The "Pokey Express". I find that to be a terrible play on a major part of the history of this nation. But that's on Gumby, not you, Joe.

OK will do. My next couple shaves will be from cans, but I'll take your advice before the next soap shave.

Congrats! I agree.

May 3rd
Razor: S•H Apollo light mild plate
Blade: Gillette Platinum Blue (3)
Brush: Simpson CH2 synthetic
Pre-shave: PAA The Cube
Soap: Fine American Blend
PAA Galactic witch hazel
PAA unscented Star Jelly
AS: Fine American Blend

Good morning!

Woke up to a 65° house, killing the urge to do an ice water shave. Went with the usual hot tap water face lather.

Three passes, silent alum, epic result. I couldn't ask for a better shave.

Have a great Sunday!

Thanks, Joe! The razor does have a wide sweet spot and is prone to bite. Using two blades seemed to put a bit of a muzzle on it! Sorry for the canine metaphor!

This will be a traditional straight razor. I will make scales for it eventually. Shaping two pieces of wood into scales will be the easy part.

This time I am sticking with what I know. It's basically just like the dovos I have in my den with a few small tweeks. Having never made one before I figured that would be easiest.

If this goes well I will make a full wedge to see what's that's like.

Hello Paul.

There are basically two ways to proceed in using a brush to load soap: (1) my way and (2) all the incorrect ways.

Everyone's different. Lather = soap and water, aided by some type of mechanical action (a brush being swirled with reckless abandon, in this case). There are an infinite number of ways to get the ideal lather. Here's what I do:

Synthetic brush: Synthetic fibers don't absorb water, so they don't need to be hydrated. Instead, they trap water in between the fibers. I use warm water to load the fibers with water and warm up the knot. 10 seconds is plenty. I give the knot a slight squeeze and begin to load soap. I add moisture to the lather as I go by wetting the brush tips.

Natural hair brush: I soak the knot in warm water for a few minutes prior to the shave. This hydrates the natural hairs as they do soak up water. It also makes them less likely to break off when loading soap. Again, I give the knot a slight squeeze and begin to load soap. I add moisture to the lather as I go by wetting the brush tips.

If you're lather is too dry for your liking at any time...add more water. Alternatively, if it is too runny or starting to disappear, add more soap. Especially when I'm using a shavette, I will take my time and will most often need to touch up my lather during the course of the shave.

You'll find a way that works for you. Keep us posted. We want to help and cheer you on.

Today's shave from the blue warehousing annex.

Looking closely you can see Jim with his new dapper haircut operating the controls of the automated retrieval system.

I'll keep referring to this, Charlie, thank you. As I read this, perhaps I was forgetting to focus on just the tips(from your Synthetic brush section, as I think all of mine are that). As I've talked about, I'm not a fast swirler, but I think I'm past the "slow way is THE way" persuasion of this action.

@jluc's outfit is even color-matched. If only his hair were blue... Ooops, I forgot...we don' talk about hair lest we get @Trigger started again.

Man, I need a dapper haircut! Course I'm not saying me ONLY.

You'll get there, Paul. There's never any need to rush any part of the shave. In fact, I find that being in a rush takes the joy out of the whole process. If it takes several minutes to build the perfect lather (your way) and you're enjoying the process...then you've mastered your technique.

Carry on, my friend, and keep us posted.

May 3--In the Mix/Mix-It-Up May
DE Sunday

Gear

• Razor: Linuxguile Lupo (Razorock Aluminum Lupo)--this was one of my “In the Mix” items for today; the Lupo is a beautiful razor, great feel and look, and very light!
• Blade: Voskhod (1)--my other “In the Mix” item. A nice, sharp, smooth blade, and a definite contender for a 100 pack purchase.
• Brush: Stirling Finest Badger
• Soap: Iced Stirling Iced Pineapple
• Menthol: Stirling Frost Drops
• AS: Clubman Original & Pinaud Citrus Musk (1 Frost Drop)--my “Mix-It-Up May” choice for today, and I was pleasantly surprised. Keeps all of the citrus in the CM, but CO’s powder creeps in and softens the CM’s musk; I like it!
• Balm: Stirling Glacial Unscented

The Shave
First thing that needs to be said about the Razorock Lupo: It. Is. Light. I can get away with long strokes on my WTG and XTG passes, but I’ve found short strokes are a necessity when going ATG for me. I’ve also found that a slight increase in pressure is required, but I direct it more parallel to the skin than against it (if that makes any sense).

Again, I nested my lather bowl into a bowl of ice water for a prolonged, chilly lather--fantastic!
Passes 1 and 2 (WTG and XTG) were easy, long, smooth strokes. The third pass (ATG) required me to slow things down a bit and take shorter, slightly choppy strokes. I didn’t need to do any buffing today, though, which is always a plus.

BBS all the way around, and not feeling any irritation even a couple hours after the shave. My Sunday shaves for the last month or so have been a real treat.

Looks to be a wonderful Sunday--hope everybody enjoys theirs!

Me too, Paul. It has been almost three months since my last haircut. My Bride and I plan to give it a try sometime this week. It will be a light trim, and we'll go from there. I'm sure we'll tweak it a few days in a row to get it looking decent. If all else fails, I'll do a buzz cut. (My last buzz cut was in the 2nd grade, so I'm actually overdue for one.) I wouldn't mind a buzz, but my Bride wants to give me a nice trim. We watched this video to prepare. Not being in hurry and paying attention seems to be key.



I plan to give my Bride a buzz cut once we get to Minnesota. This will be a required step at some point. I purchased the nice hair clippers and attachments in large part because I want to make her cut as comfortable as possible. As her hair starts to grow back in, I'll be doing her lineups until she has enough growth to see her stylist. Because of all this, I really want to do a good job for her.

Marvelous Sunday shave, Jim! Enjoy the nice weather!

Wonderful shave, Tim!
I have a few aluminum razors and I'm happy to have them in the mix. Nice change up from the heavyweights.

Thanks, Joe!

You really are such a rascal Charlie!

That really is amazing work so far, Evan! Very cool.