SoS: June 8, 2015 - June 14, 2015

Thursday's


Dove Men Face Wash
Col. Conk Amber Shave Soap
Jayaruh WC1 STB
Gillette Red Tip SS
Ladas Super Stainless
CWR, Asma Alum Block
Thayers Rose Petal WH
Pinaud Clubman AS

The Col. Conk Amber Shaving Soap face-lathered well with my Jayaruh WC1 Silvertip Badgerbrush. Two passes with my Gillette Red Tip SuperSpeed razor and a Ladas Super Stainless 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 WH and then Pinaud Clubman after shave. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

 

June 10th was a DFS with;

Musgo Real bowl lathered w/SOC Boar
'55 Super Speed w/7 o'clock blue
Clubman Classic Vanilla AS

 

Shave for 10 June

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Thank you!

 

Planned SOTD 11 May 2015

30 Day Rule with a Cadet OC!



Have a great Thursday!
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Sad but Special shave as I prepare for my brothers funeral.

Thursday, 11 June 2015

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Beautiful Aristocrat. Sorry to hear of your brother's passing. God bless.

 

Thank you, my friend and I am a trained professional!

 

Lovely photo, Phil and my condolences!

 

Grump, so sorry for your loss...

 

My heartfelt condolences.

 

Prayers sent to u, ur family and friends in yalls time of need. Sorry for ur loss

 

sorry for your loss.
praying for you and your family.

 

That is a beautiful brush! Who made it?

 

Thank you for the compliment, but all of the credit goes to Steve. I'm just lucky to enjoy it.

 

Oh yes, I wondered if it was one of his creations. Love it!

 

Awesome looking #21 Aristocrat. Sorry to hear about your brother passing away.

 

Thursday Planned SOTD
Razor: Gem MMOC
Blade: Gem PTFE SS (D11)
Brush: IBLE 2012 Boar
Bowl: Symmetrical Pottery Shave Bowl
Pre Shave Scrub: RazoRock GLO
Pre Shave Oil: Homemade Jasmine Orange Vanilla
Shave Soap: Dr. Jon Savannah Sunrise
Post: Monster Alum Block
Aftershave: Alvarez Gomez Agua De Colonia


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Thanks I got it from an antiques fair last year, not sure what it was for originally, I had to grate the Tabac puck as it was a little bit too small for the pot, its dam heavy though.

 

World Tournament of Blades - Russia vs. the World!!
June 10, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - MWF
Razor - Razo Rock TTO
Blade - (1)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

This late posting is getting to be a habit. Created by busier days in summer along with the need to take some time to evaluate results without using the snap judgement heat of the moment method. Today was especially one of those days. The Kai performed very well on the occasions I've used it so I was looking forward to today.. It's a Japanese stainless, famous for being the "second sharpest" blade after it's Japanese cousin the Feather. They also make some very fine Artist Club blades known for being more forgiving and milder than the Feather. So, I was really looking forward to starting the World round of the tournament with the Kai.

Decided to stick with the RazoRock TTO as I like how it feels and works. Great all brass modern razor a bit more aggressive than a Gillette Aristocrat. Got the Fat out, the Pro 48 and once again got a very nice lather. I keep expecting to fail with the MWF once but so far so good. I'm very picky with it though and always try to follow @mantic 's rules for using it. Good stuff. Great slick lather so let's shave.

First pass was....ummmm.....not too smooth, nor did it seem terribly effective. I know this blade is sharp. I've used it before so I'm confused. Rinse, lather, repeat only XTG. Wow. Can you say uncomfortable....and it hits me...I have a more aggressive razor on a sharp blade and that doesn't always work for me. It also hits me.......SHARP blade. Not Voskhod sharp, not Sharp Star sharp....we're talking SHARP. Explains the building irritation. Ouch. Finished the XTG with just a hint of blood and checked. Seemed almost DFS. Well, DFS face, not quite neck. Time to stop and call it before I do more damage. But wait.....who am I kidding. This is ME shaving here not some rookie, pansy, weak, lily-livered coward who is afraid of a little blood or irritation. Why, I've used some of the worst blades in the worst razors and with the WORST soap (yes, modern Williams I'm talking about you) and survived to shave again. So here we go....neck only.....lather it up good (learning to love MWF) and let's go XTG.....wow seems uncomfortable. Gotta do something else to get that DFS hammered. So what would you do with an aggressive razor, sharp blade, irritated face and growing realization that you're probably taking skin off? Why, do what I do next...let's Gillette Slide. Why not, right? It's only skin, and pain, and frustration and....well you get the picture. Rinse off, cold rinse after the warm one and let's go for the alum. Yeah, I don't even have to say it do I. I managed to take a great blade and razor, mismatch them, and then do everything except buff my neck (well not too much anyway) to make sure I created a true disaster.

For the grading? Well it may be unfair to blame the blade for what I consider incredible operator error but a tournament is a tournament. Sharpnes is a 1. If you want to argue that I suggest you stand on a pile of Kai's and see if you don't change your mind. Smoothness? Wellllllllll.....with this razor I have to go 3. Memory tells me its capable of better but not today. Irritation. Oh baby....it's a 4 and I'm being generous. The fact the cold water rinse after alum cooled it down is all that saved the big 5. And the result? I was going CCS immediately after but decided to let it cool down and recheck when I wasn't jumping up and down so much. Decided a few hours later after constant checking that yes, it really did get DFS....the hard way. That's a 2.

Total - 10. The blade I thought would be one of the best is the worst so far. Again, partly due to gear I'm sure but there you go. Like many things in Japan.....this result was surprising and not quite what you expect.

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Tomorrow - the SuperMax Platinum from India.