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cmh737 Straight Venture Journal Continued

That is one soap maker that I have yet to try, but anything that will pair with Grey Vetiver has to smell good. Great stuff, Chris.
 
Merry Christmas, Cadre!

A late entry, but you know how it goes on Christmas Day - finally a lull now. Man, it was great to be off and home for the entire day for a change! (Got in town yesterday afternoon). My 9 year old daughter had a fantastic Christmas, and so did my wife and I. Saw lots of family and had a marvelous time.

This was my Christmas Day morning shave:
Razor: British Aristocrat #16 w/Personna Red
Brush: Rudy Vey w/AMACK4 Game Changer synthetic
Shaving Cream: AoS Peppermint
Aftershave: Proraso "white" aftershave balm
Fragrance: Creed Aventus EdP

Had an excellent shave with no complaints whatsoever. It was a perfect start to the day.

BTW, whilst on the road, these were the three soaps (all three were samples) that I used:

Mystic Water "Lemon Verbena": A pleasant scent, but it didn't "wow" me enough to declare it "puck worthy" (for me). But the performance was elite status up in New York. I've gotten to where I really dig MW soaps, and this was finally my last MW sample. I have now shaved with every single one of Michelle's shaving soap scents!

Nanny's Silly signature "Moroccan Sands": Totally dig the scent of this soap. And this "signature" line is a fabulous performer! Love it.

Nanny's Silly original "Patchouli": OMG, if you're a fan of patchouli scented soaps, this is THE one! Fabulous scent!! Will definitely be ordering a tub of this! But I'll get it in the "signature" line. This "original" line is still good, but the "signature" is definitely a step up.
 
Merry Christmas Chris! Nice shave! Looks like you had a couple of good road shaves there. I think MilkCrate has been digging the patchouli scents lately. He would probably be interested in that Nanny's Silly soap.
 
I didn’t even know Nanny’s Silly Soap was still in business!
Indeed they are still in business, which is excellent news for all of us!

Merry Christmas Chris! Nice shave! Looks like you had a couple of good road shaves there. I think MilkCrate has been digging the patchouli scents lately. He would probably be interested in that Nanny's Silly soap.
Thanks, Steve. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. And yes, I was thinking the same thing that Tim would definitely dig the Nanny's Patchouli.

Nanny's signature is definitely good stuff.
Totally agree, Randall. I will be purchasing some full tubs later today!
 
Day after Christmas shave (Wednesday):

Good morning Gents, and hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I have been keeping up with everyone's journals, but just haven't had the time to comment. It'll take me a while, but I'll get properly caught up soon.

Meanwhile, today, I decided to use some new stuff.....this:
If you recall, I had sampled this Gratiot League Square soap a few weeks ago and totally dug it. So much so that I ordered not only a full tub, but the matching a/s and EdT as well. I decided to give it all a go today. And man oh man, what an incredible shave!

I had one of the most AWESOME shaves I've ever had this morning! I'm going to start calling shave experiences like this "Top 1 percenters". There's perfect shaves, but then there are ones that even exceed "perfect" (I know, impossible in reality, but allow me some hyperbole) and are only achieved maybe 1% of the time. This is what today was - a "Top 1 percenter"!

The soap is to die for, in terms of both scent and performance. This might be the slickest lather I've ever achieved with a soap - it was beyond description. And the scent? OMG, dynamite! Totally a cold weather scent, mind you, but guess what - it's cold now, so just right! The scent is complex, but I'd say that the leather note is dominate. But my goodness, the sandalwood and amber are noticeable, and dare I say some vetiver and rose mixed in there? I almost detect, at times, a tart apple note. It also has a "boozy" quality, which I've recently learned is a term used by fragrance reviewers, and I totally get it. If anyone has been to Germany and tried Asbach Uralt, it's in that same vein. Or perhaps an apple brandy - calvadose perhaps. No matter, it's awesome!!!!!

The aftershave smells just like the soap and is a perfect complement. It's a splash, but a little on the thick side. Not thick like an SV a/s, but still more viscous than a regular splash. I re-applied with my hands wet, and that seems to be the best method for application, IMHO. BTW, my daughter happened to pass me in the hall after I was done shaving, and she asked, "What's that smell?" I replied that it was my aftershave. Then she said, "It smells soooooooo good!" I then asked her what she thought it smelled like, and she simply stated, "It smells great!" OK then - good enough for me - LOL.

The EdT is stronger, obviously, and adds some more notes. Personally, I don't think the EdT is "must buy", unless you like some vanilla and tobacco in your frags, which this adds. It borders on a "pipe tobacco" type of vibe, but not quite. I could see it being quite cloying in warmer weather, but fortunately that's not applicable at the moment.

The other things I'll mention, in closing, is the razor/blade, and brush. I used the Merkur Progress w/Persona Red again, and I know I've said it before, but this razor/blade is most definitely my "desert island" shaving implement - it's perfect! And the Semogue mixed boar/badger brush is breaking in wonderfully. The handle is fantastic, and the knot really whips up an outstanding lather. Is the brush worth the retail price tag? Well, if you value quality handles, then yes. The knot is reminiscent of a good batch of TGN 2-band Finest, if you've used those knots. So it's a solid brush for the den.

OK, rambling complete. Time to get some lunch!
 
A 1% Shave? Wow! That must have been a great one! But when you get the seal of approval from the little one...well that is indeed special!
 
Excellent day after shave Chris!
Thanks, Chris.

Fantastic shave Chris! This is definitely a scent I need to check out. The EDT sounds really good as well, even if it’s a bit different.
Thanks, Steve. Turns out that the EdT "softens" over time and dries down to mellow awesomeness!

Awesomeness Chris. It smells so good......What's it smell like?........ DADDY !!!
True dat, Dave. And that 1% "patch" is AWESOME!!!

A 1% Shave? Wow! That must have been a great one! But when you get the seal of approval from the little one...well that is indeed special!
It was a great one indeed, Don. And yes, anytime I get the seal of approval from the little one, it's a win.
 
Thursday's shave:

Well, I've got to head out the door in a little while and go "make the donuts". But I sure enjoyed having Christmas Day and yesterday off - most excellent!

This morning's shave was the same exact set-up as yesterday. My goodness, how I dig the scents of the Gratiot League Square soap, a/s, and even EdT.

The EdT, has worked itself into my favor now after having a day to fully "evaluate" it. Here are few things to take note of regarding the EdT:

(1) First, don't spray it too close. Of course, that's common knowledge for all frags, but finding the "optimal" spray distance differs for every bottle. Yesterday, I had given it about half a foot distance for the Vasilli, and that was too close which tended to give it what I thought would be a cloying characterstic; but today, I went about a full foot. That seems to be the optimal distance for this spray bottle.

(2) The dry down is phenomenal and continually evolves throughout the day. It turned out to not be cloying at all. The longevity is enormous! I'm surprised that this is an EdT and not an EdP. It borders on "beast mode" (another frag term I've heard, which can be a very good thing depending on the situation). I could detect it throughout the entire day all the way to hitting the rack last night.

(3) Use only 1 Vasilli - just one - that'll be perfect. I think two would work, but you'd have to spray from even more distance.

Now for something completely different: My wife and I went and saw a movie last night....."Aquaman". I have to say, this is one of those times that makes going to the movie theatre totally worthwhile! My goodness, what a fun movie to see! It was AWESOME!!!
 
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