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August Shave Theme: Back to Old School / Saponificio Varesino

12 August, 2020

Back to shaving this morning. Face feels a lot better but I erred on the side of caution and limited it to just a two-pass shave today. Also plan to avoid the alcohol based splashed for a few days and stick with balms. May even skip a day for a while. I'll see how the 'ol mug is feeling tomorrow morning.

Old school Barber shop / Rive Gauche / Barbasol shave today. Fine's "American Blend" is an excellent example of it.

Hope you have a great day! :)

PAA "Immortal Peach" Preshave Soap | Fine Stout Brush | Fine "American Blend" Shave Soap
1964 Gillette Slim | Kai SS Blade | Alum | Fine "American Blend" After Shave Balm

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Doing a couple sample shaves from Southern Witchcrafts to try and find a new autumn soap, but chased the soap with the Indian Old Spice splash this morning which I picked up when I was last in Mumbai back in 2015. I used to take the current P&G offering here in the US and mix 1:1 with the ViJon spice clones you used to be able to find at dollar stores and grocery chains and found the mix very close to the old Shulton profile. However, now that all those ViJon clones are gone from shelves, the Indian OS is the closest to the Shulton profile as I can get. This is big-time old school for me, as my father used both the original OS deodorant as well as splash my entire childhood.

I actually don't think you can get this cool looking bottle anymore as I believe the P&G India moved to the old school bottle we see in the US too. The question I still have is if the liquid coming from India is still fairly different than the liquid we have in the US...

Wednesday August 12th, 2020
Razor : '52 Gillette Bakelite Tech
Blade : Shark SS
Brush : Ever Ready 100T wit Plisson knot
Soap : Southern Witchcrafts Samhain
Post : Dickinson's WH and Indian OS

IMG_20200812_110719.jpg​
 
Fightingillini22 said:
I actually don't think you can get this cool looking bottle anymore as I believe the P&G India moved to the old school bottle we see in the US too. The question I still have is if the liquid coming from India is still fairly different than the liquid we have in the US...
Click to expand...
I ordered a bottle of the "Fresh Lime" in the new/old school bottle and it was horrid. Barely any scent at all. Nothing Limey / Old Spicy about it. YMMV but I've been buying up the Indian red bottle (pictured above) as much as I can.
 
MarkB said:
I ordered a bottle of the "Fresh Lime" in the new/old school bottle and it was horrid. Barely any scent at all. Nothing Limey / Old Spicy about it. YMMV but I've been buying up the Indian red bottle (pictured above) as much as I can.
Click to expand...

Interesting - I've actually never branched off into the Lime or Musk scents on the splashes, only the creams. Wonder if the original scent in the new bottles is similarly horrid...
 
13 August, 2020

Face felt pretty good this morning so I went ahead and shaved. Again, limited it to just two passes which resulted in a "Socially Acceptable Shave" (SAS) but nowhere near how I like it. Oh well, I'll be able to get back to normal soon I'm sure.

Went with Phoenix Shaving's "Sun Down" today, which is an homage to the old school Gillette "Sun Up" splash and cologne. Love this scent!!

Hope you have a great day!! :)

PAA "Immortal Peach" Preshave / PAA "Sun Down" Shave Soap / PAA "Atomic Rocket" / PAA DOC
Gillette Silver Blue / Alum / PAA "Sun Down" Star Jelly Aftershave / PAA "Sun Down" EdC

IMG-4148.jpg​
 
@MarkB can't wait to give the Sundown sample a try! Might have to dial it up this weekend depending on how much time I have to enjoy the shave.

Remember when "uberlather" was the big craze a while back? Wanted to chill down my Williams this morning and I'm too cheap to have those menthol grinders or drops so just put down a layer of Barbasol Pacific Rush before lathering up and got the same effect with probably a little preshave benefit as well? Not sure about the last part as I don't use preshaves but would think it would help! Back to my roots as Mr. Barbasol this morning which definitely felt like old school to me. Might have to break out my Trac 2 and Barbasol Aloe to replicate my true first shave set up.

Wednesday August 12th, 2020
Razor : '57 Gillette Red Tip SS
Blade : Shark SS
Brush : Omega 11575
Soap : Modern Williams & Barbasol Pacific Rush
Post : Thayer's Coconut Water and 50:50 blend of Skin Bracer and Osage

IMG_20200813_102849.jpg​
 
8.14.2020
Saponificio Varesino

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14 August, 2020

Decided to go with "fern" for today's old school shave. Originated in 1882 by the fragrance house of Houbigant, "fougere" (or fern-like), scents have become some of, if not the most popular scent in men's fragrances.

PAA "Immortal Peach" Preshave / Barrister's Reserve "Fern" Shave Soap / PAA "Atomic Rocket" / 1964 Gillette Slim
Kai Stainless Steel / Alum / Proraso Liquid Cream Aftershave / Brut Special Reserve

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A crazy hectic day today and had very little time to shave, so took it as an opportunity to throw way back to what was my first shave setup - Barbasol Aloe and a TracII taken from the back of my dad's medicine cabinet that had been retired since his move to a Shick Quattro in 2003. I haven't seen a TracII handle in the USA in recent memory, as well as only having the carts with the lubrication strip readily available. Abandoned the TracII in 2011 when Dollar Shave Club entered the scene and I used their Atra-clone and Barbasol until finding wet shaving in 2014.

Luckily, both the TracII handles and non-strip carts live on in the 7 o'Clock branding in India as the PII, which can both be sourced cheaply and now live in my dopp bag for carry on travel for whenever we're able to safely do that again. I prefer this PII branded handle to the other TracII clones out there as this one has a little more heft with the metal incorporated in the handle. Similarly prefer the heft of the handle over the Gillette Guard all plastic.

Was it the worlds closest shave? Nope. But it was surprisingly comfortable. No prep in terms of a hot shower as I used to shave before going to school not in the evening. No post except for a splash of the dollar store Barbasol Brisk. Just applied the Barbasol with my fingers, adding more water as necessary (a step I didn't do back then but now know makes a big difference in glide / slickness) and shaved with the TracII. Just one pass with some buffing here and there. Would I do this regularly? Absolutely not. But it was a nice little trip down memory lane and confirmed my travel setup.

Friday August 124h, 2020
Razor : Gillette 7 o'Clock PII
Blade : Gillette 7 o'Clock PII cartridge
Brush : none
Soap : Barbasol Soothing Aloe
Post : Barbasol Brisk

IMG_20200814_125649.jpg​
 
Fightingillini22 said:
A crazy hectic day today and had very little time to shave, so took it as an opportunity to throw way back to what was my first shave setup - Barbasol Aloe and a TracII taken from the back of my dad's medicine cabinet that had been retired since his move to a Shick Quattro in 2003. I haven't seen a TracII handle in the USA in recent memory, as well as only having the carts with the lubrication strip readily available. Abandoned the TracII in 2011 when Dollar Shave Club entered the scene and I used their Atra-clone and Barbasol until finding wet shaving in 2014.

Luckily, both the TracII handles and non-strip carts live on in the 7 o'Clock branding in India as the PII, which can both be sourced cheaply and now live in my dopp bag for carry on travel for whenever we're able to safely do that again. I prefer this PII branded handle to the other TracII clones out there as this one has a little more heft with the metal incorporated in the handle. Similarly prefer the heft of the handle over the Gillette Guard all plastic.

Was it the worlds closest shave? Nope. But it was surprisingly comfortable. No prep in terms of a hot shower as I used to shave before going to school not in the evening. No post except for a splash of the dollar store Barbasol Brisk. Just applied the Barbasol with my fingers, adding more water as necessary (a step I didn't do back then but now know makes a big difference in glide / slickness) and shaved with the TracII. Just one pass with some buffing here and there. Would I do this regularly? Absolutely not. But it was a nice little trip down memory lane and confirmed my travel setup.

Friday August 124h, 2020
Razor : Gillette 7 o'Clock PII
Blade : Gillette 7 o'Clock PII cartridge
Brush : none
Soap : Barbasol Soothing Aloe
Post : Barbasol Brisk

View attachment 32625​
Click to expand...
Nice shave ! How does the Brisk compare to Pacific Rush ?
 
Dave in KY said:
Nice shave ! How does the Brisk compare to Pacific Rush ?
Click to expand...
Ya know, it's been so long since I've used the PR splash but I really loved it and did prefer it over Brisk. From what I can remember the Brisk isn't as strong as the PR but I do like the menthol in the Brisk. Don't think the PR had menthol but could be mistaken?
 
Return to "old school" of wetshaving for me with a throwback to the MR3, my first safety razor and TOBS Mr. Taylor, my first cream. Both are great performers, and I don't reach for either as frequently as I should.

Razor : MR3
Blade : Gillette Permasharp
Brush : Omega 11575
Cream : TOBS Mr. Taylor
Post : Thayer's Coconut Water and AV

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17 August, 2020

Going old school today with the '64 Gillette Slim and the Ever Ready inspired "Atomic Rocket"

PAA "Immortal Peach" Preshave Soap / PAA "The Wow Signal 2020" Soap / PAA "Atomic Rocket" / 1964 Gillette Slim
Gillette Silver Blue / Alum / PAA "The Wow Signal 2020" Star Jelly Sample / Domenico Caraceni 1913 EdT

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Today's SOTD returns to my first and only true fail with vintage razors from years ago. Didn't realize a bleach bath would immediately dull my shiny aluminum handled Blue Tip so upon receiving off the Bay, dropped it in for 5 minutes. Immediate horror upon retrieval from the bath. Oh well, you live and learn. Still shaves like a dream. Been feeling the "uberlathers" these days so while the CBL Tonsorial needs no additions to provide an excellent shave, I did enjoy putting down some Barbasol Original on the face before lathering up the Barber's Chair.

Monday August 17th, 2020
Razor : '56 Gillette Blue Tip SS
Blade : Gillette Permasharp
Brush : Whipped Dog HM
Soap : CBL Tonsorial Barber's Chair and Barbasol Original
Post : Thayer's Coconut Water and 50/50 blend of Skin Bracer and Osage

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