SoS: September 19-25 2011

Tuesday, September 20. Good Morning!

Morning Coffee: Hills Brothers Original Blend
Prep: Wash face with Musgo Real Glyce Lime, hot towel
Razor: Feather Popular
Blade: Gillette 7 O'Clock Blue
Cream: Speick
Brush: D.R. Harris H1
Post: Cold water rinse followed by some Speick Aftershave Lotion



Have a GREAT day.

 

Tuesday's Shave:

Gillette Ranger Tech
Lord Platinum
VDH badger
Vintage Williams + M-Bomb
Pinaud Clubman AS

 

Tuesday:

Shumate 5/8
EJ BBB
Maca Root SC
Dickenson's Witch Hazel
Nivea Sensitive Balm
Burberry Brit edt

 

Rooney Boar
Vintage Williams Menthol (70's?)
Gem G-bar
Ted Pella PFTE
Master Lilac Vegetol Splash
Baxter of California menthol Balm

-I hadn't used an SE for a while, it was a great shave and left me wondering why. Williams Menthol is better
than I remember form my first use almost a year ago-it took me that long to use it again because I was unimpressed
and quite bummed that there was nothing that resembled menthol in it. Now that I have the 60's Williams and have a better
appreciation for the stuff, I think the Menthol version does well, much better than modern. It's nowhere near as good, however, as the 60's
Tonsorial Soap.

 

Today's set-up was a repeat of yesterday:

Gillette Tech
Vohskod Blade
Cheap VdH Boar Brish
Whiskey After Shave
Ahava After Shave Balm

I did not soak the soap in hot water like I did yesterday and that helped thicken the later (less water added). The latehr still seemed to get better (thicker) with my second pass. I find Williams to be fine, but I would not seek out this product unless I was on a very tight budget.

I'm still a newbie. Tomorrow I will reach into the sampler pack from WCS that came yesterday and will try again.

 

WHAT?!?! NO COFFEE????

 

Now there's a smell I really like - old books. Seriously. Reminds me of my grandparents attic, for some reason. Love it.

 

Tuesday

Prep: Hot shower, soak brush
Coffee: Home roasted, fresh ground Kenya Safari Ridge, BLACK
Soap: Williams + 4 drops M Bomb
Brush: Mohawk 3-338 with original knot
Razor: Gillette OLD, circa 1918 (I think)
Blade: ASR Platinum Chrome, day 2, 3+ passes
Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, Dickenson's WH, Pinaud Clubman, hand strop blade

Shave Rating: 5 Blades

Another great shave. I think I came pretty close to hitting the sweat spot with the Williams today. Whipped up a pretty decent lather; better than yesterday's. Still have the rest of the week to play with this, so we'll see if I can repeat tomorrow. Still not much smell scent of the soap coming through the M Bomb. Some, but not much. Three drops tomorrow.

I was impressed at how well this razor/blade combo worked. I liked it!

 

Hot Shower
Omega48/MWF
20's Gillette Open Comb/Trig
Thayers Witch Hazel
A DFS. The Omega 48 is begining to feel softer after almost a month. It is outstanding brush.

 

Williams Tuesday:

Personna Shavette
Voskhod
TGN Silvertip Badger
Neutrogena Post Balm
Old Spice

Yeah yeah yeah. I know you have to lather Williams with boar. But if I'm gonna keep touting my TGN silvertip and saying "it's by far my favorite brush," blablabla "it can do anything," and so on and so forth, well then it's gotta pass the Williams test doesn't it? So...did it pass? See bottom pic. I soaked the soap and brush during my shower, then came out and basically left the brush full of water and loaded it up very heavily. It started foaming up immediately, but because the brush was so loaded it was literally swimming in Williams and so took a while to get it to thicken up. Eventually it did though, and I wound up having plenty of lather for a 5 pass shave with some left over. It did dry out fairly quickly once on my face so I had to reapply occasionally, but other than that it was completely decent. Protection and glide was ok, nothing special. I'll definitely use the omega boar next time and see how it compares. I did have to change blades out 3 passes in because I was having a really hard time getting close, and that made an immediate difference. I think in a shavette even a Voskhod only lasts two measly shaves. Fatboy with the same set at 4 for cleanup, and a dab of the Old Spice because for some reason I love it on rainy days.

 

Holy lather Batman!

 

I enjoyed a mug full of roasted goodness after the shave. Didn't want the caffeine jitters manning the straight.

 

Excellent! Just reinforces my claim that there is no such thing as a "soap" brush, or a "cream" brush, or "this" brush, or "that" brush. You just have to know how to use the brush you have.

 

Razor: Wilkinson Sword
Blade: Gillette 7 o'clock blue
SC: Arko
Brush: FS 28mm Silvertip (the most Luxury I've experienced in a brush)
AS; Osage Rub

Didn't have much stubble today. The Sword classic razor easily took it down and left me with a quick gentle 1 pass DFS. The Gillette Blue seems to be a good blade on my first try with one.. But all the Russian St. Pete blades are impressive, and I do wonder if there is really much differences between them?

Have great shaves , Gentlemen.

 

Yeah, My Rooney 3/1 SS lathers Williams just fine too.

But this AM I used the Semogue 1438 with Williams. The new Williams. Oodles of great lather here too.
Gillette Black Handle w Astra (3)
Finished up with my handcrafted moisturizing Bay Rum.

I really don't like the Astra, but I want the data from the test. It's sharp enough but I think it's not smooth, or maybe it's too sharp. I dunno. I love sharp blades, but this is something different.

 

Woops, is it Williams week?

Arko Shave Stick (milled) Fendrihan Finest Badger (Gaylord Shave Mug)
GEM razor, Ted Pella GEM blade
Cold rinse followed by Bazzano Night Blue AS

VNS

 

Edwin Jagger DE87 Ivory
with Gillette Super Thin (1)
Mühle Pure Badger
Old Spice SC
Old Spice AS

Have a nice day!

​

 

Wednesday, September 21. Good Morning!

Morning Coffee: Hills Brothers Original Blend
Prep: Hot shower, wash face with Musgo Real Glyce Lime
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE86
Blade: Gillette 7 O'Clock Blue
Cream: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Brush: D.R. Harris H1
Post: Cold water rinse followed by some Proraso Aftershave Balm



Have a GREAT day.

 

Wednesday

Prep: Hot shower
Coffee: Home roasted, fresh ground Kenya Safari Ridge, BLACK
Soap: Williams + 3 drops M Bomb
Brush: Ever Ready 250PB with original knot
Razor: '73 Black Handle SS
Blade: ASR Platinum Chrome, day 3, 3+ passes
Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, L'Oreal Comfort Max ASB, SJ Unforgivable

Shave Rating: 4 Blades

The only reason this is rated at 4 and not 5 is because of the lather. It just wasn't as thick as yesterday. I'll keep at it, though. The scent wasn't too bad. Maybe I'm getting used to it after all.

 

Weds 21 September 2011

Starbucks Italian Roast, Black
Mama Bear's Lime Ice-tub (love the lime)
Gillette TTO, w/ Lord Platinum (D1)
Omega Boar 10015, face lather
Alcolado Glacial-Proraso ASB

This was another fantastic shave, maybe the second best I have ever done. Just slightly behind the Monday shave due to one rough spot (small). I don't know what kind of gillette razor this is, but coupled with the Lord Platinum, it just works fantastic for me. It was a three pass with one small touchup on the jawline, DFS++. Again almost a BBS! No bumps, no irritation, just a Damn Fine Shave.

Damn this is addictive.