SOTD February 17 -February 23, 2020

[Mike R]

Monday

Brush: Rooney Stubby 1
Cream: Taylor - Sandalwood
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Super-Max Platinum
A/S: Gillette Aftershave Gel, Sensitive Skin
Cologne / Fragrance: Azzaro Pour Homme

Mike

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD 02/17/20

RAZOR: Rex Ambassador
BLADE: Voskhod
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with PAA’s Cube Preshave Soap before each pass
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite AS Splash

[John Rose]

Monday SOTN

razor - '46 Aristocrat
blade - Astra SP (28)
soap - Fendrihan "Aloe Water"
brush - Simpson Special 1
post - warm water rinse, "Pure & Natural" Alum stick, cold water rinse
AS - Proraso Red
music - streaming CHMA campus radio

Also, I got a haircut today, and - bonus! - my barber gave me a genuine leather duckbill cap that someone had given to him. It's similar to one he's already got but it was too big.
It fit me perfectly.

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD 02/19/20 Tuesday

All right, I’m sold on this razor! For whatever reason, I originally bought a lemon, but the good news is that Matt Pisarcik is a standup guy who honors his lifetime guarantee! I thought I would share the diagnostic photo that led Matt to request that I return the razor to Razor Emporium. As soon as he saw it, he asked that I send it back to him on his dime. He sent me a return label; informed me of the top cap issue, replaced it and returned the razor to me, a very satisfied customer. If you look at the side view of the attached before photo you can clearly see the faulty cap fitting. The blade is well clamped on the right and left ‘free floating on the left’.

As a result Matt replaced the top cap and adjusted the baseplate, and my Rex now seats the blade properly, and shaves as it should! You can imagine my confusion as I tried to use my original defective Rex over a series of months and kept doing damage to myself. I've been wet shaving with a safety razor for a very long time (50+yrs), and was unable to shave effectively with it.

After the repair I now understand why people love this razor, because I do now as well. My shave today was the polar opposite of my former experiences with this shaving tool. I did my head at 2 and my face at 4 today. Yesterday, I described myself as approaching the shave with “trepidation”. Today I was much more confident, and decided to just dive in. The result was a bloodless, leisurely, three pass BBS that I thoroughly enjoyed! There’s really not much more to say. I’m joining the mass of Rex fans. This is an excellent razor that shaves every bit as well as any of my favorites! I feel clean, cool, very smooooth, and refreshed!

RAZOR: Rex Ambassador
BLADE: Voskhod
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with PAA’s Cube Preshave Soap before each pass
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with the brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Cremo Cooling AS Balm

[Mike R]

Tuesday

Brush: Omega 49
Soap: Williams
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Super-Max Platinum
A/S: Barbasol Brisk
Cologne / Fragrance: Aramis Tobacco Reserve

Mike

[pausted]

Catie"s Bubbles Rose cream
SilkSmoke synthetic brush
Merkur 34G razor
Gillette Silver Blue blade
Pinaud Clubman aftershave

[fallingwickets]

tulip 3
MdC
muhle/gillette rubie

super fantastic combo

[Mike R]

Thursday

Brush: Omega 49
Soap: Williams
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Super-Max Platinum
A/S: Barbasol Pacific Rush
Cologne / Fragrance: Grey Flannel

Mike

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD Thursday 02/20/20

The shave today went well! I'd forgotten how efficient the Barbasol Floating Head was. Thank goodness for muscle memory! The ego dynamics are completely different. The Rex Ambassador is a hefty, short-handled razor, whereas the Barbasol Floating Head has a much longer handle and different weight distribution. My only gripe is that the longer handle makes it a bit more painful to do the back of my head. My Barbasol is an 85-90 yr old girl who knows her business, but will bite if not attended to. I loaded up with a Suneko and had a very relaxed and pleasant shave. Since it was my first outing with the old girl in several months, I decided to not push for the BBS.

My prep consisted of a cold water rinse. I then began my first pass by whipping up a rich, glistening MWF lather with my trusty Omega Pro48 Boar, the end of which had been soaking in warm water while I finished my shower. There’s something about a well-broken in boar that is just indescribable! The firm backbone builds that thick paste that is then face and head lathered and feels so good on the skin. The first WTG pass consisted of short careful strokes and reduced the whiskers pretty significantly on both face and dome. My second lather set the stage for a leisurely XTG pass that, as the Rex master of TSD is known to say, “put the baby to bed”. The third ATG pass just consisted of some very careful buffing in the usual problem areas, but I didn’t push it, as Madame Barbasol has been known to bite at this point. After rinsing off, I did feel some stinging from the back of the dome that I’d just finished buffing, but a napkin revealed no blood. The shave overall was enjoyable, but ended with some very slight roughness around the Adam’s Apple. All in all the shave finished as a DFS. Tomorrow I’ll load a Feather to see if it will get me closer to the goal. I feel clean, smooth and refreshed.

RAZOR: Barbasol Floating Head
BLADE: Suneko
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Murray and Lanman Florida Water AS/Cologne

[John Rose]

Monday SOTN

razor - British Aristocrat Junior
blade - Astra SP (31)
soap - B+M Seville
brush - Stirling 2-Band Synth
post - warm water rinse, "Pure & Natural" Alum stick, cold water rinse
AS - Stetson Original
music - streaming CHMA campus radio

Been a while since I used the Seville. It was buried in a blind spot in my soaps basket.

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD Friday, February 21, 2020

Today, as promised, I loaded the Barbasol with a Feather. My shave yesterday was very good, but this month with my MWF focus I’ve found that I’m able to shave as closely as before, and really don’t need my PAA Preshave Cube soap. I do believe that the MWF shave soap focus over the past 21 days has very effectively conditioned my skin. I do wash the shave surfaces with Glyce glycerin soap in the shower to remove any accumulated skin oil, but other than that, my prep simply consists of a cold water rinse followed by a good old reliable MWF lather. I have finished every shave this month with a wash of the shaved surfaces with the soap squeezings.

Given the presence of a Feather blade, I took my time on that first pass, making sure to ride the cap with very short, slow strokes. And that Feather blade cradled in Madame Barbasol delivered, leaving me after that first WTG pass at the same place I was yesterday after two passes with the Suneko blade. I could easily pass the cotton ball test everywhere but my usual two places - the Adam’s Apple and the middle of the back of my head where only a hint of roughness remained. I lathered up only the two remaining areas, and again very carefully buffed both areas ATG with short slow strokes leaving me with my desired BBS and one very slight weeper below the Adam’s Apple which closed up after application of the witch hazel. I feel clean, smoooth, and refreshed after one and 1/2 passes.

RAZOR: Barbasol Floating Head
BLADE: Feather
PREP: Cold Water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash

[Mike R]

Friday

Brush: Rooney Stubby 1
Cream: Erasmic
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
A/S: None
Cologne / Fragrance: Quorum Silver

Mike

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD Saturday, February 22, 2020

This will be my third and final shave with the Barbasol Floating Head. The problem with having too many vintage razors is that some of them are just exemplary shavers. The Barbasol Floating Head is one, but tomorrow I’ll be shaving with another, the Cooper Monobilt. The Barbasol has delivered two great shaves, the first a DFS and the second a BBS. After waking up to a beautiful sunny morning in Philly, I decided to enjoy a leisurely three pass shave with no goal in mind other than a pleasurable shave. The pieces were all in place.

The Omega Pro48 Boar is just a wonderful shave brush! Great backbone along with well-broken-in feather soft brush ends generates a thick paste from the scuttle that is then applied to both face and noggin. I really enjoy the luxurious face and head brushing that also exfoliates as the lather builds. My barber who I see about once a month for a straight razor head and face shave taught me the method. I had complained to him about being unable to generate a decent bowl lather with MWF. I’ve found his approach - building that initial rich, glistening, yogurty MWF lather on the shaving surfaces instead of in the scuttle - and then wetting the brush in hot water from the faucet as needed and adding it to the paste on the face and dome leads to the cat’s meow of lathers! It’s never failed, regardless of water type, and the process just feels great!

The shave was a joy this morning. I began with my usual cold water rinse. I have stopped using PAA Preshave Cube soap about five days ago. It had been a regular part of my shave routine, but 22 days of MWF has done away with the need for it. After lathering up, I enjoyed a very comfortable first WTG pass with Madame Barbasol who swept away the 24 hrs of whisker growth with aplomb. The second XTG and third ATG passes left me with a bloodless, baby-smooth, face and dome. Three great shaves, and it’s time to return Madame Barbasol to her case and box after a good cleaning. After a wash of my face and noggin with the MWF brush squeezings, Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite completed what turned out to be a perfect Saturday morning shave, leaving me feeling cool, smooth and refreshed!

RAZOR: Barbasol Floating Head
Blade: Feather
PREP: Cold Water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite

[John Rose]

Saturday SOTN

razor - Wilkinson Sword Classic (all-metal TTO)
blade - Astra SP (33)
soap - Fendrihan Aloe Water
brush - Simpson Special 1
post - warm water rinse, "Pure & Natural" Alum stick, cold water rinse
AS - Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender
music - streaming Surf Rock Radio

The razor - I don't use that one very often because the 107.5 mm long handle seems bottom heavy. I always take a while to get used to it. It's still a good shave though, even with a well-used blade.

The spiral knurling on the handle feels really slippery in dry hands, but is okay with wet hands.

[jgreenepa]

Saturday SOTN

razor - Wilkinson Sword Classic (all-metal TTO)
blade - Astra SP (33)
soap - Fendrihan Aloe Water
brush - Simpson Special 1
post - warm water rinse, "Pure & Natural" Alum stick, cold water rinse
AS - Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender
music - streaming Surf Rock Radio

The razor - I don't use that one very often because the 107.5 mm long handle seems bottom heavy. I always take a while to get used to it. It's still a good shave though, even with a well-used blade.

The spiral knurling on the handle feels really slippery in dry hands, but is okay with wet hands.

Lovely shave, John! Chatillon Lux Lavender is great stuff!

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD 02/23/20

Excellent three pass shave today with my Cooper Monobilt, a remarkably efficient razor with a unique folding snap closure razor head design. I have the high level enabling skills of the Cooper Owner’s Club at TSD to thank for kicking my RAD into gear several months ago, but I definitely do not regret the purchase of this highly efficient razor. I always enjoy my shaves with it. Part of the pleasure involves simply preparing the razor for the shave.

I inserted a Suneko blade, snapped the head closed after ensuring that the end tab of the blade was sitting under the hinge. This process is well engineered and always seats the blade perfectly for me. I then lathered up with my favorite Boar brush, the Omega Pro48 and had at it. Three smooth passes later and the baby was put to bed, another bloodless BBS. The Chiseled Face Cryogen AS Splash left me feeling clean, smooth, very cool and ready for church! I wish everyone a happy Sunday! I especially wish my two friends shaving with their newly acquired SS DLC Coated Lupos a great shave!

RAZOR: Cooper Monobilt
BLADE: Suneko
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Chiseled Face Cryogen AS Splash

[CMur12]

Sunday night:

Razor: Rockwell 6C (on setting/plate 2)
Blade: Treet Dura Sharp

Brush: Semogue 1305 (boar)
Soap: Tim's Soap, Prototype S6

Lather made on top of the soap
Two-and-a-half passes

Aftershave: Cold water rinse and Thayer's Peach Witch Hazel

- Murray