Thanks, Doug.
Thanks, Dave.
Thanks, Don. And gotta dig Island Lime!
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cmh737 Straight Venture Journal Continued
- Thread starter cmh737
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Thanks, Doug.
Thanks, Dave.
Thanks, Don. And gotta dig Island Lime!
SR Shave #586:
Yesterday, I decided to hone another razor. I decided to give the Genco Easy Aces a full synthetic hone (no tape): Chosera 1K, Naniwa 3K/5K/8K/12K, Suehiro Gokumyo 20K, normal stropping.
Result: Grade A
I did just two passes and got a smooth, comfortable, solid DFS. I got a little heavy-handed on the second pass around the chin area and caught a couple of itty weepers, but nothing to write home about. The edge is plenty sharp, and it's smooth, but I think I'm going to give it some laps on the surgical black Ark that Dave worked on to see if it gets even smoother. One thing I'll say about this razor, is that it's light weight. It actually has fallen out of favor with me for that reason. I prefer heavier blades now, so the next culling of the heard will include this one.
The soap today was one of my favorites: Stirling "Executive Man". Goodness, how I dig this soap! The ShaverJoe w/Muhle synthetic whipped a very nice lather indeed. But I tell ya what, I think that boar brushes whip up the best lather with Stirling soaps - at least with the water at my house.
Finished up with the matching aftershave and all is right with the world.......for now.
Yesterday, I decided to hone another razor. I decided to give the Genco Easy Aces a full synthetic hone (no tape): Chosera 1K, Naniwa 3K/5K/8K/12K, Suehiro Gokumyo 20K, normal stropping.
Result: Grade A
I did just two passes and got a smooth, comfortable, solid DFS. I got a little heavy-handed on the second pass around the chin area and caught a couple of itty weepers, but nothing to write home about. The edge is plenty sharp, and it's smooth, but I think I'm going to give it some laps on the surgical black Ark that Dave worked on to see if it gets even smoother. One thing I'll say about this razor, is that it's light weight. It actually has fallen out of favor with me for that reason. I prefer heavier blades now, so the next culling of the heard will include this one.
The soap today was one of my favorites: Stirling "Executive Man". Goodness, how I dig this soap! The ShaverJoe w/Muhle synthetic whipped a very nice lather indeed. But I tell ya what, I think that boar brushes whip up the best lather with Stirling soaps - at least with the water at my house.
Finished up with the matching aftershave and all is right with the world.......for now.
A couple of great shaves, Chris, and beautiful blades. I'm especially fond of that Bengall.
Roger that, Walt.
Thanks, Randall. That half hollow Bengall is an excellent blade.
Thanks, Eric. And glad that you have finally pulled the trigger on the single greatest retail shaving soap of all times (Ali voice).
Thanks, Doug.
Getting caught up, Chris - great to be reading your journal again!!
Thanks, Brad. I look forward to reading your continuing adventures. Perhaps one day we'll both figure out how to properly hone razors!
I'm putting my money on you... but maybe in 200 more shaves I'll get it.
Thanks, Chad.
You'll get it, Brad. Gotta find the hones that work best for you, be they natural or synthetic.
Roger that, Don.
SR Shave #587:
Today was an excellent shave. I did just two passes with the Genco "Old Dutch" (that CBL honed for me a few weeks back) and was rewarded with an outstaning DFS. This was the second shave since the re-hone, and this blade is really dialed in nicely. Thanks again CBL!
The soap for today was a new one to me: Declaration Grooming w/Chaillon Lux, "Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli". I blind ordered this the other day because of three reasons: (1) It's Declaration Grooming and is one of my favorite retail soaps; (2) It's a collaboration with Chatillon Lux, which they've done several collaborations, but I've never tried one; and (3) It has "rose" listed as one of the scents, and everyone knows that I rather like rose scented shaving soaps.
The performance is no surpise: "elite" status all the way. On Chad's scale, in terms of performance only, it's Tier 1/Box 1. It's uber-slick! One of, if not THE, slickest retail soaps out there. And I totally get what CBL means when he talks about certain soaps having a distinctive "feel" - this one has it - reminds me of Long Rifle in that regard.
OK, so it's an outstanding performer, but how does it smell? Well, first, I had to look up "yuzu" to even know what it is. It's a Japanese citrus fruit, sort of like a grapefruit. Alrighty, now that we know what that is, back to the scent.....OK, I have to state up front, that I don't particularly care for this. First off, I detect no rose, nor patchouli at all; it's all citrus to me, and not one that I like. This is very much like grapefruit, but not in a good way - it's more like a grapefruit that was cut in half with the intention of eating for breakfast, but was forgotten about due to a distraction, and only discovered later in the day once back home from work, where it had dried up and got that sort of funky smell to it (how was that for a run-on sentence?). I just don't care for it; it's not that I can't use it, it' just that it's not in my wheelhouse. But I wonder if I took some bergamot EO, or rose EO, and added to it, it might be something better.
I've said many time before that I'm done with blind-buying soaps, and this time I really mean it!
Anyway, like I previously mentioned, the lather was fantastic. The "Nate Special" w/AMACK4 Game Changer synthetic really worked well with this soap. BTW, I wonder how Nate is doing? He's sort of dropped off the grid. I had emailed him a few times in the past but he never replied.
Time now to head over to my Mom's house. I'm taking her out to lunch for early Mother's Day since I'll be working this weekend. Also, it'll be good to see her today as this would have been my father's birthday. Hard to believe he's been gone for almost 26 years now.
Today was an excellent shave. I did just two passes with the Genco "Old Dutch" (that CBL honed for me a few weeks back) and was rewarded with an outstaning DFS. This was the second shave since the re-hone, and this blade is really dialed in nicely. Thanks again CBL!
The soap for today was a new one to me: Declaration Grooming w/Chaillon Lux, "Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli". I blind ordered this the other day because of three reasons: (1) It's Declaration Grooming and is one of my favorite retail soaps; (2) It's a collaboration with Chatillon Lux, which they've done several collaborations, but I've never tried one; and (3) It has "rose" listed as one of the scents, and everyone knows that I rather like rose scented shaving soaps.
The performance is no surpise: "elite" status all the way. On Chad's scale, in terms of performance only, it's Tier 1/Box 1. It's uber-slick! One of, if not THE, slickest retail soaps out there. And I totally get what CBL means when he talks about certain soaps having a distinctive "feel" - this one has it - reminds me of Long Rifle in that regard.
OK, so it's an outstanding performer, but how does it smell? Well, first, I had to look up "yuzu" to even know what it is. It's a Japanese citrus fruit, sort of like a grapefruit. Alrighty, now that we know what that is, back to the scent.....OK, I have to state up front, that I don't particularly care for this. First off, I detect no rose, nor patchouli at all; it's all citrus to me, and not one that I like. This is very much like grapefruit, but not in a good way - it's more like a grapefruit that was cut in half with the intention of eating for breakfast, but was forgotten about due to a distraction, and only discovered later in the day once back home from work, where it had dried up and got that sort of funky smell to it (how was that for a run-on sentence?). I just don't care for it; it's not that I can't use it, it' just that it's not in my wheelhouse. But I wonder if I took some bergamot EO, or rose EO, and added to it, it might be something better.
I've said many time before that I'm done with blind-buying soaps, and this time I really mean it!
Anyway, like I previously mentioned, the lather was fantastic. The "Nate Special" w/AMACK4 Game Changer synthetic really worked well with this soap. BTW, I wonder how Nate is doing? He's sort of dropped off the grid. I had emailed him a few times in the past but he never replied.
Time now to head over to my Mom's house. I'm taking her out to lunch for early Mother's Day since I'll be working this weekend. Also, it'll be good to see her today as this would have been my father's birthday. Hard to believe he's been gone for almost 26 years now.
Nice shave today, Chris. I opted for the blind buy of the Colonia Basalmica instead of the Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli...mainly because SWMBO can't stand patchouli. I might have to reassess, however.
Sorry to hear the scent wasn't in your wheelhouse, however...I wonder if the citrus would have been any brighter/fresher (instead of day old grapefruit) if it would have helped the scent profile at all?
Sorry to hear the scent wasn't in your wheelhouse, however...I wonder if the citrus would have been any brighter/fresher (instead of day old grapefruit) if it would have helped the scent profile at all?
