SoS: January 23rd ~ January 29th, 2012

Had a really nice shave today trying out my first Merkur blade in my new Merkur 41c razor. I was a little hesitant at first because I've read many reviews likening them to shaving with a rusty shovel, or some such like. I found the blade to be nice and sharp, quite smooth, with neither a nick nor a scrape! Oh, and the La Toja stick is AMAZING!

Brush: Vie-Long "Bombito" boar
Razor: Merkur 41C "1904" open-comb
Blade: Merkur stainless, 1
Soap: La Toja stick
Toner: Thayer's Rose Petal
Finish: Malizia Uomo Vetyver AS with a touch of Prep for moisture and a nice cooling sinsation! Ahhh!

 

That's why we all recommend samplers, they may have bad reviews but Merkur blades could work for people. I'm one of those who have nothing bad to say about them other than the price.

 

Saturday, January 28, 2012

1. Prep: Hot shower; Yardley bath bar
2. Coffee: Locally roasted Sumatran w/ cream
3. Lather: RazoRock XXX - face lather
4. Brush: Semogue 1250
5. Razor: Merkur Classic (33C)
6. Blade: Gillette 7o'clock Yellows (2); 2 passes
7. Post: Cold water rinse; Aqua Velva; Kiehl's Balm

The plan was a quick 2-pass shave this morning but things kinda went off track. I got in a slight rush & for some reason went ATG on my first pass. I thought my stubble was short enough but now my face is telling me different. The shave was fairly close but definitely at the expense of my face. The extra pass & touch ups don't require that much more time so once you've started just plan on doing the job right rather than cutting corners. Lesson learned.

Shave Rating - Passable. God Bless!

 

Fourth shave with the "12"
Quick shower
TSD Bay rum
My little walnut 20mm silvertip "travel" brush
1912 Gem + Personna SS
C & E Sienna (gotta get more variety LOL)

For sure DFS almost there with the BBS! This is the best shave I can remember, not withstanding that I can not remember what I had for breakfast. Am really starting to learn how to shave my face, and how to use this fine little razor. Fun fun fun!

 

Saturday:
OCMM/Ted Pella SS PTFE
Vie-Long horsehair brush
Tabac SS
Ceramic bowl
Nivea AS lotion

The OCMM razor is my favorite, the Tabac soap is going steady to my personal TOP 3, and the lotion is a newbie in my rotation. Nice combo, smooth and soft shave.

 

Blitz 14 :: T&H Wellington superbadger :: Cyril R. Salter Wild Rose :: Dr. Harris "Pink" ASL :: Les Parfums de Rosine "Rose d'Homme" EdT

 

Sunday,January 29,2012
Mawwell house coffee
Hot shower
MWF soap
Gillette super speed
Shark super chrome
Omega badger
RR Alum stick
Proraso AS balm

Well as always the SS gave a fantastic 3 pass BBS shave. A small nic behind the ear? Didnt even feel it.
Tried to bowl lather the MWF with some odd results. The 1st pass was perfect,the 2nd pass the lather broke down to sudds so I dumped it down the drain and face lathered for the 3rd pass.
All in all a great sunday shave.
Little question for the Gillette SS gru-ru's. I have 2 SS's, 1 new to me fresh off the Bay and 1 that is on loan from my Dad. The 1 off ebay is an older 1950's all "silver" flare tip and my Dad's is a maybe late 1960 to early 70's black handle silver flare tip. The newer black handle seems ALOT more aggressive. I've read that Gillette super speeds have different levels off aggressivness depending on the year and color of the flare tip. Is this true? It seems to be from the feed back I'm getting from the razors.

 

Sunday, January 29, 2012

1. Prep: Hot shower; Yardley bath bar
2. Coffee: Locally roasted Sumatran w/ cream
3. Lather: MWF - face lather
4. Brush: Simpson's Commodore X2
5. Razor: Gem OCMM
6. Blade: Gem PTFE SS (1); 3 passes
7. Post: Cold water rinse; Aqua Velva; Kiehl's Balm

Back to my trusty OCMM. What a nice shave this morning with the SE gliding through the Fat.

Shave Rating - Splendid. God Bless!

 

The Blue Tip was/is the mildest, Black middle of the road, and the Red Tip the more aggressive of the three colored tips.
More great SS info here and here.

 

Sunday

Prep: 30 minute marinade with TSD ISZ PSB, hot shower
CD: Traditional Christian Hits ~ Various artists
Coffee: Home roasted, fresh ground Ethiopia Illubabor, BLACK
Soap: D.R. Harris Marlborough
Brush: C&E Pure Badger
Razor: Gem Jr. Lather Catcher
Blade: Gem, day 5, 3+ passes
Post: Cold water rinse, L'Oreal Comfort Max ASB + 2 drops TSD M Bomb, B&BW Noir

Shave Rating: 5 Blades

The traditional hymns are okay once in a while. Songs like How Great Thou Art, Old Rugged Cross and Blessed Assurance are just so deep in truths that you gotta bring 'em out every now and then!

 

The shave kit after the shave:



What a Jam...What a Shave



Yesterday's jam was the best ever. What a blast. I'm on no sleep, so I decided to take a shower...and a shave!

And what a shave. It's weird; the 11 C and the 37 C have the same handle, but I only choke up on the 37 C

Vitos as pre and post
Omega 80005
Gillette Dark Blue (2)
RazoRock Caprician Lemon
Merkur 11 C Open Comb
Humphreys Witch Hazel
Pinaud Clubman Original

A great three pass shave, thoroughly enjoyable. I am becoming a big fan of RazoRock.

 

those and 7 o'clock yellow, blue. and black in the den.
The 7am's are a brand to it's own. I have all four blades in the den. PM me your addy and I will get some out to you

 

Sunday:

Omega Wooden Handle
Super Speed/7 AM day 2
Gada Cool Mint SC
Visal AS Gel
Azzaro Pour Homme EDT

This morning, my shaving experience took me to Lebanon and to Italy - the Gada Cool Mint is a cheap, but fantastic Lebanese cream with a nice minty/lemony scent, so much menthol and rich lather, and very moisturizing and soothing. The Visal gel is from Italy, and it not only smells nice and soothes well, it's absolutely frigid on the skin. This was a wonderful, relaxing, and face-freezing shave!

 

Saturday, Late Morning, shortly after getting up

Pre: Hot Shower, KMF Vanilla Mint
Razor: Merkur 23c
Blade: Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow (2)
Cream: Speick
Brush: Omega Boar
Post: Thayers WH, Cold Rinse, RSC ASB

'twas an Excellent shave, I would say BBS, but there were 2 spots with some remaining stubble. Overall very nice. Was my first time using Speick, and I sure do like it.

 

Sunday:

Pre Shave Barbasol
Dovo Natural
The Dridecker
Old Spice Original
Alum Block
Witch Hazel
Afta Fresh Balm
British Sterling Cologne

There was a thread on SRP that had the OP using Barbasol as a Pre Shave, and said that the Stearic Acid is one of the best beard softeners around. I'll be playing with it this week since I've had a can under the sink forever it seems. I think it did help but I also touched up the razor on the Swaty so I'll know more as the week progresses.

 

Sunday, January 29, 2012. Good Morning!

Morning Coffee: Hills Brothers Original Blend
Prep: Wash face with Musgo Real Glyce Lime
Razor: Schick G1
Blade: Schick
Soap: MWF
Brush: Duke 2
Scuttle: Dirty Bird 1.5
Post: Cold water rinse followed by some Floid Blue

 

Sunday morning, January 29, 2012

Schick I2 Hydro-magic w/ Schick Blade (2)
Omega 10066 Boar Bristle Brush,
MWF shaving soap w/ warm water lather,
finish w/ cold water rinse for a DFS!



The Schick I2 Hydro-magic gives an outstanding shave!

 

Not dead! Got some personal time for laundry, haircut what-have-you.
In Maryland (good lord, Im on the ocean but haven't seen it). Probably be here for a couple more months. Lots of interesting folks keep showing up an the crowd grows. So far I'm the dumbest by far but I have hope.

Simpson
MWF
Merkur (Travel set)
Stetson - Being here in the uncivilized north east, got to represent!

 

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Been on the shaving forums since September and wet/DE shaving everyday since, but have never posted a shave...
New Year's Day I vowed to post some shaves, so here we go!

Yesterday from Phil @ BlueGoose, I received a sample of his Portman Square English Style Cream, made by a different company than who does his soaps. It's more like a "croap" than a cream, and I tried the Orange Vetiver this morning.

Prep: Hot shower
Soap/cream: Portman Square English Style Cream - Orange Vetiver
Brush: Omega 10066
Razor: Gillette Slim Adjustable I-2 birth year/quarter, (5)
Blade: Lord Platinum (2)
Cold water rinse
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Superior 70 Bay Rum

Put an almond-size dollop in the lather bowl, an used the 10066 damp, not wet. This croap seems to use less water than the creams I've used, which all seem to be thirsty. The lather also seemed thinner, so next time I'll try a softer brush and face lather it. The scent, to me, is like orange/vanilla cream - I didn't detect any vetiver. Nice scent for spring, would also be nice in the summer in cooler climates.

I did a 3 pass shave - WTG, XTG, and ATG which is my usual. Glide/slip was very good, cushion could be better, but should improve on my next shave when I get a better lather from it by face lathering with a softer brush. I like the slickness it left on my face for touch-ups, probably due to the Shea Butter & Lanolin it contains. Waited a while to post this so I could see if my face didn't agree with it, but so far, so good!

Face: BBS
Neck: DFS

 

Sunday

Gillette Super Adjustable
Shark day 2
D.R. Harris best badger brush
TOBS Sandalwood SS
TSD M bomb (2)
TSD Iced Eucalyptus Witch Hazel
Musgo Real splash



Yesterday my brother PIF’d me a brush (story behind it is somewhere in the haul thread of this week). Of course I had to try it this morning. It felt very strange at first: for the last 5 years I used the small Vulfix travel brush, very much lighter and smaller. For comparison I’ve put both brushes in the picture. The Harris brush feels very nice while face lathering, but I have to reinvent my routine in terms of how dry the brush should be at start, how much water is added, and so on. But I think I’m going to like this one.
DF mentholated sandalwood S by the way.