NOVember 16's

Nivea for Men Sensitive Face Wash
C.O. Bigelow Shaving Cream
Omega Pro 98 boar brush
Gillette Super Speed '47
Astra SP
CWR, Asma Alum Block
Thayers Lemon WH
Pinaud Clubman

Thirty-five degrees outside this Lord's Day morning. The C.O. Bigelow Shaving Cream face-lathered very easily with my Omega Pro 98 Boar Brush. Two passes with my '47 Gillette Super Speed and Astra SP blade gave me a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, alum block, and a final cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayers Lemon WH and then Pinaud Clubman after shave. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed... The cold water is getting colder.

iKon Shavcraft 102 with Feather blade
Morris & Forndran xl3 a Finest
Simpson's Cafe Latte cream
GFT Skin Food
Chanel Bleu de Chanel

Tools For Tomorrow ~ Single Edge Sunday, November 16, 2014
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Razor: Schick-Eversharp Injector I - 2 Hydro-magic
Blade: Schick
Brush: Whipped Dog Boar 30 X 60mm
Lather: HTGAM Synergy Soap - Gondolier

Thank you very much for your kind words.
The brush handle is the most beautifully crafted wooden handle I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few brushes. The artisan is very talented.
I found the bowl in a shop in our Chinatown area, here, in Vancouver for $5! However, I don't use it for bowl-lathering and it is just a prop for my photos.

Shave of the Day

November 15, 11 pm



Prep: Hot bath, Peppermint Castille soap, TSD ISZ
Razor: 1936 Aristocrat De Luxe
Blade: 1959 Gillette Thin (E1)
Brush: Rubberset 400-4 Silvertip
Soap: Arko
Shave: 4 passes; WTG, XTG, ATG + Cleanup
Post: Royall Spyce splash

Good classic barbershop shave tonight. The Royall a/s is a treat.

Went with the vintage Gillette Thin blade, gold tone to match the gold razor. Shaved very well for sitting for 60 years.

BBS shave.

Good night

Arko! Arko! Arko!

(I love Arko!)

Sunday SOTD

Still snowing. Still No Variation November. Roll Tide!

Glad you like the 1912. It's one of my faves as well!

Sunday!

• Music: Vangelis, The City
• Prep: hot washing cloth
• Brush: VieLong horse
• Soap: Cella
• Razor: Gillette Slim @4
• Blade: Polsilver #3
• Shave: 3-pass + touch-up
• Post: cold water rinse, Jeris Musk For Men

Another excellent shave. I had the bowl at the ready, but whenI had loaded the brush I started to face lather. Which was nice as well!

Have a nice day and take care of your loved ones!

As I recall, you were adjusting the aggressiveness on your razor. How is that going/have you "optimized" for yourself yet? I am curious as I have a Slim in my future.

Yup, still busy on that. Next shave will be @5. Each shave is going up until I've found the best setting for me.

But I'm going to experiment beyond finding one setting and leaving it at that. When I've found a standard setting I'm going to try to change the setting during the shave. Low on the first pass and then progressively higher on the next passes. See how that turns out. I think that appeals more to me than to set-it-and-forget-it. It will take me some time to figure out the best combination. But it is an adjustible for a reason, isn't it? Besides, it is fun to experiment with the razor. So I'm thinking to keep the rest of the shave as constant as possible for a while (same brush, soap and brand of blade). Tough I've got two brushes in the final stages of getting them ready for service, so at least there will be some changes in the set-up.

16 November Shave

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Given this has been a No Change November in terms of products for me, I decided to use the Slim that I used in the DE Blade Challenge some time ago as shown below:

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/de-blade-challenge-ii.28223/

This Slim has always been slightly more aggressive than my other Slims so a 5 setting on it is equal to about a 6 or 7 on the others.

This Personna 74* blade will have gone through sixteen 2 pass face shaves and 2 pass head shaves and is needing to be retired. Another blade is at the ready to complete the remainder of the month of November.

I wish the Personna made these blades again not only because they last so long but are so well behaved in doing so. Well the P74s, and this Slim that has come out of long term storage for this month only, are truly treats indeed.

16 shaves?! Really?

Shave of the day

Pre- Hot shower, Lush Coalface face wash soap

Soap/cream- Mitchells wool fat

Brush- Omega boar 10810

Razor- Gillette Slim adjustable(5)

Blade- LADAS

Post- Cold water rinse, alum block, Old spice whitewater aftershave and Rituals Samurai shave repair

A pretty nice shave today. The Slim on 5 is a very good adjustment for me, I'm glad I raised the adjuster. The Ladas blade is very nice, I see a 100 pack in the future. But not now, I don't want to end up with several years supply of blades =P

I think the decision to stick to the same shave gear was a good decision. This doesn't apply to aftershave though, only razor, soap and brush.

The Rituals aftershave balm and Old spice whitewater makes a nice mix =D both are spicy scents I feel. But what do I know hahaha

Happy with this shave =D

Prep: Hot shower, Healthy Accents Daily Renewal cleanser, TSD Jasmine Sambac Preshave balm
Brush: Simpson 56 Best Badger
Soap: Ginger's Garden Coffee Jasmine with clay and mango butter
Razor: Merkur 41c 1904 OC
Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum (4)
Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG (8, 9, 10)
Post: Cold water splash, Bloc Osma Alum, Dickinson's WH, RazoRock Cumba Cheech AS lotion
Cologne: Le 3e Homme d' Caron by Caron

I'd like to say that Kerry's first use of the Ginger's Garden soap prompted me to reach for it this AM, but I'd be lying; I simply wanted to use it today, after waking yesterday to a face that was frustratingly too smooth (!) to justify shaving during my morning routine. I blame all of you folks, for teaching me to refine my technique so far that I don't NEED to shave daily. The soap lathered ridiculously well, but the Bic blade started to show its age by the ATG pass. The slight irritation the aging blade caused prompted me to reach for the Cumba Cheech lotion for a bit of soothing, and I decided to finish my tour of the jasmines in my den with the Third Man cologne. . . and Marvis Jasmine toothpaste. I'm not jasmine-addicted, honest!

11/16/14

Prep: warm wash
Lather: Old Spice cream - face lathered
Brush: Omega 10006
Razor: Gillette New Tech LC
Blade: Voskhod Teflon (3)
Post: Old Spice aftershave

DFS results, but not very enjoyable because I skimped on the prep. Note to self - don't rush through prep.

Sunday:

Neutrogena Men Facial Wash
#6 Horsehair
Super Speed/7 AM day 5
Lea Menthol SC
Lubriderm Unscented Moisturizer
Proraso Green AS

Here's a cream which I haven't used in quite some time - the Lea Menthol gave me plenty of rich, stable lather with its nice, unique scent and a good, STRONG chilly blast. I have to concede that its skincare is not exactly at the same calibre as most of my other creams, but it's still good enough to rate a 7/10 which for me is in the acceptable range. The Proraso Green is an awesome aftershave - it smells chilly and nice, it cools wonderfully, and it soothes very, very well. My Super Speed/7 AM combination gave me a perfect, comfortable BBS shave which I really enjoyed a lot.

Sunday 11/16/14

Prep: glycerin soap
Pre-Shave Oil: Shave Secret
Brush: 20mm Whipped dog set deep
Scuttle: Georgetown Pottery
Razor: Gillette New Long Comb
Blade: Ladas
Lather: LPL
Post: Alum sprayed on
Witch Hazel: Generic unscented
A/S: Stirling Sharp Dressed Man
Balm: Avon Musk Marine After Shave Conditioner

My shave was progressing so well today that I decided to add a fourth pass and was rewarded with an amazing shave. Love those french soaps!

today's shave
hot shower prep with Yardley lavender soap
whipped dog silvertip
THE SHAVE DEN iced pink grapefruit
Gillette single ring(1917)
persona lab(1)
pinaud clubman
John Vatvatos vintage(courtesy of the traveling box)
today's shave was nice. all elements performed nicely. love the single ring. three passes for a great shave. finished with clubman, topped off with a spritz of vintage.
church today y'all come with me.

Yes, 16 each two passes each. These are special blades. These blades are made of Tungsten steel versus regular Stainless steel. This was the blade that almost put ASR out of business. In 1970-1971 ASR (Personna), in hopes to keep people from switching to the Gillette Trac II system, devised this blade that would in effect have a double or triple life span over regular DE blades. It worked. They made the greatest mass marketed DE blade of all times, in terms of both sharpness and longevity, but their was a major problem. By making it last so long and shave so well, sales plummeted and profits fell to fast. By 1977 ASR quit making these blades and cleared them out of stock. Eventually ASR came out with their own short lived double blade cartridge system before the patents eventually expired for Gillette on the Trac II. ASR brought up the rear in switching to cartridge technology and they paid dearly for it for decades.