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elmURLess Textual Tales

Good morning Cadre! Greetings from the topographically uninteresting part of Tennessee - the lackluster flatlands between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers.

RazorRock Hawk v. 3 - second time
Feather Pro Guard - first use
Southern Witchcrafts Samhain shave soap - first use
SV TSC brush - 3rd or 4th use
PAA Creosote splash - first use
Simple Truth (Kroger brand) Sandalwood & Vanilla facial moisturizer (got it on clearance)

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This was my second use of a Feather AC type blade. The first time I used the Hawk v. 3, I used the Kai blade that has the guards. I heard @Majorrich say in one of his videos that it looked to have more guards than the Feather Pro Guards do. For this shave I tried the Feather Pro Guard. It was good as well, but still not as efficient as I would like, so I have some Schick blades, and the Feather Pro blades, and the standard Kai ones without the guard. I think I will try the Schick ones next per @Dave in KY recommendation.

I talk about this in my first straight razor shave video that I have yet to post, but in addition to @BarberDave 's suggested vinegar, rinse, Dawn, rinse, and Mitchell's Wool Fat gauntlet, I also subjected the SV TSC brush to a 12 hour soak in what I use for my boars and horse knots to soften them up and get the wet dog smell out - about 1/8 part hair conditioner and 7/8 part water solution. Not that it matters, but I used the Archipelago Botanico de Havana conditioner. I hope that does not do something bad to a high end badger knot, but it seems fine and definitely softer with no more animalic smell. Has worked on my boars and horse brushes, so thought I would give it a try here.

I am a little disappointed in the Samhain soap. The scent is great but just really weak to me. The Creosote AS is something I have had my eye on awhile because I like the herbaceous/medicinal apothecary-type old school products. This did not disappoint. While the scent does not linger - it is definitely an experience scent - meaning I enjoyed it very much while it lasted. The Kroger brand moisturizer is surprisingly good in both performance and scent.

Hope everyone is in good health. God bless you all! Enjoy your weekend!
 
Great post Todd! I have found that I prefer the Schick ProLine blade in the Vector over the Feather ProGuard. Can’t wait to see the straight razor video!
 
I lathered up 4 soaps and did 3 passes and a face wash. I had samples of St James Lavender & Geranium and Crowne & Crane Lavender & Cedar, along with tubs of Lavenwood from Shave Mercantile and Wood & Lavender shaving butter from A&E. Scent on St James was a bit too synthetic and unisex for my taste. The C&C was too lightly scented, which is an exception for that brand. The A&E and Shave Mercantile soaps were very similar in scent. Both are a woody lavender, meaning cedar wood forward. The performance of all were solid, but the A&E shave butter slickness/glide is outstanding. You have to load heavy though. Did face lathers with all 4. Used Vector with a Super Pro on 5th use and a variety of synthetic brushes. Followed up with A&E Wood & Labender rice water serum. Stay strong gents!

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I lathered up 4 soaps and did 3 passes and a face wash. I had samples of St James Lavender & Geranium and Crowne & Crane Lavender & Cedar, along with tubs of Lavenwood from Shave Mercantile and Wood & Lavender shaving butter from A&E. Scent on St James was a bit too synthetic and unisex for my taste. The C&C was too lightly scented, which is an exception for that brand. The A&E and Shave Mercantile soaps were very similar in scent. Both are a woody lavender, meaning cedar wood forward. The performance of all were solid, but the A&E shave butter slickness/glide is outstanding. You have to load heavy though. Did face lathers with all 4. Used Vector with a Super Pro on 5th use and a variety of synthetic brushes. Followed up with A&E Wood & Labender rice water serum. Stay strong gents!

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I shaved with C&C Lavender & Cedar for the first time last night myself. I found it to be nice and a hair more than moderately scented, but definitely not strongly scented. Awesome selection of samples, I’ll have to check out the A&E next!

Great journal, I just found it and I’m sorry to have missed out on it until now.
 
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Another soap comparison shave. These 4 are similar scents. They share the scent notes of basil, bergamot, oakmoss, & patchouli. Zingari Man's The Wanderer also lists the added note of citrus. The Shave Mercantile's Classic Country Barber adds the note of powder. Maggard's London Barbershop and The Wanderer smell identical to me. The oakmoss, and perhaps the basil, have a sharpness that is not offensive but definitely burns my nose a bit. Mike's Natural Barbershop, is very similar to these two, but the notes are more subdued and there is a slight creaminess to the scent. I am not sure if it is a lower scent ratio or if the base rounds off the sharpness. The Shave Mercantile's Classic Country Barber is definitely the most unique of the four. It is noticeably less sharp. The oak moss is subdued a bit by the powder, and there is a slight touch of sweetness. All 4 are good performers.

Black Ship Grooming's Two Bits, Shannon's Barbershop, and Viking's Old Norse have those 4 same notes only (basil, bergamot, oakmoss, & patchouli). Soap Commander's Honor adds orange, spices, honey, and tobacco; Chiseled Face's Ghost Town Barber adds cedar, leather, smoke, & gunpowder; and Wet The Face's Modern Barbershop adds orange, spices, bay, musk, and rum.
 
I love all the barbershop scents that I've used. Mike's was my favorite of them all. Great scent, though I believe Mike's soap quality has dropped since he stopped using kaolin clay. Not sure why he did that, as his initial offerings out of NY featured it on his web page. Maybe to keep the price point down? Nice reviews, Todd. :)
 
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