Shave of the Day 2015

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StueyB said:
Have a really good look at the razor itself - there might be some minor misalignment of the door or safety bar that might exasperate the irritation. Hopefully it will just be the blade or your angle.
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I did check that after the shave but it was fine and to be honest it was more likely just user error. Thanks for the heads up though!
 
Brush: Semogue 1305
Soap/Cream: Penhaligons Sartorial
Razor: Feather AS-D2
Blade: Feather [3]
After-shave: Shea Moisture AS

First shave using a scuttle - an Aussie HG scuttle. So nice having your lather kept warm through the shave. So nice!

First use of the Sartorial. That scent. That lather. Man o' man!

Regular use of the Shea Moisture. Great stuff. Almost as good as lathering with a 1305.

Superb shave for the last day of the work week.
 
After a much needed facial R&R break, back to the Kamisori learning curve :

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Face Wash: Razorock Lime & Menthol Glycerine soap
Prep: eShave Orange Sandalwood pre-shave oil
Brush: Plisson Synth
Shave Soap: Martin de Candre Traditional (scented) - (Yes, it's as good as the hype suggests)
Razor: Iwasaki Kamisori
After Shave: Fine Orange Noir

A landmark shave today - managed a full 2-pass shave without a single nick or weeper for the first time since starting to use the Kamisori. That was enough to please me very much indeed :):):). And to make me wary of potential overconfidence :unsure::unsure::unsure:..
 
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Brush: Romera Manchurian Finest
Shave: Soap: Catie's Bubbles Black Bergamot
Razor: GEM G-Bar (produced between late 1940's through the 1950's)
Blade: GEM (4)
After Shave: Musgo Real splash

Continuing with my current appreciation of SE razors, I introduce my new GEM G-Bar. This beauty is in near mint condition.

The razor is well balanced and very mild. You never feel that you're going to nick yourself thanks to the flat bar design and limited blade exposure. I whizzed around my face with gay abandon in all directions. Getting a very close shave in 2 passes is a trade-off however, and requires more effort than my benchmark GEM 1912.

The G-Bar would be ideal for a beginner wet shaver.
 
Draco Noir said:
Thanks @Lifes a Peach, the encouragement and support is really appreciated mate :) And kudos for your new SE - she looks wonderful and from what you say sounds like an SE beginners dream (y)
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bald as said:
@Draco Noir congrats on the Kamisori. That would be a wonderful sense of achievement. And @Lifes a Peach the G-bar is beautiful shave. Nice to see you developing your SE horizon.

Steve
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Cheers guys. The G-Bar arrived with a cousin. That's for another week :)
 
Grr, this is the 4th time I've tried to post this.
Tonight I tried out 2 of my recent purchases:
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And
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And the verdict is...

Out.
4 days growth, a change of razor and a change of blade were all too much for me to work out what I think. You'd think I would know by now to just change one thing at a time wouldn't you?

The first pass on my right cheek felt a little tuggy, and it was then that I realised I didn't know quite what it was that caused that. Transferred the blade to the FB (5) and it felt a little less tuggy but still not great.

So for the 2nd pass I tried the new razor with my trusty personna blade, which felt much better. But then so did the FB with the French Gillette blade.

Going to have to do a rerun in the next day or so and see of I can tease apart what I think of the new blades and the new razor, but this time with standard, known other variables.
 
@eggbert , as mentioned earlier these blades are carbon steel and somewhat unfortuntely it seems the very common feedback on any carbon steel blade is that it's more tuggy to use than a stainless varient. I'm really unsure why this would be - as if I equate this over to the knife world the general rule is that carbon steel knives take and tend to hold a better edge than similar quality steeled ones in SS blends. So I'd have thought the carbon steel used for these would possibly have been harder than the SS otherwise used and also able to take a better edge.

Modern day carbons like the Treet's get identical feedback, so it's really a curious thing. I'd love to know why carbon steel safety razor blades seem to get this type of feedback, whereas for straights etc carbon steel is the preferred choice (in my very limited knowledge) for top quality vintage blades.

Real bummer about the shave not being that great but I fear that it's 100% on the blades and there's not much you can do to alleviate this - the ONLY thng I've heard is that this initial tuggyness does tend to mellow after a shave on them.....BUT I don't know whether thats going to be unfeasible given it's going to be a subpar shave. Good writeup anyway.
 
Brush: Commodore X2
Lather: Ferox
Razor: Gold Dollar 66
After Shave: Antesol

Committed to a straight shave only today. No falling back on the DE to neaten up the wake. Healthy way to shave as I usually give up too early. Today was my first S-N under the chin and neck. Tell you what my sphincter was 10x tighter than the skin on my face at the time. Fair bit of resistance, fair bit of sound (feedback) but no cuts and (so far) no irritation (10 minutes post-shave). Would I go to work like this? Not unless I was looking for psych leave (Clinger-style), but I'd say the shave is 85% there. Be interested to see what the folks in town today make of the patchwork.

Lessons Learned:
1. I think the wall I'm hitting with my straight shaves right now are mainly psychological. I need to come to grips with the louder feedback and the greater resistance (than a DE).
2. Mighty glad I went ambidextrous early. All things left still feel odd, but less so and mighty handy in some places.
3. The KEEN is fine - as it seems no more tuggy than the freshly honed GD - I think it's more about #1

From what I read about the Commodore X2 it was the poor cousin of the Duke 2. But I tell you what, so far I am liking it a lot more than the Duke and Classic that I owned. Oddly for a 'cheaper' model (than the D2) the knot's as dense. Some are lucky apparently:
re smaller Commodore X1:
I have tried some other Simpson "small" brushes ,like the 55,Duke 2 or the Berkeley,and I can honestly say that this one was more packed with badger hair than the Duke 2 and almost twice as much as the 55 or the Berkeley.Maybe the person who made this brush was having a wonderful day and reflect it by packing the brush with extra hair
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Backbone is very healthy and yet soft at the tips. The handle is a great shape for face lathering - better than the Duke or Classic for me. Very happy camper (thank @borked ).

Ferox smells better wet than dry to my nose. I need more time with it to get the lather right, and to play it with my stronger hand (DE). Undoubtedly top-shelf stuff, but is it miles better than the Latha? I'm interested to find out.
 
stillshunter said:
Brush: Commodore X2
Lather: Ferox
Razor: Gold Dollar 66
After Shave: Antesol

Committed to a straight shave only today. No falling back on the DE to neaten up the wake.
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Great shave set up and terrific write up. Thanks for your comments. They're helpful. [emoji106]

I think shaving with a str8 is a combo of razor, technique and guts. You need a working harmony to achieve a good shave. [emoji14]
 
stillshunter said:
Ferox smells better wet than dry to my nose. I need more time with it to get the lather right, and to play it with my stronger hand (DE). Undoubtedly top-shelf stuff, but is it miles better than the Latha? I'm interested to find out.
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Scent is a matter of individual nose, but the soap itself is slicker than Latha, no doubt. There's not much in it however, the value of the Latha range is seriously good. Some of the RazoRock stuff is also very worthy and slightly cheaper before postage but that's what kills the value here.

Ferox is a great scent, and every one of us should be very comfortable with it. That familiar tea tree scent of your childhood when everyone's mother had a bottle of Tea Tree Oil & Eucalyptus Oil in the cupboard and would break it out for cleaning, or antiseptic properties. It's very comforting to me because it smells like Australia. Loved having it overseas with me in Malaysia.

Meantime:
Razor: E1 Fatboy (dialled back to 5)
Blade: Wilkinson, modern (3)
Brush: Smog 730HD
Soap/Cream: Simpsons Lavender & Vetiver cream (final)
Post: Pinaud Virgin Islands Bay Rum (courtesy @SydBJW)

Opened up the Simpsons tin and knew this was the last shave out of it. Made it a decent distance in the end and I am happy for the experience to try it. Many thanks to @Mark Watterson for providing the review sample of which I posted here. I will be buying another tin (possibly a different scent) to replace it in the near future, and would recommend you adding a tin to any order direct from Simpsons to help amortise postage costs.

So, now that it is all gone, how do I finish the shave? Slather planet face in Virgin Islands Bay Rum. Cheers Brendan, the other half got very sniffy on me afterwards. Not sure I am a big fan of it but she likes it.
 
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Razor: 1912
Blade: Gem
Brush: S10108
Soap: Haslinger Schafmilch
Aftershave: F/Extra

Here we go again. Another razor where it was clear by the end of the first stroke that I was using a stone cold classic. I was clean shaven after a single pass but I did an XTG as well. Those of you that haven't tried the mighty 1912, do yourselves a favour and do so ASAP. Thanks go to @boldsworth for the razor and @bald as for the blade!
 
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