For the Love of Old Spice - Illini's Shave Journal

[JWS VII]

Today's shave is orange and blue, in honor of the University of Illinois basketball team (my alma mater) kicking the crap out of Michigan last night!

Well, I was liking this journal until I read this... Great win the other night—you guys definitely played better. Not sure which team it will be, but the Big Ten is definitely going to make some noise in the tourney this year. Keep up the journal!

 

[Graybeard57]

ironically, the vintage stock I have bought cost me far less than buying the modern stuff.

That's great!

 

[Fightingillini22]

Well, I was liking this journal until I read this... Great win the other night—you guys definitely played better. Not sure which team it will be, but the Big Ten is definitely going to make some noise in the tourney this year. Keep up the journal!

Ha! You are very right - there is a lot of talent in the Big 10 this year, and with the normal blue bloods down for the count, I definitely could see multiple teams doing big things in the tourney. Our game tomorrow against OSU is one of the biggest games for us in recent memory. It's been a LONG time since I've been this excited about our team.

 

[Fightingillini22]

Nothing particularly exciting about today's shave. A wetshaver I occasionally watch on YouTube used Gillette Lime recently so I reached for it to make another lemon lime superlather. Arko continues to be a fantastic performer, 31st uneventful shave on the Lab Blue and enjoyed Clubman for "Clubman Friday." Just an all around great morning shave.

Friday March 5th, 2021
Razor : '55 Gillette Red Tip SS
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (31)
Brush : Omega 11575
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : Arko & Gillette Lime
Post : Clubman


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MUCH more exciting was the delivery of the Sundown set from PAA by my mailman this afternoon! One final S/O to @MarkB for sending me a sample of this soap to try last year. I'm a sucker for vintage scents, and this one is a slam dunk in my book. I don't normally order sets and tend to stick to drugstore aftershaves but this was a case of "how can I not get the matching splash?!" Very much looking forward to tomorrow's shave with both!

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Have a weekend of projects coming up - need to replace a sink in our first floor powder room, re-caulk our kitchen back splash as evidently the previous owners just used ceramic tile mortar on the lowest joint and it's cracking and coming away from the counter in most places, and continue childproofing the house as our little guy is getting quite mobile. Thankfully my in-laws are coming over tomorrow to do all day babysitting so we can get stuff done.

Been a long week here so can't wait to sit down tonight and have a drink! Hope your Friday is enjoyable Cadre!

 

[Fightingillini22]

Happy Monday, Cadre! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

My in-laws came over Saturday and Sunday which provided mom and dad uninterrupted time to get a ton of projects done around the house. Looking forward to the days where we and the grandparents are all vaccinated so that the world can return to a more normal state, as right now we generally plan get togethers a full week in advance to make sure everyone is still healthy.

Anyways, we got every project we wanted to complete done and then some - re-doing the poorly sealed grout in our kitchen, replacing the powder room faucet, hanging a couple sets of curtains, and most of all BABYPROOFING. @dangerousdon not sure if you guys have started down that rabbit hole but SWMBO basically wants every single freestanding dresser, nightstand, etc. to be secured to the walls in addition to getting all the power strips sealed up and every ground-level outlet covered or plugged. Not that I wouldn't do most of this but I now have envy of my parents who didn't really have to deal with all this furniture stuff. Do I want furniture tipping over? Definitely not. Would I secure every piece to at least 2 studs? Also probably not. But here we are!

My Illini basketball team got another huge road W at OSU on Saturday, which pretty much locks up a 1 seed for March Madness. It's an exciting time and I'm happy to be sharing some of these games with my little guy despite the fact that he doesn't really understand what's going on. He will sit in the Pack-n-Play and watch the TV for a little bit now, so that's exciting!

Shaves were great too - Saturday I used the new PAA Sundown set to fantastic results and then yesterday back to Arko.

Saturday March 6th, 2021
Razor : '66 Gillette Slim
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (32)
Brush : Yaqi Barberpole Tuxedo
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : PAA Sundown
Post : Afta Fresh & PAA Sundown



Sunday March 7th, 2021
Razor : Schick Krona
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (33)
Brush : Omega 11575
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : Arko & Gillette Lime
Post : Nivea Cooling

No picture
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34th shave with the Lab Blue this Monday morning and still smooth sailing. Pretty remarkable. Continue to love the Soap Commander Endurance set from the Rudolph exchange, a dead ringer for Shulton Old Spice in my book and the little blip of menthol in the balm is a nice way to end the shave.

Monday March 8th, 2021
Razor : Gillette Canadian Prewar Tech
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (34)
Brush : Stirling Boar
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : Soap Commander Endurance
Post : Soap Commander Endurance

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[dangerousdon]

most of all BABYPROOFING. @dangerousdon not sure if you guys have started down that rabbit hole but SWMBO basically wants every single freestanding dresser, nightstand, etc. to be secured to the walls in addition to getting all the power strips sealed up and every ground-level outlet covered or plugged. Not that I wouldn't do most of this but I now have envy of my parents who didn't really have to deal with all this furniture stuff. Do I want furniture tipping over? Definitely not. Would I secure every piece to at least 2 studs? Also probably not. But here we are!

We haven't started yet...but it is definitely on the list. I think my wife and your wife are likely communicating telepathically because her baby proofing philosophy meshes with your wife's. Me...I'm more of the philosophy that you learn from your mistakes. The wife vehemently disagrees!

My Illini basketball team got another huge road W at OSU on Saturday, which pretty much locks up a 1 seed for March Madness. It's an exciting time and I'm happy to be sharing some of these games with my little guy despite the fact that he doesn't really understand what's going on. He will sit in the Pack-n-Play and watch the TV for a little bit now, so that's exciting!

So two things...any man's team that beats OSU (and yes...I leave off "the"...man they are smug) is a friend of mine. That is unless that man's team is Alabama, Southern Cal, Clemson, Michigan, Auburn, Oklahoma, or Florida.

Secondly, I have an image of you and the kid watching basketball/football and can't wait for Danger Baby and I to do the same next year...that is if the world hasn't destroyed itself by then.

 

[Fightingillini22]

We haven't started yet...but it is definitely on the list. I think my wife and your wife are likely communicating telepathically because her baby proofing philosophy meshes with your wife's. Me...I'm more of the philosophy that you learn from your mistakes. The wife vehemently disagrees!

Don, you and I appear to be in lock-step there! As do the wives evidently. Happy wife...

So two things...any man's team that beats OSU (and yes...I leave off "the"...man they are smug) is a friend of mine. That is unless that man's team is Alabama, Southern Cal, Clemson, Michigan, Auburn, Oklahoma, or Florida.

Secondly, I have an image of you and the kid watching basketball/football and can't wait for Danger Baby and I to do the same next year...that is if the world hasn't destroyed itself by then.

Muck Fichigan and all that jazz! It's truly special having one of your own to share in the love of sports. Time for Danger Baby to get some athletic wear!!

 

[GearNoir]

Great update Ryan! Glad you got some DIY time in. Free babysitting is awesome!

 

[Fightingillini22]

Great update Ryan! Glad you got some DIY time in. Free babysitting is awesome!

Aside from mom/dad alone time, time to GSD around the house is the thing that took the biggest hit in the last 10 months, so free babysitting to allow us to tackle a bunch of stuff that backed up was priceless!

Had a nice evening last night - enjoy a couple drams of Alberta Premium all thanks to @Somnos while watching The Bachelor with SWMBO. Truly trash television, but I'll be damned if it isn't entertaining. Looking forward to all of the college basketball on the horizon, though!

Reached for the Eversharp razor this morning - one I don't grab often enough. This is my only SE razor in the den, and being an injector I think it shaves a little differently than say a Vector or other AC style razors. Need to get in on a passaround or something for those...

Anyways, the shave was great end-to-end. No superlather today, sometimes Arko just needs to stand on its own. Noticeably less soap in the container after around 10 days of 3017-esque treatment, so I anticipate this one to go fairly quickly.

Tuesday March 9th, 2021
Razor : Schick Lady Eversharp
Blade : Schick Injector (2)
Brush : Rudy Vey Custom with Plisson Knot
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : Arko
Post : Nivea Cooling and PAA Sundown

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[Somnos]

Hey now Ryan the first one was me...the second, ALL you @Fightingillini22,,,, Glad it was a good one though!

 

[Fightingillini22]

Hey now Ryan the first one was me...the second, ALL you @Fightingillini22,,,, Glad it was a good one though!

Cannot argue there! If you pick up a bottle, you'll have to share how you like it.

 

[Somnos]

Cannot argue there! If you pick up a bottle, you'll have to share how you like it.

Will do!

 

[Fightingillini22]

For the first time in what feels like a while, it's gloomy outside here in Chicagoland. There was a long stretch of this back in February but for the past couple weeks it's been fairly warm and sunny which spoiled me! Still unseasonably warm, but overcast with scattered showers. I'll still take 60+ degrees in March!

SWMBO had never seen The Matrix, so I convinced her to watch it last night. Still goes down as one of my favorite movies of all time. She didn't love it, but didn't hate it, so I chalk that up to a win. It had been a couple years since I had watched, and it's just so fun to see all the millennium-era tech like the Nokia banana phone. The whole movie evokes 90s tech nostalgia for me - my parent's first cell phone, the Motorola MicroTAC Alpha, our family's first PC, the Packard Bell Legend CD, the list goes on and on. A simpler time, no doubt!

Couple of nostalgia blasts:

With the gloom in the sky it only felt natural to bring out a nice spicy scent to kick off my morning. I continue to absolutely love the Seaforth Spiced soap and aftershave toner. Performance is flawless and the profile couldn't be more in my wheelhouse. As long as Spearhead manufactures this soap, I'll have some in my den.

Wednesday March 10th, 2021
Razor : Maggard MR3
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (35)
Brush : Stirling Kong
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : Seaforth Spiced
Post : Seaforth Spiced

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[Spider]

Performance is flawless and the profile couldn't be more in my wheelhouse. As long as Spearhead manufactures this soap, I'll have some in my den.

That's the wrong way to look at it. If you love a product that much, you should stock up on it. That way, even if they decide to discontinue it, you will be able to continue to enjoy it for years/decades after!

I live by this. If there's a product that I love, that I'd never want to be without, I make sure I have at least 3-4 of them in my den, if not more. You don't want to have the situation (that I have found myself in many times), where you learn something discontinued, and by that time it's too late to stock up on. (Miss you SCS Fairway... )

 

[Fightingillini22]

That's the wrong way to look at it. If you love a product that much, you should stock up on it. That way, even if they decide to discontinue it, you will be able to continue to enjoy it for years/decades after!

I live by this. If there's a product that I love, that I'd never want to be without, I make sure I have at least 3-4 of them in my den, if not more. You don't want to have the situation (that I have found myself in many times), where you learn something discontinued, and by that time it's too late to stock up on. (Miss you SCS Fairway... )

Sigh, we all miss you SCS Fairway.

Unfortunately SWMBO would NOT be happy if I stocked up on it. While I would be devastated if it was discontinued, staying in the wife's good graces currently trumps my desire to have it in the den for decades to come

 

[GearNoir]

The original Matrix is still quite good for me too. The second one was middling...the last blech.

 

[Fightingillini22]

The original Matrix is still quite good for me too. The second one was middling...the last blech.

Despite seeing the original probably over 50 times at this point, I've seen 2 and 3 probably one time each as they just didn't live up to my expectations. With the 4th one coming out later this year, I might have to try and watch them all again. Do I think the 4th will be any good? Probably not. Will I watch it? Most definitely!

Enjoyed a dram of an IB Laphroaig Cask Strength last night. The Costco's here in Chicagoland typically don't have the best liquor selection. When I've gone to Costco in other states, I'm blown away at the selections offered. Similarly, pictures on social media of pick ups at Costco's always have me green with envy as our selection is pretty much ALWAYS the same with very little variety. Every once in a while though, something cool rolls through. And last year, this 12 year IB Laphroaig Cask Strength rolled through at $50. It's a killer bottle. I regret only picking one up now!

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On Black Friday, we picked up a basic spin bike from Amazon and have really been enjoying doing the whole Peloton thing through the app. I set up an old TV in front of the bike and we cast the classes to the TV via Chromecast. A cadence monitor mounted on the bike arm and this was a FANTASTIC DIY Peloton hack for under $400.

That is, of course, until something goes wrong. The bike's right pedal has been giving us issues for a month now, as it appears the bearing within the pedal is already shot. And of course it's when you need customer service / warranty replacements on these cheap Chinese products from Amazon where the value proposition always contains a level of risk. It took them 10 days to respond to my first warranty email (which I forgot to include the serial number, ugh) and now another 2 weeks after providing everything asked for with no response. Sigh. I know you get what you pay for, and pedals are cheap. It's why we got as low tech a bike as possible since the lower the tech, the less there is to break and need servicing. We've been using the janky pedal this whole time but I think this morning it finally became unusable. Just going to spring for replacements from Amazon at this point. Not a fun way to start the morning.

The shave, on the other hand, was great as per usual. Continuing to crank away at this tub of Arko. With the spring coming soon, I'm trying to decide what I want to do once this tub is gone. Might try to kill the tube of Gillette Pure. We'll have to see. This also might be the last of the shaves on this Lab Blue. While I'm not having any big issues, I think I've just forgotten how smooth a shave is with a brand new blade. Might have to do a side-by-side tomorrow to make sure I'm not needlessly suffering!

Wishing you a great Thursday Cadre!

Thursday March 11th, 2021
Razor : '52 Gillette Bakelite Tech
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (36)
Brush : Ever Ready 100T with Plisson knot
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : Arko
Post : Afta Fresh & 50/50 Osage & Skin Bracer Mix

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[Fightingillini22]

Happy Friday Cadre!

This has been a long week. Not sure why, but TGIF nonetheless. There is a lot of basketball on the docket this weekend - my Illini's first game of the B1G tournament is tonight, and think this will be a good barometer of our chances in the big dance. The lack of tournament experience on this squad concerns me, so hopefully they prove me wrong tonight and blow Rutgers out.

I've recently started playing The Witcher 3 on my Switch, and am fully engrossed in both the game and story. Not sure if there are any other fans out there, but now I want to read the books! It's very impressive that they were able to port such a massive game to the Switch. It would look much better on my PS4 but I don't get a chance to boot that up much anymore. The Switch has been perfect as I can quickly grab it and play a bit in bed at night.

Went with a barbershop themed shave this morning. The always nice TOBS Mr. Taylor chased with Fine AB. I know that Fine's splashes get some flack for being overpriced as it's simply water, alcohol and frag, but AB was my first "artisan" splash and remains one of my favorites. I did a side-by-side of the now 37 shave Lab Blue vs brand new, and the brand new was actually ever so slightly rougher. Chalking that up to the fact that I think most blades get better after a shave or two so will see how it goes tomorrow. But for now, the February Lab Blue lives on to see another shave!

Friday March 12th, 2021
Razor : Schick Krona
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (37) & Personna Lab Blue (1)
Brush : Yaqi Barberpole Tuxedo
Pre : Hot Shower
Soap : TOBS Mr. Taylor
Post : Fine American Blend

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[GearNoir]

I've recently started playing The Witcher 3 on my Switch, and am fully engrossed in both the game and story. Not sure if there are any other fans out there, but now I want to read the books! It's very impressive that they were able to port such a massive game to the Switch. It would look much better on my PS4 but I don't get a chance to boot that up much anymore. The Switch has been perfect as I can quickly grab it and play a bit in bed at night.

I remember when the very first one came out! Sadly I never delved into the series (even more unlikely now that kids are always around the house lol). Have you watched the Netflix series?

 

[Smattayu]

I've never played the game, but have a couple friends that are always trying to get me into it. I only have time for one video game at a time, and it's WoW Classic, probably for some time to come lol.