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The wonderful excesses of acquisition disorders...and wet shaving
- Thread starter Dagwoodz
- Start date
Another shave in the books, this time with some fresh software that landed Saturday from Maggard Razors. I restocked one of my all-time favorites, Barrister & Mann Le Grand Chypre (soap + splash), and finally pulled the trigger on a new-to-me scent: Noble Otter’s Card Series “King” in matching soap and aftershave.
As soon as the package was cracked open I stuck my nose in the King jar and immediately thought, “Well hello, Creed Aventus’ burly older brother.” It’s not a clone (Noble Otter never claimed it was), but once you’re past the opening, the family resemblance is unmistakable. Where Aventus leads with that bright, juicy pineapple, King opens with grapefruit and white flowers touched by rosemary. The real overlap hits in the heart and base: smoky guaiac wood, cedar, oakmoss, and a big, slightly dirty musk that feels like Aventus after it spent a decade chopping firewood and acquired a pipe habit. If modern Aventus is the polished metrosexual hipster borrowing rugged aesthetics, King is the actual woodsman—rougher, earthier, and proudly less refined. I can't say it's my favorite scent of all time, but there is definitely a lot to love about it. As far as what season it's appropriate for, it's definitely an all season scent with the exception being the hottest of days where the smokey earthiness might get a bit on the overpowering side. What would push it higher on my personal favorites list is a brighter, more persistent citrus top and a base where tonka and vanilla stepped forward instead of letting the oakmoss, amber, cedar, and guaiac dominate quite so much.
The aftershave leans even smokier on skin (alcohol kills most of the citrus top anyway), but the longevity is impressive. Six or seven hours later I was still catching pleasant whiffs, and I definitely left a scent trail when I walked back through rooms. Solid performance for an artisanal splash.
The shave itself was good but not flawless. I didn’t load quite enough King soap and over-hydrated a touch, so the lather was a little thin and airy. Still protective, but not the cushion I remember from older Noble Otter tubs. I’ll reserve judgment until shave #2—user error feels like the culprit here. Razor lineup: my trusty C.V. Heljestrand Mk 31 handled the first four passes (yes, four—I’m thorough), while the neck ATG and cleanup went to the Bronze General with a Feather AC Pro on its third use. Brush was the 2019 Declaration Grooming 28mm badger. Result: BBS with just a hint of irritation from some over-buffing under the chin corners. Twenty-four hours later I’m still sitting at a comfortable BBS-, so I’ll call it a win.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I’m planning to hop on the Sunday morning Zoom shave call for at least a few minutes, though the household chaos might keep me brief.
All in all, King is a keeper. If you like your Aventus vibes darker, smokier, and a little less polite, this one’s going to make you very happy.
As soon as the package was cracked open I stuck my nose in the King jar and immediately thought, “Well hello, Creed Aventus’ burly older brother.” It’s not a clone (Noble Otter never claimed it was), but once you’re past the opening, the family resemblance is unmistakable. Where Aventus leads with that bright, juicy pineapple, King opens with grapefruit and white flowers touched by rosemary. The real overlap hits in the heart and base: smoky guaiac wood, cedar, oakmoss, and a big, slightly dirty musk that feels like Aventus after it spent a decade chopping firewood and acquired a pipe habit. If modern Aventus is the polished metrosexual hipster borrowing rugged aesthetics, King is the actual woodsman—rougher, earthier, and proudly less refined. I can't say it's my favorite scent of all time, but there is definitely a lot to love about it. As far as what season it's appropriate for, it's definitely an all season scent with the exception being the hottest of days where the smokey earthiness might get a bit on the overpowering side. What would push it higher on my personal favorites list is a brighter, more persistent citrus top and a base where tonka and vanilla stepped forward instead of letting the oakmoss, amber, cedar, and guaiac dominate quite so much.
The aftershave leans even smokier on skin (alcohol kills most of the citrus top anyway), but the longevity is impressive. Six or seven hours later I was still catching pleasant whiffs, and I definitely left a scent trail when I walked back through rooms. Solid performance for an artisanal splash.
The shave itself was good but not flawless. I didn’t load quite enough King soap and over-hydrated a touch, so the lather was a little thin and airy. Still protective, but not the cushion I remember from older Noble Otter tubs. I’ll reserve judgment until shave #2—user error feels like the culprit here. Razor lineup: my trusty C.V. Heljestrand Mk 31 handled the first four passes (yes, four—I’m thorough), while the neck ATG and cleanup went to the Bronze General with a Feather AC Pro on its third use. Brush was the 2019 Declaration Grooming 28mm badger. Result: BBS with just a hint of irritation from some over-buffing under the chin corners. Twenty-four hours later I’m still sitting at a comfortable BBS-, so I’ll call it a win.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I’m planning to hop on the Sunday morning Zoom shave call for at least a few minutes, though the household chaos might keep me brief.
All in all, King is a keeper. If you like your Aventus vibes darker, smokier, and a little less polite, this one’s going to make you very happy.
Well, mail calls all came in. The one I was most looking forward to, Wholly Kaw's Chaos seems like it will be an interesting shave. The scent seems a bit muted out of the tub. I would imagine it will open up once water and a brush is introduced. Also picked up another alum bar (I've used Gentleman Jon alum the entirety of my wetshaving existence, and am down to a small sliver from the original bar I bought 10 years ago), so another GJ alum bar and a Kent pocket comb to keep my hair in check at the office. Also bought a countertop organizer for the bathroom. It's going to mean dumping off much of SWMBO's spill over back to her side of the vanity area. I'm sure that will get a few comments, but...worth it. So, here are the latest additions to the den:
Barrister & Mann Fougere Angelique (soap and splash)
Noble Otter King (soap and splash)
Barrister & Mann Le Grand Chypre (soap and splash)
Wholly Kaw Chaos (soap and splash)
New Feather AC Pro's
If I had thought a bit more when I placed my WK order, I would have thrown in a tub of the King of Oud soap since mine is buried. (I have the splash available)
I'm debating on anything else I might want to add. Possibly some EdT/EdP's from some of these artisans. Looking for recommendations...if you have any, drop them below. Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!
Barrister & Mann Fougere Angelique (soap and splash)
Noble Otter King (soap and splash)
Barrister & Mann Le Grand Chypre (soap and splash)
Wholly Kaw Chaos (soap and splash)
New Feather AC Pro's
If I had thought a bit more when I placed my WK order, I would have thrown in a tub of the King of Oud soap since mine is buried. (I have the splash available)
I'm debating on anything else I might want to add. Possibly some EdT/EdP's from some of these artisans. Looking for recommendations...if you have any, drop them below. Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!
Hey ho, here we go again.
New software setup for me. This time it's Wholly Kaw Chaos. Now, I have to caveat my experience with this soap. Every WK soap that I've ever tried which does not have a very dark or heavy top note smells very similar to me. I believe that is because of all of the moisturizers that they have put into the soap base. It gives it a very floral quality of scent which is quite powerful for a soap base. This soap was no different, as the top notes were fairly bright, causing the soap base scent to come through in a pretty dominant fashion. Since this was before work, no straight shave today. Just a quick jobber with the Bronze General SE with the Feather AC Pro on its 4th shave. A 20 second load with the Wolf Whiskers tuxedo brush was enough to generate a good 1/2 bowl of lather in the Timeless lather bowl.
The scent:
The scent was still coming through mainly as the soap base, with some of the accents giving a nostalgic jog to remembered scents of previously used WK offerings. This was a bit brighter up top, which makes sense considering the top notes listed are zesty lemon and bitter orange. It lists tobacco and cinnamon also as being amongst the top notes, though they were hard to smell though the soap base. The heart notes really come through and accentuate this scent, however, with Lavender really taking center stage, with accompanying notes of wildflowers and violet. The lavender heart note is strong enough that it will come through as a top note...it's that quick and prominent. The base has a nice woody finish with oud and vetiver rounded out with patchouli and leather. This scent really bounces around all over the place, and really doesn't have an identity as a scent "type". It's not a chypre, fougere, aromatic, gourmand, woody, oriental, or anything that I can put my finger on. It has pieces of all of those, but doesn't allow itself to be labeled. Chaos is a fitting name for this scent. As a result, I really can't put my finger on where I would rank a scent like this. It's a bit understated in the soap itself; though it definitely tries to be heard, kind of like the fringes of society who exist in the margins. They have something to say, but don't have an audience, or at least the ability to attract an audience. Some of the most interesting people out there live in the margins...and this scent fits right into that characterization wonderfully. In regards to the aftershave, it has a healthy dose of menthol which completely overpowers the top notes. We're not talking the coldest you've felt, but the chill lasted a solid 5-10 minutes. The heart and base come in pretty soon afterwards, however, and calm the party down. Short to medium longevity, with a light to medium presence. If you're trying to make a mark in a group, this is not the soap and aftershave you are looking for. If you need something that is enjoyable, but won't get you side-eyes in an elevator, it's a pretty solid choice.
Now, in regards to the shave...this is the first time trying the Siero base from WK. I've only used it once, but it's right there with the Omnibus base from Barrister & Mann. Extremely wide water band, wonderfully slick yet pillowy at the same time. Not many soaps can pull that combination off. Residual slickness allowed a little blade buffing without concern. End result was a nice BBS after 4 passes and 2 small clean up spots. Typical alum, witch hazel, and matching aftershave splash to finish. A good start to the day.
I hope everyone's week is going well.
New software setup for me. This time it's Wholly Kaw Chaos. Now, I have to caveat my experience with this soap. Every WK soap that I've ever tried which does not have a very dark or heavy top note smells very similar to me. I believe that is because of all of the moisturizers that they have put into the soap base. It gives it a very floral quality of scent which is quite powerful for a soap base. This soap was no different, as the top notes were fairly bright, causing the soap base scent to come through in a pretty dominant fashion. Since this was before work, no straight shave today. Just a quick jobber with the Bronze General SE with the Feather AC Pro on its 4th shave. A 20 second load with the Wolf Whiskers tuxedo brush was enough to generate a good 1/2 bowl of lather in the Timeless lather bowl.
The scent:
The scent was still coming through mainly as the soap base, with some of the accents giving a nostalgic jog to remembered scents of previously used WK offerings. This was a bit brighter up top, which makes sense considering the top notes listed are zesty lemon and bitter orange. It lists tobacco and cinnamon also as being amongst the top notes, though they were hard to smell though the soap base. The heart notes really come through and accentuate this scent, however, with Lavender really taking center stage, with accompanying notes of wildflowers and violet. The lavender heart note is strong enough that it will come through as a top note...it's that quick and prominent. The base has a nice woody finish with oud and vetiver rounded out with patchouli and leather. This scent really bounces around all over the place, and really doesn't have an identity as a scent "type". It's not a chypre, fougere, aromatic, gourmand, woody, oriental, or anything that I can put my finger on. It has pieces of all of those, but doesn't allow itself to be labeled. Chaos is a fitting name for this scent. As a result, I really can't put my finger on where I would rank a scent like this. It's a bit understated in the soap itself; though it definitely tries to be heard, kind of like the fringes of society who exist in the margins. They have something to say, but don't have an audience, or at least the ability to attract an audience. Some of the most interesting people out there live in the margins...and this scent fits right into that characterization wonderfully. In regards to the aftershave, it has a healthy dose of menthol which completely overpowers the top notes. We're not talking the coldest you've felt, but the chill lasted a solid 5-10 minutes. The heart and base come in pretty soon afterwards, however, and calm the party down. Short to medium longevity, with a light to medium presence. If you're trying to make a mark in a group, this is not the soap and aftershave you are looking for. If you need something that is enjoyable, but won't get you side-eyes in an elevator, it's a pretty solid choice.
Now, in regards to the shave...this is the first time trying the Siero base from WK. I've only used it once, but it's right there with the Omnibus base from Barrister & Mann. Extremely wide water band, wonderfully slick yet pillowy at the same time. Not many soaps can pull that combination off. Residual slickness allowed a little blade buffing without concern. End result was a nice BBS after 4 passes and 2 small clean up spots. Typical alum, witch hazel, and matching aftershave splash to finish. A good start to the day.
I hope everyone's week is going well.
Hello to all the wonderful Cadre people out there. Hard to believe that we're already a week into December. Didn't 2025 just start the other week? Jeesh.
Well, I did manage to get another shave in yesterday. I was torn on whether or not to use WK Chaos again, but opted instead for my other new addition in B&M's Le Grand Chypre. Now, I'm pretty familiar with this scent. It's in my top 10 for favorite scents by an artisan, (oddly enough, B&M scents seem to do pretty well with me), and I was excited to use it in the Omnibus soap base. Hardware for the shave was the Shavemac 26mm along with the CV Heljestrand Mk*31 and Brass General (Feather AC Pro on shave 5) on 4th pass/cleanup duties. Software was LGC soap and AS.
I was a little more aggressive with the lather and how much water I was adding this time. The soap didn't disappoint and soaked everything I gave it. Since I was using a straight, I pushed it to a point where I felt any more water would have hurt the cushion I would have gotten from the lather. It was a pretty lather...glistening and very velvety. I might, in the near future, do a lather comparison between this and the WK Siero base and see which lather I prefer. Both are Tier 1 soap bases. I think the Omnibus base might edge it ever so slightly, but I've only used the Siero base once, so my experience with it is limited to say the least.
From a scent perspective, Le Grand Chypre is sweet and floral up front with a nice earthy grounding on the back end. You definitely get notes of peach which sweetens the top without getting overly cloying, but it transitions to a nice oakmoss fairly soon afterwards. This shave re-enforced why I have this in my top 10 scents.
Four passes went by without a hitch, though I did catch a little bit of a weeper on the 4th pass with the Mk*31 (it handles ATG on the cheeks), but alum afterwards closed it up in short order. Not much feedback overall, even after a bit of blade buffing with both the Mk*31 and the General. BBS- overall, and a nice set up for another shave on Wednesday morning.
BTW, here are my top 10 scents:
Honorable mentions first:
Through the Fire Fine Crafts Sue Moore Tribute Soap (can't use it due to irritation)
Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Cavendish
Phoneix Artisan Accoutrements The Beach
The Holy Black Lavender Creeper
Fine Accoutrements Santal Absolu
10. Ariana & Evans Asian Plum
9. Soapy Science Rosa Pura
8. Fine Accoutrements American Barber
7. Barrister & Mann Fougere Angelique
6. Wholly Kaw Chypre Rose Concerto
5. Ariana & Evans SoCal Hipster
4. Barrister & Mann Le Grand Chypre
3. Wholly Kaw Fern Concerto
2. Wholly Kaw King of Oud
1. Barrister & Mann Adagio
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Well, I did manage to get another shave in yesterday. I was torn on whether or not to use WK Chaos again, but opted instead for my other new addition in B&M's Le Grand Chypre. Now, I'm pretty familiar with this scent. It's in my top 10 for favorite scents by an artisan, (oddly enough, B&M scents seem to do pretty well with me), and I was excited to use it in the Omnibus soap base. Hardware for the shave was the Shavemac 26mm along with the CV Heljestrand Mk*31 and Brass General (Feather AC Pro on shave 5) on 4th pass/cleanup duties. Software was LGC soap and AS.
I was a little more aggressive with the lather and how much water I was adding this time. The soap didn't disappoint and soaked everything I gave it. Since I was using a straight, I pushed it to a point where I felt any more water would have hurt the cushion I would have gotten from the lather. It was a pretty lather...glistening and very velvety. I might, in the near future, do a lather comparison between this and the WK Siero base and see which lather I prefer. Both are Tier 1 soap bases. I think the Omnibus base might edge it ever so slightly, but I've only used the Siero base once, so my experience with it is limited to say the least.
From a scent perspective, Le Grand Chypre is sweet and floral up front with a nice earthy grounding on the back end. You definitely get notes of peach which sweetens the top without getting overly cloying, but it transitions to a nice oakmoss fairly soon afterwards. This shave re-enforced why I have this in my top 10 scents.
Four passes went by without a hitch, though I did catch a little bit of a weeper on the 4th pass with the Mk*31 (it handles ATG on the cheeks), but alum afterwards closed it up in short order. Not much feedback overall, even after a bit of blade buffing with both the Mk*31 and the General. BBS- overall, and a nice set up for another shave on Wednesday morning.
BTW, here are my top 10 scents:
Honorable mentions first:
Through the Fire Fine Crafts Sue Moore Tribute Soap (can't use it due to irritation)
Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Cavendish
Phoneix Artisan Accoutrements The Beach
The Holy Black Lavender Creeper
Fine Accoutrements Santal Absolu
10. Ariana & Evans Asian Plum
9. Soapy Science Rosa Pura
8. Fine Accoutrements American Barber
7. Barrister & Mann Fougere Angelique
6. Wholly Kaw Chypre Rose Concerto
5. Ariana & Evans SoCal Hipster
4. Barrister & Mann Le Grand Chypre
3. Wholly Kaw Fern Concerto
2. Wholly Kaw King of Oud
1. Barrister & Mann Adagio
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Now that was a refreshing and enjoyable shave. No rush, no pressure to get out of the bathroom. Just calm, water so hot it'd burn ya, and a great set-up. I'm currently on a business trip to Bentonville, AR, (company Christmas Party later on today), so I'm in a hotel. Initially I was going to shave prior to leaving and call it good so I didn't have to bring a checked bag. I'm a big fan of traveling light. But then I thought...the company is paying for it, why the heck wouldn't I bring a checked bag? So, now that I didn't have to worry about the TSA cluster**** taking my stuff, shaving this morning was on the cards. No, I had to worry about American Airlines just not sending planes down to transport people from one place to another. My flight was supposed to depart San Antonio at 9:14am, with a connection in DFW at 12:38pm. As is usual, I scheduled a nice 2 hour or so layover into my flight. Long enough to get some food, relax, hit the head. No headache trip. Right?
American took those well laid plans and threw them up against the wall like a spoiled little child tosses another kids toys because the others are having fun. The plane which I was supposed to board was on a ground hold in Dallas. Delayed to 9:45....then to 10:00. Then to 10:20. Then to 10:45. Now I'm going to miss my flight in Dallas. I got in line to switch flights, and by the time I arrived to the counter, the flight had been delayed once again until 11:20 and I had been auto-rebooked for my connector. But the plane in Dallas STILL hadn't taken off. The nice lady working for American, Zee, re-booked me on another flight to Dallas and a different flight to Bentonville. By the time I took off at 12:55, my original flight had been delayed once again until 1:45. Unbelievable. Why not just cancel it? The rest of the trip went well, and the only worry was whether the bag I was initially planning on not taking would even make it to my final destination. I needn't have worried, as it was the 10th bag out and on to the baggage claim carousel.
The last time I tried Noble Otter King, it underperformed. I postulated that it was due to user error because I failed to load enough soap. So, to remedy this, I bloomed the soap and loaded for a full 60 seconds. All of the proto-lather from the puck which wasn't caught by the monster brush was gathered and deposited in the lather bowl as well. Again, Noble Otter King is very reminiscent of Creed Aventus, if Creed wasn't the slick willy out in the city at night but was instead a down home country boy going for the same feel but just finished a mile walk out of the woods following sitting around a campfire. A little dirtier, a little more smokey, musky and anamalic on the back side than the refined metrosexual that is Aventus.
The lather was MUCH better today. The additional loading time definitely was the difference. I used the 28mm Declaration brush to take care of lather building. Water tolerance wasn't quite as good as either Wholly Kaw Siero or Barrister & Mann Omnibus, but was still very forgiving. I pushed it a bit further than it might have wanted, with a few larger air bubbles appearing, but a little bit of face lathering took care of that.
I didn't bring my strop or straights, but instead opted for the Bronze General with a fresh Feather AC Pro blade. Four full passes with a full clean up pass on problem areas. I pulled out a couple of tricks from the ol' bag, going for blade buffing, J-hooks and some blade slides to catch the remaining whiskers. The soap performed so much better than last time. It didn't provide the post shave that other elite soaps do, but it wasn't bad either. Residual was ok, but could be improved. I would say this lather was on par if slightly better in performance to Stirling.
Alum gave some decent feedback on the neck area; jolting me with a nice wake up to start the day for sure. A little witch hazel, and the matching Club de Nuit Intense Man (one of the closest Aventus clones) topped off the set. All in all a wonderful shave.
I looked into possibly taking a trip to the Stirling HQ, but it's 90 minutes away and I don't have a free day while I'm up here unfortunately. Otherwise I would absolutely take a day and see if I could visit with Rod and Mandy.
Have a great day everyone!
American took those well laid plans and threw them up against the wall like a spoiled little child tosses another kids toys because the others are having fun. The plane which I was supposed to board was on a ground hold in Dallas. Delayed to 9:45....then to 10:00. Then to 10:20. Then to 10:45. Now I'm going to miss my flight in Dallas. I got in line to switch flights, and by the time I arrived to the counter, the flight had been delayed once again until 11:20 and I had been auto-rebooked for my connector. But the plane in Dallas STILL hadn't taken off. The nice lady working for American, Zee, re-booked me on another flight to Dallas and a different flight to Bentonville. By the time I took off at 12:55, my original flight had been delayed once again until 1:45. Unbelievable. Why not just cancel it? The rest of the trip went well, and the only worry was whether the bag I was initially planning on not taking would even make it to my final destination. I needn't have worried, as it was the 10th bag out and on to the baggage claim carousel.
The last time I tried Noble Otter King, it underperformed. I postulated that it was due to user error because I failed to load enough soap. So, to remedy this, I bloomed the soap and loaded for a full 60 seconds. All of the proto-lather from the puck which wasn't caught by the monster brush was gathered and deposited in the lather bowl as well. Again, Noble Otter King is very reminiscent of Creed Aventus, if Creed wasn't the slick willy out in the city at night but was instead a down home country boy going for the same feel but just finished a mile walk out of the woods following sitting around a campfire. A little dirtier, a little more smokey, musky and anamalic on the back side than the refined metrosexual that is Aventus.
The lather was MUCH better today. The additional loading time definitely was the difference. I used the 28mm Declaration brush to take care of lather building. Water tolerance wasn't quite as good as either Wholly Kaw Siero or Barrister & Mann Omnibus, but was still very forgiving. I pushed it a bit further than it might have wanted, with a few larger air bubbles appearing, but a little bit of face lathering took care of that.
I didn't bring my strop or straights, but instead opted for the Bronze General with a fresh Feather AC Pro blade. Four full passes with a full clean up pass on problem areas. I pulled out a couple of tricks from the ol' bag, going for blade buffing, J-hooks and some blade slides to catch the remaining whiskers. The soap performed so much better than last time. It didn't provide the post shave that other elite soaps do, but it wasn't bad either. Residual was ok, but could be improved. I would say this lather was on par if slightly better in performance to Stirling.
Alum gave some decent feedback on the neck area; jolting me with a nice wake up to start the day for sure. A little witch hazel, and the matching Club de Nuit Intense Man (one of the closest Aventus clones) topped off the set. All in all a wonderful shave.
I looked into possibly taking a trip to the Stirling HQ, but it's 90 minutes away and I don't have a free day while I'm up here unfortunately. Otherwise I would absolutely take a day and see if I could visit with Rod and Mandy.
Have a great day everyone!
Don't hate the player...
Either way, it's not like I was traveling to a hotspot of activity. Just NW Arkansas and the HQ of Walmart for a company Christmas party. I did break my keto for this trip to not seem as stand-off'ish. I also had the first alcoholic drinks in 3 years. I spent WAY too much money on what I did drink; but I figured go big or go home. So, a massively overpriced dram of Johnny Blue Label and a couple of (also overpriced) double Goose/tonic/cranberry's did me quite well. Thankfully, not much hangover to speak of, though I was still feeling it when I snapped awake after 3 hours.
Well, where did this year go? How is it already the 19th of December? Unreal how fast this year has flown by. I believe that, for me, I only have another 2 shaves left in the year, so this morning's shave was the antepenultimate shave of 2025. I decided that for this shave, I would use one of the new blades received in the mail, a sleeve of Perma-Sharp's, and break out a DE for the first time since resuming regular shaving. The only DE I have available to me is a good one, however. It's the Razorock GameChanger, with both the .66 and .85 baseplates. After going a full week+ of HOBO, I decided to go with the .85. Software for the day was Wholly Kaw Chaos. I wasn't sure what I wanted to use for a fragrance, and since this scent doesn't hold to a singular identity, (it really does bounce all over the place), it seemed like a perfect software setup to match my morning indecision.
I didn't bloom the soap this morning as I usually do. I was in a little bit of a rush and forgot, on top of not soaking my brush, to do so prior to hopping in the shower. Neither was a huge issue, thankfully. I chose the Shavemac 26mm to whip up a nice slick lather, loading for an additional 15-20 seconds. Since I had been using the General for cleanup passes, the transition to the DE was relatively easy and uneventful. The soap was predictably all over the place from a scent perspective, starting out almost in a gourmand fashion, immediately transitioning to a sweet citrus blast, then into a more traditional masculine amber/musk perfume. I didn't give it enough time to really evolve into the base notes, but all in all, it really did a good job of keeping my olfactory senses stimulated.
The shave was quick...after the pre-shave routine was completed, the shave itself (4-passes with a couple of clean-up spots) only took 4-5 minutes. A little alum, witch hazel, then the matching aftershave applied, (the menthol hit was pleasing for sure), and an application of Amouage's Sunshine Man was the off-the-cuff choice of frag. I walked out of the bathroom pleased, my face in a nice state of BBS. A good way to start the day and head into the weekend.
Nothing too much to report outside of that; just hurtling headlong into the Christmas week. I'm sure there are plenty out there who feel as suitably unprepared for this holiday as I do. Hope everyone is doing well...
Dagz
I didn't bloom the soap this morning as I usually do. I was in a little bit of a rush and forgot, on top of not soaking my brush, to do so prior to hopping in the shower. Neither was a huge issue, thankfully. I chose the Shavemac 26mm to whip up a nice slick lather, loading for an additional 15-20 seconds. Since I had been using the General for cleanup passes, the transition to the DE was relatively easy and uneventful. The soap was predictably all over the place from a scent perspective, starting out almost in a gourmand fashion, immediately transitioning to a sweet citrus blast, then into a more traditional masculine amber/musk perfume. I didn't give it enough time to really evolve into the base notes, but all in all, it really did a good job of keeping my olfactory senses stimulated.
The shave was quick...after the pre-shave routine was completed, the shave itself (4-passes with a couple of clean-up spots) only took 4-5 minutes. A little alum, witch hazel, then the matching aftershave applied, (the menthol hit was pleasing for sure), and an application of Amouage's Sunshine Man was the off-the-cuff choice of frag. I walked out of the bathroom pleased, my face in a nice state of BBS. A good way to start the day and head into the weekend.
Nothing too much to report outside of that; just hurtling headlong into the Christmas week. I'm sure there are plenty out there who feel as suitably unprepared for this holiday as I do. Hope everyone is doing well...
Dagz
Wellllll, surprise! A shave was had on Saturday, just a day or two following my last one. I had a Daddy-Daughter date to the movies to see the latest Avatar flick with my eldest and just felt like going through the routine.
One of the nice things that I can do now that I'm not filming and releasing the videos on YT is that I can have a nice soundtrack to the shave. The previous album of choice was Steely Dan's Aja. For this shave, since my daughter is a fan of them, I chose Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".
After prepping the stage (including blooming the soap and soaking the Declaration 28mm), a nice shower was had. Songs "Wish You Were Here" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt.1" provided the background. So, by the time I was ready to start in on the soap and lathering, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was coming to an end and we were getting into "Welcome to the Machine".
For software, I had chosen B&M's Fougere Angelique and it's bright, sharp citrus opening. The Omnibus base really is a standout; I actually was in half a mind to see if I could break the lather through water addition, but decided against it since I didn't have a ton of disposable time before we had to depart. The lather came together quite nicely, a bit on the wetter side of the house, more suited to a straight shave than the DE I was going to be using today.
Speaking of DE's, this Razorock GameChanger is absolutely awesome. I had the .85mm base plate in, (which was likely a mistake in retrospect), but the .66 is also an option if you prefer less blade gap. It's a smooth shaver regardless of which base plate you go with, however. I didn't have that much stubble at all, still sitting at a pretty solid DFS-, with the only real noticable stubble apparent when you felt ATG or a little XTG.
In this situation, I did the only thing an (ir)rational wet-shaver would do. I went in for the full 4+ pass shave. By the time I was done with all four passes and a few clean up spots, "Have a Cigar" was playing out loud in the bathroom, and even though it's been over a year since I've enjoyed a tobacco product of any kind, it didn't sound like a bad idea. The scent of the soap was wafting around the bathroom as well, creating a wonderfully bright and floral ambiance with hints of a darker undertone from the base notes.
Now, this is where I realized that I made a very large mistake in my choice of baseplate and amount of passes. I reached for the alum, wet my face and alum and applied. Oh boy. Yep. Johnny Cash singing "Ring of Fire" (replace "ring" with "neck" though) just overrided any of Pink Floyd's wonderfully trippy prog rock. Being a glutton for punishment, apparently, I went in for a second and third application of the alum. Just to be sure I didn't waste any of the astringent sting provided by the alum. Then it was clean-up, cold water splash, cucumber witch hazel, and the matching aftershave splash. (it didn't sting...the alum took care of that apparently) When all was said and done, David Gilmour and Roger Waters were well into "Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt 2-5", and I was sitting with a BBS++ quality shave, and a numb neck.
On the way to the theater, I was checking out the damage caused by my over-exuberance in shaving decisions. My neck looked like I took some sort of red dye and applied it unevenly around my entire neck area. I could very well have been mistaken for someone with a large, splotchy, port-wine stain on my neck. It was a bit tender, but calmed down by the end of the 3+ hour long movie. (which was quite enjoyable, tbf)
Now, in the culture department, I'm losing the war to my youngest daughter and SWMBO. Neither one of them enjoy any kind of fantasy genre style movie. The daughter, nicknamed LS, [pronounced Ellis], for "Little Sh*t" by my father), is a highly logical and straight forward thinker. Likely on the spectrum in some manner or fashion; just enough to make her quirky but highly functional. She cannot understand or put logic to any kind of fantasy movie. Avatar? Didn't make sense to her at all. The Twilight series? Nope...made no sense, it was stupid. Harry Potter? Nope. Too many plot holes in her eyes. Hunger Games, MCU movies, etc...just make no sense to her. But you give her a good ol' horror, slasher, thriller type movie? She's all about it. Murder/mystery that has a tight plot without holes? All about it.
Now, the older one I took to the movie is a bit more open minded to other genres, thankfully. So, I scored a big win with her by getting her to agree to watch "The Hobbit" series in preparation for a mid-January re-screening of Lord of the Rings (extended editions) at the theater we went to. (Flix is a dinner-style movie theater where you can order full meals along with your movie) I'm excited, because I can watch the full extended version that Peter Jackson wanted to show to audiences, and also see her experience it for the first time and we get to do this on the big screen. She's already finished "An Unexpected Journey", and should have the "Hobbit" trilogy done before mid-January when the LOTR trilogy begins to be screened. Something to be excited for!
I did have a couple of small editions to the den. A full sleeve of Perma-Sharp DE blades which I think I spoke about in my last post. And the following:
Now for some, this might just look like a random spray bottle with some water in it. But for those that were following my journey when I was making videos know, this is, to me, the absolute best way for bowl latherers to add water to your lather building process. It had been so long since I was actively shaving regularly that I had completely forgotten that I used a spray bottle to add water, until @NurseDave pointed it out. Well....we now have spray bottles. And I can now give an objective view on how much water a soap can realistically take before it becomes unusable, or the ideal amount of sprays, (for me), to reach peak lather. I also have a new bathroom shelving unit that houses the majority of my shaving paraphernalia, which you can see in the background.
Either way, I hope everyone on here has a truly magnificent and Merry Christmas!
One of the nice things that I can do now that I'm not filming and releasing the videos on YT is that I can have a nice soundtrack to the shave. The previous album of choice was Steely Dan's Aja. For this shave, since my daughter is a fan of them, I chose Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".
After prepping the stage (including blooming the soap and soaking the Declaration 28mm), a nice shower was had. Songs "Wish You Were Here" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt.1" provided the background. So, by the time I was ready to start in on the soap and lathering, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was coming to an end and we were getting into "Welcome to the Machine".
For software, I had chosen B&M's Fougere Angelique and it's bright, sharp citrus opening. The Omnibus base really is a standout; I actually was in half a mind to see if I could break the lather through water addition, but decided against it since I didn't have a ton of disposable time before we had to depart. The lather came together quite nicely, a bit on the wetter side of the house, more suited to a straight shave than the DE I was going to be using today.
Speaking of DE's, this Razorock GameChanger is absolutely awesome. I had the .85mm base plate in, (which was likely a mistake in retrospect), but the .66 is also an option if you prefer less blade gap. It's a smooth shaver regardless of which base plate you go with, however. I didn't have that much stubble at all, still sitting at a pretty solid DFS-, with the only real noticable stubble apparent when you felt ATG or a little XTG.
In this situation, I did the only thing an (ir)rational wet-shaver would do. I went in for the full 4+ pass shave. By the time I was done with all four passes and a few clean up spots, "Have a Cigar" was playing out loud in the bathroom, and even though it's been over a year since I've enjoyed a tobacco product of any kind, it didn't sound like a bad idea. The scent of the soap was wafting around the bathroom as well, creating a wonderfully bright and floral ambiance with hints of a darker undertone from the base notes.
Now, this is where I realized that I made a very large mistake in my choice of baseplate and amount of passes. I reached for the alum, wet my face and alum and applied. Oh boy. Yep. Johnny Cash singing "Ring of Fire" (replace "ring" with "neck" though) just overrided any of Pink Floyd's wonderfully trippy prog rock. Being a glutton for punishment, apparently, I went in for a second and third application of the alum. Just to be sure I didn't waste any of the astringent sting provided by the alum. Then it was clean-up, cold water splash, cucumber witch hazel, and the matching aftershave splash. (it didn't sting...the alum took care of that apparently) When all was said and done, David Gilmour and Roger Waters were well into "Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt 2-5", and I was sitting with a BBS++ quality shave, and a numb neck.
On the way to the theater, I was checking out the damage caused by my over-exuberance in shaving decisions. My neck looked like I took some sort of red dye and applied it unevenly around my entire neck area. I could very well have been mistaken for someone with a large, splotchy, port-wine stain on my neck. It was a bit tender, but calmed down by the end of the 3+ hour long movie. (which was quite enjoyable, tbf)
Now, in the culture department, I'm losing the war to my youngest daughter and SWMBO. Neither one of them enjoy any kind of fantasy genre style movie. The daughter, nicknamed LS, [pronounced Ellis], for "Little Sh*t" by my father), is a highly logical and straight forward thinker. Likely on the spectrum in some manner or fashion; just enough to make her quirky but highly functional. She cannot understand or put logic to any kind of fantasy movie. Avatar? Didn't make sense to her at all. The Twilight series? Nope...made no sense, it was stupid. Harry Potter? Nope. Too many plot holes in her eyes. Hunger Games, MCU movies, etc...just make no sense to her. But you give her a good ol' horror, slasher, thriller type movie? She's all about it. Murder/mystery that has a tight plot without holes? All about it.
Now, the older one I took to the movie is a bit more open minded to other genres, thankfully. So, I scored a big win with her by getting her to agree to watch "The Hobbit" series in preparation for a mid-January re-screening of Lord of the Rings (extended editions) at the theater we went to. (Flix is a dinner-style movie theater where you can order full meals along with your movie) I'm excited, because I can watch the full extended version that Peter Jackson wanted to show to audiences, and also see her experience it for the first time and we get to do this on the big screen. She's already finished "An Unexpected Journey", and should have the "Hobbit" trilogy done before mid-January when the LOTR trilogy begins to be screened. Something to be excited for!
I did have a couple of small editions to the den. A full sleeve of Perma-Sharp DE blades which I think I spoke about in my last post. And the following:
Now for some, this might just look like a random spray bottle with some water in it. But for those that were following my journey when I was making videos know, this is, to me, the absolute best way for bowl latherers to add water to your lather building process. It had been so long since I was actively shaving regularly that I had completely forgotten that I used a spray bottle to add water, until @NurseDave pointed it out. Well....we now have spray bottles. And I can now give an objective view on how much water a soap can realistically take before it becomes unusable, or the ideal amount of sprays, (for me), to reach peak lather. I also have a new bathroom shelving unit that houses the majority of my shaving paraphernalia, which you can see in the background.
Either way, I hope everyone on here has a truly magnificent and Merry Christmas!
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Post-script to the above post regarding the shave:
There are normally things that you can take away from a shave to help you in future shaves. Whether it's a new technique that you found to be helpful or just something that you didn't get quite right and it resulted in a poor shave. I have a few things here that I did wrong:
1. Didn't wait long enough between shaves
2. Used too aggressive a base plate
3. Too many passes
4. Lather which was too wet for this particular shave
Lessons learned: Nothing that I didn't know before. These are mistakes I will likely make many times in the future in the quest for that BBS finish. And, like I pointed out in the journal entry, the sting of the alum after the fact is a just punishment for decision making void of sound comfort principles.
There are normally things that you can take away from a shave to help you in future shaves. Whether it's a new technique that you found to be helpful or just something that you didn't get quite right and it resulted in a poor shave. I have a few things here that I did wrong:
1. Didn't wait long enough between shaves
2. Used too aggressive a base plate
3. Too many passes
4. Lather which was too wet for this particular shave
Lessons learned: Nothing that I didn't know before. These are mistakes I will likely make many times in the future in the quest for that BBS finish. And, like I pointed out in the journal entry, the sting of the alum after the fact is a just punishment for decision making void of sound comfort principles.
Finally got around to another shave after a week of HOBO'ing around the house for the holiday. Since I was back in the office, it was a necessarily quick morning shave. I grabbed some known quantities in Wholly Kaw Chaos, my Wolf Whiskers tuxedo synth and the Brass General with a Feather Professional AC blade on its 2nd or 3rd shave. No soundtrack this morning, as the wife has moved her office into the bedroom and she was already logged in and handling her business, so I couldn't blast music while she was doing that.
Results wise, I was cognizant to not chase too much. Getting cleaned up for the office was the primary goal, not a perfect BBS+ result. So 4 passes and a little bit of buffing is all it took. I didn't get a chance to utilize my spray bottle as I put a little too much of the bloom water into the bowl and it was more than enough to hydrate what I had loaded off fo the puck. The alum feedback was just a little tingle, quite pleasing to be completly honest, with the skin tightening as it dried off. Cucumber witch hazel with a very liberal application of the matching Chaos aftershave finishing everything off. No fragrance today; though I was tempted to spritz on some New York Oud by Bond #9 due to the cool front that blew in this morning.
Just a few more days left in 2025, which blows my mind. I'll possibly get one more shave in this week prior to New Years day. Speaking of New Years...
I don't know what it's like in other parts of the country, but New Year's Eve here in San Antonio, specifically on the Far West side where I'm at, is a different animal. For 10 days prior to NYE, all of the fireworks stands open up and are constantly in business during hours of operation. There are sporadic fireworks going off throughout the week, but it pales in comparison to the main event. I've seen some colossal fireworks displays from the first family of fireworks, the Grucci family. And to be sure, the large fireworks they use are impressive. But in sheer volume, I've never seen anything like what happens here at midnight on NYE. Now, out my back porch, I can only see over 3 different neighborhoods. This is happening across all neighborhoods in this area of San Antonio. But out my back porch, the entire skyline is illuminated by thousands of fireworks going off simultaneously. And it goes on for a solid 15-30 minutes. I can't imagine the amount of $$ spent to make this happen. 4th of July is impressive; but there isn't a defined time to set off fireworks like this. If you get a chance, (and remember to), look for San Antonio New Years Eve fireworks celebrations for 2025/26. I've included a link to a video I took last year off of my back porch. Forgive the language, but it's nothing if not impressive.
I'll be doing the same thing this year and again posting it to YT (unlisted) and providing the link here. The video starts about 1 minute prior to the new year and is ~5 minutes long. Enjoy!
Results wise, I was cognizant to not chase too much. Getting cleaned up for the office was the primary goal, not a perfect BBS+ result. So 4 passes and a little bit of buffing is all it took. I didn't get a chance to utilize my spray bottle as I put a little too much of the bloom water into the bowl and it was more than enough to hydrate what I had loaded off fo the puck. The alum feedback was just a little tingle, quite pleasing to be completly honest, with the skin tightening as it dried off. Cucumber witch hazel with a very liberal application of the matching Chaos aftershave finishing everything off. No fragrance today; though I was tempted to spritz on some New York Oud by Bond #9 due to the cool front that blew in this morning.
Just a few more days left in 2025, which blows my mind. I'll possibly get one more shave in this week prior to New Years day. Speaking of New Years...
I don't know what it's like in other parts of the country, but New Year's Eve here in San Antonio, specifically on the Far West side where I'm at, is a different animal. For 10 days prior to NYE, all of the fireworks stands open up and are constantly in business during hours of operation. There are sporadic fireworks going off throughout the week, but it pales in comparison to the main event. I've seen some colossal fireworks displays from the first family of fireworks, the Grucci family. And to be sure, the large fireworks they use are impressive. But in sheer volume, I've never seen anything like what happens here at midnight on NYE. Now, out my back porch, I can only see over 3 different neighborhoods. This is happening across all neighborhoods in this area of San Antonio. But out my back porch, the entire skyline is illuminated by thousands of fireworks going off simultaneously. And it goes on for a solid 15-30 minutes. I can't imagine the amount of $$ spent to make this happen. 4th of July is impressive; but there isn't a defined time to set off fireworks like this. If you get a chance, (and remember to), look for San Antonio New Years Eve fireworks celebrations for 2025/26. I've included a link to a video I took last year off of my back porch. Forgive the language, but it's nothing if not impressive.
I'll be doing the same thing this year and again posting it to YT (unlisted) and providing the link here. The video starts about 1 minute prior to the new year and is ~5 minutes long. Enjoy!
I have to point out that inside city limits, fireworks are "illegal" with fines reaching $2000. Typically this applies to locations inside loop 1604 (we live ~4 miles outside the loop). However, it's only selectively enforced on NYE and 4th of July. There are plenty of videos of people taking footage of the NYE celebrations in all parts of San Antonio.
The crazy thing about this? We're constantly in a state of drought, so the risk of fire is astronomically high in some areas.
The crazy thing about this? We're constantly in a state of drought, so the risk of fire is astronomically high in some areas.
Same in my area. Not sure what the fines are though.
Yeah, it's so culturally entrenched here in San Antonio that even within city limits (inside the 1604 loop), there are too many "offenders" for enforcement to actually happen. It's not as prevalent in the north side of the city to be sure, but on the west/far west and south sides, the volume of the displays is on another level. I know there are some people that save up all year for this and will easily drop more than $10K or more on fireworks. Not everyone, but enough to make you scratch your head.
It's nonsensical to me; but who am I to judge? I have thousands of dollars in shaving soap, aftershaves, brushes and razors stashed away.
It's nonsensical to me; but who am I to judge? I have thousands of dollars in shaving soap, aftershaves, brushes and razors stashed away.