Put a smile on my face this morning!

DE SOTD, OCtober 24th, 2020

Razor: Razorock Game Changer .84- MFG 2018> excellent well built SS razor, <mid range> depending on blade used IMO.
Blade: KAI SS (10) excellent blade for longevity + sharp & smooth + extra wide blade from standard blade by .009"thousands.
Soap: Razorock Lavender- nice scent with excellent lather qualities, reasonable post shave.
Brush: Yaqi 24 mm tuxedo knot with black marble handle - excellent lather creator + cloud like soft tips.
Pre shave: Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand cleanser bar + a dollop of Aloe Vera gel on cleaned beard area.
Prep: Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave: Razorock King Louis Lavender aftershave with witch hazel + a dollop of Nivea balm.
Results: CCS,DFS,BbS + no irritation + no weepers= Excellent shave with my RR GC .84 combo with extra wide KAI SS blade.

Have some great shaves! Stay & think safe in these times!

sunday shave
#15 brit aristocrat
platinum
EEmega 10098 boar
tobs eton college

Thanks G. You do the same Brother....

The big Napoleon got the nod for the three day stubble duty. Wonderful shave in every way

Hot water preparation
AOS Lavender PSO
T&H Wellington Super Badger
Ethos Lisse Collection Lavender
John & Wm Ragg Napoleon 15/16
Ethos Lisse Collection Lavender Skin Food Splash



Happy shaving - Karl

Great shot and gear Guy. Very cool. Atomic Age Bay Rum is so good.
Steve

Nice shot Gary. Very classy looking my friend.
Steve

10/24/20 Shave of the Day
Face Wash with Crabtree & Evelyn Indian Sandalwood Triple Milled Soap
Crown King Atomic Age Bay Rum Shampoo & Conditioner Puck
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements CUBE Mentholated Preshave Soap
The Holy Black Mfg. Co. Black Magic Shaving Soap
RazoRock 400 Solid Aluminum 24 x 57mm Plissoft Synthetic Shaving Brush
Creative Flame Pottery Stoneware Shaving Scuttle
Whitmor Water Spray Bottle
Mountain Mike 3” English Bridle Leather Strop
Ralf Aust 5/8” Round Point, Olivewood Handle, Full Hollow Grind Straight Razor
Laboratoires Osma Pure Potassium Alum Block
Thayers Alcohol Free Cucumber Witch Hazel Toner with Aloe Vera
The Holy Black Mfg. Co. Black Magic Aftershave Splash
The Holy Black Mfg. Co. Black Magic Eau De Parfum
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Diver Down Natural Deodorant - Sport Strength - Homage to the Original Seaforth Spiced!
Maggard’s Razor Oil​

The ledger for Sunday(25th):

prep-Nivea 4 Men Bodywash(Energy)in shower
shave-Central Texas Soaps(Grandpa's Barbershop)
brush-Stoylin Synthetic("li'l brudder")
razor-Gillette Sensor Deuce Pivot + DisposeABLE
A.S.-Clubman Original(6 oz).

SUNDAY'S SHAVE​

Razor - Rex Supply Co. "Ambassador" Adjustable Stainless Steel with matching stand
Blade - Astra Superior Platinum *2nd Shave
Shave Brush - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements "The Solar Flare"
Shaving Cream - West Coast Shaving "Oriental"
Aftershave - West Coast Shaving "Oriental"
Fragrance - West Coast Shaving "Oriental" Eau de Parfum

***EDIT - Perfect 10/10 shave. Zero irritation, not even a single sting when splashing on the aftershave. 1-pass + patch-based clean and feel. BBS. Smooooth. I applied some pre-shave oil before the lather and I think this combo is what protected so well on the shave. The cream alone is very good. When combined with oil it's got a perfect slick/protection balance and stays stable without drying out amazingly well. Could be that the air temperature is coming down a bit that prevented the drying, regardless, it was a technically perfect shave. Minimal effort, the Astra blade in the Ambassador with this oil/cream combo is one of the best shaves ever. The blade cut efficiently and I didn't need to go over spots as much to get what I wanted. Best possible result on a shave that I think anyone can have. I didn't need any balm. My face feels nicely moisturized post-shave.

The scent of this is quite unique. To my nose it smells like it opens up with rose, grapefruit with a pink pepper+woods 'zing' to it, then after a bit some vanilla seems to appear underneath to balance it. I normally wouldn't think a vanilla tone would work with this note composition, but it does because the vanilla doesn't intrude or mix onto the opening notes. The stay distinct and the effect overall if very pleasant. In fact, the notes don't really intrude on each other and stay detectable in space. The woods and grapefruit and pink pepper are the ones that kind of merge, yet if I concentrate I can detect them separately. It's a very nice fragrance for a shaving company scent. West Coast Shaving did much more than a respectable job on the scent. It's 'quality' in my opinion.

Elegant setup, great photo, gorgeous aristocrat.

It's hard to beat Taylor of Old Bond Street when it comes to elegance. The Aristocrat razor is a fine selection for that set.

The Club | The Graveyard
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Hallows | AP Shave Co. SilkSmoke 28mm
Durham-Enders | Enders Speed Shaver | Schick Proline B-20

​

The Club's The Graveyard is VIP member exclusive, and as you might have guessed is a Halloween-themed set. The fragrance is a very chilly anise-centered one that swells to an elegant woody lavender. This is all eventually grounded in earthy vetiver and cedar, but the anise sustains throughout the shave. The splash is similar, but there's a transient sharp, bitter citrus in the beginning before the even more prominent anise takes over. The dry down eventually burns off the anise, leaving the vetiver and resinous cedarwood.

While this is a pleasant fragrance, the soap base is the real reason to pick this up. It seems like Ariana & Evans just debuted the Kaizen base, and they've already upgraded it to a second iteration dubbed "K2". Kaizen is one of the best soap bases available, having mastered all benchmarks of what makes an elite soap (ease of loading/lather, density, primary and residual slickness, and post-shave). I'm often skeptical when a new recipe comes right on the heels of an introductory product. Can it be that much different? With respect to K2, the answer is yes. Slickness got notably slicker. The post-shave of Kaizen is stellar. K2 inexplicably improves upon that to a level I did not think possible.

I've long abandoned the concept of assigning a leader board among the elite artisanal soap bases, but I will say that among the uber-performance soaps I'm using, none outperform K2.

That looks like a very elegant shave gary.

Very cool pic man!

A&E is special stuff.

thank you sir..

fantastic set up and pic Steve..very cool..

thank you Clint..

Cool pic. I find the WCS soaps and creams to be amazing performers.

absolutely stunning set up and pic Matt.,cool review .i have kaizen on the way..it's outdated already..

thank you Tim..

classy set up and pic Tim..