SoS: August, 12 2013 - August 18, 2013

Tue shave of the day:

7 O'clock S/S (3)
Merkur 39C Der Vorschlaghammer!
Frank Shaving Silvertip
La Toja stick
Lucky Tiger A/S
Pre de Provence balm

Hate weekdays, but still gotta' rotate the stock!

 

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Noxzema Classic Clean​

Proraso Sandalwood Shave Cream​

Frank Shaving Finest Badger​

Gillette Super Speed Y1 (1953)​

Wilkinson Sword Super Chrome​

CWR​

Dickinson's Witch hazel​

Aqua Velva Ice Blue AS​

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I'm taking a break from the Shark today. Broke out the Super Speed (1951) with a Wilkie blade. Excellent shave. I think I will stick with this razor and blade for the remainder of the week.​

 

prep-hot water
razor-Dixie Master Barber
soap-Col. Conk Bay Rum
brush-Rooney Badger
finish-TSD Bay Rum Aftershave Milk

 

Arley, my brother-in-menthol - where have you been? Welcome back!

 

There are some scents that I just do not like. Tobacco, sandalwood, most bay rums, and anything that smells more like men's deodorant than a soap top my list of least favorite scents. Sometimes I can get past a bad scent because the product is just so amazing (De Vergulde Hand Extra Fris, for example), sometimes I can't (MWF and Kell's Original Ultra Aloe Black Tea spring instantly to mind). I usually like to at least try to use a product before dismissing it due to scent, but I'm human so that doesn't always happen (The first time I smelled the Palmolive stick I packaged it right back up and tossed it into a drawer for a month). Today I'm giving a product that I instantly disliked due to its scent a second chance.

I'm giving Real Shaving Co. Sensitive shave cream a go. RSC is readily available at Rite Aid, but since there aren't any Rite Aids within 100 miles of me and no other drugstore or supermarket in my area carries the stuff I purchased mine from Connaught Shaving, all the way over in the UK. This stuff is the very definition of the men's deodorant scent and I instantly disliked it. I did lather it up once and I think I may have used it in a superlather, but I have never used it on its own before today. To give it a fighting chance I used it with my Vulfix 376S Super Badger brush, a pre-war Gillette fat handle Tech, and a Super Iridium Extra Stainless blade.

My usual three pass wtg/atg/xtg shave followed by a cold water rinse and some T.N. Dickinson With Hazel resulted in an effortless BBS shave with zero nicks and zero irritation. The RSC Sensitive lathered easily and was nice and slick, but required more water to get right than I expected. I'm assuming this is because I used too much...I probably should have taken the double concentrated label to heart. The cream performed well and left my skin nice and soft, and if it were unscented I would be raving about this stuff. The problem that I have is two fold. First, I have to work to get my hands on a cream that is, for most people, readily available. It may seem like a nit-pick, but it bugs me. Second, the scent really is not pleasant...and it lingers. It's not the worst scent out there, but with so many other great creams and soaps at a similar price point and which are easier to obtain I have a hard time justifying this one. It was an excellent shave, but I don't know that it's enough to redeem this cream for me...maybe I'll give it another shot before passing it on, but I doubt it.

Pre: Hot shower and warm water splash
Razor: pre-war Gillette fat handle Tech
Blade: Super Iridium Extra Stainless
Brush: Vulfix 376S Super Badger
Soap: Real Shaving Co. Sensitive
Post: Cold water rinse and T.N. Dickinson Witch Hazel

 

Thanks everyone...it is great to be back amongst friends. I have really missed this place. Not going to make the mistake again of grouping all forums together and calling quits to them all. The Shave Den is different. Many of you are not on social networks and I have missed our day to day interactions.

 

That Jeff....missed all you guys too. Will need to do a recap of the last 6 months or so of my journey.

 

8/14/2013

I have the Shake Sharp razors in my custody, but I had to give myself a break from them... my face was getting pretty torn up. The Krona seemed like a good replacement.

Prep: hot shower, TBS Face Wash, Alba Botanical Scrub.
Brush: Vulfix Burlington.
Razor: Schick Krona.
Blade: Feather.
Cream: Palmolive Classic.
Post: cold water rinse, Thayer's Lavender WH, Krampert's Frostbite.

Guys, tonight's shave was pretty awesome. Every now and then you get one of those shaves where everything seems to fall into place. Tonight was my night. The Palmolive Classic is a very good cream. It really treated my skin good and provided lots of slickness, cushion, and skincare that is out of this world. It will not be as good as the Menthol version; but it is quickly climbing the ranks of my favorite creams and soaps. The Schick Krona is probably one of the most underrated DE's out there. It is so easy, lightweight, and effective. I like these better than Super Speeds or Techs. The Feather is no joke. It is a renowned blade and for good reason too. For me, it mows down my stubble so smoothly, it feels like I forgot to put a blade in my razor. It is so sharp, that I can't do any XTG passes. I just do WTG with j-hooks and slanting moves. Guys, it's going to be very hard to get me to use anything other than the Frostbite. It's sad because I have a few good aftershaves, but this stuff has edged out my beloved Barbon AS for the number one spot. I think I will have to hide it for my next shave and give my other neglected splashes a chance.

 

Wednesday

RazoRock Sandalwood bowl lathered with Omega 49
EJ89dl with Israeli Crystal (3)
3 passes and finish with Pinaud Clubman

 

Wednesday:

L'Oreal Men Expert Facial Wash
#6 Horsehair
Super Speed/Rapira day 3
Lord Emofresh SC
Vifrex AS Gel
Aqua Velva Ice Blue AS
Grey Flannel EDT

I've had this 1950s Super Speed for several years and I'm totally hooked on it because of the great shaves and comfort it gives me with the majority of blades. The Lord Emofresh cream gives crazy-rich lather with a beautiful scent and a mild, but nice cooling effect. The Vifrex gel is exactly the same as the Visal, except that it has a different scent. It's not only frigidly-cold, it's also very soothing. Leave it to the Aqua Velva to work its own cooling magic.

 

Muhle R41 (13)
Rapira Swede (d1)
M-Bomb/TSD Iced Florida Water SS
Face Lather, Vulfix 404
Lucky Tiger Aspen A/S
Renaissance Man Alpine Trails Milk

3 passes, no touch-up, near-BBS. I am really liking the R41.

 

Wed
no prep, just splashed a little hot water on whiskers
Arko SS-bowl lathered
Omega 10029 baby-pro, boar
GEM OCMM
GEM SS d3
Old Spice AS

Nothing fancy...just an absolutely perfect 3 pass BBS... irritation free, of course...Sometimes I'll drift into 2 weeks worth of shaves on one of these Stainless GEM blades. There's still no tugging, so it's easy to accidently do... but when you do shave with a new one or one with under a weeks worth of shaves racked up, its like magic...the proverbial hot knife through butter...

 

Wednesday

Prep: Hot shower, Dirigo Blue Cedarwood PSO
Coffee: Maxwell House Breakfast Blend, BLACK
CD: Third Day ~ Offerings: A Worship Album
Soap: TSD Leather
Brush: Omega 11574
DE: Grafco OC
Blade: 7 O'Clock Sharp Edge
Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, Dickenson's WH, Old Spice cologne, hand strop blade
'Stache Wax: Dirigo Blue

Darn near BBS. Third Day - great stuff!

 

W&B
Harris Windsor SS
23mm Omega knot
Pinaud V.I. Bay Rum

Nice shave this morning. Have a good one.

 

Wednesday:

Prep: Hot face wash with Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub
Brush: VDH Boar
Soap: Ginger's Garden Jasmine Coffee Glycerin
Razor: Merkur 41c 1904 OC
Blade: Trig Silver (3)
Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG
Post: Cold water rinse, Dickinson's WH

I'm doing yardwork today, so the morning shower is delayed, lest I require three today. A couple of proto-pimples convinced me to skip the PSO and ASB this morning, while the Gentle Scrub came out for the Trig's swan song. Another nearly BBS with the Trig, with no irritation. The Personna Barber is going to have a tough act to follow tomorrow.

 

Shave of the Day, Wednesday August 14, 2013
• Prep: Brush soaked in ice water, tepid shower
• Razor: Maggard MR10 Head mounted to iKon Bulldog Handle
• Blade: Croma Diamant Stainless
• Brush: Vintage Stanley Home Products restored with TGN 22mm Fan High Density Finest Two-Band Badger Knot
• Soap: Proraso Green Tea and Oatmeal/Sensitive Skin
• AS: Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue with added menthol
• Post: Cold Water Rinse, double splash of aftershave

It has been along time since I have used the Proraso White, going through my post, almost three months. Jack and I where talking last night and he thought he would give it a whirl with his new Shavemac brush, so I thought I would break it out as well.

Proraso is good, it is no MdC, but for an inexpensive soap it is a great product. I just love the scent and it pairs real nice with the Aqua Velva.

I keep being impressed by the Maggard MR10. Although I love the stock handle, I just love the "slab look" when mounted on the iKon Bulldog.

All around a nice shave today, not perfect but very enjoyable.

I hope that everyone enjoys their Wednesday.

 

Wednesday
hot shower
Semogue 620
Proraso PSC
GFT Coconut Oil SS
Ranger Tech/Gillette 7 o'clock Green Permasharp Stainless (1)
cold water rinse
Shavex Alum
cold water rinse
Thayer's Original WH
Wm. Neumann 1911 ASL

Well it was indeed a bad blade,I tried the Green in my Ranger Tech and the blade was dragging.I put a new o'clock from the same pack and presto a nice and smooth shave.I have to say this is the first time I got a bad blade from Gillette,I've had bad Schicks,Feather Professional (a blank) even a bad Feather de blade (also a blank) sometimes one slips by from even the best companies.

 

Wednesday morning, August 14, 2013

Schick E2 Injector with Personna blade (3)
Semogue 1305 boar bristle brush,
Arko shaving soap with hot water lather,
finish with cold water rinse for a DFS!

 

Wednesday morning, August 14, 2013

Schick E2 Injector & Schick blade (9)
Omega 20102 boar bristle brush,
Arko soap, bowl lather & shave—
Captain's Choice Lime rinse, just right!

Aces!

 

WEDNESday

a. Pre: Hot shower, Lucky Tiger Lemon wash, Proraso PreShave Cream
b. Razor: Merkur 38c HD BarberPole
c. Blade: Merkur Super (Day 10) hand-strop
d. Brush: Semogue 830
e. Soap: Proraso Menthol cream & liquid Glycerin— scuttle-warmed
f. Shave: 3 passes and touch-up
g. Post: Cold water rinse & dry; Osage Rub AS & Pre De Provence balm

DAY 10 with the same Merkur blade.
Smooth, comfortable shave with a light touch and only very minute resistance on the shave.
No cuts, no irritation, no weepers....another DFS+!
Early morning sun peeking in...