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Down in the Heart of Texas!

Journal Entry 57
(DE:0 SE:7 SR:2)

Pre-shave: Hot Shower
Razor: Gong Razor
Blade:
Brush: VH Boar
Bowl: PAA Scuttle
Soap: Stirling- Agar
Aftershave: Osma Alum & Stirling Tea Tree, Witch Hazel, Aloe splash & Stirling- Hipster
Moisturizer: CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

Results:

I forgot to post this shave earlier today...whoops. Today's shave another good one. I used the Gong Razor from @Maryland998 again and I got the same great shave as yesterday. This razor is very smooth but very sharp too. The soap for today was provided by @NurseDave and very generous of him to send me his sample of Agar. I do like the scent of this soap, but I was expecting it to be stronger and not as sweet. Still a nice scent I can see myself buying someday. The lather was the same great lather you can expect from Stirling. The brush has broken in a little bit, but still needs to break in more. I may just start lathering it up with the VH soap I have every time I shave.

Thanks for reading Cadre, and I hope y'all had a great weekend!
 
Patelliott said:
TSC Community,

I figured I would give it a shot at a shave journal after reading some of y'alls this weekend. I also thought it may be fun to track my own shaves and see if there is anything y'all are doing that I don't do or should improve on. I liked how some of y'all do an update on your shave and then give an update on the homefront, so I think I will do the same.

Background:

I first got into wet shaving when I became a supervisor at UPS. There all management and drivers have to be clean shaven everyday. Prior to that I had grown a beard and had not shaved in about 4 years. I started out with a cartridge and gillete gel in a can, but I kept getting razor burn and ingrown hairs. Then I switched to an electric trimmer, but UPS said that was not good enough.

So I went to Walmart to browse their shaving section and saw a Vander Haagen starter kit. It had the bowl, brush, stand, and soap. Convienently right next to it was the DE razor. I bought the kit, razor, Aqua Velva blue aftershave and shaved right before work. I had no idea how to lather so my first shave was really rough.

Fast forward three months and hundreds of hours of research and I had bought a straight razor, strop, badger brush, three new soaps, new aftershave without alcohol, and all sorts of stuff. I was pretty nervous to shave with a straight because I never used one and neither did my dad, so I learned from youtube. After I got the hang of it my shave started to become meditative. I would put a dip in, turn on some Texas Country and enjoy my shave.

Two years later and I am having even more fun than when I began. I have acquired a couple new brushes, more soaps, more aftershave splashes and balms, another razor, bowls, and other gadgets. I look forward to my morning shaves and I look forward to trying out new products.

Homefront:

A little about me, I am 26 and I am from El Paso, TX. I got my bachelors in biology and I am about to go back to school to get my education certification. I come from a long line of teachers and football coaches so that is what I want to do.

I met my wife 5 years ago in San Antonio and we got married last July. We bought a little house and have been fixing it up little by little. About a month after we got married we got news that our first baby was on the way. We found out early and we are having a boy! I was pretty excited when we found out. Someone to pass this new hobby of mine down to. He will be the first boy on my wife's side of the family since her father and he will be the fourth grandson for my parents. So this year has been filled with doctors appointments, sonograms, and shaves.

Thank y'all for reading and for welcoming me to this community! I will document my first shave entry tonight when I can put a picture of what I used today.
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I used to live in San Antonio. It is nice to hear the y'all's, I lost mine a long time ago but it comes back when I talk to Texans. Here in Minnesota they say ya betcha and don'tcha know. Funny, good luck with the wet shaving. Congrats on the kid, life is going to change now. :)
-Sean
 
seannottingham said:
I used to live in San Antonio. It is nice to hear the y'all's, I lost mine a long time ago but it comes back when I talk to Texans. Here in Minnesota they say ya betcha and don'tcha know. Funny, good luck with the wet shaving. Congrats on the kid, life is going to change now. :)
-Sean
Click to expand...

Thanks Sean! My two older brothers went to Macalester College in St. Paul. I went to visit them for a weekend and it is very nice up there. I don't know if I would survive the winters, but the fall is perfect. Thank you for reading and commenting and welcome to TSC! You joined a great group of people here!
 
Patelliott said:
Thanks Sean! My two older brothers went to Macalester College in St. Paul. I went to visit them for a weekend and it is very nice up there. I don't know if I would survive the winters, but the fall is perfect. Thank you for reading and commenting and welcome to TSC! You joined a great group of people here!
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Your welcome. When I moved here I lived in Highland park just next to Macalester. The winters are not for most folks. And yes the fall is perfection here.
 
Journal Entry 58
(DE:0 SE:8 SR:2)

Pre-shave: Hot Shower
Razor: Occam OREN 2 dot plate
Blade: Feather ProGuard (8)
Brush: Yaqi Rainbow Synthetic
Bowl: PAA Scuttle
Soap: PAA- Sangre de Drago
Aftershave: Osma Alum & Stirling Tea Tree, Witch Hazel, Aloe splash & PAA- Sangre de Drago splash
Moisturizer: PAA- Unscented Star Jelly

Results:

WARNING THIS WILL BE A LONG POST

If you are still here...good! This shave was pretty darn great. I have never considered myself a tallow snob, I just happen to enjoy using tallow soaps and I haven't really tried any top tier vegan soaps. Until now. So I got the PAA Cube which is a pre-shave soap that is supposed to increase slickness, glide, residual slickness, etc. However, I wanted to try this soap without the cube. I have always heard that the CK-6 base rivaled the elite tallow soaps, but if they only rival it with the Cube then does it really count? Good news is it does not need the Cube to rival elite tallow soaps. And when I say elite I am talking about Frank's new base, B&M Excelsior, CBL, Zingari Man, and Wholly Kaw. To me these soaps are in the elite category for performance alone, and PAA CK-6 is worthy to join them in my opinion.
Ease of Lather- 5/5. This soap does not take long at all to whip up a great lather.
Slickness- 4/5. This soap has really great slickness when hydrated, but it does dry out on the quicker side. Something I have experienced with CBL soaps, but when hydrated it is up there with the best.
Residual Slickness- 5/5. This gives B&M a run for its money. This isn't super important to me, but I know it is for others. Just so that I could comment on it I gave it a shot and wow. Literally I felt like I still had lather on my face. No jumps or skips just smooth shaving.
Cushion- 4/5. There was a little blade feel and one little weeper on the Adam's apple, but not uncomfortable at all. I really enjoyed the shave and I didn't even notice the weeper until I used the alum.
Scent- 5/5. The only other Dragon's Blood soap I have smelled is Chris's. It has a warm spicy scent to it. This soap also has Oud and Sandalwood in it. The best way for me to describe this scent is think of Dragonsbeard, but instead of the sweet note from the vanilla it is more of a spicy note. To me it is wonderful. I love the dark woody scent from the Sandalwood and Oud and the spicy scent from the Dragon's Blood.
So for me a soap has to be a 21/25 for me to keep it in my den and a 23/25 to be considered elite which this soap hits those marks. If you are considering trying PAA's CK-6 formula I would highly advise you to do so!

Thanks for hanging in there and reading Cadre! I hope y'all had a great day!
 
BOOM there it is! I missed this yesterday, but great review Pat!

I have PAA AA Bay Rum and Sangre deDrago is on my buy list.
 
Journal Entry 59
(DE:1 SE:8 SR:2)

Pre-shave: Hot Shower & PAA Cube 2.0
Razor: Rockwell 6C R2
Blade: Voskhod (1)
Brush: TSC Second Anniversary
Bowl: PAA Scuttle
Soap: PAA- Atomic Age Bay Rum
Aftershave: Osma Alum & Stirling Tea Tree, Witch Hazel, Aloe splash & PAA- Atomic Age Bay Rum splash
Moisturizer: PAA- Unscented Star Jelly

Results:

Another great shave with the CK-6 formula. This Bay Rum scent is very pleasant. I feel like the Stirling Bay Rum is very clove forward and Col. Conk wasn't as clove heavy, but it did not produce the best lather. AA Bay Rum I believe doesn't have any clove (although I feel like I could still smell it) and it produces some of the best lather I have used. I also used the pre-shave Cube 2.0, but before I comment on it I want to use it a few more times.
The aftershave has the same great scent, but I have to admit it lit me up pretty good for about 5 minutes, but after that my face felt soft and I smelled great! Another great set from PAA.

Thanks for reading Cadre, and I hope y'all have a great Wednesday!
 
Patelliott said:
Journal Entry 59
(DE:1 SE:8 SR:2)

Pre-shave: Hot Shower & PAA Cube 2.0
Razor: Rockwell 6C R2
Blade: Voskhod (1)
Brush: TSC Second Anniversary
Bowl: PAA Scuttle
Soap: PAA- Atomic Age Bay Rum
Aftershave: Osma Alum & Stirling Tea Tree, Witch Hazel, Aloe splash & PAA- Atomic Age Bay Rum splash
Moisturizer: PAA- Unscented Star Jelly

Results:

Another great shave with the CK-6 formula. This Bay Rum scent is very pleasant. I feel like the Stirling Bay Rum is very clove forward and Col. Conk wasn't as clove heavy, but it did not produce the best lather. AA Bay Rum I believe doesn't have any clove (although I feel like I could still smell it) and it produces some of the best lather I have used. I also used the pre-shave Cube 2.0, but before I comment on it I want to use it a few more times.
The aftershave has the same great scent, but I have to admit it lit me up pretty good for about 5 minutes, but after that my face felt soft and I smelled great! Another great set from PAA.

Thanks for reading Cadre, and I hope y'all have a great Wednesday!
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Atomic Age CK-6 is my favorite soap, although I'm eagerly awaiting getting to try Ethos/CBL Lime. Congratulations on your shave!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
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