Shave of the Day Thread - 2016

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20160108_074419 by Osman Mehmed, on Flickr
Preshave: Top Seven Emulsion
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89 with Windrose Handle
Blade: Polsilver SI
Brush: Shavemac 177 Black
Soap: Van Yulay Chocolate Glaciado
Post Shave: Stray Whisker Balm and Alt Innsbruck
Three pass shave to a no irritation BBS result. The Van Yulay is a very easy to load and good performing soap. Post shave is also very good. The Stray Whisker balm is a beauty. Scent is subtle and doesn't linger so thirty minutes later when I add my after shave it doesn't interfere. The Alt Innsbruck is so fine. Ready for lunch.
 
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Face Wash : Shower
Pre-Shave : Myrsol Emulsion
Brush : Trumper SB3
Soap : Saponificio Varesino - Tundra Artica
Razor : Iwasaki Kamisori
After Shave : Tom Ford Venetian Bergamot

Simply Perfect...​
 
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First shave with the Parker 567 I honed on the jnat this morning. Oh boy, sharp is not the word! Gotten used to coticule hones which are duller but this, oh boy! Helped by the steel on the Parker which is exceptional. So easy to work. I don't mean soft and I don't mean hard. You could just feel that very edge right on the stone. Exquisite!

Peppermint Plus. Oh @Anthony this scent. Nailed it my friend. And performance, as is customary for a ShaverHeaven lather, absolutely nailed. Great work mate....not that there was ever any doubt.

A damned close shave to greet the missus with - well she doesn't arrive until tonight so.
 
Friday morning
Razor: HD
Blade: Derby Extra (3)
Soap: Shaver Heaven Dragon Noir
Brush: Penworks Silvertip
A/S: Bravas
ASB: Gaia Organic ASB

Firs shave with the Dragon Noir. Nice soap but need to get the right combo of brush, water and soap. So far I'm impressed.
 
From last night: I'm still waiting on a particular honing stone so I've decided to go Adjustable Schick SE until it arrives. Also I'm beginning to appreciate why Godrej Menthol mist is regarded highly by a lot of people. Apply with finger A comfortable 2 pass DFS and done in a really short space of time. I'm considering taking an unscented soap I've made that is great for a straight and mixing about 75/25 Godrej cream/my soap to see how it performs. The menthol would be less but it could work well - or not.

Postie just arrived with my Surgical black so I will lap it and begin prepping the hone surface and maybe have time to hone a blade for tonight.
 
unobtainium81 said:
I was lucky that a guy in the UK had a connection in Italy who found a few well stored blocks.
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A block of white solid "soap" obtained through "connections" who "found" some that had fallen off the back of the proverbial truck? :whistle:
 
20160109_080432 by Osman Mehmed, on Flickr
Preshave: Top Seven Emulsion
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89 with Windrose Handle
Blade: Rapira Swedish Supersteel
Brush: Semogue 1305
Soap: Mystic Water Sweet Briar
Post Shave: Nivea Balm and Floid Vigoroso
Two pass shave was all that was needed for a comfortable, irritation free, close shave. This is a brilliant soap. Within 30 secs of loading I had oodles of lather. Straight into a face lather and after adding water as I went along rewarded with a superb lather. Creamy , slick with plenty of cushion. Post shave was also excellent with my skin feeling soft and moisturised. The scent is a pipe tobacco which is subtle and pleasant. Straight into top five soaps with a bullet.
 
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Face Wash : PAA Menthol Glycerine Soap
Pre-Shave : Alt Innsbruck Emulsion
Brush : Simpsons Chubby #1
Soap : Savon a Barbe
Razor : Hoshi Tombo 4000
After Shave : Tom Ford Noir Extreme

It started out as just a no fuss Saturday shave, but delivered a really enjoyable shave experience. The Savon a Barbe Donkey's Milk soap really is a wonderful product, one that I overlook too often in my crowded (!) soap cabinet. The Chubby produced a wonderful, rich but not too thick lather from it, ready for the razor. Ah, the razor - what can I say? Looks like a little toy, shaves like the big boys. It really is small, so small that it may not be usable for guys with really large hands. However it works beautifully for me - agile, responsive and very efficient. 2 passes produced a great result, better than I'd planned on. Finished it off with a splash of Tom Ford Noir Extreme (free sample, sadly)....
 
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Was resolved to having a day off today, but since I spent a few hours honing I had to test shave.

I have been struggling with the coticule on harder steel. Happy with the oh so smooth results on Sheffields but just not getting the same result on something like Solingens (some of my favourite steel). But some sterling advice from @Mark , about spending more time working through dilutions towards clear water, and I had something far better looking under the microscope.

But how was it on the face?

Firstly though, my inaugural outing with the LEA Classic soap. The long and the short of it. Fucking great soap. No kidding fellas this is MWF good. ...and MWF temperamental too. But I followed some instructions online - charging it a little wetter - and KABOOM! Yoghurty goodness. Scent is manliness, glide is great for straights and post-shave feel is all there wetness wise. Seriously fellas, seriously consider the purchase. You don't even have to go OS for this, there's stock ready for despatch via @Anthony at ShaverHeaven (http://shaverheaven.com.au/lea-classic-shaving-soap-wooden-bowl/).

So set up well by the lather, first stroke with the Fritz Bracht Tennis (yeah that's what Dovo was once called ;)) and oooooohhhhhhh yeah! Smooooth as! Superb shave. I got a coticule edge on a Solingen. Took a hell of a lot longer than my first attempts but so worth it. Funny thing about these coticule edges is they seem to somehow skip over bumps and blemishes on the face rather than, as a Japanese edge, just go through it. I concede the shave doesn't feel quite as close, by a bee's foreskin, but no sting in this tail my friends. So nice.
 
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Pre-Shave: Occams pre-shave soap, cold water
Razor: RazoRock Stealth Slant V1
Blade: Gillette Goal (1)
Brush: Whipped Dog 24mm Synthetic
Lather: Mike's Lime
Post-shave: Alum, Stirling Coniferous alcohol free Witch Hazel, South Australian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil​

As recommended by @Draco Noir I did a 3 pass shave today skipping the WTG pass. Very interesting and it did work. However the result was not quiet as close as I like. Maybe it is the blade or the mild razor - in any case I will definitely experiment with this shave in the future - but maybe with my more aggressive DE's.

Finally managed to get a Mike's lather I want with the synth - it takes almost more time than with a badger because of the water retention (or the lack of it) - cut a long story short start with a super dry brush and once you have the cream like proto lather add slowly water - takes more time than with my big boys, but the result is (besides the face feel) the same - a bathroom full of lather :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Brush: Vintage Simpson Butterscotch
Soap/Cream: MÜHLE Shaving Cream Sea Buckthorn
Razor: Vintage Gillette L1 Slim Adjustable (7)
Blade: Vintage English Wilkinson Sword (11)
Post-shave: Penhaligon's Opus 1870 Balm

Most of the time my SOTDs are uneventful - so not worth posting. I was away yesterday morning too and didn't want to confess to the 'on the road' shave then!

Back home today though an back to another old favourite. I got the Edwin Jagger version of the MÜHLE Shaving Cream Sea Buckthorn as a sample with the purchase of my first brush (an EJ badger). I loved the scent and post shave feel then - and still do!

I didn't have much in the way of post shave products then - picked up the Opus 1870 from somebody on a forum and fell in love! Since these two were my then 'best' products they formed a partnership that continues to this day :)

The Vintage English Wilkinson Sword from @Pjotr is on shave 11 and still going strong. It could go further but Sunday is my traditional 'new blade day' - so it will get swapped out, I can't be sure it will be quite so good in another week.

Might even change the razor tomorrow too. The Slim is great but feeling like a change is in order. Now, what shall I pick ...
 
bald as said:
A complete change of pace? Try a mild SE or an adjustable Schick on about 2-3.
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Hmmm, not sure my MMOC counts as a mild SE - will have to look at what else I have. I do have a Schick adjustable somewhere - not sure where though.

Might grab my Kirby, oh that is right, I don't have one - @filobiblic has them all! ;)
 
Well I do believe I've attained hone happy status. I took a blade that was just [nearly] ok and went back to a 3k semi bevel set then started work with my new Arkansas hones. Soft - hard and Surgical black. I made my up own honing oil and got stuck in. I thought the 4x2 Surgical black would be a pain but hand held it was brilliant. The other two hones are 8x2 table top hones. Finished with jute and leather and wow. Arkansas hones are really different in feel to hone on. And I really like honing with oil.

So sharp and so smooth. The Godrej Menthol mist was good with this blade being so nice. DFS and very pleased.
 
Saturday 9 January 2016

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Belgian Williams Shave​

I am still testing the new shaving products I recently bought in Belgium and it is interesting to see how a product changes from country to country. This is the case of Aqua Velva after shave, for example. I am particularly fond of this after shave, in particular because it was my father's favorite and I like it both for its fragrance and performance. The Aqua Velva sold in Belgium seems to be quite different from the one sold in Italy. Fragrance is notably different, although having the same base nuances, the INCI is quite different, not just a matter of ingredient types but also of sequence. In terms of performance, they are both good. I also used this Williams shaving cream, bought in Belgium, and it did not impress me that much. A good soap but not the best, besides the fact it tends to easily dry on the skin. The icing on the cake was of course my awesome Mastro Livi CarboInox razor: a striking combination of beauty and excellence of smoothness, giving a superb and close shave.​
  • Pre-Shave: RazorGuy Pre-Shave Oil
  • Soap: Williams Shaving Cream
  • Brush: Omega Bristle Brush 80266
  • Strop: Mastro Livi Travel Loom Strop and Hand Palm
  • Razor: Mastro Livi CarboInox, 6/8 Full Hollow, Barber's Notch
  • Post-Shave: Alum Block
  • Post-Shave: Argan Oil
  • After Shave: Aqua Velva
 
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