Kingfisher's open blade (straight razors and shavettes) journey

[kingfisher]

Glad that the storm wasn't as bad for y'all as originally thought.

And with the "right" water, Mystic Water is some of the best soap out there!

Thanks, and yep!

Dude we live like less than 2 hours apart. And my Grandparents (moms folks) live in Creeds VA. I probably have to drive past where you live to get to their house.

Cool. Where is it, exactly, that you live? South of me? West of me? (Nobody lives 2 hours EAST of me, lol.)

175/213 today.

Still in "vacation" mode. Didn't shave until well after 12 noon. Used Soapy Science in My Special Blend, and the Chris's wonderful tiny Sta-Sharp. This is quickly becoming a real treat to use. It takes a shallower angle but when you find it, it is a smooth and comfortable shaver.

Just did two quick passes and a tiny bit of touch-up (MMOC), and called it good. SAS+, didn't chase anything more than that today.

Hope y'all have a great day.

 

[GearNoir]

I think Chris just found his first buyer to unload a couple SRs! Lol.

Enjoy your day too Randall!

 

[kingfisher]

I think Chris just found his first buyer to unload a couple SRs! Lol.

Enjoy your day too Randall!

I don't know about "a couple," but this Sta-Sharp is certainly under consideration.

Today was my day off open-blades. I used my usual Sunday lather, which is the AoS lemon cream that my son kindly bought me for Father's Day.

For hardware, I used my bullet-tip GEM. Two passes plus a bit of touch-up was enough for a good clean shave.

Played the organ today and taught the Sunday School lesson. All good. Soon it will be time for me to watch the Redskins against the Colts.

Have a good day.

 

[kingfisher]

176/214 this morning.

I switched my touch-up razor to the original brass iKon SBS (this is a nice razor). I loaded it up last night with a fresh Polsilver SI. For lather I went with Stirling Peach.

When it came time for the shave, I realized that I was running about 8 minutes late. To save time, I did the entire first pass with the SBS. I had forgotten what a sweet shaver this thing is. It's not mild, regardless of which way the baseplate is flipped. First-pass reduction was pretty impressive.

For the second pass, I used the Noonan. I started on the left side of my face with the Chimensch pass, holding the razor in the right hand. I went immediately from there to the right side of the face with the razor still in the right hand and did a mixed WTG/XTG nose-to-ear, then right side of the neck. Finally, I switched back to the left hand to finish the left side of the face and the left neck. This was an efficient way to speed up the second pass, and it went really well.

I did the tiniest bit of clean-up and went with it. SAS++, not quite CCS.

I made it to work 5 minutes early.

My wife is out of town visiting her family in Pittsburgh. My son works afternoons and evenings. Yesterday was the first time in seemingly forever that I was by myself for a long stretch of time (well, I had my cat). My son left for work at 3:45 and didn't get home until 9:45. It felt weird, but I got through it. I practiced my bass a lot and spent some time playing the piano, as well. I watched some football and some golf on tv.

My wife has a couple of good reasons to be in Pittsburgh, though. Yesterday was her mother's 92nd birthday. Thursday her niece will be having a baby (scheduled C-section).

Hope y'all have a great day.

 

[Spider]

Glad you got the house to yourself, for some "me" time. Always good to have that every now and then.

 

[GearNoir]

Awesome update Randall. Sounds like a great start to the week!

 

[DocHoliday0831]

Having the house to yourself is awesome once in a while but I rather enjoy the company of SWMBO and my kids are both way to young to be at work. Although i can hire out a 7 year old if someone wants some basic household stuff done he really needs to start paying rent.

 

[cmh737]

....i can hire out a 7 year old if someone wants some basic household stuff done....

Now that there is funny!

 

[kingfisher]

Glad you got the house to yourself, for some "me" time. Always good to have that every now and then.

I kinda feel like that sometimes, but it's not long before I miss her.

Awesome update Randall. Sounds like a great start to the week!

Thanks, Chris!

Having the house to yourself is awesome once in a while but I rather enjoy the company of SWMBO and my kids are both way to young to be at work. Although i can hire out a 7 year old if someone wants some basic household stuff done he really needs to start paying rent.

Your kid can come to my house and help me with the leaves weekly starting in about a month or so. I have plenty of work, lol!

177/215 this morning almost didn't happen. I slept in well past when I should have arisen. I remembered that last night I forgot to strop one of the razors. So I prepared for a DE shave with the awesome brass iKon SBS.

After the shower I remembered that I hadn't yet shaved with the ZY after it was honed. So I didn't need to do any stropping! Genius!

So I grabbed the ZY and proceeded to shave. An awesome lather from the Stirling Peach (better than yesterday's, even) made for smooth shaving. Three passes plus a bit of touch-up and I was DFS! This blade has a really nice edge on it (thanks, CBL!).

Great start to the day. I hope y'all are doing well.

 

[Spider]

I kinda feel like that sometimes, but it's not long before I miss her.

Awww.... that's sweet.

 

[cmh737]

I've still got some Stirling Peach left - I should use some soon.

 

[kingfisher]

Awww.... that's sweet.

Thanks, KJ. I've only been married to her for 27 years, so we are still like newlyweds.

 

[kingfisher]

I've still got some Stirling Peach left - I should use some soon.

You should. It's awesome. One of my favorite soaps.

178/216 this morning.

Well, today I tried something new. Something I had never tried before. Something that gets a lot of positive press on the fora. Declaration Grooming! I had never tried any of their soaps before.

CBL was kind enough to include a small sample of the DG Icarus Shore soap when he returned my straight razors to me after honing. As soon as I got the package, I opened the samples and took a big sniff of each. This soap hit me square in the face with a nasty, wet-dog odor and then a bit of an aquatic atop that. I didn't like it at all.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've tried sniffing it a few more times. Each time I got that animalic musk that I really dislike. I figured I'd probably never try this stuff.

But then I read on another forum that if you leave the soap uncovered for a few hours, the animalic smell dissipates and it's not bad (it also said that it the funk returns if you put the lid back on it for awhile). So, last night I decided to uncap the sample in hopes that the scent would be better this morning, and it was!

So I put some of it into my lather bowl and put a tiny bit of water on it while I showered. When it came time to shave, I lathered it up, fearing the wet-dog smell, but for the most part I just got the aquatic scent. It was a fairly generic aquatic scent, so I wasn't that excited about it, but it wasn't bad, and the funk seemed pretty much gone.

So, what about the lather? Well, it took a LONG TIME to get it where I liked it. I was about ready to shave and I remember thinking that I would post that Stirling was better than this stuff, but then I added one more dollop of water and worked it a bit longer and it got really nice, sour-cream like and shiny. It shaved great.

I used the Noonan, which I remembered to strop last night. Three passes to CCS. I used the SBS for touch-ups.

The lather required a bit of work between each pass. It required a TON of water to reach its best self. Post-shave face feel was really good.

Overall, I'd say this lather was really good; 90th percentile at least, but it required a bunch of water and a bunch of work.

About 15 minutes after I capped the sample, I opened it up to give it another sniff, hoping for the pleasant aquatic scent I had during the shave. Nope. Smelled like rancid garbage again. Sigh. Great lather but this soap is probably not for me.

Interestingly, some people say they smell a funk in the background of Mike's and even of Stirling. I don't get that at all from either soap. But the Icarus has it is spades (for ME). I know that noses are different. Great lather, though.

Have a good day!

 

[GearNoir]

Fun shave, even if you had to work for it a bit!

 

[DocHoliday0831]

I agree about the work to get a lather part for sure but dont get any of the funky scent you describe at all. Some said they got it from LNHC artisan as well. Both of these soaps are easily top 4 for post shave feel though.

 

[kingfisher]

Fun shave, even if you had to work for it a bit!

Thanks.

I agree about the work to get a lather part for sure but dont get any of the funky scent you describe at all. Some said they got it from LNHC artisan as well. Both of these soaps are easily top 4 for post shave feel though.

Noses are different. When I first open it the funky part completely overwhelms the actual added fragrance. Over time, the strength of the funk fades a bit.

179/217 this morning.

Soapy Science Lollipop Citrus. The amazing, tiny Sta-Sharp blade. First two passes fine except for the tiniest weeper on the chin. Didn't feel it, just saw one tiny drop of blood. It was gone by the second pass.
After two passes I switched to the iKon SBS for the third pass and clean-up. CCS today. The SBS is a beast of a razor.

 

[dangerousdon]

I think the newer Icarus Base soaps from DG have addressed the funk. Not entirely sure on that though. Anyway...That soap does require a lot of water. That's why I start out with a pretty wet brush. It's very different than what we are taught. But if you start out with a pretty wet brush, it isn't nearly as hard or take nearly as long to get the lather. If I had to guess...you probably still needed some more water!

Either way...you gave it a try...and if you don't like it...then you don't like it. Now...I will need to get my hands on some of that Soapy Science you guys keep talking about!

 

[kingfisher]

I think the newer Icarus Base soaps from DG have addressed the funk. Not entirely sure on that though. Anyway...That soap does require a lot of water. That's why I start out with a pretty wet brush. It's very different than what we are taught. But if you start out with a pretty wet brush, it isn't nearly as hard or take nearly as long to get the lather. If I had to guess...you probably still needed some more water!

Either way...you gave it a try...and if you don't like it...then you don't like it. Now...I will need to get my hands on some of that Soapy Science you guys keep talking about!

Interesting. I'll give it another try with a wetter brush sometime in the near future.

You should try the Soapy Science. I can send you a sample or two if you would like. PM me if you are interested.

180/218 this morning, with the diminutive Rosette Japanese shorty and Soapy Science in Doc's Special Blend. Clean-up still with the brass SBS.

Nice shave today. Comfortable and smooth. The Rosette requires a slightly steeper angle than the Sta-Sharp, but it only took me about 3 or 4 seconds to find the proper angle today.

The SBS is a monster. Lots of blade exposure. Light touch a requirement. But it can plow through stubble, that's for sure.

 

[Dave in KY]

Caught up. Nice shaves !!

 

[kingfisher]

Caught up. Nice shaves !!

Thanks!

181/219 today.

Decided to fire up the DG Icarus "Shore" again this morning. I let it air out a bit and the funk dissipated nicely. This time the actual scent notes were better, for sure. It's aquatic, but with a bit more in the way of, um, perhaps tropic florals? I don't know. It's pretty nice. If the funk didn't exist at all I think I would like this scent.

Remembering that it likes water, I started with a WAY wetter brush than usual. Only one gentle shake. Well, this resulted in a bowl full of bubbly crap that I was certain would never become a lather. But then it did, although it was fluffier than I like it. If I showed you a picture of it, you would think it was the best lather ever, though. Kind of had that "lather porn" appearance. It shaved OK.

I used the Noonan for the first two passes and then finished up with the SBS. No problems at all today. Nice, comfortable shave.

Tomorrow is my day off. Trying to decide whether to go with the SBS or to switch to something else. I'll fire up the AoS lemon, as I always do on Sunday mornings.

Have a great day.