SOTD April 6 - April 12, 2020

[Mike R]

Monday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Soap: Palmolive Stick
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Vintage Avon Deep Woods
Cologne / Fragrance: Azzaro Pour Homme

Mike

[TRBeck]

Cyril Salter tallow
Muehle synthetic
Rockwell plate 5
Med Prep shave 1
Thayer's Original
Prada Luna Rossa

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD 04/06/2020

I’ve decided to spend several of the next few shaves focusing on my new Colonial General. I used a Feather Super in my first three shaves with this razor, and have been very pleased with the performance. My regular goto blade for my AC razor’s is a Schick Proline. The only thing about the Feather Super I've not been so pleased with has been the tugging I experienced near the end of my third shave, despite palm stropping the blade after every shave. Using the same palm stropping method I was able to achieve 28 shaves on a Schick Proline blade in my Blackland Vector.

With this in mind I loaded a Proline in the new General for today’s shave. I began my shave with my usual cold water rinse. In keeping with the monthly theme at the 30DC at TSD, I then grabbed a neglected stick of Arko shave soap, applied it to my face and noggin, and proceeded to generate a decent protective lather by face and head lathering the applied soap into a rich yogurty covering. The General is a heavier razor than the Vector, but I found that first WTG pass to be comparable to the Vector, but not as close as the shaves achieved by the Feather Super on the initial pass.

Given that experience, and always seeking the BBS, I chose to pursue a three pass shave today. The Proline held true for my second XTG pass after lathering up again, being especially careful not to reopen the three nicks on my right cheek following my brief Nacet adventure with the Rex Ambassador yesterday. The third ATG pass left me with a very acceptable DFS++. There remained a slight bit of roughness around yesterday’s nicks which I allowed to give the nicked areas some healing. As non-mentholated shaves go, this one was more than acceptable, and left me feeling clean and decently smooth.

RAZOR: Colonial General V2
BLADE: Schick Proline
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Arko Shave Stick
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Pre de Provence AS Balm with Shea Butter

[John Rose]

Monday SOTN

razor - RazoRock Hawk
blade - KAI Captain Titan Mild (6)
soap - TOBS Mr Taylors
brush - Simpson Special 1 in BB
post - warm water rinse, "Pure & Natural" Alum stick, cold water rinse
AS - Proraso Red
music - streaming CHMA-FM campus radio

Pretty good results, except for having to use a styptic pencil on three small weepers between my bottom lip and chin.

[Mike R]

Tuesday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Soap: Tabac
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Vintage Avon Tai Winds
Cologne / Fragrance: Knize Ten

Mike

[TRBeck]

Muehle Synthetic 25mm knot/Rudy Vey handle
Trumper Rose soap - first veggie formulation*
Rockwell 6S plate 5 w/Personna medical prep
Lucky Tiger Aftershave and Face Tonic splash

*This stuff is so good. I get mild irritation from it on pass 2, but it is such a terrific scent and performer. Man, I wish they hadn't screwed it up.

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD Tuesday 04/07/2020

I had an exemplary shave this morning. One of the members at a large shave site on FB suggested, after my raving about the great shave my new General with a Feather Super loaded delivered, that I should try the Super in my Vector. Now, mind you, I was quite content with the Vector and a Schick Proline Blade which I found sharper than the regular Feather. It shaved every bit as well as my Shake Sharps, which hands down were my best head shavers. Every razor in my rotation must be capable of providing a head and a face shave. The new General with a Feather Super provided a shave superior to my Shake Sharps. So this morning I loaded the Vector with a Feather Super and proceeded to have at it.

I must say, however, before getting into the specifics of the shave, that my new brush from Evan (@MrEE) is a superb performer. The knurling is just perfect, it never slips, and the hybrid Badger/Boar knot has great backbone. I really enjoy using it. It generated a very rich, yogurty lather from my Pannacrema Nuavia Blu. Being a nasal barbarian, I can’t really comment on the particular components of the scent, but boy, it sure smelled good! The one problem I have with this soap, which I really enjoy, is that like Tabac, the scent is so strong that it tends to ignite fragrance allergy migraines in SWMBO. After informing her mightiness that I planned to use it for my shave this morning, she wisely decided to work in her office with the door closed. Now, four hours post shave all is well. The scent has faded. Yes, the child bride, being a decade younger, still works, while her erstwhile, shaky spouse devotes himself to experiencing and reporting on all things shaving. Now, back to the shave...

The head on the Vector is rather dramatically smaller than the General, and the weight distribution in hand differs. See the pictures comparing both razors. Please excuse the poor photography. Thank goodness for muscle memory! The Feather Super is so wonderfully sharp, that when combined with negative pressure, just sweeps away the whiskers. The first WTG pass was every bit as good as my forays with the General. The cut is completely inaudible and the strokes feel like one is weightlessly brushing the lather away. I could have stopped with an excellent DFS++ shave after that first pass, but decided to lather up again and buff away ATG the very slight roughness remaining on noggin and neck after the first pass. I finished the shave with Aqua Velva AS (Spanish version) and Pre de Provence AS Balm. All in all, after one and a half passes, a velveteen feeling scalp and face lands me solidly in BBS land. I feel clean, velvety smooth, refreshed and ready for another day of sheltering in place. Stay safe and healthy out there!

RAZOR: Blackland Vector
BLADE: Feather Super AC
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: @MeEE Aluminum Handle Hybrid Badger/Boar
SOAP: Pannacrema Nuavia Blu
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH, Aqua Velva AS Splash and finished with Pre de Provence AS Balm with Shea Butter

[Actor07]

My SOTD for the coming weeks during the Covid-19 quarantine here in NYC:

Result: A very smooth, close, and comfortable shave.

Pre-shave: Olive oil and other natural oils.

Post shave: Lavender and other oils.

Razor: Darwin "Adjustable"

Blade: Personna 74

[CMur12]

Welcome to SMF, Actor07!

Some prefer Personna 74s. Some prefer Light Brigade Wilks. In my own opinion, the Personna 74 blade is the best that has ever been made.

- Murray

[Mike R]

Wednesday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Soap: QED Sandalwood
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Afta
Cologne / Fragrance: Drakkar Noir

Mike

[TRBeck]

Muehle Rudy Vey 25mm synth
AOS Sandalwood soap (tallow)
Rockwell 6S razor on plate #5
Personna Medical Prep day #3
Thayer's Original Witch Hazel
Yves St. Laurent Live Jazz edt

Simply stunning. The AOS sandalwood w/tallow is my favorite commercial soap. Fantastic.

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD 04/08/2020

A man can definitely become addicted to the delightful velveteen feeling smooth skin arising from a barber close BBS shave. The truth underlying any safety razor is that it really is nothing more than a blade holder. The transition many make from safety razor to shavette to straight arises for a variety of reasons. There’s the danger coupled with the mastery of technique of straight edge open shaving. There’s the connection to our past and the history of shaving dating back to the Egyptians. Then there’s just the feeling of belonging to a small select club. But most importantly, it’s that feeling of shaving mastery, understanding shaving angle and the accompanying skin stretching required for a great shave that contributes to the improvement of safety razor shaving. In my case a neurological condition prohibits my joining the open edge family.

Safety razor designers can attempt to engineer blade angle and blade exposure into their blade holders, but technique still reigns supreme. The safety razor shavers’ acronym, “YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY (YMMV)”, exemplifies the role technique plays. But is that all there is to it? I own a variety of vintage and modern artisan safety razors, and can elicit a decent shave from all of them, but there are certain razors that that just seem to perform better for me within certain blade parameters. For example, my Rex Ambassador shaves beautifully with Wizamets or Voskhods, not so much with Feathers or Nacets. Whereas my AS-D2 and Occam’s DE reform best with Feathers or Nacets, and not so much with Voskhods or Wizamets. When it comes to my SE razors, of which I own many, my favorite DE SE, the G.E. Jones Shake Sharp performs best with any stacked DE blade, but the blades of choice for my smoothest and closest shave are Sunekos.

I can achieve a BBS shave with any of my razors, but have recently discovered that the closest barber-level BBS is best achieved with a Feather Super blade in any of my SE AC blade holders. Today’s one and a half pass BBS was delivered through my newest SE AC razor ordered back in December of 2019, the Colonial General V2. What I most love about this razor is the sense of effortless competence I experience when shaving with it. It truly feels like I’m just sweeping away the lather. The Feather Super blade is incredibly sharp, but the balance and weight of the razor in hand allows for old, shaky me to exert negative pressure with no effort. So much so, in fact, that there is no audible or tactile feel of the blade cutting. I will always insist on Feather Super Blades in future AC SE shaves. I truly enjoy shaving both face and noggin with this razor. I feel clean, velveteen smooth, and refreshed.

RAZOR: Colonial General V2 in 316L SS
BLADE: Feather Super AC
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 with 26mm Silvertip Badger Knot
SOAP: Pannacrema Nuavia Blu
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Fine Fresh Vetiver AS Splash

[John Rose]

Here's an idea.

Given the low number of posts per week, how about making this a month-long thread?
I keep thinking that Friday and Saturday posts aren't getting that many views.

[TRBeck]

Muehle Rudy Vey 25mm synth
AOS Sandalwood tallowate ss
Rockwell 6S DE razor plate 5
US Personna Medical Prep #4
Thayer's Original Witch Hazel

This is a rut in which I could happily get stuck.

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD 04/09/2020

Another glorious shave with the new Colonial General V2 blade holder equipped with a Feather Super (4) on its last use. Rather than bore you with continuing paeans to the latter glories, I’ll instead focus today on some of the changes in software I made for this shave. Many of us look to our milled soaps - Martin de Candre, Mitchell’s Wool Fat, Creed’s Green Irish Tweed etc - as the platform for our shaves, but doing so neglects the shave creams. In Italy shave cream is the preferred latherer, according to Sharpologist. Some of my current favorites are Palmolive, Kapo, Gillette Pure, Proraso and Cella. I’ve always enjoyed a good variety of different shave creams, but one of my favorites is Bigelow. It always generates a great thick protective lather. The beautiful Boar brush Jayaruh crafted with its great backbone did an excellent job whipping it up beautifully in the scuttle. This lather seems every bit as good as that generated using my regular MWF. One and a half passes with this razor again put the baby to bed. I really enjoyed the shave; I feel clean, cool, and refreshed. What I most enjoy about using this razor, though, is that wonderful, soft, velveteen feel to the shave surfaces, and that wonderful smell from the Chatillon Lux Post-Shave Toner.

RAZOR: 316L SS Colonial General V2
BLADE: Feather Super AC
PREP: Cold water rinse
SOAP: C.O. Bigelow salted with 6 drops of M-Bomb
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Boar #343
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender Post-Shave Toner

[Mike R]

Thursday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Cream: Taylor - Sandalwood
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Feather
A/S: Dollar Store Splash - Green / "Original"
Cologne / Fragrance: Lagerfeld Classic

Mike

[Mike R]

Friday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Cream: Arko Sensitive
Razor: '54 Z2 Super Speed
Blade: Feather
A/S: Afta
Cologne / Fragrance: Lagerfeld Classic

Mike

[pausted]

AOS Sandalwood cream
Stirling synthetic brush
Colonial General razor
Feather Pro blade
Royal Copenhagen aftershave

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD 04/10/2020

Finally decided to take the eponymous “Hulk”, my aluminum RazoRock Hawk V2 for a spin with the Feather Super. I thought to make it an icy lavender shave featuring RR Oil of Lavender Cream soap salted with 6 drops of M-Bomb, my usual Thayer’s Lavender WH, and a finish with Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender Post-Shave Toner. Lavender always conjures up feelings of serenity. The ancient Romans believed it had a soothing effect on the lions and tigers being prepared for their Coliseum Christian lunch buffet. Being a bit of an olfactory idiot, this is one of the few scents that I’m able to recognize, and I do find it relaxing.

My Hawk was purchased about 8 months ago, and there’s been a continuing issue with its weight. I like the feel of a hefty blade holder in hand. In fact all of my favorite shavers are a bit weighty. I have a neurological condition that leaves me a bit shaky. Trying to manage my tremors while exerting “negative pressure” and maintaining blade angle benefits from a heavier razor. The weight of a heavy razor drives the shave. The problem with aluminum razors is that the weight of the razor, at least with a Proline blade loaded led to “positive pressure” to counteract the lighter weight and nicks. Thus although I liked the feel of the razor, it never matched up to the quality shaves delivered by my Blackland Vector, and now my new Colonial General. Knowing this, I just ordered the new 316L SS Hawk To replace this aluminum razor, which I anticipate performing like the latter two razors mentioned. The only unknown variable in the equation is the role the Feather Super will play here.

My shave prep began following my shower with a cold water rinse of face and dome. My Viking Silvertip Badger whipped up a great lather for my first pass. I always begin my shave with my face, and I’m glad I did. The Hawk, as expected, cut close, but nowhere near the closeness achieved with the General or the Vector. In addition, I discovered many superficial weepers on both cheeks as well as my neck requiring the use of my styptic after that first WTG pass. I must have unconsciously exerted some slight positive pressure due to the lightness of the razor. That was it! I completed the first pass on the noggin using the General, and that was that. Despite the treated weepers, my second ATG pass was more buffing than full pass. The dome and face remained bloodless after the second buffing pass. The result was a BBS on the noggin and a DFS++ on the face, a more than acceptable result. I feel cool, clean and refreshed. Enjoy your day out there, and stay safe and healthy.

RAZOR: RazoRock Hulk Hawk V2 (face). Colonial General V2 (dome)
BLADE: Feather Super
PREP: Cold Water rinse
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP/CREAM: RazoRock Essential Oil of Lavender
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH finished with Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender Post-Shave Toner

[TRBeck]

Edwin Jagger 25mm silvertip fibre
Taylor of Old Bond St. Cedarwood
Rockwell 6S double-edge plate #5
US Personna Medical Prep shave 5
Thayer's Original Aloe Witch Hazel
Victorinox Swiss Army Classic EDT

Been far too long since I used this cream. Stellar.