Straight, etc.). Simply Smooth Sunday *With the goal of ever perfecting the surefire great shave, this day will be for honing specific aspects to guarantee a smooth irritation free shave I thank all of you for supplying me so much information already and I welcome any ideas from you on this endeavor. -Andrew
Date: 08 December 2018 Pre-shave:- Cold Water straight from the tap Brush:- Maseto 2 Band Finest Badger Black 30/54mm knot Soap/Cream:- Route 66 ~ Rum Runner Bowl/Scuttle:- Captain's Choice Razor/Blade:- Wilkinson Sword Classic TTO / Vintage NOS England Wilkinson Sword #2 Post-shave:- Thayers Witch Hazel & Tea Tree Oil / Lucky Tiger Aftershave & Face Tonic Fragrance:- Dolce&Gabbana Pour Homme
SATURDAY'S SHAVE Bath Soap - Pre de Provence Sandalwood (quad-milled) Razor - Merkur 1904 Blade - Shark Super Stainless *Fresh Blade Shave Brush - Ralph Lauren Safari Collection fitted with Synthetic Knot manufactured by Frank Shaving (replaced by jimjo1031) Pre-shave Oil - Lather & Wood "unscented" Shave Soap - Geo F. Trumper Sandalwood Cream Shave Mug - Ralph Lauren Safari Collection Post Shave Balm - Geo F. Trumper Sandalwood Skin Food Deodorant - Geo F. Trumper Sandalwood Fragrance - Ralph Lauren Safari EDT ***EDIT - A good shave. 8.5/10. 2-passes + cleanup. Zero irritation. Near-BBS. Slightly better than a DFS. I had been using a Merkur blade in the Merkur 1904 razor for over a year now exclusively. The 1904 is the most gentle among all my razors. Whenever I want a very gentle shave with no irritation for skin recovery/healing I use the 1904 and it gets a 'standard' shave done without making the recovering skin worse. I don't really need to recover my skin today, I just felt like a gentle shave so that my shave tomorrow can be a nice one. I used Shark Super Stainless blade in the 1904 razor this time and I can definitely say that if you want to feel a real contrast between what a different blade can bring, this razor shows it. I went from only getting 'standard' shaves with the Merkur blade to getting a 'damn fine shave-plus' with the Shark Super Stainless blade. Not quite BBS, but still a zero-irritation result with no nicks, no abrasions due to the extremely gentle angle of the 1904 razor. So, if you're someone with extremely sensitive skin that goes red at the slightest scrape, this is a daily-driver razor and blade combo to look into. I usually enjoy more aggression, with my preference being an Edwin Jagger razor with a medium or sharp blade (like a Personna med prep or Astra SP or Feather HI-S)....or....the vintage Gillette '47-'52 Superspeed with a medium-smooth blade (the 'only' blade I will use in it now is the BiC Chrome-Platinum because it's perfection). These combos give more aggression and aren't introducing much of any irritation but have the potential to give some irritation if technique or over-shaving is introduced. The Merkur 1904 razor is so mild I haven't been able to over-shave with it yet, but with a blade that is too smooth it doesn't seem to be cutting the hair close enough (that is largely resolved with the Shark Super Stainless, which got the shave closer with no apparent irritation). So, I will be experimenting with a Feather blade in the 1904 on the next blade change. If it proves still gentle enough for those days when I need a zero-irritation, standard shave, then I'll have a winner. I'm hoping to only have to carry BiC Chrome-Platinum, Feather HI-Stainless and Wilkinson Sword blades ultimately. Since the Edwin Jagger razor shaves well with just about any blade, I'm trying to use up my 'testing' blades and get it down to just 3 or 4 different blades for consistency in my razors. I still haven't found the right blade for my antique Gillette ABC Empire razor. That is the worst performing among my razors and just massacres my neck 50% of the time when I shave with it. I've tried multiple different blades in it. It's just got a terrible angle and I've tried to readjust and found no comfortable method to shave with on that old razor. I spent $600 restoring and plating the razor only to get bad shaves with it. LOL. I'm hoping beyond hope that I find a winning blade and/or find the technique that gets me at least a solid, reliable shave out of it at some point.
SOTD 20181208. M Keramiek / APShaveCo SynBad. Musgo Real "Lavender" (sample). Timeless Ti 0.68 OC / Stork Ti "Taipan" handle. Voskhod Teflon (8). Loris "E-31" EdP.
Good Morning Everyone SOTD 12/08/18 Ming Shi 2000s (set on 5) Wilkinson Sword (8) Barbasol Extra Moisturizing Cold Water Rinse, Witch Hazel E-Shave Orange Sandalwood ASB Have A Great Day!
Saturday 8th December Pears Glycerine Soap Proraso White Pre Shave Supermax Classic Shaving Cream with added Spiced Cider FO Vulfix Medium Synthetic Brush Turkish Copper Shaving Bowl Wilkinson Sword TTO with a 7 O'Clock Permasharp Blade Witch Hazel Groomed ASB Old Spice Bearglove AS A very nice shave indeed. I am off to Hereford today for some shopping and lunch as a birthday treat for my wife. Enjoy your weekend!
Pre: Warm water splash Brush: WDC-8, Maseto 24mm 2BF Soap: De Vergulde Hand Razor: Karve CB with D Plate Blade: Gillette Super Thin Post: Warm then cold water rinse, Puig Quorum ASL Super, smooth Saturday shave, smashing stuff. Happy Shaving one and all.
Saturday Straight's Shave Cold Water Wash CTAPT Shaving Cream Jayaruh #30 Wilbert "Acme" 5/8 CWR Granddad's AS My prep was just a cold water rinse. The CTAPT Shaving Cream face lathered well with the Jayaruh #30 brush. I did two passes with the Wilbert "Acme" 5/8 Straight and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Granddad's AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed... Edit: This is my first straight shave since my fall and wrist injury. It was very successful and smooth. I take my braces off for the shave, but I have them back on now.
Sat. 12/8/18 Good morning friends. A quick comfortable three pass shave today with the Gillette 5 and Shave Secret. I finished with Old Spice... smooth and refreshed. Enjoy your day friends.
It was a Nice Saturday. I needed a bit of protection against the howling wind. This razor does a bang up job.
