SoS: September 16, 2013 - September 22, 2013

Saturday:

Prep: Hot shower
Brush: Beeline Boar
Soap: Ginger's Garden Coffee Jasmine glycerin
Razor: Merkur 41c 1904 OC
Blade: Sharp DuraBlade (3)
Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG
Post: Cold water rinse, Dickinson's WH, Aveeno Active Naturals ASB

Apparently, the 3rd day was one too many for the Sharp. It felt dry and tuggy, producing redness and a couple of small weepers. Part of that MIGHT be attributable to the absence of a pre-shave oil, I suppose; fortunately I have more en route. I know my face sucked up the aftershave balm faster than it was when I had the PSO. Pretty close shave overall, considering, but I'm happy to be moving on to another blade tomorrow.

 

Saturday - it's the weekend! Time for the SEs.

Prep: Hone and strop str8, hot shower, Dirigo Blue Cedarwood PSO
Coffee: Dirigo Blue Ethiopian, BLACK
CD: Jondo Trio ~ JD3
Hone: Duro Electric
Strop: Vintage Blades
Soap: Irisch Moos grated into bowl
Brush: Mohawk 3-338 with original knot
Str8: Boker SS St. Louis, 3 passes
Post: Cold water rinse, RazoRock rub down, ice water splash, L'Oreal Comfort Max ASB, Pinaud Clubman
'Stache Wax: Dirigo Blue

 

Saturday
And the rain is finally here...yippee!

1. Prep: hot shower & face-towel; homemade preshave cream
2. Razor: 2011 Mühle R41
3. Blade: Feather Stainless (not the Personnas pictured)
4. Brush: Whipped Dog 30mm Silvertip
5. Lather: MWF soap, Mem Olive cream, liquid glycerin; scuttle-warmed
6. Shave: 2 passes, plus touch-up
7. Post: Cold-water rinse & dry; Alum block, homemade Citrus balm

Clean, extremely close shave as usual mit der Mühle. Only two passes necessary to get 'glatt wie ein baby hinter.'
A bit of tenderness on the neck (thanks, alum!) as I may have overdone my touch-up on my trouble spots. Overall though, a great weekend morning shave!

 

Razor: Toggle on 3
Blade: Voskhod
Cream: Charles Tyrwhitt Lemon & Cedar. This fantastic shave cream was discontinued five or so years ago and is an absolute joy to use especially with the wonderful scent.
Brush: Somerset Simpsons 58 flat top in best which has the Heritage feel to it.
ASB: Floris Santal Balm

 

Shave of the Day, Saturday September 21, 2013
• Prep: Brush soaked in warm water, warm shower
• Razor: Gold FaTip Grande mounted to Gold Matador Toro Mastiff Corto Handle
• Blade: Croma Diamant Stainless Steel
• Brush: Semogue 1438 Boar
• Soap: Matador Classico Artisan Shaving Soap - Zagara
• AS: Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue
• Post: Cold Water Rinse, double splash of aftershave

First use of the Zagara scented soap from Matador. This line has not hit the shelves yet, you will need to contact David at Razor Blades and More for additional information.

What I can tell you is that if you are a fan of luxurious Italian soft soaps that you are going to love this line. I had used the Amaretto scent last week and today wanted to try the Zagara. No difference in the the lather, just a nice clean scent of citrus and bergamot blossoms. I would rate it many notches above Cella and heads above the entire Proraso line.

The FaTip and Croma delivered very close results with little effort, always a nice shave from this combination.

For the last few weeks I have been growing a Van Dyke and was tempted today to shave off the caterpillar looking mustache above my lip. I like the goatee as I have worn one for years, but I am not too sure if I can keep this cheesy looking thing under my nose for much longer.

Have a great Saturday everyone. I am hoping for a nice quiet day to relax my mind.

 

Saturday

CeraVe foaming facial cleanser
Mike's unscented Natural soap
HIS synthetic brush
Schick type I
Schick blade
CeraVe lotion

Three passes, comfortable result.

 

Razor: Cadet TP 30B OC
Blade: Voskhod
Brush: Bullgoose Beehive w 24mm WD Silvertip
Pre: Musgo Real Lime Basil Oil Soap
Soap: Stirling’s Frozen Tundra
Post: Monster Alum Block
Aftershave:TSD Sub Zero AS Balm

 

SOTD Saturday 9-21-2013

5/8 Joseph Rodgers near Wedge, Hollow Point
Proraso PSC
Ingram SC
GT G4 Scuttle
Omega 31064 Boar
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Nivea Replenishing ASB
British Sterling Cologne

A cool Saturday morning rain is falling in the Applegate as the fall season is rapidly approaching southwestern Oregon. I always enjoy these cool moist days after the long hot dry summer of 100+ temps and bone dry humidity. I decided to get into the British environment and went with some favorites from accross the pond. The Rodgers always delivers a superb shave aided by the Ingrams creamy cooling menthol lather. The finishers performed their wonderfully soothing finale with sterling results! A truely great shave. Enjoy your weekend Gentlemen!

 

Tour De Mike's​

Vetiver​

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Seminary days taking their toll...Here are some more reviews.

Conclusion Day 1:
I was really excited to try this scent because I have heard some good reviews and Vetiver just sounds cool. Just say it V-E-T-I-V-E-R, sounds manly and cool right? Vetiver is a new scent to me. Being such, I had to do a little research before trying this one out. I sampled a few Vetiver's and enjoyed a couple, but not many. The Creed Vetiver was very nice. IMHO some of them just smelled dirty! So, my excitement was tempered somewhat by the time I actually got around to trying this soap out. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this particular variety was somewhat cleaner and fresher that the other Vetiver's I sampled. True to form though, the scent was very earthy, like damp oak moss with some herbaceous notes. I'm not sure about this scent yet...We'll see what happens as time goes one. BTW, I paired this with a sample of Sterling's Vetiver AS milk.

Conclusion Day 2:

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Well...The scent has grown on me a little. I'm not sold on it yet, but I did seem to enjoy it a little more the second time around. It's quite possible that Vetiver is just an "acquired" taste at least for me. I could sense traces of a woodsy scent in addition to the damp, earthy and herbaceous notes I noticed the last time around. This scent reminds me of walking through a heavily wooded area in the Boreal forests of B.C., particularly in an area that has a dense undergrowth covered with moss and lichen. This scent is probably about as earthy as you can get while still retaining a fresh and clean quality. It also has a staying quality to it that seems to last long after the shave. I can still get traces of this one 5+ hours after the shave. I have to say, its growing on me, but still not enough to buy it.

Have a blessed weekend all! Checking out an antique mall tomorrow, maybe I'll find some goodies.

 

Saturday morning, September 21, 2013

Gillette Fusion Proglide with Proglide cartridge (4)
Semogue 1305 boar bristle brush,
Arko soap, lather with hot water & shave—
apply Captain's Choice Lime, just right!

I've been wanting to try my Gillette Fusion Proglide again, so today was the perfect day. Wow, an incredible comfortable shave, really incredible shave, effortless, smooth, and a damn fine shave too. Aces!

 

Today I set out to compare pre-shave oils. One side of my face sported Jack Black Nourishing Oil, the other Shea Moisture's African Black Soap Bears Softening Oil.

Each provided good lubrication for my Tabac soap and Merkur slant. I notice no major difference between the two, but I did get a DFS after two n-s passes. The smoothness did not last as long as I'm used to, but I had very little irritation, as the alum block attested.

 

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Noxzema Classic Clean​

Van Der Hagen Deluxe Soap​

Frank Shaving Finest Badger​

Schick M Adjustable(8)​

Schick SS blade (8)​

CWR​

Dickinson's Witch hazel​

Aqua Velva Ice Blue AS​

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Today I am finishing off an eight day cycle of my creams/soaps. The Schick M continues to perform wonderfully. I got eight days of great shaves with no nicks, cuts, or abrasions. I am continuing my face lathering experiment, and the VDH Deluxe lathered well with the Frank Shaving brush. Finished off with Aqua Velva for a refreshing experience.​

 

9/20 Goodbye summer my friend, welcome fall.
Saturday

Hot shower
Fliods pre-shave oil
Semogue 1325
Stirling "Ben Franklin"
Classic Gold Tech
Treet Platinum
Typical three pass shave for a sweet DFS.

Everyone I hope is enjoying the last weekend of summer.

 

I have two home-made pre-shave products that I work into the rotation. It is interesting to compare the two and the resulting shave. One is a pre-shave oil (made from jojoba, sweet almond & castor oils, plus fragrance); the other a pre-shave cream (shea butter, lanolin, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, EV olive oil, fragrance). The oil is easier (and quicker) to apply, and provides an ultra-smooth slick on the skin. The cream is fairly thick to the touch, but the shea butter softens at body temp and the cream is easily distributed over the 'shave zone.' The cream is dense and yields more lubrication than the oil alone. Both leave my face feeling great post-shave with no sense of dryness or irritation.

 

Merkur 37c slant
Voskhod
Custom 24mm Silvertip
Vitos PS
MdC
Thayer's WH

 

2nd shave with my Hartsteel. After touching up the edge, a lot smoother shave. Will take a bit to get used to the size but definitely a nice shaver.

Brush-Ever-Reaty
Soap-Macca Root
After-Florida Water

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HEY! The rules were "Yep, another Theme Week, and for this week it's time to pull out the Williams Mug Soap."

Creams don't qualify, you have to suffer like everyone else.

 

Does the Williams cream smell anything like the soap?

 

Monday - Sunday

Razor: Merkur 37c Slant
Blade: Polsilver SI (1-7)
Brush: Horse hair #6
Cream: Palmolive Cool/Palmolive Classic/Gada Cool Mint/Barbon/Agressia Fresh/SuperMax Lemon-Lime/Rose of Bulgaria
AS:Barbon/Brut/Figaro

 

SOTD 09-21-13 Williams Week going strong

* Shower:
• Soap: Irish Spring Original bar soap
• Shampoo: Head & Shoulders with Old Spice scent

* Shave:
• Prep: Hot shower, Nivea Face Wash, Every Man Jack Signature Mint Face Scrub, Hot towel
• Brush: Van Der Hagen Boar
• Lather: Williams Mug Shave Soap (bowl lathered)
• Razor: Dollar Shave Club Executive
• Cartridge use: 7
• Passes: WTG/XTG/ATG/RXTG
• Post: Warm water rinse, Cold water rinse, Alum Block, Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm, Brut Dominant Locion Aftershave

Did a little something different today with the Williams. I bowl lathered it. It was an okay lather, not fantastic. I still maintain that this soap performs its best when face lathered, I find it a little too airy/bubbly when bowl lathered, but still sufficient enough to get a decent shave with. I did a 4 pass shave today. I think the blades on the Executive are finally showing wear as it tugged ever so slightly. Finished up with a nice splash of Brut Dominant. Smells great. Every one enjoy the rest of your weekend!