WetShaving

December 23, 2023

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps w/Maggard 28mm Silvertip Badger
• Razor: MMOC Gen 2
• Razor: MMCF (Clog-Pruf) Gen 1
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (2)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (2)
• Lather: Noble Otter - Hamami - Soap
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Hamami - Aftershave
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Balm
• Post Shave: L de L - Retinol Men - Facial Serum
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Hamami - EdP

Another GEM showdown. The Clog-Pruf was initially sold to me as being milder than the open comb Micromatics, but as it turns out... not so much. The MMOC Gen 2 felt almost identical, and maybe even a tad milder, than the Clog-Pruf.

Great shaves on both sides of my face.

So, I've been having good shaves with these aggressive, dangerous, unforgiving, "for experts only" razors, which begs the question -- how come the last time I used the Clog-Pruf it was a difficult shave, and now it's better?

My next experiment will be with "corking". For the last few days, I've been corking the blades on the paperboard wrappers that they come in (paperboarding?). I've also been removing the blades from the razors between shaves, because I had one rust on me.

So, I'll cork one fresh blade, and not the other, and see how that feels tomorrow.

December 23, 2023: Last luxury shave of 2023

• Preshave: Proraso Green Preshave
• Brush: Semogue C3 Galahad Horse 🐎
• Razor: Koraat 14.2 Straight Razor
• Lather: Zingari Man Mousse Illuminée
• Post Shave: Mennen Skin Bracer
• Post Shave: Nivea After Shave Balm

Last shave at home - tomorrow we will be heading to my parents place. I might not shave at all next week. We'll see. I seem to manage the straight well after 2 weeks of safety razors. Yay muscle memory!

Have a good evening!

SOTD 23.12.2023

• Prep: warm water
• Razor: Headblade S4 Lunar Eclipse
• Blade: HB 2
• Brush: none
• Lather: Tolpa - sensitive skin shaving gel
• Post Shave: Thayer's Aloe Vera toner; Natura Siberica ASB gel
• Fragrance: Dior - Eau Sauvage EdP

A quick single pass headshave I did before today's late shift. Not very luxurious, but it got the job done in a short time.

I guess the main part about Headblade products was that they are/were sold as a complete system: razors, shaving gel and aftershave products specially targeted towards bald people. It was innovative, sure; but for the most part it's just very gimmicky. It's actually worse than a normal cartridge razor for shaving behind the ears due to the small size. The Moto was probably their best razor, but unfortunately it doesn't use the 2-blade cartridges. The S4 is based on the ATX design. Unfortunately, most products marketed towards headshavers are simply marketing gimmicks. You can use the same products you use for your face, although I personally don't recommend alcohol aftershaves for your scalp. Given that, I will use up my current stash of HB 2 and not get any replacements thereafter. Safety razors, no matter if DE or SE, just work the same or better for me.

The star of today was my fragrance - Eau Sauvage is described by Dior as "once revolutionary, now a timeless classic". It surely is a very wearable fragrance and very different to the modern mainstream Sauvage. However, to me it's more of a summer scent. For next year, I will try to get more into niche fragrances made by small artisans. Some mainstream offerings smell very good, but they lack definition if you know what I mean - that little "roughness around the edges", the experimental, the avant-garde. You smell like the nice guy next door and that's simply not me. Took me long enough to find out that I don't really appreciate that.

Prep: Splash of Cool Water
Razor: Timeless - Stainless Steel .68 Open Comb
Blade: Gillette - Nacet (Marathon) (538)
Lather: Wholly Kaw Vegan - 1776
Brush: Stirling - Finest CravingtShaving Blue Slate 26mm (42 uses)
Post Shave: Barbedeaux - Razor Bump Therapy

Gear Pic :: Video

䷀ General Notes

Trying the Slurry Lather again with the Stirling Finest Badger and Wholly Kaw vegan formulation. STill not quite right.

I also tried a couple of Barbedeaux products for the first time. I tried the shaving foam as a pre-shave face wash, and I hated the slime it left on my hands.

I also used the splash at the end, and did not like the nasty rubbing alcohol scent... that I've never experienced with folks like Stirling, BaM, Mammoth, Summer Break, Declaration, Proraso .. well, anyone. And the way it conditioned my skin with the food that it has in it (hey, at least there is some) didn't seem to be any better than any of these others. At full price, buying 2 bottles of Stirling is a way better deal, because no alc hit, and you can get scent choice (Barb is basically unscented).

䷀ Razor and Blade Notes

(Timeless - Stainless Steel .68 - Open Comb ::: Gillette - Nacet - M ‹538 uses›)

Tuggy since i was shaving off two days of growth. But after the first pass, allw as comfy. Got a close shave.

Razor and Blade Performance/Comfort Rating: 2 out of 5 (Okay)

䷀ Soap Notes

(Wholly Kaw Vegan - 1776)

Them: "a summer blend perfect for saluting the Fourth of July. It is a refreshing green aroma with notes of osmanthus, benzoin, labdanum, grapefruit, artemisia, tarragon, patchouli, musk, tonka bean, cedarwood."

Me: I did a blind shave with it first, not knowing the notes. I just know that i really enjoyed it.

Scent Strength: 4/10, present during shaving.

Lather... I'd guess I loaded for 80 swirls: 70 at start, and then a refresher later.

So I did have to go back and get more soap and a little more water, but with the Slurry method, that's really a small thing.

But it still is not coming together how The SL method usually does. I see two possible culprits: the brush may be so dense that it doesn't hold as much water as needed, which I think is less likely than... or that the soap just needs more product than usual. That is something I've experienced wtih WK in the past, but I can't remember whether it was vegan or tallow at the time.

I'm going to change one of those variables for next time.

Hydration: Dry End of Perfect (for me)

• 27 sec load with a Very Wet brush
• = 4 passes of lather

Bowl: No Bowl

䷀ Brush Notes

(Stirling - Finest in CravingShaving Blue Slate 26mm ‹42 uses›)

Firm backbone, but somewhat soft tips, as usual. Brush seemed to start out with enough water, but when I needed it in the second pass, not much was there.

During the Shave Feel:
  Cheeks: Tuggy
  Neck: Tuggy
After the Shave Closeness:
  Cheeks: Close Shave
  Neck: Several hairs are showing some tip length (still a pretty good shave)

Ending of Blades Ledger - entry form and the data spreadsheet

December 23, 2023

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Gulf Short 26mm V22 Fanchurian

• Razor: Smart Helix Apollo (setting: 0.85mm Plate)

• Blade: Personna Platinum (3)

• Lather: Løthur - Tears - Soap

• Toner: Thayers - Lavender - Toner

• Aftershave: Combe Inc. - Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue - Aftershave

• Talc: Pinaud Clubman
   
  2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

I haven't used Løthur in a while. I like the products I have (Calm and Tears) and I think that the lather is great. I just don't reach for my Løthur soaps very often.

I do use the Apollo razor a fair amount, though. The 0.85mm plate is the more aggressive of the two, but it is not a large exposure/gap combination. The razor has a long handle which I like, has good weight, and provides close comfortable shaves. I did not make a photo for today, but here is a photo that shows this razor.

Enjoy your weekend!

Travel day shave

• Brush: Omega 50014 Travel Boar Shaving Brush, 21mm
• Razor: Schick Repeating Razor Type B
• Blade: Schick Vintage 20 Injector Magazine (3)
• Lather: Sir Irisch Moos
• Aftershave: Sir Irisch Moos

Today, our vacation started for real and we travelled to the mountains. Djunior loves to travel by train, but this time the bus part of the travel was his highlight. He couldn't believe the hairpin turns and ledge roads that the postal coach took.

a historic post coach on the hairpin turns in the val d'Anniviers. The road still looks the same, the buses don't.

a post coach on a ledge road in val d'Anniviers. This image is taken in summer, you'll just have to imagine the snow.

I packed one of my most space saving sets, and it's also a pretty old school combination. I think every part of this shave would have been available to the first visitors in the 70s when the house we're staying at was built, and the hardware probably even in the 50s when this valley was connected by paved roads and electrified.

The vintage Schick blades really don't show their age (oil soaked injectors ++;), and the Type B is a solid travel razor. The faux badger brush is still a bit scratchy, but that's because I haven't broken it in yet.

No photo today, I'm tired and don't wanna.