I'm No Good at Journals...

[GearNoir]

early morning breakfast at First Watch

Interesting restaurant name...do tell! And what did ya eat?

 

[Luecke3262]

Interesting restaurant name...do tell! And what did ya eat?

I had a Bacado Omelette, Bacon and Avocado and some Million Dollar Bacon. So, bacon with a side of bacon!

 

[bentheduck]

With the exception of a few days recently, I feel like this corner of Texas has been unseasonably cool......er. It's still hot, and people still complain that it's hot, but it feels cooler to me.

Also, we have a First Watch around the corner. Venessa likes to go there every so often. Good stuff. I'm a little picky, so I stick to the breakfast basics.

 

[Luecke3262]

Shave #3
Soap: De Vergulde Hand Shaving Soap Extra Fris
Aftershave: Pitralon
Brush: Semogue 620
Razor: C.V. Heljestrand MK No. 4
Strop: Tony Miller Old #2(20 linen and 65 leather) ​

Good afternoon,

Another fantastically beautiful day here in Missouri! Temperatures in the mid 70's F , low humidity, and sunny, a guy cannot complain too much. Squeezed in this shave after lunch, for an afternoon meeting. Another new to me razor I had just picked up about a month or so ago. An Escher edge on a Heljestrand razor never disappoints! I've never owned an MK No. 4, but to me it shaves exactly like an MK No. 31, but it doesn't have the thumb notch. Personally, I feel like the thumb notch makes it difficult to strop the 31, so to me the MK No. 4 is an improvement. To date, I've owned an MK 4, 30, 31(3 of them), 32, and 23, I'd say I liked the shave off of the 4 the best so far. BBS all around, one nick on my left jawline due to a pesky mosquito bite....

Off to make dinner, have a good evening gentlemen!

Matt

​

 

[Luecke3262]

Shave #4

SOTD: 08.06.2020
Soap: Martin de Candre: Le Fougere
Aftershave: Vintage Skin Bracer
Brush: West Coast Shaving "Tortoise" Silvertip Badger
Razor: C.V. Heljestrand MK No. 31
Strop: Tony Miller Old #2(20 linen and 65 leather)
​

Good evening gents,

Today was a pretty eventful day! First the shave was fantastic. Like many, I think I could become a minimalist with only a hand full of razors, if they were all Heljestrand’s! I would go further and say if I only had one shaving soap for the rest of my life, it would be Martin de Candre, Fougere. I had a long shower and took my time for a full prep, washed my face with Stirling Preshave, hot towel, and along face lather. Ended up with a 2.5 pass shave, my typical WTG, XTG, and any which way that gets the last couple hairs pass. The MK 31 yielded an effortless, albeit obscenely loud BBS in about 20 minutes. I finished off the shave with some vintage Skin Bracer and some Chatillon Lux Unconditional Surrender EdP.

Now, that was just the start to my busy shaving related day. Of course, first I had to punch the clock(from home of course), but the day flew by. I had a high school buddy drop by at lunch to pick up his first wet shaving setup, a Gillette 40’s Superspeed, Semogue 620, C.O. Bigelow cream, and a blade sampler. I gave him a tutorial on lathering, basic maintenance, and, shaving technique then sent him on his way. He seemed really satisfied!

After work, I raced against St. Louis traffic across town, to retrieve my prodigy from his wonderful care giver. The first thing he said was, “ daddy I want to go truck shopping,” meaning he wanted to visit our favorite antique shop, to buy a matchbox truck. I couldn’t resist! I ended up with a 97% full, vintage bottle of Penhaligon’s Verveine EdC(saw it a few weeks ago) and a wonderful cut glass, Puritan EdC decanter circa 1930’s; Nate got a semi truck and trailer. Now I need to figure out if I want to give the Verveine a chance or pass it along to the missus. ALSO, what belongs in this beautiful decanter? It was a fun trip to my honey hole with my best buddy. He did so great in the store for a 3 year old!

​

Later in the evening I closed a deal on a lot of 9 razors. I purchased them from an older gentleman(in his 80’s) on Facebook Marketplace. He was not the easiest to work with and he only had an old digital camera to work with... The photos were horrible and he was confused as to what I was asking for. He seemed very genuine and I had a good feeling about the value of the lot, compared to the price I ended up negotiating. The George Butler and CASCO razors were the only ones I could positively identify, but they look very nice. I know the rules of buying vintage razors: Never buy if there are fuzzy pictures, never buy if you don’t know what your buying, don’t buy a lot of rusty razors, etc... For the most part they look like 9 projects in the making and with COVID and everything shutdown here in St. Louis, I need and enjoy projects. I’ve never been afraid of cleaning up a bit of rust and if you can’t tell, I like to gamble a little too.

​

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

[GearNoir]

Great shave and update! Love those decanter finds!

 

[MilkCrate]

Great shave and scores!

 

[NurseDave]

I ended up with a 97% full, vintage bottle of Penhaligon’s Verveine EdC

Whoa!

 

[Luecke3262]

Shave #5
SOTD: 08.07.2020
Soap: Martin de Candre Argumes
Aftershave: Vintage Piaud Lilac Vegetal
Brush: Alpha T-400 Prototype with Silvertip Badger
Razor: Wade & Butcher 9/8
Strop: Tony Miller Old #2(20 linen and 65 leather)
EdC: Penhaligon’s Verveine
Pomade: The Holy Black ​

I always enjoy the shaves with Alfredo Gill’s edges. A couple of years ago, Alfredo made these scales for my W&B, it’s been a favorite ever since. This razor is like wiping your face with a soft cloth and having the whiskers just fall off. The MdC Argumes performed beautifully as always and was perfect for a warm St. Louis summer. As expected I received aN effortless BBS shave from the behemoth of a razor. I think the weight and blade size are perfect, literally no effort is needed other than not slitting my own throat.
The shave being earlier in the morning was later accompanied by a quick touch up with my Schick Adjustable and a Personna 74 blade. My aftershave of choice was 444 mixed with a little Penhaligon’s Verveine. I like the light citrus scent, though it is a bit light for my taste, but it is still a great scent.
Iryna was wonderful and watched Nathan while I went out for drinks and dinner with my old High school wrestling coach and some old team mates. Fantastic evening and still got to read some books to my little guy before we laid him down.

Have a nice night,
Matt

 

[NurseDave]

I dunno. I think you’re a-ok at journal entries

 

[Luecke3262]

My little guy conked out on the way to pick up some Soap and Aftershave from a local soap shop, Herberia Pure Pleasure. Their Shaving soap is rubbish, made from Olive Oil, it lathers terribly, BUT THIER AFTERSHAVE!!!! For a witch hazel based AS, the lavender, bayrum, and 7 mints are all Fantastic and CHEAP!

Check him out, fell asleep with a Gillette Super Adjustable in hand!

 

[Patelliott]

Great photo!

 

[Luecke3262]

Well, it turned into a nutty month for acquisitions! I have been having a ton of fun picking though the GIGANTIC 8.18.2020 LOT. Its a monster, that I cannot even lay out completely on two 8ft X 3ft tables.... So, I'm working through it at a snails pace, finding new gems every day. I've had some other fantastic scores recently, A nearly NOS condition Gillette Big Boy Hybrid, a Near NOS Gillette New Improved Traveler Set, Some Hoffritz razors, A NOS Rubberset badger Brush, a NOS C-Mon Cadillac, and some new soaps and aftershaves....






BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I still have time to spend with the family too, which is the most important thing in my life. We made some big decisions about stating Nate,who turns 3 years old in September, in Catholic pre-school. He has been in daycare all he way through COVID, but we know he needs more stimulation and a better learning environment. We've traveled a bit through out the state(Iryna and I drove to Ft. Leavenworth to pick up that lot), and still managed to enjoy ourselves.



Well, on to today's shave:

SOTD: 08.27.2020
Soap: Martin de Candre Argumes
Aftershave: Osage Rub
Brush: M&F Silvertip
Razor: Wade & Butcher 5/8, 1/2 hollow
Strop: Tony Miller Old #2(20 linen and 65 leather)
EdC: Penhaligon’s Verveine
Pomade: The Holy Black
​

Fantastic shave early this morning with a razor I just recently cleaned up and honed, from the 8.18.2020 Lot. BBS ALL AROUND. Nuff said!

Have a great day guys!

 

[Patelliott]

Fantastic post! You got some lovely acquisitions and a beautiful family! Have a good one!

 

[Dave in KY]

I'd have to say you're correct that you're not good at journals........ You're great at them! Sounds like it's been an exciting month and very important to spend time with family as a priority. Nice update

 

[MilkCrate]

Sounds like a fun month and great scores!

 

[NurseDave]

Good stuff all around brother!

 

[bentheduck]

Road trips and great shaves. I love it.

 

[GearNoir]

Great update Matt! You’ve had quite the year for stellar finds!

Thanks for sharing your beautiful family too!

 

[Luecke3262]

Update, the Sons of Wet Shaving showed up today It has a nice leather and tobacco scent, there is a bit of gun powder and cannabis in there, but my sniffer mostly picks out the first two.