SoS: January 26, 2015 - February 1, 2015

I never got the hang of it so now simply combine my Stirlings with a generous-lathering soap such as Cade.

 

I can't wait!

 

Thursday's Shave



Same as yesterday's shave minus the music but with the added distraction of converting a friend to DE razors via text message while I was shaving. Couple small weepers but very little irritation. Used the Clubman more as a cologne than an aftershave, put it on my chest and kept it off the sensitive shaved areas. Less redness than usual because of that.

 

SOTD - Thursday, January 29, 2015

Hot shower
Prep: Lime PSO
Brush: B&B Essential Boar
Bowl: Captain's Choice Lather Bowl
Cream: La Toja
Razor: Gillette birth year Slim (5)
Blade: Voskhod (1)
Cologne: Kenneth Cole Signature

 

Ram, how is that Standard? I've always liked that look, but haven't heard about the shave.

 

Today's shave.

Prep: hot shower, Neutrogena Face Wash.
Brush: Burma boar.
Razor: '62 Gillette Slim set on 4 for both passes.
Blade: SuperMax Titanium.
Cream: Palmolive Menthol.
Post: cold water rinse, Fine American Blend.

Talk about extreme menthol. I froze my face with some of my favorite products. Palmolive Menthol is something everyone should try. The SuperMax Titanium is good for a little bit, but it's slacking in longevity. Because of that, I gave myself a pretty good nick on my mustache area on my second pass. I threw the blade right in the blade bank and was pretty annoyed that the bleeding wouldn't stop right away. I need to get a styptic pencil and not break it by taking it out of the package like the last one.

 

Wow, must be Gillette Slim week! Lots of good '60's shaves going on here. Makes me want to watch "Man From Uncle" or "Lost in Space" or "Perry Mason" or "My Three Sons"...LOL

 

Phil, thank you for your kind words, my friend!
I think I was the original gentleman who starting using Steve's (Oscar11) All-Amber handles as I convinced him to make me one, but I see I am no longer the only one who uses his handles! I guess pictures are stronger than words. I hope you can acquire one, at some point!

 

Thank you, sir!

 

Jan 28th shave
Prep: Proraso green preshave
Brush: Muhle HJM synthetic
Soap: Shannon's Soaps woodland frost
Razor: Gillette slim adjustable on 7
Blade: Personna platinum
Post: Still brewing Bay-rumish aftershave and a little vaseline
Used the HJM for the first time today; It's got a great balance of softness and backbone, which I like. The home-made bay rum is brewing, but I tried a little anyway and enjoyed how the scent settled in. I don't have any bay laurel EO, so I just put in bay leaves and some extra spices, and the scent ends up settling down into a kind of "Christmas Cake" smell.

 

Thursday Afternoon Shave...

I purposely skipped yesterday so that I could do a review of my new Mickey Lee Soapworks additions. Today I used the "La Belle du Sud" this stuff smells like a delicious dessert. It's a combination of Peach, Lavender, and Pistachio. I'm going to add my review, comments, and lather shots in the shave soap thread, but I will admit this stuff is pretty good. I loaded a fresh Ladas blade into the Gillette Tech, and 3 passes later was rewarded with a BBS shave. The only hard part is trying to find a good pairing aftershave. The sweetest stuff I had was a sample of Latha, but I'm curious if they will come out with a matching aftershave balm. Thumbs up for Mickey Lee Soapworks, they found a winning formula.

Have a good one Gents...

 

Soap: Cade
Razor: Tuckaway
Blade: Iridium
Brush: Shavemac Three Band
Aftershave: Vitos​

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Tomorrow's planned shave:

Neutrogena Men Facial Wash
Large Horsehair Barbershop
Super Speed/Dorco day 4
Ginger's Garden Ice Mint SS
Gold Bond Moisturizer
Proraso Green AS

Back to the menthol way of life after taking a break today from it. The Ice Mint soap is the only one from Irena which I have and I love it so much. Its scent is so minty and fresh, it's a pleasure to lather and it gives an awesome cooling sensation as well as a lot of skincare. It's not easy to stay away from the Gold Bond moisturizer after having tried it - one thing I'll say is that this stuff is perfect if you love menthol (which I do!) and if you have sensitive skin. The Proraso Green is another wonderful aftershave. My Dorco blade is still performing quite well.

 

I've only used mentholated Stirling soaps and I find the Glacial line is the one which seems to need the extra long curing time due to how intensely-mentholated they are. Apparently Rod has made changes in his formula with these soaps and he says that they should be a lot easier to lather when he releases them again. His other mentholated soaps like the MITA and Black Ice don't seem to need to cure for so long.

 

Love that razor!

 

Friday's


Nivea Men's Face Wash
C.O. Bigelow Shave Cream
Jayaruh WC2 Pur-Tech Synthetic
Eversharp Schick I-1
NOS Gillette Platinum Plus Injector Blade
CWR, Asma Alum Block
Thayers Rose Petal WH
Pinaud Lilac Vegetal

The C.O. Bigelow Shave Cream face-lathered well with my Jayaruh WC2 Pur-Tech Synthetic Brush. Two passes with my Eversharp Schick I-1 and a NOS Gillette Platinum Plus Injector 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 Rose Petal Petal WH and then Pinaud Lilac Vegetal after shave. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

 

29 January 2015 Shave

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Have to admit when I first ordered the standard back in July 14, wasn't sure what to expect as I knew it was super light and I tend to go for heavy razors with 3.75 or 4" handles. This lightweight surprised the heck out of me and it is one of the smoothest, most efficient razors I have ever tried. I liked it some much I order a backup but since traded for an Aristocrat but I am looking for another! I would place it in mid aggression range with audio feedback that rivals my iKon Standard Bar and ATT H1 razors but I find it smoother than either of these. I hate to admit that I have 29 DE razors and if I had to pair it down to just five razors, I would have to say my Standard would be one of them I like it that well. My thoughts that a razor had to be on the heavy side to be and efficient razor was crushed by the Standard Razor. Head design, angle, blade gap seem to be the key for this razor and at $38 when I bought it, consider it a steal for that price.

 

FRIDAY
Evening Shave of Tomorrow
I'm hoping to get back to the office in the morn after two consecutive sick days (I'm rarely sick!).
On top of still being sick this eve, I had to take our 20-year old black cat, Darth, to the vet for his final resting place. It was time. Not too many 20-yr old cats and my sons (ages 28,25 & 22) all grew up with him (yes, the boys named him Darth Vader & his twin brother was Luke).2
Sweet kitty, too. And coming from a dog-guy, that's high praise. You'll be missed, Darth.


Tonight's shave was mentholated, echoing the 'burning chill' of the Vicks Vapo-Rub I'm wearing….

 

sorry for your family's loss. pets become part of our family.