Thank you Bruce. Yes, time to get ready for the colder weather.

Is that the same Art of Shaving that has articles by Brett MacKay?(18 Manly Smells, 15 More Manly Smells,)? Actually, I'm going to answer my own question-MacKay writes for the Art of Manliness.

Now that's funny. And true.

Way to wrap up the focus, Joe!

Looks like right now it's about $32.90 USD including shipping. The shipping alone is close to the cost of the MWF and crock.
So...nevermind. They USED to offer free shipping once you spent enough, however they no longer offer that. International shipping has gone through the roof. Get it stateside...

Just the fact she went out of her way to get you some shaving gear is awesome. I'm sure the brush does very well with creams. With soaps, it'd take some finesse...and lots of loading time. Brush variety is nice, and that is one cool brush.

OK thanks..Phoenix it is....by the way, I'm getting "free shipping" for my 2 Bill Neumann aftershaves-total cost will be just over $60. Neumann&Co is in Virginia.

September 20th

Razor: Dovo Inox
Brush: MrEE 10098 clone with hybrid knot
SS & AS: Stirling Sharp Dressed Man

The results from today's shave were good. DFS finish with no irritation, but I've been oncall for work and it's woke me up a lot. I felt a little clumsy so I didn't push it. I had a setdown nick on my cheek and that almost never happens to me. WTG and XTG went okay, but it wasn't getting better so I only did the ATG pass on the easy areas and stopped.



@wristwatchb The red dye came in. This was my first try with a bead blasted finish. 80 grit is a little aggressive but it worked okay. Its kind of like holding 400 grit sandpaper.



It made it significantly harder to paint my signature. That little voice in my head said, don't do it. But I said, "You're not my supervisor!"

That is a very good looking brush.

This was done with 80 grit glass beads. Very aggressive media. I'm going to try something in the 150-250 grit range and see how it works.

Today got kicked off with another Ridiculously Awesome Shave. Same razor and brush, but moved to another soap sample - Chiseled Face "Ghost Town Barber". There's not much left of this sample...enough for tomorrow's shave yet.

Chiseled Face is another artisan that was HUGE a few years ago, but no longer retains the hype he once had. Again, lots and lots of new players in the game, and constantly changing soap bases from all these newer artisans. There's no denying CF turns out a quality product though. This particular scent did recently get the benefit of another soap base (called Silk Tallow base), is addition to the original. What I have is the original base. Even still, plenty of slick and protective lather. No complaints with the soap at all.

For a change, I didn't (completely) overshave. Two passes and some touch-up. Same stellar results.
When I first got the Blackland Sabre, I liked it...a lot. With the addition of the GEM PTFE blade, I'm totally smitten with the combo. The Lv1 plate does have a narrow sweet spot - Jim @jluc will attest to that. Despite the narrow sweet spot, and how mild it feels, it gives an incredible shave, and does so effortlessly.

Finished up with the matching splash (also a sample size), and there was zero sting. Figuring my wife would be head over heels about GTB, I asked her to smell it. Her reply? "I'm not crazy about it.".
Just when you think you got 'em figured out...
Have a great Sunday evening, fellas!

Well played. Always add enough to get free shipping.

The brush looks fantastic, Evan!

Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk

There's always tomorrow to try for perfection, Evan. Smart play to say "good enough" and not end up with a disaster.
Congrats on the brush handle - Incredible job!! Sweeeeeeet!!!

Amazon sells it, and if you’re a Prime customer there’s no shipping. My son bought a few pucks there about half a year ago.

Great kit, Evan! Just ease back into things, rushing or hurrying as you well know and straight shaving do not do well together!

Great shave Bruce, after 47 years of living with them all I’ll say is when you figure out how they’ll react, let me know!

September 20
Shavette Focus Shave # 52

Parker SRX Shavette
Feather Hi-Stainless Platinum Coated Blade (2)
Kent BK8 Silvertip Badger Brush
Mike's Natural Soaps Hungarian Lavender Soap
Alum
Thayers Unscented Witch Hazel
Unrefined Shea Butter
Almond Oil
Jeeves of Hudson Street Blood on Steel aftershave

I enjoyed a relaxing Sunday evening two-pass shave that was about as good as it gets. Babies all over town are jealous, and my mug is happy. Words that come to mind are: Fantabulous. Velveteen. TOTWE. Mos Def. All rights reserved.

Next up is the maiden voyage of my Feather Artist Club SS folder loaded with a brand splinter new Feather Super blade. It will be fun to compare the performance of this tool to the Parker SRX. The design of the SS blade holder receives a fair amount of criticism, so I anticipate a learning curve as I refamiliarize myself with it. It has been a year or two since I've used a Feather AC SS. That one, a kami, now resides in @wchnu's den where it has unfortunately been exposed to Williams lather.

Grace and Peace.

Well, Paul, I think the bike racers in Italy have more fun. I came home from our trip wanting to get a Vespa, but You Know Who overruled me.