SOTD
July 2, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Shield Face Wash
Razor: iKon Shavecraft 101
Blade: Ladas
Brush: Semogue 1305
Lather: Stirling Executive Man
Post: Alum. Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Stirling Executive Man
Wow! Probably the best lather I've ever had with Stirling Soap. This Semogue 1305 has really softened up nicely. I love the scent of this soap/aftershave. Smooth shave again from the SC101. I've been using Gold Bond now for a couple of weeks and I can see a big difference in my skin.. Thanks @crackstar for bringing Gold Bond to the SOTD.
A better tomorrow. Takes your best today!

Old type mr3 / med prep

Shavemac

BDF esclusivo

TTFFC wisp

Schick G8 razor
Personna blade
Lord SC
WD Silver Tip brush
Osage Rub/Witch Hazel w/aloe
Pinaud Lime Sec w/added menthol

Mighty fine shave to start the day. All of the above worked great together and I feel fine. Now go and enjoy your day folks.

today's shave
hot water wash with nivea men's and a washcloth
l'occitane plisson synthetic
Orange tea sample
Coates tea tree
gem micromatic bullettip
cvs persona(3)
Crusellas Orange
pinaud lilac vegital
today's shave was a frankenshave. I used samples and leftovers, then changed gears and added stuff together. I had to much water in my synthetic brush so I added some coated cream to thicken things up. worked pretty nice. the passes with the bullet tip and a rare third shave on a single edge blades, actually did nicely. finished with Crusellas Orange but that was too mild, so I splashed the veg over top. I'm rather pleased with the results.
hope y'all did as well, or better.

30 Day Rule - July 2015
Razor - CJB/Gillette New LC
Blade - Feather Pro AC/Voskhod
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold Water splash, Alum, Nivea Original Balm, and whatever else may be needed to stop bleeding.

Well here we go, after two months it's back to the CJB. Time to spend 30 days hammering my technique into form and getting great shaves from the straight. I was doing well with it when I last picked it up so I'm hoping to keep the momentum and improve this month.

Lathered with the Fat and Pro 48 and set to work. I'm going to use kamisori style, meaning only using one hand and facing the same side of the blade toward my face. This does require some practice to get comfortable with the blade on the opposite side of the hand, in my case, the left side. The grip on that side turns backwards and upside down at times. Made my first pass on the right cheek and it felt good to feel the Feather Pro at work again. Made a good first pass on the right side, all things considered. Felt the blade tip graze the upper lobe of my ear but didn't see blood, and felt another small slice as I set down wrong on the cheek but didn't see blood. Went to the left side....got the hand in position, and had a decent pass down the cheek. Regrouped for the neck and glanced right......ah, yeah, there's the blood. Ear and cheek both like I felt. The Feather Pro is as unforgiving of slight errors as always. Ignored that for now, went to the left neck and finished that pass without incident.

Rinsed, checked the cuts and lathered again for the XTG. No issues there as far as bleeding or additional battle wounds. The finish on the second pass left it pretty rough still, especially on the left side. Put down the CJB and grabbed the NEW LC and finished the third pass with a good DFS. Can't complain overall.

Cold water rinse and alum all over and boy does that wake you up when you've finished with this razor. Not just the two cuts but the whole face and neck remind you it's good to be alive! Rinsed after 30 seconds and the bleeding had stopped, used the Nivea this morning to condition it and felt pretty good about the result. Clearly I'm a bit rusty with it but it will be a quick process to get it going. All in all a great shave and I'm happy to have the CJB in my hand again.

​

Thursday

Soap: Maggard unscented
Brush: Bethlehem olive wood HIS synthetic
Razor: Feather AS-D2
Blade: Feather
After: Cold rinse, CeraVe lotion

Refreshing cold water shave. My face feels great!

SOTD (7-2-2015)

Razor- Ralf Aust 5/8 round toe with plastic scales
Brush- Omega Boar
Soap- Mama Bear Frankincense & Myrrh with glycerin
Preshave- Taconic organic oil
Postshave- Alum application & Zartgefuhl balm
Aftershave- Clubman original

BBS coming off a fresh hone!

​

Bartmann 86
Oscar11 H.I.S. brush
Martin de Candre soap
Coconut Oil

​

30 day rule
MDC Face Lathered
Ladas blade
Slim Adjustable set to 7

Face lathering MDC does bring out a out good qualities in the soap. I am always pleased with how well it lathers and protects. MDC does, however, have a tendency to dry the skin. While MDC lets me skip the pre-shave oil, it does not allow me to skip the post-shave moisturizing. This is something I can easily live with.

3 passes and a very nice shave.

BTW - I am using cold water

AOS pre oil
Strop VB llc latigo black
24 mm WD hmb brush (not Simpson in pic)
AOS sandalwood cream
Dovo Ebony Spike
AOS alum block
AOS sandalwood balm
Nickle sized splash of clubman original.

2 passes with the SR. With the grain. To include just a single pass around jaw line and chin. Found good stretching tech for jaw line. Chin ...not so much. Took off the scab that's been trying to heal since I started this focus 10 days ago. SE LA vie. No guts, no glory. Nothing great ever comes easy. Still it was a great shaving experience today.

2 July 2015

* Weber DLC + UFO U2V1 Red Bronze
* Super Iridium
* Super 3-Band + ZenShave C7 Snakewood
* Mystic Water Bay Rum
* Unrefined Shea Butter
* Bergamot/Vetiver EO



​

Now THAT'S a cool name for a town in Texas!

Thursday 2 July 2015



Traveling with the Last Mastro Livi New Grind​

It is the beginning of July and I am on the road again. For this trip I decided to bring with me a very rare piece of history about straight razors: the last new grind Mastro Livi razor, the one which ended the glorious era of these worldwide famous Mastro Livi razors and of which I filmed the making. I also brought with me my new shaving soap because I want to test it with different waters and brushes. I want to see whether this shaving soap I made is capable of the amazing performance I had at home. Well, it confirmed all of its amazing qualities and I will continue using it until the end of this trip. And this last Mastro Livi New Grind will certainly be the very best companion I could dream of for this test.​

• Pre-Shave: RazorGuy Pre-Shave Oil
• Soap: RazorGuy Shaving Soap
• Brush: Optim'Hom Synthetic J 082
• Bowl: Chinese Bowl
• Strop: Mastro Livi Loom Strop and Hand Palm
• Razor: Mastro Livi "The Last New Grind", 6/8 Half Hollow, Round Point
• Post-Shave: Alum Block
• Post-Shave: Argan Olive Oil
• After Shave: Pinaud Clubman Classic Vanilla

​

Thursday

Prep: Hot Shower-Stirling Bath Soap-Island Man
Soap: Cold River Soap Works “Original”-Bergamot & Bay
Razor: Gillette Slim
Blade: Gillette “Spoiler” Super Stainless (5)
Brush: oscar11 Boar-26mmx60mm
Aftershave: Fine Platinum

WTG-XTG-ATG (adjusted angles for my beard)

CRSW Bergamot & Gay today. 20 seconds to load the oscar11 Boar. Great, easy, thick, lather. Gillette “Spoiler” still in the Slim. Great smooth, close, shave. I finished with Fine Platinum.

Bob

7/02/15
Simply Cella Crema da Barba all’Olio di Mandorla.


I got Clubman Vanilla with this soap in mind. And to me, they pair beautifully.

Cella
Semogue Italian Barber LE
Gillette Heavy Tech
Gillette Silver Blue (2)
Clubman Pinaud Vanilla

Thor's Day:

Prep: Hot shower, Neutrogena Invigorating Face Wash, TSD Jasmine Sambac preshave balm
Brush: Simpsons 56 Best Badger
Soap: RazoRock One-X croap
Razor: Merkur 41c 1904 OC
Blade: Bic (2)
Passes: WTG, XTG (4, 5)
Post: Cold water splash, Bloc Osma alum, Dickinson's WH, Myrsol Metilsol AS splash
Cologne: Gigember Estragone by Dr. Vranjes

Something tells me this month of RazoRock focus will be more fun for me than the Stirling focus in June. The lather was so easy to build this AM, and felt ridiculously nice going on during face-lathering. Cushion and glide were simply outstanding, aided by a Bic that rounded into shape predictably. My only regret was that, with 3 passes yesterday, a 3rd pass today wasn't really necessary, even though I had enough lather for it. I don't normally combine the Myrsol Metilsol with the alum block, but the weepers on my upper lip yesterday were in the back of my mind when I reached for it. DFS+ results with a most enjoyable shave.

Thursday 2nd July







Warm shower

Hot towel

B&M Adagio bowl lathered

Finest Badger brush made by myself

Gillette NEW SC

Treet Platinum (2)

Cold rinse

Thayers Lemon witch hazel

Myrsol F/Extra aftershave



First use of the new B&M soap, complex scent, I get Cherry as the main scent with others mixed in. A very mild menthol content almost none, hard to detect.

THURSDAY
Shaved this morning with my Otto Deutsch 'Hans'—which has always been a pleasure. With this shave, I had the opportunity to test out a newly-formulated soap ('croap,' actually), with a very pleasing masculine scent.
I applied this croap after about a dozen swirls to load the big boar brush and then face-lathered, adding more water as I progressed. The lather was quite thick, and painted on smoothly—a good sign—and the lather resembled thick wet enamel paint. Dense lather such as this is generally a good indicator of the type of substantial cushion and glide that is ideal for a smooth, close and comfortable SR shave. I completed three complete passes with the razor, re-lathering between each pass (duh!), finishing with some touch-up of the tough spots. Overall result was a near-BBS shave. No post-shave soreness, rawness nor tender spots. Skin felt good as well (no dryness). I give this test croap some very high marks on this first venture. I'll be doing more testing with it in the coming days.

Have a great Thursday, all!

Thursday
warm shower/cold water shave
Chubby 2 Super Badger
3P PPB
Mama Bear's Lime Ice
Cobra Classic/Feather ProGuard (10)
cold water rinse
Monster Cube Alum
cold water rinse
Tend Skin
Thayer's Rose WH with 6 drops M-Bomb added ......... wowsa that was cold
Can You Handlebar Beard Dry Oil
L'Artisan Parfumeur Rose Privee

Always get a great shave with The Snake,face and dome BBS!!!

Stay frosty,my friends!

My pleasure to bring great stuff here!