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The Shaving Cadre

Welcome to The Shaving Cadre, a forum dedicated to gentlemanly discourse about wet shaving and other topics of common interests. Membership is always free so register today and join in the fun

... a Rogues ramblings & some shave talk too!

Graybeard57 said:
Excellent journal entries, Dean. (y) I've never had any staining on my brush; I think everything rinses off. I look forward to reading more. I have a C-1 Gillette Red Tip that is my birth year and quarter. I had it replated so it looks like new. It is quite a treat to use a razor that is the same age as I am. I wonder who bought it in 1957 and how many shavers used it before it landed in my mailbox. Soaps and brushes, huh? That can get pretty expensive. We have a couple of brush makers here that can do custom work for far less than the open market. Never heard a complaint about their work, so you may want to consider their products.

Oh yeah, welcome to The Cadre, and enjoy your shaves!
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Thanks for the welcome Graybeard. Just ordered a Tech Hive hopefully it will be at the house at the end of the month when I get home....
 
CBLindsay said:
To answer your question about soap color. I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that ALL artisans avoid adding dye to shave soaps but I am going to go out on a limb and say they don’t. Dye/color is usually reserved for bar soaps meant to look nice as part of their overall appeal. Shave soap is usually made without dyes or colorant for two reasons, one is it isn’t necessary so it would be an added expense for no added value, 2nd it can result I irritation OR at a minimum be perceived as the/a reason a soap might be irritating. The color you see in a soap, when it isn’t pure white, will be caused by other things that have been added to the soap. Some oils/fats will change the color some depending on how refined they are, these usually result in a color closer to yellow. Chemicals present in the fragrance are typically the reason soaps will turn colors, the colors can be quite varied depending on what is being used and isn’t necessarily a sign that an artificial fragrance was used. Many natural fragrance compounds react with other compounds or oxidize and produce different colors. The two most common colors I’ve encountered are brown (from vanillin/vanilla containing scents) and blue ( I don’t know what did it but it happens). Both of these colors will happen even if you add a clear fragrance oil and the soap looks white after you mix it, the color appears as the cpap cures. Other natural fragrances often stain the soap as it’s added. Some soaps are made darker colored my caramelizing of the sugars that have been added (beer based, honey, sugar, milk) or “burning”. Every time I try to work with an olive oil based soap (hot process) I get impatient and burn it, it turns brown and smells like dog food. Other artisans like LNHC that actually know how to make soap (I can make shave soap, that’s it) can do magic with all sorts of oils and never turn it into dog food.

The short answer about colors in shave soap is, NO, they typically don’t stain a brush because they aren’t usually an actual color additive. In most cases the color won’t Even end up in the lather. The exception to this might be a beer based soaps and maybe those with coffee and tea etc as additives.
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Joe Hackett said:
Some soaps will have clay added that will affect color. Most are affected by fragrance components like Vanillin though. They oxidize and will turn the soap some shade of tan or brown. The higher the vanillin content, the darker the effect. It also creates the effect of dark on the inside/ light on the outside.

The only soap I have that has any type of colorant that is not clay or a result of the oil itself is the Island Man. It does have a small amount of blue foodsafe dye simply because the company that makes that fragrance for us keeps it in there standard. I like the way it looks, though.
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Thanks Chris and Rod for chiming in!
 
...as mentioned beforehand I'm an every other day shaver. Tonight built another great lather with the Smokeberry, this time with the 26mm Thater badger. Man this soap can take a lot of juice before flopping out. Probably should start keeping track of how much water 💦 I'm adding.
The residual slickness is crazy. Anyways I'm sure I'll be ordering more of their soaps in the future. Beale Street waits anxiously in the wings and so we will see if it stacks up just as well, might have to throw some Booker T & the MG's on for that one ...

Yours in fellowship
Dean
 
Good evening Cadre, just too tired to scratch away a couple days growth last night. So lights went out early.

Back to the Rex for a shot at 3 days growth at a 2.5 setting. A Silver Blue under the hood and another round of Smokeberry. Let's see how this goes😳

Tonight's shave:
Lucky Tiger Face Wash
Rex Ambassador set at 2.5 w/ a Silver Blue(2)
H.L.Thater 4125/3 29mm-2band fan
Lakewood Soaps Smokeberry soap
Thayer's Witch Hazel Cucumber
4711 after shave
Lakewood Soaps Smokeberry balm

Definitely an improved shave no irritation whatsoever.
Once again the Smokeberry performed outstanding, scent and slickness as well as cushion.
The Thater is on her 3rd shave and I really am liking these bigger knots. Soaks up a lot of soap and applies, nice not scitchy at all.
Finished it off with 4711 and some Smokeberry balm. A little goes along way with this which equals great value to me.
The Ambassador performed very good at this setting and left me with no neck redness this time and also didn't chase anything. So a much improved shave indeed.
I will be amping it up to 3.5 next use though.....

....been contemplating adopting some sort of pre shave regime. Currently, Lucky Tiger face wash product is all I use. I have the Cube as well but have only used it a couple of times, (I see it's available in 🍌 now mmmmmm banana). Have tried some oils as well but just didn't seem to need either or. I've been perusing the forum but not much talk on pre shave routines or products that we use (I haven't been everywhere yet Maybe August for me....

Yours in fellowship
Dean
 
I use one of three different Pre-shave products, choosing on impulse. Cella Pre-shave gel, Proraso Red, or Proraso Green. In all honesty, I mainly use them because I like the way they smell. If I'm using a soap the smell of which I like, I'll sometimes skip the Pre-shave so as not to compromise the soap-smell experience. I do think they help keep my stubble moist while I make the lather, but I can't really claim they improve the efficacy of the razor and blade.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
I use the Cube 2.0 from PAA. Not bad, it definitely helps with slickness from lower tier soaps, but if I had to do it again I would get the tube from PAA. Same thing but in a tube. Frank is coming out with a pre-shave pretty soon and I have heard that it is a really great product.
 
1savvyRogue said:
....been contemplating adopting some sort of pre shave regime.
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Pre-Shave is always a controversial topic...on any forum. Some say it is necessary, others say it's a waste of time. I will use a pre-shave oil EVERY NOW AND THEN. It's only when I think my face feels a tad raw from something like a bad shave the day before or a sunburn. A few years ago...maybe more...I did pre-shave oil before every shave. About a month in I noticed that my shaves were getting horrible. I was not getting close at all! I stopped using the pre-shave oil and my shaves went back to being awesome. I find that honestly just a good face wash before a shave is the best pre-shave routine for me. Sometimes I will dampen my face and rub a glycerin based soap (Musgo Real used to make a soap Lime Basil Soap specifically for pre-shave...I have a few pucks and that is what I use) on the face. I leave it wet and lather my soap and then directly apply the lather over top of the glycerin soap I put on my face. But that is as far as I go as far as pre-shave anymore. I just make sure that my face is washed, left damp...and that is works for me. But everyone is different and you need to find out what works for you. So I saw...try things out. But don't spend a ton of money on pre-shave products, because you likely won't be using them in the future.

Great shaves so far!
 
dangerousdon said:
Pre-Shave is always a controversial topic...on any forum. Some say it is necessary, others say it's a waste of time. I will use a pre-shave oil EVERY NOW AND THEN. It's only when I think my face feels a tad raw from something like a bad shave the day before or a sunburn. A few years ago...maybe more...I did pre-shave oil before every shave. About a month in I noticed that my shaves were getting horrible. I was not getting close at all! I stopped using the pre-shave oil and my shaves went back to being awesome. I find that honestly just a good face wash before a shave is the best pre-shave routine for me. Sometimes I will dampen my face and rub a glycerin based soap (Musgo Real used to make a soap Lime Basil Soap specifically for pre-shave...I have a few pucks and that is what I use) on the face. I leave it wet and lather my soap and then directly apply the lather over top of the glycerin soap I put on my face. But that is as far as I go as far as pre-shave anymore. I just make sure that my face is washed, left damp...and that is works for me. But everyone is different and you need to find out what works for you. So I saw...try things out. But don't spend a ton of money on pre-shave products, because you likely won't be using them in the future.

Great shaves so far!
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Thanks @dangerousdon. Your routine is basically what I do now, just a face wash with Lucky Tiger. Gonna give a few products a try for a few months and see how it goes. Nice to have the Journal to keep track of the experimenting. It's not that my shaves need improvement....
 
July 26/2020

Going through the SOTD'S on this forum I stumbled across the Turtleship artisan and ordered 3 of their soaps from Maggards. Iceberg, Patchouli and The Java. @Shavewizard420 (thanks) has some great reviews on a couple of this artisan's products as well. The packaging is top shelf in looks and very informative (no notes though). I am really looking forward to trying these this coming week.

The Blackbird and the Ambassador are alternating duties. I've managed to keep my razor purchases to a minimum unlike soap🙄 with just 2 Blackbirds and the Rex (and an Occum I've never used), looks dangerous. I'm afraid they'll find me bled out on the floor lol). The Vector has landed, unfortunately I'm still slogging away here at work so it's still a week away from pickup. Picked up some Schick ProGlides off the bay of E as suggested by @DaveinKY (thanks) but there a ways out possibly. I have some Feathers that should work to get a test run in.
As far as the adjustable goes my thoughts were to see if I could achieve daily shaves with it! More experimentation is yet required to get to that goal. Working in an industrial oil refinery requires us to be clean shaven though my department we can get away with a few days growth.

This evening's shave:

Lucky Tiger Face Wash
Blackland Blackbird SB,short handle (83mm??)
Gillette Silver Blue (2)
C'mon 77-5, Heritage Collection Gel, fan, 26mm, Butterscotch & Black
Turtleship Iceberg
Thayers Cucumber Witch Hazel
Chiseled Face Cryogen AS
Duke Cannon's Ice Cold Balm

Got a great shave with this soap tonight , the scent accelerated in the first swirl of the brush, with plenty of soap after 30 seconds. Lather is great didn't need a whole lot of water and face rinses between passes was sufficient enough for hydration. Gotta check the notes but I think I got citrus or light spruce maybe citronella?? I suck at scent notes, mainly because I don't research my purchases enough. The scent is very pleasant and stays with you throughout the shave. The 'bird did its job and mowed down 2 days growth and left me with a DFS with very minimal chasing. Witch hazel and then a cold water rinse. Cryogen was a nice quick cool down and DC ice cold calmed down the Cryogen very nicely. An hour later feeling smooth. Have a great night everyone.....

Yours in fellowship
Dean
 
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