Lovely photo and shave Joe. Good luck with the contractor and getting the pool ready.

SOTD SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020

The shave yesterday with my VC4 Valet Auto Strop (VAS) was so awesome, I just had to repeat it. The Auto Strop was designed by Henry Gaisman, and it is a surprisingly brilliant piece of work. The VAS evolved from the original 1906 model through 9 others and culminated in this razor, the VC4 which ceased production in 1946. Of all the models, only the VC4 featured a safety bar instead of the open comb of its predecessors.

During the roaring mid-1920s, Gaisman like his mentor, King C Gillette, realized that money in the shaving game was in blades, not blade-holders, despite his having designed one of the best, if not the best safety razors in the business. Customers had stopped buying Valet blades, and were substituting the cheaper Gem blades. Research indicated that customers didn’t consider the VAS a premium brand.

To counter this perception, and lock in customers, Gaisman released the Model VB2 (7th of 10 VAS models) a silver plated model with a new blade lock. The new mechanism consisted of a swinging door that secured the blade and included indents on the baseplate that prevented the use of Gem blades. In fact, all three Auto Strops that followed had indents on the baseplate. Thankfully, the six models preceding the VB2 can all be used with Gem Blades. The easiest solution, of course, is to use an original NOS Valet blade or a Feather FHS-10 in any of the models.

Yesterday’s shave featured Chel, a synthetic menthol cooling gel. The gel Contains aloe and other skin+friendly ingredients. It performed beautifully as a preshave. So after my shower and cold water rinse, I again applied the Chel and lathered over it with the Nancy Boy Signature Shave cream. The Alpha Shaving T-400 Tribute’s Boar ferrule felt great against the shave surfaces. But what felt even better was the slowly escalating feeling of coolness. The VAS again delivered the goods through two slow luxurious passes (WTG, ATG). I think the feature I enjoy most about the later model Auto Strops is their adjustability. Lifting the locking lever In the back of the head increases efficiency and pressing it down decreases it, a very clever system, Mr Gaisman. And one arrived at through incremental improvements over the razor’s 40 year life (1906-1946), finding its final and best expression in this, the VC4. I really like this razor which again delivered another bloodless VBBS with no heat from the Alum. I feel clean, velveteen smooth, icy cool, and refreshed!

RAZOR: Valet Auto Strop (Model VC4)
BLADE: Feather FHS-10
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Chel application to all shave surfaces
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 Tribute w/ 26mm Boar Ferrule
CREAM: Nancy Boy Signature
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and finished with Krampert’s Frostbite AS Splash

Aaaah, a couple of glitches in this morning's shave, but overall I was more pleased than disappointed. Nice work loadin. g the Stoylin "no-name" brush. Face and neck administering was a little too wet again(talkinabout the first pass), but gradually settled to dryness. A small cut and a weeper during that pass. 2nd pass was a little better, but for another weeper. By the way, to me, a "small cut" is more dangerous-looking than a weeper, but it doesn't lead to any further trouble. I should have used more of the Agadir aftershave, but this one, like Aqua Velva, shoots out of the bottle(even though the peephole is smaller than that of the AV). Will have another chance tomorrow to do some serious "face and neck splashing". Very Excellent Oh, by the way, the bottom of the Lumberjack soap puck now looks like a comma . Means I'm making SOME progress finishing it. .

Awesome shave and report, Joe! My only experience with vetiver was with Soap Commander's Drive (leather and vetiver). Really enjoyed that one--clean, mellow, and earthy

June 7th
Razor: Alpha Outlaw
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Brush: SOC Taj Mistura
Pre-shave: PAA The Cube
Soap: Stirling Barbershop
PAA Galactic witch hazel
Stirling Glacial balm
AS: Stirling Barbershop

Sample Sunday

Good morning!

First shave with the Alpha Outlaw DE. Very nice high polish with grippy handle. Weighs in at 116g with blade and nylon washer. Covered blade tabs. Loud razor with plenty of blade feel without feeling harsh.

The usual three passes left me near BBS. The alum was slightly warmer than usual but that could be in part due to the extra shave thrown in this weekend. Wonderful shave and successful first outing with the Outlaw!

Have a great day!





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Terrific report, Jeff! The VC4 sounds like a winner!

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Beautiful set up and photo, Keith--love that brush and straight combo!

Sorry to hear about the blood on the steel. Sounds like you've got that Mike Martinez nice and sharp, though

June 7, 2020

Colonial Silversmith
Wizamet Super Iridium
BSB Two Band
Stirling Soap Co. Orange Chill Soap & Aftershave
Terre D'Hermes

​

June Focus

Eufros~~Parker~~Fatip/Wizamet~~Aqua Velva
Sticking with the focus and lovin' every minute of it.
This soap is so easy lather, even a lowly Parker Best Badger rocks.
I'll let you in on a dirty little secret.
This brush is as soft as any other brush I own; has better flow-through
and it may not be a Simpson or a Varlet or a Wiborg
it is every bit as good as they are.

Razor choice was the Italian Fatip, Lo Storto Originale.
a.k.a. Open Combed Slant Razor.
Blade choice was once again the Wizamet Super Iridium.
I did use a few drops of the M-Bomb to "kick it up a notch".
Shave was effortless and without issue of any kind.
Aftershave was the vintage Aqua Velva.
Dr. Mrs. Primo's comment was: "You smell fresh".
I'll take it. ​

awesome Jeff.will join in one day,i am to zoom meeting stuff like our Paul is to photographs..

fine sunday shave and pic Joe,good morning..

awesome sunday shave and pics Joseph,good morning..

cool silversmith Mark..

awesome valet shave and pic Jeff,good morning..

Wonderful photo, shave and report, Jeff! Those Auto Strops sound like amazing shavers

I have never heard of Chel until just now--is that a relatively new offering from the folks at PAA?

Thanks, Gary! Good morning! We missed you last night.

awesome shave and pic Jim..good morning..

fine shave and pic Paul,good morning..

one day..,not a tech guy so much..still getting used to cell phones...not really set up for it.