SOTD July 13 - July 19 2020

[brothers]

Musgo Real soap
Rooney Finest plexi brush
Noxzema/Kai twin razor
Superior 70 mentolado splash

[oeilvert]

[Mike R]

Monday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: Williams + leftovers
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Afta Fresh
Cologne / Fragrance: None

Mike

[drmoss_ca]

Livi Damasteel briarwood, Derby Menthol cream, Simpson E3, Trumper's Astor:

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[jgreenepa]

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SOTD MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

THE RETURN OF SWMBO

The dreaded day has come. Early morning communication revealed an ETA of 6:00 PM. It’s my last scent hurrah!! Scents pictured are what I’ll begin with. I expect to hit the Canoe, Creed Aventus, and Tom Ford FF over the course of the day. Maybe even some Polo, Old Spice and whatever else I can dig up between scent removals and applications before 4:00 PM at which time I will shower and do my best to deodorize both myself and the house. I know I smell way over the top since Gromit, my dachshund, elected to spend the morning outside with his cat girl, Cassie.

The shave, despite the day was, as usual, the highlight of my day. Great mug shave with the Dovo Special, the closest to a VBBS I’ve come to date with some very slight roughness around the Adam’s Apple. For the noggin shave, I grabbed my sadly neglected brass Christopher Bradley razor from Karve shaving. The OC E plate with the new wide body cap did the trick, and left me with a lovely VBBS. All in all a great shave! I've really enjoyed the week, but will be glad to see SWMBO. Unfortunately, I’ll need to shelter in place for 14 days and hope SWMBO won’t be returning with a viral present for me. I feel refreshed, smelly, clean and velveteen!

RAZOR: Dovo Special (Mug), Christopher Bradley Karve Safety Razor w/ OC E Plate
BLADE: Suneko DE (1)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
CREAM: Kapo Fresh w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Florida Water, Caswell and Massey #6 and Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme Balm.

[Mike R]

Tuesday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: Williams + leftovers
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Afta
Cologne / Fragrance: Joop Go

Mike

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD JULY 14, 2020

Welcome to Tabac Tuesday. Today was the inaugural shave with the new-to-me Genco 35. The fellow who swapped with me claimed he had honed this vintage razor after restoring it with a series of progressive hones all the way to 12,000 grit. Well it was certainly sharp enough. The two pass (WTG, ATG) mug shave went well with one slight weeper during the second pass just below the Adam’s Apple which disappeared upon WH application. I’ve learned that a thinner, slippery lather seems to work best for me with a straight razor, and that was certainly the case this morning. The result was another DFS++.

I spent more time building my dome lather into the thick, yogurty consistency preferred with my safety razors. The razor for my dome shave was my 2011 R41 which I have sitting on my spare Occam’s DE handle. This razor was initially intimidating given its reputation for efficiency, until I began using it regularly. In actuality, my Barbasol FH is probably a tad bit more efficient. In any case, the R41 made short work of my dome stubble, mowing everything right down to the skin line, in the process leaving a few remaining rough areas in the usual valleys on the back of the noggin. Some selective buffing eradicated that problem and left me cool, refreshed, clean and oh so velveteen (VBBS).

RAZOR: Genco 35 (Mug), Muhle R41 (2011)
BLADE: Suneko (2)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 w/ 26mm Boar Knot
SOAP: Tabac w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Osage Rub and Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.

[drmoss_ca]

Zowada damascus ebony, homemade soap, Simms brush, Creed Tabarome Millesime:

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Simms still exist, based in St John, New Brunswick, but only make paintbrushes these days, not shaving brushes. Surprisingly good face feel, too!

[brothers]

Musgo Real triple milled soap
Thater 4376-5 three band badger brush
Joseph Rodgers & Sons wedge
Superior 70 Mentolado splash

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[Mike R]

Wednesday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: Williams + Leftovers
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Clubman
Cologne / Fragrance: None

Mike

[drmoss_ca]

Livi Damasteel Snake Razor in mammoth ivory, homemade soap, Olde Apothecary Shop brush, Mr Taylor's Cologne:

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Not a hard razor to shave with, but very awkward to strop because of the geometry of the scales and shank.

[jgreenepa]

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SOTD WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020

What a wonderful Wednesday shave! The new-to-me Genco 35 continues to perform beautifully without daily stropping! I really like this razor! A very experienced straight shaver/mentor on one of the larger straight razor forums informed me that there was no need to strop the Genco daily. He claimed to have gone over 20 shaves between strops on his, my kind of guy! Just swapped my virtually unused Merkur 34 for a brand new Monsieur Charles Barber’s Razor which uses injector blades. After reading a series of horror stories on half DE shavettes, I’ve decided to steer clear. I like variety (comes from 50 yrs with a Schick Krona). The Feather and Monsieur Charles should be fine. Looked at the IBC shavette, but there is a major design flaw with AC blades. Since my favorite blades are AC and injectors, my Feather SS and Monsieur Charles should meet my needs nicely.

I've said elsewhere that my favorite shaving Gillettes are the New Standard, Deluxe and LC. I enjoy shaving with Old Types, of which I own two, in addition to this early production (1920) Big Fellow with the Old Type head design. Later production near the end of the 20s featured a New Standard head design. While the Old Type is a better than average shaver, this king size version is a truly spectacular shaver and definitely holds it own with the Gillette New models. I imagine a late production Big Fellow with the New flat bottom design would be an even better shaver, if that’s possible. The late model Big Fellow is the only safety razor I would snap up if one in good condition came my way. The only safety razor currently on order is the Tradere. I’ve cancelled my Wolfman order. I’ve more than enough razor variety to keep the shave interest up at this point.

I’ve learned both here, elsewhere and personally that a thinner, more slippery lather is best for a straight razor shave. The beauty of Pannacrema Nuavia Blu is its incredible slickness. So for the mug shave I used a bit more water and achieved a great slick platform. In fact I initially worried that the stropping advice wasn’t so good since it felt for the first time like the Genco was just scooping the lather off my face until I noticed the copious amount of shorn whiskers in the lather. Still struggling with the ATG pass on my neck, but everything above the jaw was a clean VBBS with a DFS+ below the jaw. The Big Fellow brought the roughness around the Adam’s Apple to the VBBS level in short order, and did the same for the dome where that great Jayaruh brush generated the kind of thick, yogurty lather I prefer for my safety razor shaves. The post shave skin feel is great with this soap. I feel refreshed, cool, clean and oh so velveteen!

RAZOR: Genco 35 (Mug), Gillette Big Fellow (Dome)
BLADE: Kai (1)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger #378
SOAP: Pannacrema Nuavia Blu w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite AS Splash.

[brothers]

Musgo Real soap
Thater 4376/5 brush
Noxzema/Kai disposable
Superior 70 splash

[pausted]

Boellis Panama soap
SilkSmoke synthetic brush
Colonial General razor
Kai Captain Original blade
Nivea Cooling balm

[jgreenepa]

Livi Damasteel Snake Razor in mammoth ivory, homemade soap, Olde Apothecary Shop brush, Mr Taylor's Cologne:


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Not a hard razor to shave with, but very awkward to strop because of the geometry of the scales and shank.

That is a beautiful razor, truly a piece of art! I’ve admired many of your straights! You have a nice collection!

[Mike R]

Thursday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: Williams + Leftovers
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Gillette Aftershave Lotion, Sensitive Skin
Cologne / Fragrance: Azzaro Pour Homme

Mike

[drmoss_ca]

Early Zowada damascus, homemade soap, Rooney beehive, L'Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses:

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[jgreenepa]

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SOTD THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

Well, as one shave buddy recently commented, it does appear that I’ve jumped down the straight razor rabbit hole with both feet! In my defense I still haven’t spent dime one. I’ve traded several safety razors some of my local shave buddies have been eying for a couple of straight razors and shavettes. The straight razor I used today was a Double Duck Goldedge. I traded a LaResche razor for it that I never really cared for. It was a straight one for one after he checked pricing. I will say it is a pretty razor, and probably the sharpest straight razor I’ve shaved with to date. It did seem as sharp as my Feather SS with a Feather Super loaded. There were two weepers during the second ATG pass around the Adam’s Apple, but otherwise it was just about a BBS. The Feather AS-D2 cleaned things up in its usual highly capable fashion on the dome, and that is really all I have to say about the actual shave.

As a MWF true believer of many years, what I would like to talk about is the new pre-shave method using this soap for a straight razor shave that I learned about on one of the straight razor forums. I normally do not bloom my MWF. But this pre-shave method relies on doing just that. After my shower, I poured the bloomed water into a separate bowl as directed. I then poured the bloomed water into my palm, rubbed my hands together and massaged it into my beard on face and neck. The next step was to use the brush to generate a loose liquidy lather and apply it over the prior effort. After waiting about a minute, I lathered up as I normally would over the liquidy lather effort which had pretty much been absorbed into the skin. The shave itself was a delight. According to the author of this method, consistent use leads to the development of a nick-proof surface thanks to the lanolin in the soap. He claimed to have straight shaved this way for 20 yrs. I’ll give it a try. Probably any soap with lanolin in it would suffice. In any case, I’m again refreshed, cool, clean and beautifully velveteen!

RAZOR: Double Duck Goldedge (Mug), AS-D2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Shave surface massage w/ MWF bloom water followed by brush application of wet lather soak
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Boar #374
SOAP: Mitchell's Wool Fat w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Chiseled Face Cryogen AS Splash.

[Mike R]

Friday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: Arko Commando
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Indian Wilkinson
A/S: Family Dollar Brut clone
Cologne / Fragrance: Azzaro Pour Homme

Mike

[brothers]

Barbershop tallow soap
Thater brush
Wade & Butcher Celebrated razor
Noxzema/Kai disposable
Superior 70 splash