View attachment 216505
SOTD 01/31/20
This morning I woke up to a relatively gray day. One of the issues with having a collection of utility objects is that as it grows, certain early favorites are pushed aside in favor of the newer arrivals. What razor should I select to shave with and close out the month? I looked at my rack of 16 daily drivers And noticed that I had been neglecting one of my stalwarts, the Muhle R41 (2011) on its RazoRock SS Barber Pole handle. In addition, my shaving creams have been have seeing little use. So I selected my Kapo fresh. I like to bowl lather my shaving creams, so I also grabbed my ceramic shaving scuttle. Jayaruh’s Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger was my choice of brush. I cold rinsed with water and applied my regular PAA Preshave soap to head and face. My shave gang over at TSD have been on a hot lather kick with a variety of shaving soaps. So I had boiled some water, and added it to my usual smidge of Kapo Fresh with 5 drops of M-Bomb. The result was a thin, white, disappointing bubbly result. So I added a bit more cream and proceeded to lather without much change. As soon as I began transferring this seemingly nothing lather to my face and noggin, however, voila, thick, luxurious, hot lather. So this is what they’re talking about! Now the thing I know about the R41 is that besides being a highly efficient shaver, it demands concentration and focus.
My first WTG pass on my face went beautifully as I rode the cap carefully throughout. Short careful strokes cleared the whiskers right down to the skin line on my face, leaving me with an incredibly close bloodless first pass even around the troublesome Adam’s apple with only three rough spots. Now it was time for the head. I usually use long sweeping ATG strokes on the dome with my trusty Silversmith, Vector or Shake Sharp, but remembered that this never worked well with this razor. So I proceeded to use the same cap-riding short stroke technique on the gourd, with WTG short strokes, and experienced the same whisker clearing result as on the face, although it took me far longer than my usual head shave. There remained only two rough spots in the usual places, for that second pass. Usually I go ATG, but with this razor and my arthritis would be bitten. So instead I elected to go XTG, and for the first time ended up with probably one of the closest head shaves I’ve ever experienced. Returning to my face, I experienced another extremely close shave. A check with the alum block revealed heat around each of the trouble spots. Given that, I guess I would have to term the result a near BBS all around. What a great shave to end the month on. I feel clean, smoooth, coool and refreshed
RAZOR: Muhle R41 (2011) on RR Barber Pole SS Handle
BLADE: Wizamet Super Iridium
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with PAA’s Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger
CREAM: Kapo Fresh
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite AS Splash
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