SoTD, Monday, January 19 or, SElebration day 6; there will be blood.
Pre- 2x hot towel cycles/ lavender eucalyptus oil
Soap- vintage Colgate
Brush- Anchorset w/ new finest knot
Razor-Ever Ready 1914
Blade- Ever Ready Radio/flying eagle no notch/pal blue/gem carbon
Rinse- Thayers lavender
Styptic pencil- Clubman
Alum block- Razorock
Aftershave- Glacial
Lotion-Kiehl's
Cologne- Tonga
So, I had planned on taking today's shave off. But then I got caught up in the excitement while sorting razors. I decided to shave. I probably should have kept with the plan... I decided to finally use one of my favorite razors. It is an Ever Ready set. 1914 style razor in a minty box, complete with unused blades and outer cardboard shell. I love the Trade Mark Face, and I especially love it's application here. To me, this looks like it could have been produced today. Very cutting edge for it's time. Heck, it is a cool concept now. Within the clever package is the razor. Ever Ready 1914. Until today, I have never used one. While checking out the set. I realized that every one of the twenty-odd blades was pristine and looked new. The edges felt good, so I decided to use one. It worked. Not well, but it worked. So with one reasonably iffy pass under my belt, I swapped blades. I decided to try another Flying Eagle, as the no notch blade seemed to be the way to go considering the placement of the holding tabs within the razor. The flying eagle was awful. Utterly ineffective. I now decided to give one of the PALs a second chance. Still not impressed with them, I went with my old trusty blade, the Gem carbon. This in retrospect, was a mistake. It made the razor go from my least used and understood SE, to my most aggressive/dangerous SE. I nicked myself twice on the neck. One was totally my fault. The second, I don't even know how it happened. The third... ooh boy, that was the good one. Keep in mind that my lather was glorious. Thick, wonderful lather. Maybe the best lather I have gotten out of my Colgate. And I love how Colgate lathers. Today I made two lather sessions before my shave just to break in new knots. So the lather was good. And I reapplied between every pass, and after every blade change screw around...so it wasn't dry. But back to nick number three... so I am shaving, I have nicked myself twice, once while not paying attention, so I am being careful. NO pressure. None! So I am coming up under my nose ATG. And the forward momentum of the razor just stops. Like it hit a glue patch stops. And the razor just chops into my skin. Makes about a half inch slice. SEs are noisy. There is a lot of audible feedback. I swear to you, the razor actually made a noise like 'thwoik' as it stuck in my face. It didn't hurt much, but it bled like crazy. I called that the end of the session and rinsed a couple times with Thayers. Hit it with the Styptic a few times until the bleeding stopped. Stingy. Rinsed with Thayers again, and hit the alum block. That was stingy too. Finished up in my normal way, but did my balm stage twice. See how that 'instantly repair damaged skin' boast on the label holds up.
So, all things considered, probably would have been best to have not shaved. But the Ever Ready was calling to me. Obviously calling for my blood, but hey, a call is a call.
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