this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2024
4 points (83.3% liked)

WetShaving

812 readers
11 users here now

This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.

New subscribers welcome!

Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.

πŸͺ’ Check out these alternative front-ends for this server:

https://gem.wetshaving.social/ - a nice modern interface

Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social/.

πŸͺ’ Track the uptime of our various services here:

https://uptime.selfhost.ing/status/wetshaving

πŸͺ’ Community Rules

Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
Rule 4 - Advertising
Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Share your shave of the day!

top 29 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

April 27, 2024

  • Brush: Maggard 24mm 2 Band Badger
  • Razor: Chiseled Face - Legacy Raw Titanium (#69)
  • Blade: Gillette Perma-Sharp (3)
  • Lather: Barrister & Mann - Lyssa - Soap
  • Post Shave: Barrister & Mann - Lyssa - Aftershave
  • Post Shave: Nivea Sensitive Balm

I think this is my last tub of Excelsior based soap. I love Excelsior.

[–] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why do you think Will stopped making Excelsior?

[–] djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It was weirdly controversial, bordering on unpopular. During the tests, one of the other candidates was more popular: Soft hearts. Will felt it was too soft and people would resent how quickly it gets used up, so we went with the firmer Excelsior. Omnibus was the result of Will researching ways to make Soft Hearts firmer. So it feels like Will was never fully happy with Excelsior.

This was before I became interested in wetshaving. Always happy to get some of the lore.

[–] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I've heard some people don't like it and find it drying. My skin gets dried out pretty easily and I've never had that problem with Excelsior. It takes a large amount of water and I think most people don't have the patience to get Excelsior to its "sweet spot".

Omnibus also takes a huge amount of water, but it's more forgiving if you don't spend the time getting it wet. I'm still undecided on which base I prefer, as I love them both.

Soft Heart was in the middle of the two, and unlike @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social I don't think Ominibus was a natural progression, although I'm not sure that's why he meant. I feel like it was a new direction towards a different type of lather.

I do prefer Excelsior and Omnibus to Soft Heart, as I find SH to be a tad bit on the poofy side.

I also have an opinion about the Reserve base, but nobody asked so I'll stop here before I write a book!

I have samples in both Excelsior and Reserve. I honestly have no issue with either. I haven't tried Soft Heart. And, Omnibus works just fine by me. No issues with the amount of water it takes. I just add water until it's done :)

[–] djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

unlike @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social I don’t think Ominibus was a natural progression

Hear it from the horse's mouth: "I started with Modified Soft Heart and improved it"

@gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social

[–] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't believe it! They are so much different.

Yeah, omnibus has this greasy lather (term coined by u/pppork) similar to Highland. I don't dislike these modern bases, but I'm not convinced it's a step forward either.

[–] djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

so I'll stop here before I write a book!

I'd be interested in the reserve book!

[–] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

##The Book of Reserve

New tubs were easy to load and had a gooey "proto lather". After a year or two it gets really firm and loading enough soap can be an exercise.

The soap itself is good as long as you can load enough of it!

The End

I like the gooey proto lather. Like Shannon's and milk steak

Yeah, Excelsior is fantastic!

Saturday Morning

  • Brush: Boti Sunrise
  • Razor: Koraat Sparschweinchen (7/8", "Sheffield-style" full hollow, carbon steel)
  • Lather: Stirling Soap Co. Friends to the End
  • Aftershave: Stirling Soap Co. Friends to the End
  • Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. Friends to the End

Great shave this morning, and FttE got me an "Oooh, you smell really good" from the missus today, so this day started really nice.

[–] whosgotthepudding@sub.wetshaving.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

4/27/24

  • Brush: Farvour Turn Crafts w/ C&H v12 Fanchurian
  • Razor: Ralf Aust 6/8, Full Hollow Square Point
  • Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Windy City Barbershop
  • Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. - Windy City Barbershop Aftershave Splash

It would seem the thrill of this Kanayama has me shaving again every day.

[–] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Interesting. I find the draw of the cordovan to be wonderful but cannot detect any difference in edge-alignment performance between the Kanoyama and my Tony Miller strops. This doesn’t stop me using the Kanoyama, though :)

[–] whosgotthepudding@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's just the thrill of having one, much less such a nice one. It's been a nice change up from my Black Latigo. There will always be room for my Tony Miller!

I agree. I am thrilled to have one.

[–] PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are they still selling these strops ?; I thought they were out of production.

[–] whosgotthepudding@sub.wetshaving.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, they're out of production. Mr. Naomi Kanoyama retired in 2022. I stumbled on this NOS #80000 on ebay for a crazy good price, less than hour after being listed.

[–] PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm wondering how much she'll cordovan strop contributes, and how much this specific Nakayama does

This specific Kanayama plays a huge part. An absolute Grail find.

[–] djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Kanayama being the shell cordovan strop?

[–] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

April 27, 2024

  • Brush: Wolfman WRB2 Bronze w/AP Shave Co MiG 26mm Premium Hybrid

  • Razor: Wade & Butcher 6/8 Hollow Ground

  • Lather: Wholly Kaw - PasteurVision - Soap

  • Toner: Thayers - Rose - Toner

  • Aftershave: Elysian Soap Shop - El Dorado - Aftershave

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.


PasteurVision is another soap that I purchased at the Maggard Meetup. Another winner for me. I think if you like Amber Bomba (I'm lookin' at you @whosgotthepudding ), you'll love this one. I don't have the splash. El Dorado complements it nicely, though.

This shave was a test shave and the results were just great. The razor belongs to u/VisceralWatch and it came back for honing because the edge has never been quite right. We thought that maybe, during restoration, someone overheated the edge and changed the temper there. I think this might have happened. Sometimes these problems will only reside at the very edge of a blade. With this sharpening, I think we have honed through the bad metal and are now into the good stuff. I made a video of the sharpening. Naturally, the final verdict remains with Mr. Watch.

[–] djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You're on fire with the videos these days! I only just caught up with the Ern razor video πŸ˜…

Thanks for the great content!

Oh! I think the Ern video is the one where I fumble through the importance of minimizing impact between abrasive particles and the razor’s edge without actually getting into any classical mechanics. In real time, I remember thinking you would be chuckling over this.

[–] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thank you! VisceralWatch tells me that he uses them to go to sleep :) Perhaps I should skip the voice-over audio and just do ASMR.

One day mister watch will also start honing razors, and then he'll go back watching all the ends he slept throughπŸ˜„