Shave of the Day Thread - 2022

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SpeedyPC said:
I wouldn’t add any essential oils, because, they’ll completely clashed with any fragrance ETD or cologne. I strongly recommend not to add essential oils into the witch hazel, and this can irritate your skin, if you clashed any fragrance cologne.

I only add tea tree oil which is an antibacterial, but, not too much which can burn the skin and also the plastic bottle, 5 drops is the maximum benefit for your skin.

FYI below about Tea Tree oil

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262944#benefits
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Thanks, good considerations. I added 7 drops in the larger Thayer's bottle, I'll take a look at the link soon.
 
Went in for another shave this morning - Yaqi Tile, Nacet, B&M Seville, Yaqi 26mm Moka Badger.... but for the life of me couldn't get a decent lather with the badger brush. I tried shaving with the very subpar foamy watery mess after 10 mins of trying... with predictable results (turns out the Tile can nick you - not really any cutting). What are the tricks I need to know about using Badger brushes? I pre-soaked while I was in the shower. Does it take some time for the hairs to build up a residual coating before they lather correctly? I actually gave up and went back to the Yaqi plisson 24mm knot, which got a great lather in a few mins for the subsequent passes.
 
thatguy said:
Went in for another shave this morning - Yaqi Tile, Nacet, B&M Seville, Yaqi 26mm Moka Badger.... but for the life of me couldn't get a decent lather with the badger brush. I tried shaving with the very subpar foamy watery mess after 10 mins of trying... with predictable results (turns out the Tile can nick you - not really any cutting). What are the tricks I need to know about using Badger brushes? I pre-soaked while I was in the shower. Does it take some time for the hairs to build up a residual coating before they lather correctly? I actually gave up and went back to the Yaqi plisson 24mm knot, which got a great lather in a few mins for the subsequent passes.
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I’m the other way. I have difficulty in getting a lather with synthetic brushes. My absolute favourite to get a lather is a boar brush.
 
Been away for a few days 'holiday' (as if being retired isn't enough holiday anyway).
Took my gear bag from trucking days as it holds all my pills, potions, razor, blades, etc.
My 'going away somewhere' razor is the Fatip Piccolo and this combined with a Minora stainless gave me a great shave.
I had forgotten just how well a wee Piccolo shaves. Very smooth and comfortable.
I really must free it from travel duties, and use it in my rotation more.
Although I do know a nice Gillette OLD would be (slightly) better, I haven't found a nice one yet.
Anyway, it was nice to rediscover the Piccolo. No drama, no flashy stuff...just does it's work with no effort.
Pleased I took it away with me.
 
thatguy said:
Went in for another shave this morning - Yaqi Tile, Nacet, B&M Seville, Yaqi 26mm Moka Badger.... but for the life of me couldn't get a decent lather with the badger brush. I tried shaving with the very subpar foamy watery mess after 10 mins of trying... with predictable results (turns out the Tile can nick you - not really any cutting). What are the tricks I need to know about using Badger brushes? I pre-soaked while I was in the shower. Does it take some time for the hairs to build up a residual coating before they lather correctly? I actually gave up and went back to the Yaqi plisson 24mm knot, which got a great lather in a few mins for the subsequent passes.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it may have been a problem with your water to soap ratio (i.e either too much water or didn't load the brush long enough)
 
Blackie said:
Been away for a few days 'holiday' (as if being retired isn't enough holiday anyway).
Took my gear bag from trucking days as it holds all my pills, potions, razor, blades, etc.
My 'going away somewhere' razor is the Fatip Piccolo and this combined with a Minora stainless gave me a great shave.
I had forgotten just how well a wee Piccolo shaves. Very smooth and comfortable.
I really must free it from travel duties, and use it in my rotation more.
Although I do know a nice Gillette OLD would be (slightly) better, I haven't found a nice one yet.
Anyway, it was nice to rediscover the Piccolo. No drama, no flashy stuff...just does it's work with no effort.
Pleased I took it away with me.
Click to expand...

My 'going away somewhere' razor is a Fatip Piccolo, too. It looks good and it does the job very well.
 
thatguy said:
Went in for another shave this morning - Yaqi Tile, Nacet, B&M Seville, Yaqi 26mm Moka Badger.... but for the life of me couldn't get a decent lather with the badger brush. I tried shaving with the very subpar foamy watery mess after 10 mins of trying... with predictable results (turns out the Tile can nick you - not really any cutting). What are the tricks I need to know about using Badger brushes? I pre-soaked while I was in the shower. Does it take some time for the hairs to build up a residual coating before they lather correctly? I actually gave up and went back to the Yaqi plisson 24mm knot, which got a great lather in a few mins for the subsequent passes.
Click to expand...

Errol said:
I’m the other way. I have difficulty in getting a lather with synthetic brushes. My absolute favourite to get a lather is a boar brush.
Click to expand...
Same here I cannot for the life of me get a good lather with synthetic

Hos said:
Sounds like it may have been a problem with your water to soap ratio (i.e either too much water or didn't load the brush long enough)
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Agreed

The main lesson I learnt with badgers is after soaking gently squeeze as much water as you can without being aggressive ie: hold the squeeze for twice as long as you originally intended or go for a second gentle long squeeze. Think of wringing out a towel, but gently so you don't tear the fibres. You can always slowly add more water but harder to add soap if the brush is saturated unless following the Marco Method.

Blackie said:
My 'going away somewhere' razor is the Fatip Piccolo and this combined with a Minora stainless gave me a great shave.
Click to expand...
Hos said:
My 'going away somewhere' razor is a Fatip Piccolo, too. It looks good and it does the job very well.
Click to expand...
Piccolo is too good to be out of rotation (y)(y)
 
Pre-shave:- Shower
Brush:- Elite Razor - 24mm White Manchurian
Soap:- RazoRock - The Dead Sea
Razor:- Hawk v3-OC
Blade:- Schick P-30 (7)
Aftershave:- RazoRock - The Dead Sea

ThKS3oy.jpg


The soap base is one of the best I have tried from RazoRock their glass jars (The Dead Sea and Sant Maria Del Fiore) are excellent performers and with a scent profile of lemon, Rosemary, Cannabis, Saffron and Sandalwood it smells very light and summery, perfect for a nice Spring day or Darwin dry season
 
It always makes me grind my teeth and roll my eyes when I read that some people say they can't raise a lather with synthetics/badgers/boars. Seems to me you're not putting enough effort into loading. Sure, they all feel a bit different while you're loading, but providing your brush isn't too wet it'll still work. I give the bristles a good, hard, long squeeze to get almost all the water out, then load the hell out of my soap until I think I've got enough.Then I load it some more. If I've made my brush too dry, I sometimes add a drop or three to the surface of the soap (I don't go in for blooming) to make things easier. It doesn't hurt to smoosh the bristles into the soap a bit, so long as you don't overdo it and damage them.

From there, it's just a matter of adding drops of water to your brush (or bowl) SLOWLY while beating up your lather. You can add water more quickly once you've got more lather to work with.

I make no claims to authority on this (IIRC I think @alfredus outlines something similar early in the Lather Shots thread). Some soaps take more time and/or water than others (Stirling for instance takes lots of both, Valobra I find comparatively quick). Soap is only soap. It's not a snob about brushes, you can get just as good a lather with a $20 synthetic as with a $200 badger.
 
thatguy said:
It's fantastic! Have you tried adding other essential oils to add to the scent slightly? I think I saw some posts where you had lavender oil and something else?

I was thinking maybe cassia(cinnamon) and lemon myrtle or bergamot might change it up a little, but if others have experimented already, I'd be keen to hear experiences.
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When I made up my brew I didn't have any Tea Tree Oil left so I used Lime, which I'm a big fan of anyway, and it's good. Lime is fairly subtle and doesn't last long, so it doesn't matter if I then want to use aftershave/EDT.
 
thatguy said:
Went in for another shave this morning - Yaqi Tile, Nacet, B&M Seville, Yaqi 26mm Moka Badger.... but for the life of me couldn't get a decent lather with the badger brush. I tried shaving with the very subpar foamy watery mess after 10 mins of trying... with predictable results (turns out the Tile can nick you - not really any cutting). What are the tricks I need to know about using Badger brushes? I pre-soaked while I was in the shower. Does it take some time for the hairs to build up a residual coating before they lather correctly? I actually gave up and went back to the Yaqi plisson 24mm knot, which got a great lather in a few mins for the subsequent passes.
Click to expand...

How old is the badger brush? Natural hair brushes can take a long time to 'bed in' so to speak. Some can easily be 20 uses before they become good.

I like to soak my badger or boar brushes for 24 hours, dry them by lightly running the bristles up and down a towel then repeating for another 24 hours. This can hasten the wearing in process.

After that, before use, I'll soak it in warm tap water while I'm in the shower. Gently squeeze some of that water into your lather bowl and load up the brush.
 
Blackie said:
Been away for a few days 'holiday' (as if being retired isn't enough holiday anyway).
Took my gear bag from trucking days as it holds all my pills, potions, razor, blades, etc.
My 'going away somewhere' razor is the Fatip Piccolo and this combined with a Minora stainless gave me a great shave.
I had forgotten just how well a wee Piccolo shaves. Very smooth and comfortable.
I really must free it from travel duties, and use it in my rotation more.
Although I do know a nice Gillette OLD would be (slightly) better, I haven't found a nice one yet.
Anyway, it was nice to rediscover the Piccolo. No drama, no flashy stuff...just does it's work with no effort.
Pleased I took it away with me.
Click to expand...
Look for a New short comb, shaves just like an old. It'll have the Gillette diamond in the middle next to the handle hole, like this.

Razor651-GilletteShortCombNew-1930-VG_03.jpg
 
Nanook said:
How old is the badger brush? Natural hair brushes can take a long time to 'bed in' so to speak. Some can easily be 20 uses before they become good.

I like to soak my badger or boar brushes for 24 hours, dry them by lightly running the bristles up and down a towel then repeating for another 24 hours. This can hasten the wearing in process.

After that, before use, I'll soak it in warm tap water while I'm in the shower. Gently squeeze some of that water into your lather bowl and load up the brush.
Click to expand...

Literally the first use, hence the questions :)

I suspected it might take some time after the morning rush it created. Oh.. and when I squeeze lather out, the soap is picking up a brown colour? Is that normal as it gets washed and used a few times?
 
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