SoS: February 15, 2016 - February 21, 2016

Mille grazie Primo!

 

2/17/2016 Windsor Wednesday

Prep: Hot shower with Neutrogena Face Wash with menthol, home made PSO
Razor: Merkur 39C, "The Hornet" straight razor
Blade: Astra SP (15)
Brush: RazoRock Plisson Monster
Soap: DR Harris - Windsor
After: Home made ASB, Nivea Cooling after shave balm
Cologne:

 

R2 Triad / Polsilver

Varlet

Jabonman Citricos

 

Wow - 15 shaves on the Astra SP?!?! I guess it's still going strong!

 

Feb. 17/2016

Razor: Gillette Tech
Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (2)
Oil: Shave Secret
Brush: VDH
Cream: Proaso White
AS: Nivea Balm
Deodorant: Old Spice

The 1st pass, cheek to ear and back, then WTG to and including the neck area (great), same thing on the other side. The 2nd pass, ATG and more clean up than I like, but it is what it is. Note: The Proaso White is the slickest and smooothest I`ve ever encountered. Actually, I think I might have squeezed out a little more than I needed. Success indeed!. I`m going to say 99% BBS.

Bill

 

I have done this once before and stopped at 15. This time I am going to see how far I can push it.

When I started using the blade I could get a quick and easy 2 pass DFS. This morning, with 15 shaves on the blade, I did a 3 pass DFS+. I have heard of people doing as many as 35 shaves with a single blade. I guess that only time will tell how far this blade can go.

 

Magnificent Lance!

 

I've been inspired by @Hodge 's march through his repeaters so I broke out the C3 today. I've also been thinking that it might be a good idea to start using this in preparation for the Bunny pass-around as I expect it has a similar angle. Anyhow, it was a great shave. My last couple of outings left me less than impressed but today's was excellent. Great reduction with each pass - I could have done touch-ups after the second pass - and a nice smooth shave that resulted in the face-rubbing goodness.

The difference was switching out the Personna blade for a Schick NOS Super Chromium after the first pass on the first side of my face. The Personna just wasn't doing it. Tuggy in the tough parts and poor reduction overall. Proof (at least to me), once again, that a blade can totally change the experience with a razor.
And how cool is it to load the blade with the plunger? Sweet.

T&H Ultimate Comfort PSO
Castle Forbes Lavender Shaving Cream
T&H Wellington Super Badger
Schick C3
Personna (3)
Schick NOS Super Chromium (1)
T&H Classic After Shave Balm



Happy shaving everyone - Karl

 

Great write up Karl and

 

Glad to hear the new razor is working well for you! Beautiful pic!

 

@SHAVEWIZARD420 it was a very pleasant surprise.

 

Hot towels.... that sounds great right about now. Its getting cold here in Michigan, and I never seem to think about using hot towels when I shave, I will have to try this on the next shave. Thanks for the tip.

 

You never know unless you take chances with things, Like you said, you have to experiment and see what works best for you.

 

2/17/16 - Presidential Shave!!!

Vice President of US of A is coming into town to my railroad yard where I work. Not sure if I'm going to meet him or not. But I know I'll be moving engines and cars around for him. Lots of News Crews. So had to look my best.



Went with what I knew best:
Mitchell's Wool Fat.

Can't beat it.

Main event was the Imperial Razor with the Improved Eagle etching. A beautifully crafted German Hollow Ground that is as smooth as butter! Brought to life by Dillin at www.fretzwerks.com



I'll let y'all know tomorrow what happens. Don't think I've ever met anyone as famous as the VP.

Video is up of my shave:

 

For Wednesday's shave, it'll be:

Proraso shaving cream,
Fendrihan Faux Horn badger brush,
Merkur Progress w/Astra SP blade,
Shavex alum block,
Proraso Blue aftershave balm.

 

Really liking that bowl. Now I feel like having some Japanese cuisine.

 

Sorry. G-man reference to goverment agent - FBI

 

SOTD

Cold Shower w/ Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill Bath Soap

Stirling Pre Shave Oil Unscented

Muhle R41/Lab Blue (2)

Stirling Frozen Tundra

Stirling 26mm Kong Synthetic

Maggard Alum Block

Ice Water Rinse

Fine Snakebite


Similar setup to my dear friend Jeff @crackstar ...Nice chilly day here in New England so the only logical thing to do is to turn my face into an ice cube. BBS shave in 1 and 1/2 passes no touchup needed. The Muhle R41 finally showed its muscles and I got bit by it for the first time. Zoned out on my first pass on the neck and stupidly did something similar to the Gillette slide...big mistake.. botched the angle while zoning out and boom... Congratulations Ray you have won 1 free cut!!! It finally decided to stop bleeding about 15 minutes after the shave and boy did that alum burn. PSA-Don't zone out while shaving guys...or at least don't use a R41 if you do. Besides that little mishap overall great shave. The Frozen Tundra packed a frigid wallop and the Fine Snakebite AS was like being dunked in a penguin swimming hole... Actually thinking of adding a few menthol crystals to the Snakebite to kick it up a notch... We will see....Hope you guys are having a great day/night and have a great shave!

 

Razor: Gillette 195 Fat Boy (f1) 1960 (5) (3)
Brush: Maggard Synthetic 24/57 2016
Mug: Old Spice 1985 Cobalt Blue
Cream: Geo. F. Trumper's Coconut cream
Blade: Feather (2)
Post shave: Thayers Cucumber WH, Jack Black balm, Vintage Avon Mesmerize cologne

Put some Trumper's Coconut into my favorite OS mug. The Maggard whipped up some nice warm lather. My FB is still my favorite razor and as usual, made quick work in 2 passes WTG XTG. A little touchup on my neck ATG on 3 and done. I really like this brush! The WH felt good, nice and cool. After cleanup some JB and when it dried, some Mesmerize cologne. Y'all have a good one!

 

February Focus - German blades

February 16

Razor - Merkur 23c
Blade - (2)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Arko stick
Post - Cold rinse, Alum, Aqua Velva Musk

This is Wednesday. I have to remind myself since I'm a day off this week. What does that mean? Nothing, really, except to try and keep me on track the rest of the week. Age creeping I think. Don't change the old man's routine. He gets cranky and irregular. We can't have that.

Day two on the Croma Diamant blade which underwhelmed yesterday. Average at best from the first day. Maybe it will improve its standing with me. Grabbed the Arko stick and Wolf today. I am considering adding a La Toja stick to the rotation at some point. A few people around here rant and rave about it so I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger. But for now, Arko is my stick of choice and the Wolf really gets a great lather out of it.

First pass WTG and underwhelmed is the word of the day. Not painfully rough but far from smooth. It's the kind of feel I expect from a cheap Indian or Bangladeshi blade. Well, ok, maybe not as bad as a Bangladeshi but you get the idea. The result on the first pass was not good either. Just acceptable. XTG on the second pass. Still underwhelmed. The feel of the pass would make me cranky at any age. Again not so bad as to be unusable but I can certainly do better than this. Third pass ATG and G-slide to a DFS finish. Mediocre DFS. And a nice alum burn to go along with it on the neck. Apparently the German engineers who produce the Timor, Bolzano and Wilkinson have never visited the Croma plant. One more day to go. Maybe I'll sleep late tomorrow so I have to rush the shave before work and stop at two passes. That's the idea! Happy Wednesday!

Oh, the boys finally checked in. I demanded to know where they were and what they thought they were doing and got these in response. Yuri and Kolya seem to have found some friends. I suspect I know why they disappeared.

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Blade rating today..........giving it three steins. Seems less effective than yesterday, and I'm making it pay for my irritation at sending the guys to Germany instead of going myself!

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