Shave of the Day 2015

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Face Wash : PAA Menthol Pre-Shave Soap
Pre Shave : Myrsol Emulsion
Brush : Romera Olive Wood 2-Band
Soap : Mondial Bergamot & Neroli
Razor : Kamisori - Hoshi Tombo
After Shave Splash : TOBS Sandalwood

Sailed through the prep phase of the exercise, and was rewarded with a thick and creamy but quite wet lather - exactly what I wanted. The Romera brush seems nicely worn in, and provided a great face feel. Then the part I was really looking forward to - the shave.

From the moment I started the first WTG cheek stroke with the Hoshi, I knew I was in for a great shave today. The thing just glided its way through the stubble without any tugging or pulling whatsoever : just a silky smooth, comfortable and satisfying feeling. I didn't have to check the effectiveness of the pass, I just knew it was working well. This was confirmed when I had the hot water splash getting ready for the next pass. A quick re-lather from the ample amount still left in the Romera, and then an ATG pass to remember - the razor was running over my skin so smoothly I was able to take big sweeps with it - from ear to mouth in one smooth stroke, same with the neck - from jawbone to neckline in a single pass. Third pass? Not needed...

I've had a few really excellent shaves from this razor before, but today took it to a new level. Maybe I'm getting to know it better, or maybe it's just that my mojo was working better than usual today. Whatever, I'm not complaining, and the Hoshi Tombo Kamisori is definitely the razor to beat amongst the traditionally shaped Kamis in my toolkit.
 
Lifes a Peach said:
El Capitan is what Yosemite should have been but the Canon stuff no worky. Hard to believe that the whole thing breaks over an improved upgrade. Sigh
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@Lifes a Peach and whoever else has been shafted with expensive operating systems that don't wanna work with your Canons - try an app called "Rawtherapee" It's a cross-platform, open-source photographic app designed specifically for working with Canon RAW format images. Very powerful, very versatile and free. It's as simple as telling your camera to store the images in *.raw format, then connecting camera to Mac and tweaking/editing/improving your images before saving them as *.jpg.

Good luck guys!
 
Preshave: Proraso green
Razor: Parker 91R
Blade: Wilkinson sword classic
Brush: Muhle XL Silvertip Fiber 25mm
Soap: Shaver Heaven Summer Breeze
Splash: Myrsol Antesol

Nice cool day, with a wonderful breeze. 3 hits of menthol and a cool wind are heaven after yesterdays sweatbox.
 
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Pre-Shave: Occams pre-shave soap, cold water
Razor: ATT M2 Kronos (kindly loaned by @Draco Noir)
Blade: Voskhod (1)
Brush: Vie-Long Epsilon 2-Band
Soap: Stirling Scots Pine​

I had never much luck with vintage OC's they simply never felt comfortable. Unfortunately this one is also not really my style of razor. The shave was smooth and effective, yet I felt a lot of steel in my face the whole time and that's a sensation I can do without. What is more, I would not say, that this razor gave me a closer shave than the M1, yet the M1 feels so much smoother - for me anyway. Now I am a bit worried of the R2 plate, that is still waiting for me...

The scent of this soap is now almost gone - it was very "muttony" when I got it and so I left the lid off for a couple of weeks - but the lather is fantastic. Definitely the easiest lather to build in my tallow stable - maybe mutton tallow has this advantage - and in no way does it take a back seat in the performance department. Thick and slick lather with a great post shave feel.
 
alfredus said:
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Pre-Shave: Occams pre-shave soap, cold water
Razor: ATT M2 Kronos (kindly loaned by @Draco Noir)
Blade: Voskhod (1)
Brush: Vie-Long Epsilon 2-Band
Soap: Stirling Scots Pine​

I had never much luck with vintage OC's they simply never felt comfortable. Unfortunately this one is also not really my style of razor. The shave was smooth and effective, yet I felt a lot of steel in my face the whole time and that's a sensation I can do without. What is more, I would not say, that this razor gave me a closer shave than the M1, yet the M1 feels so much smoother - for me anyway. Now I am a bit worried of the R2 plate, that is still waiting for me...

The scent of this soap is now almost gone - it was very "muttony" when I got it and so I left the lid off for a couple of weeks - but the lather is fantastic. Definitely the easiest lather to build in my tallow stable - maybe mutton tallow has this advantage - and in no way does it take a back seat in the performance department. Thick and slick lather with a great post shave feel.
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Nice photo @alfredus - really like the monotone feel and the controlled reflections on the razor. Makes me want to go and have another shave :confused:
 
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SOTD Wednesday, October 7.
Cold water shave
Soap: Shaver Heaven, Desperado.
Brush: Simpsons Berkeley badger - face lather
Razor: Inoue Fujisuke kamisori

Shaver Heaven produce excellent performong soaps and when the scent is leather; yep it's good. I wondered about a leather scent when I first heard about Desperado, thinking it won't smell like real leather: but it genuinely smells like the real thing.

Had a great morning with the kami. Today went like a dream. No nicks with the closest and smoothest kami shave I've had. Paid particular attention to just under my jaw line and the results were superb.
 
Kamisori: Yamashita
Brush: Omega S10108
Soap: Bald Diddy #1 (Tea Tree, Lavender & Lemon Myrtle)
Aftershave: Nivea Aftershave Balm

Let that be the last time Tea Tree, Lavender & Lemon Myrtle ever meet in a shaving soap. It was my least favourite of today's blends. Off the puck it smelt 'interesting'; on the face it was a full-on olfactory insurgency. I've been left battle scarred and disoriented. I find these scents pleasant individually but their discord is nauseating. In the soap thread I hypothesised that I used too little EO but in fact the reverse is true, at least in this case.

Now I should point out that although I've called this 'Bald Diddy', Steve shares none of the blame for the scent. That was all my doing. His part of the collab was the soap and that was, as usual, superb.

Also my first shave with the Yamashita. Nice razor with even more heft than the Benkei.
 
Draco Noir said:
Nice photo @alfredus - really like the monotone feel and the controlled reflections on the razor. Makes me want to go and have another shave :confused:
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You give me way too much credit @Draco Noir - I definitely control very little in my pictures - I might control gimp, but definitely not the reflections :cry:

khun_diddy said:
Let that be the last time Tea Tree, Lavender & Lemon Myrtle ever meet in a shaving soap.
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I still think that Lavender & Lemon Myrtle could be a killer combination - in the right dosage of course. Why you had to add the Tee Tree and make it all medicinal is of course beyond me :eek:

Maybe just mix the oils (dropwise) together to get the right combinations before wasting @bald as great soaps like that :D
 
@khun_diddy , @alfredus I did mention awhile ago that unscented soaps will probably be the only ones I have any real luck with. Still it was a worthwhile exercise as scent combinations are a real skill. Was an excellent day and @khun_diddy you do have a superb collection of essential oils to work with. Welcome to the rabbit hole.
 
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SOTD Thursday, October 8

Soap: Shaver Heaven, Desperado
Brush: Edwin Jagger badger
Razor: Gold Monkey 6/8

Great soap in performance and scent. The straight is sharp and smooth. My two Dovo's are 5/8's compared to this razor at 6/8 but the increase in blade width is very noticable and quite to my liking. Down the track I hope to get a 7/8 or 8/8 razor and try weilding that.

As I head to work I'll finish it with some home brew bay rum A/S and all is good.
 
2015-10-07 23.49.00 by Osman Mehmed, on Flickr
Preshave: Proraso White
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89L with Windrose handle
Blade: Permasharp Super
Brush: Omega Boar
Soap: Mitchells Wool Fat and Geo F Trumpers Limes
Post Shave: Geo F Trumpers Limes Skin Food
Bowl lathered the MWF and added the Trumpers cream to lift the scent a little and was rewarded with an excellent lather. Haven't used the Permasharp for a while and it is a great performer for me. BBS after 3 easy passes and no cleanup required.
 
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Face Wash : Razorock Lime Menthol Pre-Shave Soap
Pre Shave : Myrsol Emulsion
Brush : Plisson
Soap : Valobra Patchouli
Razor : Kamisori Hybrid - Zubari Hoshimasa
After Shave Splash : Myrsol Blue

Spring is definitely happening here in Melbourne. For all the derision Northerners heap on our weather, there's something special about the march of the seasons, each with its own flavour.

Decided on a slightly old fashioned shave this morning. After a litlle chit-chat here with @possumbelly about Valobra soap, it got the nod. I mentioned earlier that it has an unashamed "soapy" backbone to the scent, enhanced with a dash of Patchouli. I find it very pleasant scent-wise, and it delivers the kind of lather most of us expect from a fine Italian shaving soap. I also found today that you can push it a long way when it comes to adding extra water - ideal for the 2nd or 3rd pass with a straight or Kamisori.

The Zubari Hoshimasa delivered a splendid shave today - smooth. comfortable and very close. I found with the 2nd pass (XTG) that I could get a really close result while barely touching the skin with the blade - @Mark absolutely nailed the sweet spot of sharpness vs comfort with this one. We both agreed this little razor was a real lucky find - neither of us had ever heard of it and it wasn't at all pricey, yet it shaves like a dream.

A quick lap with the alum block, a rinse and a big splash of the olde school Myrsol Blue, and another wonderful shave is unfortunately over....
 
Osman said:
Brush: Omega Boar
Soap: Mitchells Wool Fat and Geo F Trumpers Limes
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Wow @Osman, you're definitely becoming the super and uber lather specialist of our little forum! Some of your recent combos have sounded almost good enough to eat mate. You need to establish a rating system as a guide to the rest of us :) Have you tried the "cherry on the top" and added a few drops of glycerin yet? I'll donate some to the cause just in case....

And how is that Omega Boar? It's the gunmetal grey looking one isn't it?
 
Draco Noir said:
151008_zpsazlajekt.png


Face Wash : Razorock Lime Menthol Pre-Shave Soap
Pre Shave : Myrsol Emulsion
Brush : Plisson
Soap : Valobra Patchouli
Razor : Kamisori Hybrid - Zubari Hoshimasa
After Shave Splash : Myrsol Blue

Spring is definitely happening here in Melbourne. For all the derision Northerners heap on our weather, there's something special about the march of the seasons, each with its own flavour.

Decided on a slightly old fashioned shave this morning. After a litlle chit-chat here with @possumbelly about Valobra soap, it got the nod. I mentioned earlier that it has an unashamed "soapy" backbone to the scent, enhanced with a dash of Patchouli. I find it very pleasant scent-wise, and it delivers the kind of lather most of us expect from a fine Italian shaving soap. I also found today that you can push it a long way when it comes to adding extra water - ideal for the 2nd or 3rd pass with a straight or Kamisori.

The Zubari Hoshimasa delivered a splendid shave today - smooth. comfortable and very close. I found with the 2nd pass (XTG) that I could get a really close result while barely touching the skin with the blade - @Mark absolutely nailed the sweet spot of sharpness vs comfort with this one. We both agreed this little razor was a real lucky find - neither of us had ever heard of it and it wasn't at all pricey, yet it shaves like a dream.

A quick lap with the alum block, a rinse and a big splash of the olde school Myrsol Blue, and another wonderful shave is unfortunately over....
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Looks beaut!
"...another wonderful shave is unfortunately over...." - you could move onto areas beyond the face to prolong things perhaps.
 
Draco Noir said:
Wow @Osman, you're definitely becoming the super and uber lather specialist of our little forum! Some of your recent combos have sounded almost good enough to eat mate. You need to establish a rating system as a guide to the rest of us :) Have you tried the "cherry on the top" and added a few drops of glycerin yet? I'll donate some to the cause just in case....

And how is that Omega Boar? It's the gunmetal grey looking one isn't it?
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Thanks @Draco Noir I do enjoy experimenting with the lather. This was certainly one of the better combinations as the Trumpers scent was nice and robust and the combination with the MWF just lifted it tremendously. Yes I must try a few drops of glycerin, let the experimentation continue. MWF and Martin de Candre with a suitable cream have produced the best uber lathers. At this moment I would say the combination of the Trumpers and MWF has produced my favourite uber lather. Saponificio Varesino did not give the same results. The Omega boar is coming along very nicely thanks very much and it is the gunmetal one.
20151007_234347 by Osman Mehmed, on Flickr
 
Kamisori: Yamashita
Brush: Omega S10108
Soap: Barrister & Mann Latha
Aftershave: Proraso Green

The Yamashita isn't quite as keen as I'd like. It gets the job done but with a touch of tuggyness. It'll probably be the first kami I throw on my new J-nat.

Latha continues to grow on me. The only complaint I have is the small radius of the tub it comes in. It was certainly nice to return to a soap with fragrance that wasn't at psychedelic LD50 levels.
 
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