I never find straights like you do in the wild. That will be a sweet shaver!

Thats a great razor as well. Is it as heavy of a grind as it looks in the pictures? looks like a wedge or near wedge.

Keep trying. I problem passed on a hundred straights in the last couple of months to find these two. There is a lot of junk to weed through.

December Focus

The Twelve Blades of December!

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 12

Razor - 1918 Gillette Old
Blade - (2)
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Proraso Green Tub
Post - Cold water, Witch Hazel, Nivea

Saturday and another day of work. One more day on the Concord to see if it does any better than yesterday, or if it gets worse. Again, not horrible. About Derby level yesterday which didn't surprise me. Kind of what I expected. Chose the Pro 48 and Proraso today. An "old school" combo for me. One I started out with, or near enough. Great lather and the menthol/eucalyptus was a nice wake up call. Grabbed the 1918 and went to work. First pass was surprisingly good. This blade definitely seems to have improved a bit as far as smoothness goes, and it seems more effective than yesterday after one pass. Very nice. Second XTG pass and I finished that pass with a DFS. Wow! Now that I wasn't expecting. Considered going for a third pass but decided to stop and enjoy the DFS the way it was. Excellent way to start the day. I think the Concord may be a bit better than its Turkish cousin the Derby. Another blade I won't buy in bulk, just because I have better ones, but nice to know it can be a go-to if needed at any point.

Back to China tomorrow so I will enjoy today's shave until then. After then? Well, we'll see.

I'm such a rookie that I don't know the difference between wedge or near wedge. The spine is very thick. Does that help

That looks like a wedge to me. FYI, even razors we call wedges are actually near wedges, with a slightly shrunken belly to allow for easier honing. I don't have the picture, but Google straight razor grind profiles.

It looked like a wedge to me. The difference is hard to tell.

Dec 13 Shave 2.6

An early date today and since it Sunday I wanted to use a straight, so I had to go with a cream I know is a winner. Today's cream is Santa Maria Novella and my go to brush a Thäter two band. SMN is great for straight shaving, it produced a very wet slick lather, the negatives are there was lather all over the counter and the menthol is a bit numbing so not sure if I am getting irritation or not.

First two passes with out incidence and on the third pass a slight nick to my chin. Everything felt good so onward to the fourth pass. When I did the alum test I was surprised, I thought I had a perfect shave but there was some stinging. I think the menthol obscured the irritation while I shaved. On the other hand I did get a BBS.

Irritation B Closeness A

Santa Maria Novella Creama de Barba
Thäter 2 band
Whitehead scuttle
Hart Steel 6/8 round point
Restored by Drygulch Leather Works Scotch Heather strop
Lucky Tiger AS
Castle Forbes Lavender ASB
Frederic Mallle Musc Ravageur

We don't just have cookies, we have dark chocolate fudge cookies.

Beautiful razor.

That's funny!

Dark chocolate was the clincher. If they were milk chocolate I would have bought a Trac2

Thanks. I share your feelings in regards to the look and especially feel of their work.
My blade of choice is also the Feather, I hardly ever load anything else. Am looking forward to discover the most comfortable setting for my needs..

December 13

Z3 Gillette Super Speed
Feather (2)
Semogue 830
Trumper's Coconut
Two passes plus touch-ups
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Fine L'Orange

Have a blessed Sunday!

12/13/2015
Razor – Gem Damaskeene
Blade – Gem Stainless PTFE (4)
Brush – Romera Olivewood Synthetic
Lather – TSD Yin Yang
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine L’Orange



Today was the second outing with the 1912 Damaskeene. I went with a 2 pass shave, XTG and ATG, this morning. With a few touch ups I had a BBS everywhere expect above my lips and around my nose. I still have not mastered these spots with the Gem Razor. So I used a Schick Injector to get the last little bit of stubble above my lips. I am sure with more practice my skills will improve enough to get good results above my lips and around my nose. Even with that issue, this little razor gives a long lasting close shave. Finished off with a splash of Fine L'Orange ending a great shave. My oldest daughter and I are off to visit my Mom and take her to church. I hope everyone has a fantastic Sunday.

12/13/15

Gillette New LC
Rapira Super Stainless (3)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
WSO (Wet Shave Obsession) Signature
Pinaud Clubman Original

Fifth day with WSO Signature and the Rapira Super Stainless in the New LC and my second face lather with it this month.
I loaded the brush for about 45 seconds and was rewarded with plenty of product. After working the brush a few minutes on my face with just a small amount of water added from time to time, I had a nice thick coating of creamy, slick, lather.


2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Very good reduction. Pass 2: ATG. I did small amount of touch up where I could feel stubble. A cool water rinse and a moderate amount of touch up in my trouble spots brought home the baby. The Pinaud Clubman stung a bit but settled down quickly. The brush still had enough for another pass.

Another nice comfortable BBS from the WSO Signature and the Rapira Super Stainless in the New LC. The WSO lather has been very nice recently, good and slick and plenty throughout my shaves. I think I'll bring out another soap and the scuttle tomorrow.

Have a blessed Lord's Day.

My Semogue 830 is coming along nicely, I think once it's broken in it's going to be a brush I won't be able to put down.

I have la Cigale soap too, I think I used it once? I'll give it a go tomorrow, thanks for the remainder.

SOTD
December 13, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette Red Tip 1958 D4
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Gingers Garden Vetiver (Tallow)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Gingers Garden OakMoss
Great shave. The Red Tip is efficient. It's no secret I love GG products.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE

Pain Stick Focus December 13:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
TSD Lanolin Iced Sub-zero
CJB Pain Stick
Stirling Unscented PSB
Canoe AS

I got a great shave this morning, probably the best yet with this razor. I got up a bit early, before the rest of the family, and got my shower and shave in. It was nice ad relaxed, and now I am nice and smooth. I one itsy bitsy weeper on my neck, and I ended with almost no irritation. I really enjoyed the TSD Lanolin this morning as well. My Sunday is off to a great start, and I hope everyone else has a great day as well.