Brad, what's your oppinion of the Pre de Provence shave soap? It is one if the few I am still meaning to try.
Friday: Razor - British Gillette #15 Aristocrat Blade - Vintage Schick Platinum Brush - Semogue 2011LE Bristle 1 Lather - Tabac soap A/S - Mandom Lucido Frag - New York EdT by PdN
Merkur 34c Gillette 7 O'clock - black (3) Semogue 1438 boar Spieck S/C Thayers Super Witch hazel RazoRock 888 A/S wax Pinaud Clubman Fantastic shave this morning, especially for being at 5 AM. I am really kicking myself for being a silver tip snob. This Semogue is the best $20 I've spent in some time. No excuses, a must try.
09/28/12 Friday! Hot shower w/Tamarinda Glycerin soap Razor: Cadet TTO Blade: Astra SP (new) Brush: H I S synthetic Soap: Mama Bear's Ocean Rain w/ 4 drops of M-bomb Hot then Cold water rinse Aftershave: TSD lemon cederwood 2 x iced. I couldn't tackle the Cadet o/c again today so I decided to give thier TTO a spin w/ a new Astra SP. Very nice! I really like this razor. I also think I may have to bomb every soap and cream I have every day. The frozen face seems to improve the quality of the shaves I get! Also I like the mentholated aftershave w/out alcohol. Very nice comfortable shave. Has been feeling good all day! Have a great weekend! Cheers
Saturday: Pre Shave: Hot Shower / Proraso Pre Shave Cream Shave Mug: Old Spice 60's Shave Brush: Men'sBiz Super Badger Shave Cream: Triumph & Disaster 'Old Fashioned' Shave Cream Razor: Merkur 34C Razor Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (1) Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse / Nivea Post Shave Cream 3 Passes (WTG /XTG /ATG) for a DFS+ Enjoy your Saturday everyone.
Hey there Arley, Yes, I feel exactly the same way. I really love the look and feel of this razor but sadly no matter how hard I try, the only way I can get the blade to touch my skin is by applying significant pressure. I have to push down at least as hard as I would with a cartridge razor if not harder. It is very difficult to modulate that kind of pressure and I always end up nicking myself. Sadly, I will probably be selling my razor. When it comes to traditional shaving I just cannot accept a shave that is inferior to a cartridge razor. I am guessing that people who have very soft or fine hair may find this razor to be the Holy Grail of wet shaving. But for it just doesn't work well on my nasty-ass whiskers. I really, really wanted to love this razor. I even tried to use some blade shims to make the razor more aggressive but the result was still sub par. Here's a thought: I was thinking about contacting Feather in Japan. I wanted to suggest that they manufacture a couple of new heads. Let's say one moderate safety bar (CC) head and one slightly more aggressive open comb head. I was a bit worried about the iKon OSS. Thankfully, it is more aggressive than the Feather and it will be a keeper for me. It is still very mild and getting a BBS shave still takes a bit more time than an normal razor. Please keep posting about the Feather, I find your insights very interesting. Cheers, Lyndon
Hey there Mike, A very good morning to you from Hong Kong. I find the Kai blades to be quite good. I think they are a bit more stiff than the Feathers. The provide a good shave but they are expensive. I ended up paying more than I do for Feathers. For me, the Feather is still a better blade and represents better value. However, to be truthful, I didn't really do a lot of shopping for the Kai's. I just threw them in with another order I was placing. So in summary, it's a good blade but I probably wouldn't but it again for value reasons. The biggest surprise of the last month was the Gillette "The Spoiler" blades. Wow!! Absolutely amazing combination of sharpness and comfort!! Cheers, Lyndon
Good Morning, Lyndon! I've never heard of the Gillette "The Spoiler" blades, I'll need to look them up and check them out. Unfortunately, the Kai are fairly expensive here as well . Next time I'm in Japan, I'm going to look for both Kai and Feather blades. Of course, it doesn't always mean they'll be cheaper. Can always hope though. Enjoy! [edit: misspelling correction]
Prep pre-shave cream Tabac cream Simpsons Duke 3, Best Badger Gillette 1930's "Thin Bar Handle" Short Comb Razor - Rhodium Plated Gillette "The Spoiler" blade (1st shave) TSD Witch Hazel - Winter Fresh (+menthol) Vifrex AS gel Floid's Classic AS lotion Well gents, there is a new razor in the den! I got back home from work last night and there was a package for me from the postman. It was my new Vintage Gillette short comb razor, refinished in beautiful gleaming rhodium. Wow! I couldn't wait to give it a try. I wanted to use a new blade today, but which one? Actually, the decision was easy. I went with a Gillette "Spoiler" blade. I had a day off today so I showered before shaving (which is unusual for me). The Tabac cream was very nice and the Duke 3 whipped up a nice warm lather. It was time to shave... I wondered how the old OC would perform... The shave today wasn't just excellent, it was truly exceptional. Totally BBS with no irritation. This humble old OC is an amazingly good shaving tool. I really took my time and enjoyed the shave today but I didn't really have to work too hard to get fantastic results. I did a three pass shave and was very satisfied. However, I wanted to really check the results carefully so I squeezed out the remaining lather from my brush and gently massaged my face. There were just a few small spots that needed touching up. The normal trouble spots were shaved much closed than usual and only a minimal amount of blade buffing was required to achieve shaving perfection. The Vifrex gel and the Floids Classic were the icing on the cake. What a great shave! This little Gillette open comb beauty has hit the sweet spot for me... just the right amount of aggression. More aggressive than the Merkur 41, 1904 Classic OC and less than the FaTip Piccolo OC. Perfect!! A special thanks go to Arley (Azarius) for helping find this little beauty. Best Regards, and all the best for the weekend! Lyndon
Saturday, September 29 6/8 Sheffield, W. Burnell (WTG) Merkur 37C (XTG, ATG) Supermax SS (d3) Preshave Oil Blend + M-Bomb L'Occitane Cade Vulfix 2235 Super Aspen (Coty) A/S A great ritual-shave today, with all the trimmings.
Merkur 34c / Rapira SS Semogue 1430 boar RazoRock XXX Thayers Superhazel RazoRock 888 A/S Some 444 for good measure DFS! Have a great weekend everyone
Saturday: Omega Silver Handle Super Speed/Sharp day 6 Gada Cool Mint SC 444 AS Balsam Osage Rub AS Chabrawichi 555 Cologne I originally wanted to use something else, but the Gada Cool Mint cream was right there, so I went with that one today. It felt so cold and nice, and the 444 and Osage Rub gave me the additional menthol punches which I love so much. This Chabrawichi cologne from Egypt smells light with a lemony/lavender base - I really like it a lot. Sorry, no photos today.
The Gillette Spoiler is a vintage blade that is no longer in production, but must be bought from old stock. They can be found on e-Bay on occasion.
5/8 FWE Special Salter Wild Rose homemade 28mm 2 band Great shave this morning. I face lathered with the Wild Rose instead of bowl lathering like yesterday. I dropped the loft of the 28mm knot I used Friday from from 57mm down to 52mm and that where it will stay, don't know which handle though. I'll do a soap with it at 52mm before I decide for certain. I hope to get a razor scaled today so I can put another of the ebay razors into rotation but we'll see what comes up. Have a good one. upload photo
Saturday! Prep: hot washing cloth Music: Philip Glass: Kundun soundtrack Brush: Wilkinson Sword badger Soap: Daisy Mountain Naturals cold water Razor: Rolls Razor Shave: 3-pass + touch-up Post: hot water rinse, cold water rinse Ooh! What a shave! The DMN soap needs some work to lather up, but then you've got something great to work with! Result was a great BBS (and I don't mean Bubbling Brown Sugar -though that was great as well!) Wishing astounding shaves to you, ladies and gents! Have a great weekend! Mike
Prep L'Occitane Cedarwood soap Razor Vintage Hishakaku Folding Kamisori 6/8 Brush Simpson Chubby 1 in Super Vito's Coconut & Almond Alum & Witch Hazel Clinique Moisturiser Lalique Encre Noire EDT Jamie A beautiful shave and the very first ever for this vintage Hishakaku NOS folding Kamisori, I honed her a few days previously after watching a few of Glen's video's on Kamisori razor honing, to be honest it couldn't have been simpler.
saturday shave hot shower noxzema face wash proraso pre shave proraso green soap gillette SS 7o'clock green cold water rinse proraso ASB 3 passes for a DFS I'm not seeing much difference using the noxzema face wash in my pre shave routine. I really never notice a difference using prorasopre shave either, other than the cooling effect at the cold water rinse........... post shave/pre pillow- my order from pipesandcigars.com came in so I now have 8ozs of mississippi river pipe tobacco to enjoy each morning. Cant wait till tomorrow morning when I can enjoy it with a nice cup of coffee
Thanks Mike. I love your last photo. One day I will get organized and put something like that up to decorate my walls. Very cool! Cheers, Lyndon
