August Focus - Slim and Feather AC
August 13
Razor - 1964 Gillette Slim (J1)
Blade - (2)
Brush - Vie Long 12601
Soap - Saint Charles Shave Sandalwood
Post - Cold Rinse, Alum, Aqua Velva Ice Blue

Home at a decent hour tonight. Spent the day feeling the lack of sleep but the pockets full of money so I can handle it. The life of sales. Nothing to it, no stress. So, back to this morning as I forced my eyes open, drank a couple of extra cups of coffee before my shower and shave and got ready for the day. Stayed with the Saint Charles Shave soap and changed from boar to horse. Used the smaller pony with a good soak on the brush and left it wet as that seems to help the soap. Got a good first lather, persistent, and I will say that this soap is slick and leaves a nice slick residue after the pass. It's possible to touch up without relathering if needed.

Set the Slim on 7 with the Ladas on day two. Definitely more aggressive than yesterday's 5. Big difference. Lots more feedback and effectiveness on that first pass. Relathered - oh oh - relathered - yeah the soap is giving me some fits with dissipation. I get the nice even lather and by the time I finish the XTG on the right side my left side looks like a thin watery residue fading fast. Not good. Reloaded the brush and was able to get a better lather for the left side. Maybe I didn't load the brush enough to get two passes? I don't think that's the problem but not sure. I'm also suddenly aware that my face and neck are starting to feel irritated after the second pass. Decided to do neck only on the third pass so lathered again, and again it seems too thin but I get enough, barely, by squeezing the lather out of the brush and working it a bit. Went XTG and a shallow G-slide to try and get the neck without making the irritation worse. Finished, honestly, with a good CCS. Too much left on the neck to be DFS but I don't dare do more by the way it feels. Only the alum will tell what's really going on.

Cold rinsed and the burn went away mostly so here comes the alum. Wow. Ouch. Is there smoke? Not good. Way too much irritation for a two pass and touchup third pass. Quite disappointed with the result and the problem is, I'm not sure if it's the lather issue, the blade at that setting, or technique tweak I need. I suspect it's a combination of the setting and the lather. Whatever the problem, not one of my finer shaves.

So, for tomorrow, I'm going to adjust the soap a bit. I'll use my VL 12705 to stay horse with a bigger knot to add more water and add water to the puck as well. I have read that this soap needs a lot of water so maybe I haven't given it enough yet. I'll also take the Slim up to 9 with the Ladas. Let's see if the higher setting might smooth it out a bit. 5 was really nice, 7 sucks, so what will 9 do?

One more day to the weekend so let's make it a good one!

TGIF Planned SOTD
Razor: Cobra Classic
Blade: Feather AC Professional (D11)
Brush: Shavemac Americana D01 3 Band 24mm
Bowl: Buffalo Horn 5”
Pre Shave Scrub: MRGLO
Pre Shave Oil: Saponificio Varesino
Shave Soap: Neumann 1911
Post: Monster Alum Block
Aftershave: Country Club Southern Oud

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Prep: Hot Shower with Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood Soap
Razor: Schick E type Injector
Blade:E.M.S. injector blade (1)
Brush: Omega 20102 Pro Boar
Lather: Synergy Shaving Soap: Cavendish
Post: Dickinson's Witch Hazel, Lucky Tiger AS&FT, Stirling Executive Man AS balm
Fragrance: English Leather Cologne

This was an awesome shave! The Schick and Synergy soap are courtesy of @richgem , thanks again.
Love the shave soap. This stuff loads up easy and makes a ton of great lather. I was going to save it till Tobacco Tuesday, but as some of you know, I love my pipe tobacco so couldn't wait, lol. The stuff smells amazing! The scent reminds me of smoking Captain Black; it's great. I was also pleased with the razors performance. This was my first time with an injector and wasn't sure what to expect. Came out great though; nice CCS, just shy of a BBS. Should improve the more I use the razor though.

It is a wonderful brush! The first good boar brush I ever owned, and a gift from a good friend. If you are thinking about buying one, stop thinking and just get it. You will not be disappointed.

It probably just need to be broken in =)

KK is just an amazing soap

I have it but mine hasn't been the best brush. It's not good for facelathering. Bowl lathering works pretty good. But for the face the bristles are to spread apart and its not comfortable =\

thanks,I forgot about it.

I'm so frozen that my face feels like a block of ice from the Glacial Obsidian soap. The Glacial Wintergreen balm and witch hazel froze me even more after this wonderful shave!

August 14 SOTD:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
Palmolive Classic SC
Phoenix Dbl OC
Stirling Unscented PSB
Skin Bracer

08/14/2015
Razor – Gillette Slim (J3) set on 9
Blade – Gillette 7 O’clock Yellow
Brush – Zenith Pro Aluminum Boar
Lather – TSD Signature
Post - Witch Hazel & Captain’s Choice Bay Rum with Menthol Added



A fantastic 3 pass shave this morning. I decided to chase the baby a bit and with some touch ups, I caught the little sucker. This might have been my best shave with the Slim. It was a pleasure this morning to use the TSD Signature Lanolin soap. The soap was super easy to lather and provided a great slick lather. I really like this scent as well. For those of you that have not tried the TSD soaps, you are missing out a truly great product that also supports the forum. Finished off with a CC Bay Rum and I am ready for the day.

Friday 14 August 2015



Bourdier 43, 6/8 Full Concave, Double Grind, Round point​

In these days I am using different soaps in order to compare them with the one I make. After having used for a long time my shaving soap - and with absolute joy, satisfaction and pride - I am now using different soaps in order to get an idea of how my soap performs compared to some "well known" soaps. In this shave I also used a Bourdier razor - not so bad - and an Italian aftershave I recently bought in a shop because, I admit, it is something belonging to my memories of very old times. This "Pino Silvestre" was in fact very popular when I was a kid and I wanted to give it a try. I confess I had a truly different memory of this aftershave - including its fragrance - and it disappointed me quite a lot. Sometimes memories should be left in the place they are becasue they certainly belong to a time gone by and reviving them in a different time could be quite disappointing. As for the soap, I used the well known and celebrated Klar Kabinett and it certainly confirmed to be a very good soap. It is such a pity they quit production, a fate shared with many other good soaps of the past which certainly were not disappointing at all.​

• Pre-Shave: RazorGuy Pre-Shave Oil
• Soap: Klar Kabinett
• Brush: Zenith 506 Badger Extra Silvetip - 26 mm knot
• Bowl: Gerby Bowl
• Strop: Mastro Livi Loom Strop and Hand Palm
• Razor: Bourdier 43, 6/8 Full Concave, Double Grind, Round point
• Post-Shave: Alum Block
• Post-Shave: Argan Oil
• After Shave: Pino Silvestre

Too bad the aftershave disappointed. It is a cool bottle.

You are right. I had a different memory of the fragrance and on my skin smelt even worst. As for the aftershave quality, it is just an ordinary aftershave splash with no particular qualities on the effects of the shave.

Superb Fougere Fatboy Friday
I used Tabac cream as a prep and the Lather Monster built yogurty lather on top of that after loading some B&M vegan suds. My sweet spot with the Fatboy is 9-7-7 and that progression worked like a charm. I even decided to use this Voskhod blade for another shave - usually I change them after three, but I've gotten as many as seven good shaves from these. No drama BBS. I finished off with B&M Fougère Classique and my skill looks, feels, and smells great.
Prep: Tabac cream
Soap: B&M vegan Fougere Imperial
Brush: HIS XL
Razor: '59 Fatboy
Blade: Voskhod (4)
AS: B&M Fougere Classique

8/14/15 SOTD
Two days’ growth
Prep: Hot shower
Razor: Ontario Cutlery Co. 5/8 Spike Point
Strop: Drygulch Chromexcel/ Linen
Soap: The Holy Black Gunpowder Spice
Brush: Omega 1066 Boar
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: The Holy Black Whisker Whiskey Gunpowder Spice

Schick M1 Adjustable razor
Personna blade
Satin Tip "Purist" brush
Lea Menthol SC
Osage Rub/Witch Hazel w/aloe
Skin Bracer A/S

This shave confirmed that I don't care for the Satin Tip brush. Other than that, great shave. Enjoy the weekend folks

14 August 2015

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today's shave
hot water wash with nivea men's and a washcloth
@clint64 customized rubberset 400/ whipped dog high mountain white
BOMBED TSD signature bay rum and bergamot
Stahly live blade
Stahly head/ Maggard mr5 handle
Ladas(2)
ICED virgin island bay rum
today's shave was very nice. first pass with the moving handle. was ok, it's a bit cumbersome, but ok. finished shave with the mr5 installed, that's a good razor. finished with iced bay rum.
hope y'all did as well, or better.

30 day Focus - Day 13
MDC Lavender Face Lathered
Rapira Stainless Blade (Day 1 on blade, Day 1 on Rapira Stainless)
Slim Adjustable set to 8
3 passes

I switched to the Rapira Stainless today. It is very hard for me to tell if one type of Russian blade is better than the other because they seem to be so similar in terms of smoothness and sharpness. The exceptions to this are the Sputnik blade, which seems to be less sharp and less smooth than any of the other blades, and the Ladas blade, which seems smoother and sharper than the others. Today was a very nice 3 pass with excellent results.

Friday

Prep: Warm Shower-Stirling Bath Soap-Executive Man
Soap: Through the Fire-Ember (Sample)
Razor: Gillette NEW Short Comb
Blade: Personna Med Prep (6)
Brush: oscar11 High Mountain White-22mmx48mm
Aftershave: Chiseled Face-Ghost Town Barber

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

TTF Ember today. Easy, thick, lather. Personna Med Prep still in the NEW SC. Great smooth, close, shave. I finished with Ghost Town Barber.

Bob