SoS: August, 12 2013 - August 18, 2013

Wednesday

Wash with unscented glycerin soap
Lather Petal Pushers unscented soap
Oscar11 brush with HIS knot
Vintage Bakelite slant
Gillette yellow blade
CeraVe lotion

The Oscar11 brush is a delight to use and the Petal Pushers soap made a smooth, creamy lather.

Three passes, BBS result. My wife felt my face and said "ohhh, feels nice!"

 

SOTD Wednesday 8-14-2013

Merkur Progress/BRW @4
Crystal Blade
Salter's Wild Rose SC
GT G4 Scuttle
Omega 31064 Boar
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Nivea Replenishing ASB
Rose of Bulgaria ASL

Love the Rose scents this morning, seems to go with the summer sunshine.

 

Tour De Mike's Day 3​

Pine & Cedarwood​

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Day 3 conclusion: I would definitely recommend adding a few drops or maybe 1/2 tbsp (if using tin) of warm water prior to using this soap. Today, I was able to whip up that same rich, creamy, dense, and slick lather as yesterday with even slight improvements. The scent is definitely a strong, woodsy - smoky aroma, perfect for the evergreen or alpine forest lover. I decided to wrap this scent up after (3) days to ensure I didn't run short on the next shave. Though as I was cleaning out the mug, I was pretty certain there was enough left for a 4th shave. Summary and wrap up on this scent to follow this evening. Up next...Mike's Hungarian Lavender! Have a blessed day all!

 

Razor: Merkur futur
Blade: Super Iridium
Brush: Vie-Long Horsehair
Pre: Musgo Real Lime Basil Oil Soap
Soap: Prairie Creations Walters Menthol
Post: Monster Alum Block
Aftershave: TSD Sub Zero AS Balm

 

14.8.2013

• Prep: shower, RazoRock glycerine pre-shave soap
• Razor: Gillette Super Adjustable [7, 5, 3]
• Blade: Polsilver SI (3)
• Brush: The BiG Shave LE #90/100 by Semogue
• Scuttle: "Estremoz" V2 Green
• Soap: Mike's Natural Soap Orange, Cedarwood & Black Pepper sample
• Post: alum, T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
• Aftershave: Floid Vigoroso

 

While I was cleaning up my box-o-gear I pulled out a couple of soaps that had been lingering at the bottom of the box. These were all things that I like, but haven't used in a while because they had been hiding from me.

The first of these neglected products is De Vergulde Hand Extra Fris. I love the way this soap performs and the after scent that it leaves behind, but I dislike the initial scent intensely. I imagine that this soap got pushed to the bottom of my box due to this issue, but it is an excellent product that deserves some regular use. Along with this soap I am using my AoS Fine Badger brush and my Parker SR1 with a Super Iridium Extra Stainless blade on its third shave.

I did my usual three pass wtg/atg/xtg shave followed by a cold water rinse and some T.N. Dickinson Witch Hazel. I managed a DFS with zero irritation and zero nicks. Getting a BBS with a straight razor or a DBSR is difficult for me because the hair on my neck grows from the center out, meaning that to go atg with the long blade of a straight razor requires an angle which is difficult to attain. I'm happy to settle for a BBS result everywhere except my neck.

Pre: Hot shower and warm water splash
Razor: Parker SR1
Blade: Super Iridium Extra Stainless
Brush: AoS Fine Badger
Soap: De Vergulde Hand Extra Cris
Post: Cold water rinse and T.N. Dickinson Witch Hazel

 

Wednesday

Shave Soap: Coate’s Sandalwood Cream
Razor: Maggard MR1
Blade: Astra SP
Brush: Omega 10066
Aftershave: Krampert’s Frostbite
WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angle for my beard a bit)

This was the 3rd day with one of the Coate’s creams and the Astra SP’s. Two of the six “discovered” Coate’s Creams I got had dried out. I added a bit of water, microwaved them, and put them in jars. I took the others and cut the tubes open and put them in jars as well. I had a good shave, but am not a fan of the Astra SP’s….at least in my Super Speed. No nicks, a bit of burn and some tugs.


Bob

 

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Noxzema Classic Clean​

TOBS Lavender Shaving Cream​

Parker Pure Badger Brush​

Gillette Super Speed Y1 (1951)​

Wilkinson Sword SS​

CWR​

Dickinson's Witch hazel​

Pinaud Clubman AS​

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Loving the TOBS! Thick, rich, slick... Excellent shave with the Wilkie.​

 

Tried a restore that I did for a friend.
Proaso cream
Rooney badger brush
International Cutlery Co. Black Jack razor
TSD bay rum aftershave milk

 

Ever Ready Lather Catcher, PTFE, SOC Boar, Mike's
It may look scary, but it isva rather mild razor...

 

Wednesday morning:

Fatip
Crown
RR Don Marco
Wee Scot
Clubman

My little helper today spent the whole time dipping her brush in a bowl of water and then sucking it dry. That brush is a synthetic that's never had soap on it, but it was still pretty funny.

 

Thursday:

L'Oreal Men Expert Facial Wash
#6 Horsehair
Super Speed/Rapira day 4
Tet-a-tet SC
Tet-a-tet AS Balsam
Alcolado Glacial Menthol Splash
Dolce & Gabbana EDT

I'm so grateful to my dear friend Dmitry that I have plenty of Tet-a-tet cream and aftershave balsam because this stuff is absolutely wonderful. The cream smells so nice and lathers so rich, and it feels so cool and fresh on my skin. Its corresponding balsam has that same terrific scent with an even stronger menthol blast and perfect skincare. The Penguin is as strong as the Rubby Dubby Doo, at least to me. What a great shave this was.

 

Thursday

Hot shower
Semogue 1305
Arko
R-41
Bic Chrome (3)
Cold water rag
Lucky Tiger A/S

Another fantastic 2-pass DFS!

 

Thursday - another day closer. Are you ready?

Prep: Hot shower, Dirigo Blue Cedarwood PSO
Coffee: Maxwell House Breakfast Blend, BLACK
CD: Chuck Levell ~ Back to the Woods
Soap/Cream: Woods of Windsor with a dollop of KMF unscented cream
Brush: Dirigo Blue
DE: Merkur Futur @ a tad under 3
Blade: 7 O'Clock Sharp Edge, day 4, 3 passes
Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, Dickenson's WH, B&BW Oak, hand strop blade
'Stache Wax: Dirigo Blue

Just another great shave.

 

W&B Lather Well - Shave Well razor
MdC
23mm Omega knot
Stephan Bay Rum
Nice shave this morning. I PIF'd my last badger brush along with a straight and a strop plus a couple of creams and soaps to a younger coworker. So, I think I'm going to order a Shavemac DO 1 3 band knot. I must admit, I'm perfectly happy using boars but being badgerless is just a good excuse. Have a good one.

 

Thursday

Shave Soap: Proraso White-New
Razor: Maggard MR1
Blade: Gillette SP 7 O’Clock Blue
Brush: Omega 10066 Boar
Aftershave: Krampert’s Frostbite

WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angle for my beard a bit)

This was the 1rst day with the Gillette 7 O’Clock Blue SP’s. The 7 O’Clock Blues were on my short list of blades yet to try. I was back with the Proraso White tub. I left some hot water on top of the tub while I showered and had the brush soaking. I loaded the brush and lathered in my bowl…because I wanted to. Very good shave, nick and burn free. Finished with a blast of Frostbite. (only going to be 100 F here today).

Bob

 

Shave of the Day, Thursday August 15, 2013
• Prep: Brush soaked in cold water, tepid shower
• Razor: Merkur 37C HD Slant
• Blade: Gillette Super Thin New Stainless
• Brush: Shavemac Limited Edition Shaving Brush 90 with High Density Finest Two-Band Badger Fan Knot designed by Geoff Anderson
• Soap: Martin de Candre
• AS: Pinaud Clubman Special Reserve
• Post: Cold Water Rinse, double splash of aftershave

Every so often threads pop up with people asking "if you could pick only one product, what would it be". Today's shave is my if I could pick only one shave. If I never used any other products than those featured I would be happy. The blade works great in the slant, the brush works well with the soap, and the aftershave adds the perfect finish to a great shave.

I find myself questioning every other shave when I have these products in my den. Truth be told I only want to use these products every day. As much as I like variety I prefer everything here so many levels above any other product that I have used. Everything pales in comparision for me, although I will say my Stanley Home Products brush is a very close second to this one.

It took a long time to reach this point...This is my shave nirvana.

Enjoy your Thursday everyone and have a great day.

 

Thursday:

Prep: Hot shower, AoS Unscented PSO
Brush: Beeline Boar
Soap: Ginger's Garden Jasmine Coffee Glycerin
Razor: Merkur 41c 1904 OC
Blade: Personna Barber (1)
Passes: WTG, XTG
Post: Cold water splash, Alum, cold water rinse, Dickinson's WH, Nivea For Men Energy ASB
Cologne: Gigember Estragone by Dr. Vranjes

The Personna blades have a reputation in the wetshaving community as being very sharp, thought the Barber gets little discussion compared to the Labs/Meds. Because of the Personna reputation, I took extra care with prep and ensuring I wasn't applying pressure. . . and tore my neck up, regardless, enough so that the ATG pass seemed a criminally bad idea unless I wanted to resemble Arley's avatar. My face stung a bit even on the WTG pass, to boot. We'll see if tomorrow's any better after the initial shave tames the edge a mite. DFS other than the bleeding, though.

For those following the ongoing saga of my lather issues, I re-lathered twice during these two passes.

 

SOTD Thursday 8-15-2013

FaTip/Weber Wave w/Astra SP
Irisch Moos SC
GT G4 Suttle
Omega 31064 Boar
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Nivea Replenishing ASB
Mennen Original Skin Bracer

Outstanding shave; close smooth and comfortable.

 

Razor: Mergress XL
Blade: Voskhod
Brush: Amber 28mm TGN finest 2 band
Pre: Musgo Real Lime Basil Oil Soap
Soap: Queen Charlotte Soaps Iced Key Lime
Post: Monster Alum Block
Aftershave: Tabac