As long as it's modern Williams and UN-decanted Clubman.

Great shave master Joe! How do you like the Stirling bay rum? I was wonder about the clove. I don't like a lot of clove in my bay rum.

Way to go on the honing, Joe!

It will get there.....give it a few more times.

Terrific picture and shave, Blair! Beautiful brush!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I love the scent, Danny! I can't compare it to any other Bay Rum because this is the only one I have. You can tell there is clove in the AS and I would say it would be medium strength, but there is also a sweetness to it that it works for me. I would order a sample of it to see if you like it, if not then you are only out a few bucks.

Wonderful, Danny!

Tell me about the razor. Is it the new one?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Thanks, Joseph! I feel a lot better now that this second razor that I honed was fine. The previous shave did give me a BBS, but the 31 hour stubble was too short due to the marvelous honing job on my Dovo Special so that I had to do more than my usual number of passes. Therefore, I thought that my honing job on this razor was only fair. Today's shave proved me wrong! So now I am 2 for 2 in honing my razors, yippee!

July Focus

Stirling~~Simpson~~dubl duck
The advantage of this focus is that you can REALLY work out some technical issues.
Today was a prime example.
Many of my ardent readers will recall me lamenting about the edge on my DD. Couldn't get the chin shaved,
yada, yada, yada.
Then on Tuesday, I eschewed the "lifting" of the blade between the short strokes. Yes, my pressure was
a tad great and I ended up with a few weepers, but the results were outstanding. (Ralf Aust, BTW).
So, keeping that in mind, I shaved today with the same DD. I did lap it a few times on my CrOx linen,
followed by 40 laps on the Wladimir Savin.
Of course I needed a lather, so I bombed the Bonaparte and...wait for it...did NOT bloom the
soap. (disclaimer: I did put some water on the puck, swirl it around and immediately dump it into my
Aesop bowl for hydrating purposes)
The Keyhole 4 has finished giving up any bristles and let itself
load up with the "moist" soap.
To the face. Excellent, Stirling lather; rich and shiny. Amazing scent and a nice menthol kick.
Back to the shave...
Kept the blade to the skin (it's almost like "buffing") and I am here to tell you that the results were
OUTSTANDING!
If anybody tells you that technique does NOT trump tools, you tell them to...well, whatever you want.
But Primo is here to extol the fact that even after close to 150 straight razor shaves,
you cannot assume that you have nothing more to learn.
This also conforms the fact that I am NOT a total imbecile when it comes to honing.

In conclusion, my fellow shaving enthusiasts, This shave was the first shave of the rest of my shaving life.​

Rocket
Sharp Star (3)
Purely Skinful Fougere Mysterieuse sample (1)
Plissoft
Black Ship Thomas Tew AS

Just a quick report today - I'm planning on using this first Purely Skinful sample exclusively until it's gone (unless I have to travel), after which I'll give a more detailed review. Loaded off the puck and face lathered, it exploded into slick creamy lather almost instantly. Now I need to find an adequate container for it though.

The maker describes this soap as thirsty but I found it to be fairly average in that aspect. Scent is barely noticeable to me so I followed it up with Thomas Tew instead of trying to match to something similar, hopefully they don't fight. I'll try to grab some pics of the soap in action this weekend.

Dust specks!?!
My apologies.
Thank you, Blair!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Excellent photo, Joseph! "This shave was the first shave of the rest of my shaving life". Heady stuff! Can't wait to continue following your journey.

Joseph, that's wonderful! Glad to here that you also affirmed that it was your technique and not your honing that caused the problem. Mazel tov!

Thank you, Danny!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Thanks, Perry. I can get rather deep on occasion. (It's the Opera Singer in me)

Thanks, Joe. Almost didn't recognize you...

Awesome shave, Joe!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Jim, it is my first shave with it and it does a good job. I think is is the same head as a Maggard V3A which I also have. They look identical. I picked the Stirling razor head a while back on E-bay real cheap so I grabbed it. The handle is a piece of acrylic round stock that I was playing with to see how a razor handle would work out of it. Take care.

Thanks, Jim!