SoS: September 7, 2015 - September 13, 2015

I might spend more money than I should on our hobby, but I'm also cheap. I'm not going to throw something in the trash because it didn't work. I'll make it work.

 

Cheap at the expense of your face? Not I. If it doesn't cut it (pun intended )...it's gone.

 

9/11/15 - Mitchell's Wool Fat!!
Had a great 3 pass shave. Only did 2 passes on the chin and found this is all I need. DFS!!
Never Forget...

 

Third day with the Rockwell 6s. A more in-depth shave report here.

Gear:Razor: Rockwell 6s
Blade: Rapira
Brush: L'Occitane Plisson
Soap: Vintage Colgate soap (fantastic lather...love this old soap!)
A/S: Soap Commander Endurance

​

 

exactly. I had to do that with a few soaps. Just mix them together to get the scent/performance you are looking for.

 

Friday - 11.09.2015

I have very soft water, and have had very few problems lathering soaps in my short time as a DE shaver. However, there are exceptions and one of those is the soap from Mystic Waters.

The few times I have tried this soap in the past has yielded disappointed results, but it has been a few years since last time I waded into these mystic waters and it was time to get my feet wet again.

I have only samples, so I do not know what scent I picked out, but it smelled rather lovely. First I did a test build, and managed to get a pretty good looking lather. I left it in my mug, took a pretty moist shower (the best kind) and started the shave. The lather still looked pretty good, but as soon as it touched my face it started to dissipate. In fact it disappeared just as fast as the Joshua Tree shave soap, a soap I call the Houdini of Shave Soaps.

I rinsed out the lather and started anew, and after working the soap I got the same creamy result as last time. Lathered up my face and it looked better this time, far from great, but better. The first pass was ok and did what I supposed to do. The next pass looked and felt much better, while the third was somewhere in between. What I noticed was that the lather held its own better on a dry face. It is not much, but it might get me closer to conquering this soap.

The Blue Astra blade was ok. It is outperformed by its greener sibling, it is less sharp, less smooth, but does an ok job with mediocre lather. Maybe with better lather it will also perform better. Time will tell

Razor: Edwin Jagger de89
Blade: Astra Superior Stainless Blade
Brush: Semogue 1305
Soap: Mystic Water's Mysterious Soap with the Mysterious Lather
Aftershave: Lucido Aftershave
Aftershave Milk: The Shave Den

 

Super picture

 

It only really takes a minor adjustment with this soap, especially, if you have soft water.
If you only have samples of it, then try loading the samples directly on your hand and starting with a drier brush. Load more than you usually do as you might not be getting enough soap on the brush. Build up a good proto-lather, then try face-lathering; add water little by little and the most important thing is to use more paint-brush strokes to generate the lather. It just requires a little bit more work than what you might be used to, but not much more.

This has been my principal soap for 4 years, now, and once I realized that it just needed a bit of fine-tuning, the lather has been exceptional all of these yeasrs and, possibly, the best I have ever generated with a soap.
Good luck.

Here are some videos for assistance:

 

Razor: Valet Auto Strop Model "C"- 1935-40/ Gillette 1958 TV Special(4) Feather blade)
Blade: Valet New Process (4)
Brush: Frendrihen Silver Tip Badger Faux Horn Handle 22/49
Soap: RazoRock XXX
A/S: Old Spice Cannon Decanter Product ID #4356-1973
Day 11
Another DFS this evening with this combination. I think I prefer TSD soap over RazoRock, but this soap is incredibly easy to build into a great lather. This has been a great focus this month.

 

I agree. It took me a while to master lathering Mystic Water but the results are certainly worth it.

 

For Saturday morning:

Neutrogena Men Facial Wash
Large Horsehair Barbershop
Super Speed/Derby day 6
Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic SS
Gold Bond Moisturizer
Proraso Green AS

Back to my Stirling Soap treasures, but still not the Glacials because I'll wait until Menthol Monday before using them again. The MITA soap is such a delight - it's such an easy latherer, the scent is so tropical and captivating with a good, strong menthol effect which lasts for a while. The Gold Bond moisturizer has a LOT of menthol in it as well - in fact, it's more cooling than quite a few balms I've used. The Proraso Green aftershave is another chiller which I've become very fond of. Another great shave awaits me!

 

"Certifyd" eh?

 

Nice quote by Bernie. Inspring.

 

Yessir, a trademark of an old manufacturing company that produced some truly fine leather strops.

 

SOTD - Friday, September 11, 2015

Cool shower
Prep: Homemade PSO
Brush: Klenzo B985 TGN Finest
Soap: Tabac
Razor: Weber PH Wave handle
Blade: Voskhod (6)
Aftershave: Clubman Special Reserve

 

Friday's Shave

Prep: Hot shower w/ Grandpa's Pine Tar
Lather: Arko Moist shave cream
Brush: Omega 13522
Razor: Schick G1 injector
Blade: Schick
Post: Witch Hazel, Nivea Sensitive Balm

It's about time I checked in. Been so busy the last few weeks what with going back to college and all. Been sticking to the injector for SEptember, finally figured it out and get great shaves with it now. Bit of a somber shave this morning, thinking of the brothers and sisters that made the ultimate sacrifice 14 years ago.

 

Saturday's


Dove Men Face Wash
C.O. Bigelow Shave Cream
Jayaruh #1 Silver Tip
Schick J2
Personna SS
CWR, Asma Alum Block
Thayers Lemon WH
Aqua Velva

The C.O. Bigelow Shave Cream face-lathered well with my Jayaruh #1 Silver Tip Badger brush. Two passes with my Schick J2 razor and a Personna SS 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 Lemon WH and then Aqua Velva after shave. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

 

My Friday Night Adventure.

The Art of Shaving Lavender series
Dovo Shavette loaded with a Lord Super

Warm towel prep, and a face wash. I used another warm towel to wipe the face soap off and then oiled up. I went a little dry on the lather today, and it was my first try with the Lord Super. I'm not sure which one did the trick, but I had one smooth shave this evening. Only two passes, with and against. I finished with another face wash and a cold towel rinse followed by the aftershave balm. Now time for some wine!

 

those Lords are good blades IMO better than the Platinum ones.

 

the Clubman Special Reserve isn't the color I'm used to seeing.