SMF

Monday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Cream: Taylor - Sandalwood
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
A/S: Family Dollar Spice Scent
Cologne / Fragrance: Aramis

Mike

Semogue SOC Mistura
Palmolive shave soap
Micromatic Clog-Pruf
GEM PTFE-coated (2)
Thayer's Original w.h.
PdN Patchouli Intense

Stunning results. I really don't care to use any other brush or soap at this point, although I'm going to give the Harris/Salter tallowate stuff a run of 7-8 days in a row to see if it maintains a place in the den.

Tuesday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Cream: Green Pond Sandalwood
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
A/S: Dollar Store Splash - Blue / "Fresh Scent"

Mike

Semogue BC Mistura
Salter shaving soap
GEM Clog-Pruf razor
GEM PTFE blade #2
Thayer's Original wh
Versace The Dreamer

Wednesday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: Yardley Gold
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
A/S: English Leather
Cologne / Fragrance: Mem English Leather (60's-looking bottle)

Mike

Semogue SOC Mistura
Cyril Salter hard soap
Micromatic Clog-Pruf
PTFE GEM blade day 4
Thayer's Original w.h.
Lalique PH EDP spray

I'm done with the Salter soap. It's a good formula, but I always wish I were using Palmolive or Speick or Arko.

KMF Lavender cream
SilkSmoke synthetic brush
Colonial General razor
Kai Captain Original blade
Men’s Choice Spice aftershave

Tuesday the 11th:
Noxzema Classic Clean Cream brushless
General razor
Schick P30 blade
Superior 70 Mentolado splash

Thursday the 13th:
Noxzema Classic Clean Cream brushless
Schick Slim Twin (SII) cartridge razor
Superior 70 Mentolado splash

Semogue Torga C3 Mistura
Razrorock XXX Fresco soap
GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf
PTFE-coated GEM shave 5
Thayer's Original w. hazel
Chanel Platinum Egoiste*

*a new favorite and a spring stunner

Friday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: Williams + Leftovers
Razor: '52 Super Speed
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
A/S: British Sterling
Cologne / Fragrance: Brut

Mike

Semogue SOC Mistura ivory
Razorock XXX Fresco soap
GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf
GEM PTFE blade shave #6
Thayer's Original w. hazel
CK Eternity for Men EDT**

**I've never owned this. I came across a bottle for cheap at Marshall's and decided to try it out. I have smelled it on other people hundreds of times, and it's the first fragrance I remember pondering as a consumer product. I was 12 when it was released and must have seen those TV ads daily, not to mention the sniff sheets that were always in issues of Rolling Stone. Many hardcore fragheads Iincluding, famously, Luca Turin in his book) and old-school wetshavers alike seem to hate the stuff and enjoy dumping on it, and it's very synthetic, so I just never bothered to try wearing it myself.

Right now I'm thinking about why this is such an enduring bestseller. It's fresh and clean without being a calone bomb like the stuff that the 90s produced. It has ties to traditional fougeres not only in its big lavender presence but in its haylike heart (some say there's no coumarin in it, but it's not only listed on the box but also very easy to detect on my skin). There was nothing exactly like it before it, and hundreds of things have copied it. I don't know. I get that it launched an era of very synthetic, sometimes nose-piercing fragrances, but it's well-constructed.

By the way, my bottle is from a recent batch and contains Treemoss, which is all but banned by IFRA (and no, it's not as good as oakmoss, but it does serve a purpose in drying out the basenotes a bit). Either there's not much in here, or Calvin Klein doesn't care, but it's funny that a house known for (over)using synthetic substitutes is now putting natural moss in their bottles.

Saturday -

English Fern shaving soap
SilkSmoke synthetic brush
General razor
Schick Proline blade
Superior 70 Mentolado splash

Semogue Torga C3 Mistura
Razorock XXX Fresco soap
GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf
GEM PTFE blade shave #7
Thayer's Original w. hazel
Missoni Parfum PH spray*

*a winner for me. Decidedly barbershop with some DNA from Bleu de Chanel in the form of a grapefruit-ambroxan duo, but with sandalwood and birch tar giving depth to the base.