Congratulations, Dave! Come next Tuesday the bride and I will have reached peak immunity! Time to have fun!
March 18 SOTN Good evening guys! Straight shave #251 7/8 F Herder Ace of Spades Full Hollow Sq Pt Stirling Boar Brush Stirling Glastonbury SS and AS Dickenson's WH Nivea ASB Whiskers: 37.5 hrs I decided with all the talk about Ace of Spades straights, that I bring mine out to play. Everything worked well with the shave except a weeper on my neck appeared. During the first pass, the razor got me with a nice, little nip. I believe it was due to a combo of not stretching the neck properly and the edge being slightly tuggy. The blade is sharp, but it isn't as smooth as it once was when I first got it about a year and a half ago. I may have 30 shaves on it, but I am not sure, I have to remind myself to touch it up on the Crox. It will be the first time that I will refresh this blade. I will set it aside to dry and refresh it tomorrow. Did get a BBS - shave on 2 passes so the edge is not yet smoked. Lately, I have been doing 2 passes instead of the extra half pass and I find that it is sufficient for me. I will go back to 2.5 passes, but it really isn't necessary for me to do so. Finished with my normal post shave routine. There was hardly any burn or stinging from the aftershave. It will be a no shave tomorrow. I will do another straight shave Saturday, but I haven't decided which straight to use. I am leaning to one of my vintage razors. It's either my 5/8 Sq Pt Full Hollow Wosty or Engel. I have until Sat morning to decide. Lol! Have a great night guys!
Thanks Dave! I am glad that I bought the A♠ razor. I won't sell it, but it is nice to know that the price went up considerably.
Thanks Jeff! Generally, my weeps are small which is a good thing. The razor was cutting whiskers, but it wasn't as smooth as it has been. I just refreshed it so I will see how it shaves the next time I use it. If worse comes to worse, then I will do a 5, 3, 1, .3 micron progression, then llnen, crox, linen and finally leather.
Good morning gentlemen. I hope that you, and yours, are all well and in good spirits. It's been another busy few weeks, so I haven't been here as often as I should have. I've been keeping up with the shaves. The mighty MMOC (OCMM) has been my main 'weapon' of choice. I have dipped in and out of occasional DE (Fatip Grande and Muhle R41) use - to compare the two. My soap (Arko) and splash (Proraso Green) have been unchanged in an attempt to make it as fair as possible. I have come to the conclusion that, for me and my skin, the quality of shave and post shave feel of a Stainless Steel GEM blade, in my MMOC, is unmatched. Last night, I experimented with a two pass (XTG > ATG) shave and got some truly outstanding results with a blade that was on its fourth shave. My stock of PTFE GEM blades is running low, so I will be ordering some more and continuing to use this wonderful razor (almost) exclusively. Enjoy your shaves!
Anxious for your report. Congrats!! About time you unstuffed that mattress where you’ve been hiding all that cash. $$$$$ Besides you did get that windfall stimulus from the firearms sale. No need for distress though. You actually can take it with you. $$$$$$ Just get Ben to write you the appropriate check and tuck it in the jacket pocket of your ‘dirt nap’ attire.
Friday March 19, 2021 Razor: Gillette Psycho Tech Blade: Astra SP (1) Brush: Rubberset 400 Cashmere Soap: Ethos-x-DFS Colonia AS 1: Humphrey's Alcoholado Maravilla 70 AS 2: Ethos-x-DFS Colonia Fragrance: So I lied to you yesterday. I saw the weather not match the forecast and decided to go to work yesterday and get today off instead. The back is sore but I just thought (Suck it up Buttercup) work thru it. So let's get to the shave. Had the Psycho Tech laying out for a mild shave thinking I would be getting up at 4 am which I didn't (slept till 5:30) but stuck with the planned outfit. That brings me to the blade. I have had people send me loose blades as extras at times and sometimes I use them and sometimes they get set aside as I tend to stick with the Wizamets after trying so many over the years. I reached for this loose one in a wrapper with no labeling or printing on the blade and thought I had a KAI. I know Jeff @jgreenepa is thinking to himself if you compare the width you'll know the KAI because they are wider. Hold that thought. As I go to load it I realize it has printing that is an outline print and hard to see on just one side and assume( Bad move) it's an Astra SS. Tried one once before and didn't care for it as much as the SP and didn't really like those as much as everyone else does. I proceeded with the shave and got a great smooth shave and thought maybe I sold these short before or maybe the issue was longevity. I'll try this blade some more and see if it has legs. So now I start to write up my shave and I type the blade as an Astra SP......................then I pause and think, no that was an SS wasn't it. Go back to bathroom and check and it's an SP................That's funny, so I pull a current SP from a tuck and compare. From the tuck it has different printing and on both sides instead of just 1. I then do some comparing and find all 3, the single print Astra SP, both side Astra SP and the KAI are all the same width. WHAT ?!?!?! I thought these KAI blades were wider and that's why people use them to step up a mild razor ? And what's the difference in the 2 Astra SP blades ? Somebody teach me something. Pictures and comparing side by side doesn't lie........ So for the shave I had set out my Ethos/DFS Set to use again. 1st use had me thinking of ARKO due to the "TO ME" predominant Lemon forward smell. I kept reading everyone rave about the scent and so thought, hmmmm, must be my nose. Unfortunately its the only one I have I would take a sniff every time I'd be in the bathroom and it was growing on me. I still get a lot of lemon but also I started to sense the other citrus mixed in it some. So I was coming around to it and had a great shave with it today because we all know it is a great base. This one seems a little firmer too which is a win in my book. It isn't my favorite out of the many Ethos scents but a great soap especially for warmer weather as it is so bright and fresh. Topped off with the Skin Food Splash and haven't picked out a Frag yet but am doing things around the house and will get to it when I do. Heading for some coffee and forum perusing while I have the news playing in the background. Have a stupendous day everyone!
Hi all.... Everyone here is feeling better and I'm signed up for the covid stick when my doc gets the Johnson and Johnson brew in. It appears to have the least side effects so the doctor recommends that for me, so I'm hopping I'll survive it. Would suck to get through all this with no issues, just to be taken out by the very thing that's supposed to save you. But that would be my luck. Got a great shave this morning. Head and face nice and clean. A chilly start today 35°F, but its supposed to get warmer by noon. I need a little warm sunshine in my life for a while. A long day at work is planned, but things are getting back to normal. At least as normal as they were in 2019BC (Before Covid). Everyone! Enjoy! tp
SRS # 475 Rating: 5 / 5 Razor: Thiers-Issard Super Gnome Extra Brush: Simpson Trafalgar T2 Sovereign Synthetic Lather: Cella Crema da Barba Aftershave: PAA Chella Cool Additional Care: Stirling Alum Block Stirling Tea Tree Witch Hazel Stirling Unscented Glacial Balm Happy Friday gentlemen. It is back to the old routine, at least for one day this week, of being in class physically. I decided to go with the wonderful Cella. SWMBO provided unsolicited approval which is always an added bonus. The three pass shave was close and comfortable. The presence of a silent alum report confirms the quality of the shave as well as my growing skills with the straight razor. I will contend that no matter how long you shave with a straight there is room for improvement whether it being further attention to details, becoming more proficient using your less dominant hand or changing the angle of the blade to better shave your troubled areas. This is makes the entire process so much more enjoyable. Not to mention the alone time in the den without any extraneous distractions. Enough of that, more importantly it is the weekly avatar change day. Another week, although a weird one, in the books. Have a great day gentlemen.
