September 5 Focus Shave 4

Tonight I have a social engagement so I needed a BBS shave. In a stoke of perfect timing after a long absence my Barbasol Floating Head finally returned after being re-plating. Good thing it is Saturday because I initially added to much water to the lather, after adding more product I ended up with allot of great lather. Three passes with the Hart razor and just one small nick and things felt great no irritation and definitely at the DFS stage. Took out the Barbasol to finish the job and I ended up with some weepers and whole lot of irritation. What the heck????

The Barbasol come back with a Persona Med Prep blade so that is what I loaded. After the shave and wondering why the irritation I remembered why I do not use Med Prep blades, the always give me allot of irritation.

In the end it was an outstanding BBS but with allot of irritation but not from the straight.

Proraso Pre Shave
Castel Forbes Lime / AoS tallow
Simpson Polo 8 in Super
Hart Steel 7/8 / Barbasol Floating Dead
Dry Gulch strop after hitting the 12k stone and pasted strops
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Spieck AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Dior Cologne Royal

Have a great weekend.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Mongoose with Triad Ti Helix Spiral
Feather Pro #4
Doug Korn Button Orange Swirl
MDC Le Bol En Bois Fougere
Alum, Dickinson’s ++Menthol, Cucumber Melon Whipped Shea Butter
Fine Fresh Vetiver

A good DFS for watching College Football today! Two passes with clean up. The Feather Pro smoothed out nicely for today's shave. I substituted my new DK Taca 2 to test out the new to me TGN High Mountain White Knot. Wow! This one needs a review all its own. The MDC Fougere' may be my favorite. The scent explodes as you lather it. The Whipped Shea Butter is much easier to apply than the organic unrefined SB and smells better.

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The Crazy Ivan in SEptember!
September 4

Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89l
Blade - (1)
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea, Aqua Velva Musk

Look out....here comes the first Crazy Ivan move. After three glorious shaves with the Gem 1912 and Gem Teflon blade it's time to throw the EJ DE89l and a Chinese blade into the mix. Chinese blades. Those ridiculously dull and painful excuses for something to throw into the middle of a safety razor. The Flying Eagle - Worst blade ever made (that I've discovered at least). The Baili blue? Horrid (yes, I know a few who like it) for me as well. It's almost like the Chinese can't figure out how to make a razor blade. So, in my search for a Chinese blade that works I discover the Blendax. It's a super stainless blade that is available in bulk from a few places or just a few at a time from others. I chose to add a couple to my order from tryablade.com awhile back, hoping to find a Chinese blade that would perform.

The Pro 48 and Arko - a trained monkey could produce a great lather, and so can I. Got it all lathered up, went for the first pass and I am actually thrilled and surprised to say that........I didn't throw the blade away until after an entire half pass. Yeah, it's THAT bad. I felt the immediate pull/tug/drag/ripping feeling and actually finished the right side of my face and neck WTG. Put the razor back on the shelf, grabbed my "rescue setup" of my '59 Superspeed and Bic Chrome Platinum and finished the shave. Result was a DFS with the right side feeling the alum more than the left just from that one pass. Words can't describe how bad this blade is. Chalk up another failure for the Chinese blade makers in my book.

Now that I have experienced that there will be no return to it tomorrow and Monday as planned. I'll let Ivan come up with something else for those days and surprise you all with it tomorrow. Suffice it to say, I won't be buying anymore Blendax. Hope you have lots of fun planned for the holiday weekend! I plan to have fun selling cars!

I think I found the source of Chinese blades!!!

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I have the Yin Yang AS sample and I think Clint nailed it. The lime is the overriding scent, but the lavender provides cooling relief and a balance to the lime scent. I have both the AS and soap versions on my 'need' list.

Douglas, I'd say try a sample of the AS when you get a chance and go from there.

Crazy Izan has got to be one of the most fearless explorers in the shaving universe!


I know of no one, that's right, no one, who will go to the ends of the earth and stick his neck out, yes literally stick his neck out on the line for the eternal search of shaving nirvana. Hollywood has its Indiana Jones, TSD has Crazy Ivan.

Long may you wander for us Crazy Ivan, long may you wander.

There was a time when I expected to explore a bit of the world....enough to find that perfect razor, blade, soap, brush, you know, just one of each and ride off into the sunset with great shaves. Then came the siren song of blades. The thrill of chasing a potentially rare and/or dangerous razor down and taming it. The lure of a new brush, a soap yet untried that might be a micron slicker than the last. It's almost like living out the Odyssey trying to find the way home through all of the temptations and dangers of Chinese blades, Russian razors, and all of the other dangers. At least, though, I can say I love my mother without really "loving my mother".

Pretty wrapper! Blendax is a bizarre name for a blade.

In the Dragon that is China, the blades sample you...

It's cousin Patrix has a nice wrapper too, but something tells me it will be just as horrendous as the Blendax. Pretty wrapper, crappy steel on the inside. I've sold a few cars that match that description. And maybe they need to try some dragon flame to temper the blades? Couldn't hurt.

Indy?

Searching for our Grail!

Day 4 - SEptember 2015

30 Days with a Schick G



Started from scratch. I'm back in the groove!

I am spending some time with Mrs. Samurai and will be scarce until Sunday Evening. May everyone have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend 2015!

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Enjoy !

I was running late last night so I popped in a new blade and rushed thru 2 passes. I got some rough spots on my left chin area where I didn't have the angle right and it pulled hair instead of cutting. I fixed the angle and slowed down a little but the damage was done. I lathered up Proraso white soap with a Semogue boar and finished up with nivia sensitive post shave. Even the nivia didn't sooth the burn from the badly irritated spot. Now I understand @Bama Samurai when he had his rough shaves. Next time I'm rushing ill just go unshaved. I'll be laying out over the weekend to let my face heal.

Another great photo Mark. I like your use of the mirror.

Now that's disappointing to think about. I don't watch Big Bang Theory, but have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark more times than I can count (but I can hit that milestone after I reach then end of my fingers ). I had never thought of how the outcome would be different if Indy never showed up. Hmm....

September 5

Batch 2 Mongoose with Dr. Bomber handle
Feather Professional blade (7)
Shavemac two-band silvertip brush
Trumper's Coconut cream and glycerin
Two passes
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Trumper's Coral Skin Food

I performed a one-pass shave last night, so I was still fairly close this morning. So what did I do? I enjoyed another two-pass Saturday morning shave going mostly XTG and ATG. I'm comfortably smooth, just in time to watch the cartoons! I'm on shave number 7 with this blade, and it did just fine. I'll change it for tomorrow's shave only because it's easy to remember to change the blade on Sunday.

Have a relaxing Saturday!

09/05/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Feather Pro (1)
Brush – Rubberset 400-3 with Omega Boar
Lather – Mystic Water Lime
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine L’Orange



My first time using the Mongoose in over a month. A fantastic 3 pass BBS shave this morning. I could tell it was new Feather blade in the razor. I've found it takes a couple of shaves for a new blade to smooth out. I am so pleased that I took the time to master lathering Mystic Water shave soaps. The lather is so slick and the post shave feel is fantastic. The results were worth the effort. Finished with a splash of L'Orange and I am ready for college football Saturday.

My favorite injector is an I1, your I2 is very nice and very much sought after.

SOTD
September 5, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost TSE Shaving Oil
Razor: Mongoose B3 Dr. Bomber Handle
Blade: Feather Super Pro
Brush: Red & Black Acrylic Silvertip 22/50mm
Lather: The Soap Exchange Barber Shoppe
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Fine American Blend
New soap! I received this soap and oil from @TheSoapExchange as part of a head shavers test. I'll go more into detail on both products after I use them for a couple of days. The soap smells fantastic! I'm not much of a shaving oil guy, let's see if TSE can change that? Great shave! The Mongoose is the kind of razor you could use exclusively, and be very happy. This Silvertip has a lot of backbone and is soft. I'll shave my head later today, I'll post my results/picture.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE