30 Day Rule/Focus; November 2023. All Are Welcome!

SOTD 20231120 Tempo

ischiapp.blogspot.com​

 

I did a little research and found that PAA has a cooling agent called Chel. It's a Menthol derivative called Frescolat. It's made from the chemical reaction of menthol and lactic acid to give menthyl lactate. It is not as strong as regular menthol because it's a different compound. It also doesn't have that menthol smell. Now, I am not saying that you won't have a problem with it, but this may be a solution to have a chilling effect without any allergic reaction. When you are so inclined, I would check with Douglas and ask him about this product.

 

Lovely pic and setup Pierpaolo.

 

Thanks Joe

 

Thanks Joe.

 

SE Shave # 359 - DECLARATION GROOMING MICROMATIC MONDAY - Darkfall

Rating: 5 / 5

Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb
Blade: GEM Stainless (7)
Brush: Shore Shave Creamsicle Swirl 24 mm White Synthetic
Pre-Shave: Pears Transparent Soap
Lather: Declaration Grooming Darkfall
Aftershave: Declaration Grooming Darkfall
Additional Care:
Declaration Grooming Aftershave Liniment - Darkfall
Omega Alum
Dickenson’s Original Witch Hazel

Another beautiful crisp morning here on LI. Perfect weather for a Darkfall shave. The Shore Shave brush whipped up a nice lather for a comfortable and error free three pass shave courtesy of the MMOC.

I am smelling good for another fun filled shopping excursion with my mother.

Hope you all have an enjoyable day.

 

Great shave Giuseppe! Enjoy your time with your mother.

 

Nov 20 SOTA

Good afternoon.

Shavette Shave #509
Parker SRB
Gillette Wilkinson Sword DE Blade (fresh)
Rockwell Synthetic Brush
Stirling Spice SS and AS
Stirling Alum Block
Modessa Witch Hazel
Beard Growth: 23 hrs



I decided to go with the Stirling Spice today. I usually reserve it if I am going to a social gathering, but I decided to treat myself and use it to open the week. The Rockwell Synthetic Brush always creates a nice lather and using a Stirling soap just makes it more so. Here's my lather:



I really only needed 1 pass to be socially acceptable, but I like 3 passes, especially with this scent. BBS was the result and got a weep because I landed incorrectly. Actually, I think that I poked myself and just stopped short of a nick. Alum was quiet. Hit the face with witch hazel and the wonderful matching aftershave. Tomorrow will be a late evening head and face shave with one of my safety razors. I am leaning towards my 1959 Gillette Fatboy. Take care.

 

Thank you so much Joe! I will check it out. Maybe I can do a hot weather focus trying to find a cooling shave product I can actually use…

 

Great shave Joe and I hope you had fun with mom!

Gems are a razor I may revisit someday. I tried them early on in my experimentation phase and only succeeded in lopping off chunks of my face. I’m sure it was my technique, but the worst shaving cut I ever gave myself was with a gem.

I remember my wife telling me “that’s what you get for trying to shave with a box cutter” lol…

 

Looking good! Is the Stirling Spice ans Old Spice clone? How close is the smell?

 

I think it’s an allergic reaction to the menthol itself. It was not me who has a problem with body washes, so I will take a look at the Stoylin offerings…

Thanks for the recommendations! I appreciate it Paul…

 

You're welcome Scott. I feel for you because you will never know the feeling of Cryogen's freeze your face off lather. However, there are so many soap selections to keep all of us happy.

 

Thanks Scott. As a kid, I remember the Schulton Old Spice aftershaves scent. It had the peppery anise note that was unmistakable. The Stirling Spice is one of my favorite scents, but it is a powdery and spicy scent so it still is in the barbershop category. I would say that the Stirling Spice complements the P and G Old Spice. However, I wish that P and G would've kept the original Old Spice scent. However, I am sure it was a money issue to change the scent.

 

I like the old formula better too, but have come to terms with the new version. It’s close enough to classic Old Spice to trigger childhood memories every time I put it on. Brut and Stetson do the same thing but OS is the only one of the three that I still use…

 

21st November 2023.



​

Shaving Recipe for today.

Prep: Warm shower:/ Nivea Men Power 24H Fresh Effect Shower Gel.

Pre:
Cold wet flannel to my face & head.
Simple Pure Bar Soap.
Brush: Fine 24mm Synthetic.
Bowl Lather.
Bowl: Tesco's Ceramic 'Cosmo' Side Bowl.
Lather: Fine Fresh Vetiver Shaving Soap.
Razor: EJ DE89.'kelvin.' (Face) - Lord Silver Star. (D3)
Razor: Supply V2 (**) base plate. (Head) - Personna Injector PTFE. (D2)

Post:
Cold water Face & Head wash with brush squeezing's,/ Cold Water Face & Head Rinse./ Alum Rub./Cold Water Face & Head Rinse./Homemade (~Autumn/Winter mix~) peppermint lavender, eucalyptus, + Tea Tree essential Oils Mixed Together With 200ml of Care+Witch Hazel/Cien Aloe Vera Body Lotion./Brut Sport Style ASL.

Greetings,

An early morning cold water head & face Shave,

It's been a while since I last added the fine fresh vetiver soap to my soap rotation and forgot how good of a lather this soap gives in a short space of time.

A comfortable face & head shave with no errors to report. The Supply V2 was the star of the shave this morning, mowing through my head stubble with effortless ease.

Finishing the shave off with a generous splash of Brut Sport Style ASL.

My face & precious swede are feeling smooth & smelling divine.

Keep safe, and enjoy your day ladies & gentlemen.

 

newvember
-Tuesday-
canadian new sc
semogue
henri & victoria
cuba

​

 

Tuesday November 21 early morning (just after midnight here) - No Plan Now November - Canadian day

Prep: Hot face wash with Aleppo 20% laurel bay oil soap

Razor: Canadian Gillette Tech with triangular plate slots / Kent of Inglewood branded blade (1)

Soap: Crown Shaving Co shave cream

Brush: APShaveCo uBrush with 24mm SynBad fan knot

Lather Bowl: none

Post: rinse, alum, rinse, Crown Shaving Co Shave Soothing After Shave Lotion

Last shave: early Sunday - 2 days



After sticking to the bitter end with my Cunning Plan(TM) to send the Neutrogena shave cream tube to join the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I am left without a Plan or Theme for the rest of November. I guess that puts me now in No Theme November.

I decided to try my new Crown Shaving Co shave cream and lotion, and in honour of my enabler Gary @brit, I am making it an all -Canadian shave.

A few totally random and probably unnecessary notes about the shave items:

The Canadian-made Gillette Tech (Cdn patent date 1932) belonged to my father.

Kent of Inglewood is a bricks and mortar store and online retailer based in Calgary Alberta (founded by Kevin Kent who lives in the Inglewood neighborhood). It specializes in shaving and beardcare products and axes (plus knives and a few other outdoor living necessities). Why axes? As the website says "It's a Canadian thing.". They used to have a second store in Ottawa Ontario and I think a third in Edmonton, but the pandemic wasn't kind to them although the company itself retrenched and survived.

The Kent-branded razor blade is obviously made elsewhere as Canada has no razor blade manufacturers. It's advertised as a "mild" blade. Probably made by Personna wherever its factory is now. Used to be Israel mainly. Is it India or Turkey now?

Crown Shaving Co is a relatively new and small maker based in Toronto. Good quality ingredients but you have your choice of a vast selection of one type and scent each of cream and lotion and splash.

Andrew at APShaveCo in Ottawa makes great brushes as well as supplying various kinds of knots and has excellent customer service. IIRC, back in about 2015, when Jason @jtspartan made a handturned wood LE brush for the 30DC, I sourced the knots for him from Andrew and everybody was very happy with them.

The shave: in a word, excellent.

The SynBad (presumably short for synthetic badger) fan-shaped knot works well for me. A dab of the shave cream quickly face lathered into a thick, smooth, creamy lather. Excellent glide, cushion and protection. Nice minty smell from the spearmint leaf oil that is one of the minor ingredients.

As long as the blade is okay, I don't think it's possible to have a bad shave with a Gillette Tech. The Kent "mild" blade (whoever makes it) was fine -- seemed sharp enough and definitely smooth.

I did one WTG pass on my face and neck and then a second ATG pass only on my neck to catch a couple rough patches there. I would call the result BBS.

The aftershave lotion was soothing and moisturising without leaving a greasy feeling. Unlike the minty-smelling shave cream, the lotion has a slight citrusy scent. I would guess that is from the bergamot oil in it.

Overall a fine shave! I had forgotten just how good the humble Gillette Tech is as a razor -- and the early Canadian version with the triangle slots in the plate is one of the best of the breed. I am also quite pleased with my new Crown Shaving Co purchases. In fact I may finish out the month as a "No Variation" with this setup. (That also means I don't need to take any more photos for the rest of the month, doesn't it?)

Hope the week has started well for everyone!

 

Great shave, Gary!

Henri et Victoria is another excellent Canadian soap and splash maker that doesn't get much notice on the shaving sites. I tried some samples in the past -- good stuff! -- but I already had/have a decade or two worth of soaps, creams and aftershaves...

 

Todays shave:

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Prep- Hot shower with Stirling Executive Man bar soap
Razor: Gillette Adjustable Fat Boy- Set to 5 both passes
Blade- Feather Hi Stainless. First shave on new blade
Two Pass Shave
Brush: Unknown Badger
Lather: Van Der Hagen
Aftershave: Pinuad Lime Sec
Post: None needed today
Two Pass Shave- 1 with and 1 across grain
Soundtrack- Elton John’s Greatest Hits




I have the VDH in an empty Cella container that does not leave a lot of room to work, so I decided to bowl lather today. Got a nice bowl full of creamy goodness!





For the rest of November I will be focusing on using the Feather in a few different razors. I wanted to start out with a big thank you to Steve @swarden43

He sent me a care package recently and the soap, razor and brush in todays shave all came from him (along with the cool pocket knife)

The Feather performed great in the Fat Boy. I did feel the blade a bit more this time, but I think it was mostly due to the VDH soap. It’s good stuff, but definitely a notch or two below the top tier with regards to glide and protection.

All things considered a great relaxed shave to start my vacation week.

Have a great day gentlemen….