Excellent shave Chris.

Fabulous looking shave Gary.

Very nice finish to the handle. Excellent shave Danny.

May 22 SOTA
Good afternoon.

Straight Razor Shave #455
6/8 Herder Ace of Spades
Heritage Collection/C-Mon Replica SHD Badger
Arko SS
Pinaud-Clubman Classic AS
Stirling Alum Block
Beard Growth: 22.5 hrs



I decided to use my Herder Ace of Spades once again. I have only used it 5 times in the last couple of years. Picked the C-Mon Brush to bowl lather to see if I can get a decent lather. Here it is:



It looks fine, but this brush loves to hold the lather and so it isn't as voluminous when I paint it on my face. However, the performance of the soap wasn't lacking the slickness. I will just have to face lather when I use this brush because I had to work harder to get the lather while stirring the soap in the bowl.

Two passes gave me a nice shave without incidents and the alum was silent. Splashed on the Pinaud-Clubman Classic aftershave and I am good to go. Take care.

Wonderful shave Joe.

Thanks Joe

Beautiful shave Joe. Are you sure that is not Cool Whip? Are pulling the wool over our eyes?

Excellent Arko shave Joe.

Thank you Joe.

Thanks, Joe. I always wondered a bit about the Merkur blades: it was one of those "everyone says" deals and not great stars on the reviews I could find, but Merkur has been in the business for a looong time and I have a hard time imagining they would put out a bad basic blade and then stick with it forever.

Thanks, Joe.

Sounds like a great shave, Joe.

I didn't think Declaration Grooming / Chatillon Lux was a brand I had ever tried. But then I looked up my inventory list and discovered I had either bought a slightly used set of Chatillon Lux "La Foret de Liguest" hard soap and splash or won it in a raffle or something. So I was half right and half wrong -- I actually do have a Chatillon Lux product in my stash and it has been there at least five years ... but I have never tried it...

I think La Foret de Liguest is primarily a fern scent (or fougere if you want to be higher-toned about it). Hmmm... Next shave perhaps?

Nice Arko shave, Joe!

I rarely bowl lather anymore, at least with soaps and creams in tubs. With creams in tubes, after squirting a bit of cream onto the brush, I still tend to go to a bowl first rather than my face. Not entirely sure why, come to think of it... I think I get a bit better control that way maybe?

Thanks Danny. I have perfected my lathering technique. I add just a tiny bit of water on the dry soap and keep my brush damp, then I swirl 60 to 80 clock-wise and the same counter-clockwise. Hit the tips under the faucet and repeat the same number of swirl and splay the brush a bit.. Repeat 2 more times. During the 5th time, I splay the brush much more while moving the brush back and forth, up and down and in circular motion, but not necessarily in that order. Push the lather to the side and roll the brush to get most of it. If the lather doesn't fall off the brush and has a nice creamy with a sheen, then you know you are good.

Thanks Joe.

I think it may have to do with German beards. They aren't as coarse as Mediterranean people so maybe they are fine with it. Although I am Italian and my beard is coarse and grizzled, l never had a problem with them and I used them in my shavettes. There are many factors as to why a blade works for some people and not others.

Hi John.. I think it is just as easy to face lather with a cream in a tube. It's whatever you feel comfortable as far as your routine John. Personally, it's only recent that I have bowl lathered on a more consistent basis. What turned me off to making a lather on a tub is thar the water seeps into the sides and the moisture eventually degrades the soap so that the scent is lost. Anyway that's been my experience with tub/puck lathering.

23 May 2023

24 hours. Usual face prep, working to finish the Proraso Green Preshave.
Soap: Stirling sample: Orange Chill (menthol). Pressed into bottom of a Proraso green mug, and loaded from there into a bowl.
Puro Tasso boar brush, this brush is developing a nice spread to the bristles after frequent use.
Gillette Aristocrat with day 2 of Gillette 7 o’clock
Usual post shave set up.
Adding Proraso green ASL, and then Cerave cream to the face. I think this plumps up the skin and adds to the smoothness after the shave.
Jo Malone Citrus Bitter cologne to complement the Orange Chill from Stirling. Very pleasing.

Usual 3 passes with touch ups.
BBS in some parts, super close in most other areas, still some rebellious stubborn stubble to the right of the lower neck. None but I will notice this.

Shave: 9/10 based on results, absence of damage, and the overall experience.
Soap: Pleasant light citrus scent, there is a bit of Menthol in there especially in the 2nd pass. Great lather, better than the Executive Man, not as tallowy or drying.
I will use this up and try to get this thicker and slicker.

Thank you Joe.

It is a fun journey, and I am pretty happy with where I am at the moment. Onwards and upwards.

My 2c worth. I used a few Merkur Blades earlier on in my 6 month wet shaving journey (they came with the razors) and wasn't impressed either and have put them aside for now. It may be my lather, a mis-match between blade and razor or simply technique. Might be interesting to try this again at some stage in the future. I have so many others to try first though.