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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD Saturday, April 25, 2020

Great shave yesterday with the Fine Accoutrements’s ‘Marvel’ razor. In that same spirit I decided to work through the rest of my rotation through the end of the month! For today’s shave I selected a wonderful razor that I learned of through my shave brothers at TSD, Classic Shaving’s “Occam’s DE Razor”. I purchased the full kit of three baseplates and two top caps on the run up to the Christmas holidays this last December, supposedly for my son, but after a series of rave reviews at TSD and elsewhere decided to give it a shot. Classic Shaving recommended the use of a Feather blade for it’s use. I was not disappointed! I prefer the aggressive plate with the ridged top cap, which purportedly is designed to help newer shavers master the correct shave angle. I just like it’s looks. In fact I enjoyed the razor so much, that I purchased the heavier gold embossed handle, and swapped the original for the awful chrome handle that came with the ‘Marvel’.

Mainstream shave products are sometimes looked down upon by collectors of high end artisan soaps and matching aftershaves. Pacific Shaving Co.’s caffeinated shave cream and aftershave, however, can’t be compared to the canned, pressurized junk, with the exception of Barbasol, of course. After my shower, I began my shave with the regular cold water rinse. After salting the shave cream with 6 drops of M-Bomb, my Jayaruh #372 Boar brush whipped up a great cooling lather which was then applied to both head and noggin. This would have been a bloodless shave, until my canine companion, Gromit, decided to drop his cold rubber chicken on my right foot in the middle of an ATG upstroke below my Adam’s Apple, resulting in me reopening the healing weep from a few shaves ago. In any case, despite the “Grom”, I ended up with a very pleasant BBS after 2 1/2 passes (WTG, XTG, ATG). I feel cool, smooth, clean, and refreshed.

RAZOR: Occam’s 316L SS DE
BLADE: Feather (2)
PREP: Cold Water rinse
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom #372 Boar
CREAM: Pacific Shaving Co.’s Caffeinated Shave Cream
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Pacific Shaving Co.’s Caffeinated AS. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum
 
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SOTD Sunday, April 26, 2020

This morning’s shave was with the Broman Razor. The razor weighs in at nearly 80 grams, and admittedly feels good in the hand. It comes with 10 Permasharp blades, not my favorite blade by a long shot. Instead, I split a Polsilver DE blade in half, and used that in the razor. By way of background, I’ve never shaved with pivoting head razors or carts, but rather with the same Schick Krona DE for over 50 years. I've owned a Leaf and a OneBlade and ended up doing myself some serious damage, and sold both. Since the Krona gave up the ghost, I've managed to accumulate an ungodly number of safety razors, 12 of which I shave with in my daily rotation.

My experience with the Broman was different in that I managed not to hurt myself, but I also had three immediate issues. The first is serious, the second just annoying, and the third looks like it may be a deal breaker for me with this razor. I have a styled beard, and am used to a safety razor to trim and maintain its shape. The head on the Broman is bulky, and does not allow for precise trimming around the goatee and sideburns. The blade sits in the center of the head with approximately a .21mm gap on either side as can be seen in the attached image. Lining up a trim becomes very problematic. Secondly, the dang thing clacks as the pivoting head moves which is quite annoying. And finally, as a regular head shaver, I need a razor that clears the stubble on both face and dome. I just was unable to get at the stubble in some of the hills and valleys on the back of my dome. The head was too bulky.

Let’s get to the actual shave. I selected Nancy Boy Signature Shave Cream, my Alpha Shaving Brush with the 26mm Two Band Badger knot, Fine Snake Bite AS Splash, and A&E Post-Shave Serum. Nancy Boy shave cream is every bit as good as Mantic59 said. It provided a very generous, thick lather. I really enjoyed using it. Next time, I’ll have to mentholate it wth M-Bomb. The razor did not allow for precise trimming and clickety clacked throughout all three (WTG, XTG,ATG) passes leaving me with a very rough untrimmed result, not even a CCS. Now Kensurfs raved about this razor in his video, but he’s not a head shaver. Determined to achieve my usual shave result, I pulled out my faithful Shake Sharp and trimmed and cleaned up both head and dome leaving me with my desired BBS.

The razor cost 41 British Pounds which is roughly equivalent to $51. I'm sure this razor will shave perfectly well for a younger, smoother shaver who’s comfortable in his or her cartridge shave technique. It’s just not going to work for me. I’ll be listing it for $40 dollars shipping included on the TSD BST for anyone in Canada or CONUS.

RAZOR: Broman
BLADE: Polsilver
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 Tribute w/ 26mm Two Band Badger Knot
CREAM: Nancy Boy Signature Shave Cream
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite AS Splash. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum
 
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SOTD MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

I’m grateful that I learned yesterday that the Broman razor was not for me, because the cleanup allowed me to reexperience my favorite razor. What I discovered is that it remains my favorite SE. The two stacked Feather DE blades used in this unique shaving tool feel every bit as stiff and unyielding as my favorite AC blade, the Feather Super and deliver as good a shave. The only drawback is the weight, but the quality of the shave delivered more than makes up for the latter deficit!

The GE Jones Shake Sharp is a very unique SE that uses DE blades. One of my shave mentors here at TSD and elsewhere, Jeff (@jmudrick), introduced me to the razor, his favorite as well, and I’m forever grateful. I now own three, one of which, the nickel plated Mark 2.0, resides in Philly, my favorite, the Bakelite Mark 1.5, is here in the Philly burbs with me, and another, a gold plated Mark 2.0, is at our place on Tybee Island. I used to own five, but PIF’d two to friends at TSD.

My friend Jeff taught me about stacking two SS DE blades in the Bakelite version. I just extended the technique to the metal handled versions. The razor was originally designed in the late thirties during the carbon steel blade era, but wasn’t produced until the mid to late forties on into the mid fifties when production ceased. A SE self sharpening razor, with its own built-in hone, developed during the thrifty late depression days just prior to WWII, allowed for a person to literally ‘Shake’ their carbon blades - which were thicker than the new SS blades - ‘Sharp’. It was designed to use the cheaper carbon steel DE blade. The carbon steel blades were thicker than the then new SS blades. Stacking two SS blades works beautifully to provide a sharp edge, yet one not so prone to biting.

For today’s shave I again used the Nancy Boy Signature shave cream only this time with 6 drops of M-Bomb, my Viking Silvertip Badger brush, Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash, and A&E Post-Shave Serum. The shave, after my shower, proceeded exactly as anticipated following my regular cold water rinse prep. Two and a half, leisurely, relaxed passes (WTG, ATG, ATG) with this spectacular new shaving cream followed by Thayers Lavender WH, Fine Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash and a finish with A&E Post-Shave Serum ended a very slow, luxurious shave. Your very happy narrator was pleasantly led to bloodless BBS land. I feel clean, smooth, cool, and refreshed.

RAZOR: Bakelite handled Shake Sharp Mark 1.5 SE
BLADE: Two Stacked Feather DE Blades
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
CREAM: Nancy Boy Signature Shave Cream salted with 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum
 
Never used the Feather two-stack. Interesting razor. I marvel at your gear, Pat.

Hope you and your wife are getting enough sleep. Stay safe.
 
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SOTD TUESDAY APRIL, 28, 2020

Today I dove back into my shave rotation, and pulled out my Cooper Monobilt. This was a relatively recent acquisition (about 7 mos ago) thoroughly enabled by the Cooper Razor Club thread at TSD where comments about the razor were so laudatory that when a friend at B&B offered me his in exchange for one of my two LaResche 61’s, it was a no brainer. I believe I got the better deal. I have two, the other of which - also acquired at B&B - resides in Philadelphia, 51 stories above the street where it keeps my nickel plated Shake Sharp company.

The razor is unique in having a hinged head controlled by the twist lock at the base of the handle. It’s an OC and an incredibly efficient shaver. For today’s Lavender shave I selected a Polsilver blade, and the same software as yesterday’s shave with the exception of the brush. Today I decided to use the Jayaruh Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger #378, one of my favorites. Just another great BBS shave, two and 1/2 passes (WTG,ATG,ATG) and the baby was put to bed! I feel clean, smooth, cool, and as refreshed as 6 drops of M-Bomb makes you feel.

RAZOR: Cooper Monobilt
BLADE: Polsilver
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger #378
CREAM: Nancy Boy Signature Shave Cream
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum.
 
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