June 15, 2019 Tatara Masamune Feather Simpson CH2 Synthetic B&M Bay Rum Captain’s Choice Bay Rum Aftershave I added this soap to my Maggards order for free shipping. Since I have not used a B&M soap in over three years, I don't know about the particular soap base. The scent is straight strong Bay Rum which is what I like. Face lathering with the Jade Soap Destroyer produced enough rich slick lather for 5 passes. Three passes and touch ups ended in a drama free BBS shave. My wife and I are off to visit my mom today. I hope everyone has a great Saturday.
I think that every time I make the rounds of the Ladies Beauty Supply shops in my town. If someone would dedicate just 4 to 8 feet of shelf space to Men's shave products... I looked up the Nobel Otter soap ingredients. The synthetic cooling agent is called "Koolada-23". It does not occur in nature hence the synthetic tag. There's some detailed geeky information HERE.
Thank you Clint, Danny, and Joe! Glad I have the opportunity to sample the Soap Commander & Nivea products.
Razor: Supply SE Blade: Schick 5 Brush: Breeze by Wild West Brush Works w/ MS two Band 100% Finest Soap: Captain's Choice Bay Rum Aftershave: Captain's Choice Bay Rum Bowl: Yokohama Studio Hand Painted Bowl. Excellent 2 passes with a light clean up shave. I really like the weight of this razor. The Wild West Brush is outstanding.
Thank you, Clint! I really like the synthetic cooling. It's a different sensation than mentholated soaps. I will definitely be adding more to my collection. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
The New LC is one of the best made and this particular one, decked out in Delta Echo style, is quite awesome. I actually won this one in one of the raffles, and if memory serves I believe it was @John Ruschmeyer who offered it up. If I'm wrong someone please correct me. It was the first of two raffles that I won the first pick on. And with those two.....my entire lifetime of luck was used up. The other one that I won I chose the Jayaruh #46, obviously offered by @Jayaruh . Not bad for two raffles. Two first pics for a handmade custom brush (and my first synthetic that sent me down the rabbit hole) and a totally unique Gillette New LC.
There was a time when I packed my suitcase on Monday and came home Friday. Shaving was just another chore then. I avoid traveling nowadays but wondered what I might use. While at the grocery store I decided to take a stroll in the shave section. Packs of DE blades! Great, I'm set unless I forget a razor (fuggettaboutit, no freehanding or gluing here). Cartridges and disposables galore. Then I saw this. Gillette Skin Guard (and a FREE Fusion handle to boot. Lucky me). Read about it figured I'd try. Oh, and grabbed a can of Pacific Rush. A flavor I have not tried and since I have not been fully delivered from the occasional foam use, in the basket it went. Yeah, and per my goofy CT, I do bloom it with dihydrogen monoxide. Made 2 passes WTG and ATG, with a lathered spot touch up. In that scenerio, I could get by. More comfortable than the Mach III so it probably be what I'd buy. Considering these carts are ONLY $5 ea, I'd have saved a lot of money over my current shaving hobby (shhh, please don't tell The Lovely Mrs Headroom that). Interesting experiment, but I won't be jumping the fence. A Happy Father's Day, where applicable.
I had custom scales put on a Bismarck, but the finish started turning to a matte finish over time. I posted a pic of the razor online, and the guy who made the scales noticed this and generously offered to refinish them at no cost. In the process of rescaling the razor, though, the bade became chipped, blunted, and virtually unusable. He offered to send it off to have it sharpened, but I decided to take a crack at it myself. The chips were bad enough that I used a 220 Norton to take them out, and then set the bevel at 1000. Took my time (i.e. anal retentive overkill) on the Norton 4000 and 8000, finishing up on the Naniwa 12000, and then 50 strops on leather. The result was one of the thinnest, straightest bevels I’ve got, which then produced one of the smoothest, closest straight shaves I can recall. Granted, other than the dullness and chips, there was nothing particularly wonky about the blade, but I’m still extremely pleased and proud of the final result after basically starting over with this blade at “ground zero”.
June Focus Seaforth!~~Simpson Persian Jar~~Boker~~Aqua Velva This is the infamous Boker, which has been my nemesis as of late. In preparation for the shave, I lapped it on the CrOx Balsa strop and followed up with the FeOx side. Finished with 40 laps on the SRD strop. I found the seacret (sic) for the Seaforth! Face-lather. Stay away from the bowl. Air is not this soap's best friend, water is. Results were far different this morning. The lather retained its integrity. I slowly added water by dipping the bristles and incorporating it on the face. I could have added more and will next time. The Persian Jar was a pleasure to use. Another "Grey Box" era Best Badger, this knot didn't disappoint. The Boker performed better, but clearly needs a resetting of the bevel. It's not my most beautiful straight, so I am not going to tape the spine. I will report back soon on my success...or failure. Still managed a DFS+ shave. Pretty good for a rainy Saturday. My kids are taking me to lunch tomorrow for Father's Day. It's a great feeling to have two successful adult children who actually like to be around their father. I am incredibly lucky.
Rocket Feather (2) Arko Omega Boar Chatillon Lux Vide Poche toner a picture for once maybe I should get a stand for my gear
Cool photo, Jim. I'll have to check out Orbit when NB19 is over. (A lifetime from now... ) One other soap I know of that uses the synthetic menthol is Wholly Kaw: https://whollykaw.com/product/shaving-soap-fern-concerto-mentholated/
