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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2020

Another great shave with one of my stalwarts, the Karve Shaving ‘Christopher Bradley’ razor, fitted with my new wide body top cap and an E-OC plate. This razor was my first new razor purchase after 50+ unsophisticated single pass Barbasol shave years with my faithful Schick Krona, which gave up the ghost in 2019. The quality of the Karve design and the razor’s weighty feel in hand was the beginning of a bad case of RAD. I can thank my good shave brothers at TSD for both the conscious and unconscious enablement of both vintage and modern shave tools that followed. The first shaves I experienced with this Karve razor literally exploded my shave horizons. The excellent photography and rave reviews that I consumed at TSD, B&B and DFS led me to purchase a very large variety of old and new shave tools.

The true revelation arrived this last December. At TSD the adage is “technique trumps tools”, or more simply, “it ain’t the arrow that kills you, it’s the Indian!” I realized that 50 yrs of DE shaves did leave me with decent technique that readily transferred to modern DEs and non-pivoting SEs, and that the quality of my shaves improved immensely when I incorporated multiple passes into my routine. At my point in life, I have no interest in cart shaving or shaving with transitional pivoting SEs. I’ve had one experience with CART shaving, the Omnishaver, which initially seemed to deliver great head shaves, until I began to develop ingrown hairs on the back of my neck. That was that for CARTs.

This particular razor, while opening my eyes to new shaving vistas, did tend to nick my ears with the exposed blade tabs that were part of the original top cap design. While not a consistent problem, it did eventually lead to my putting the Karve aside more and more. The new wide body cap completely corrects this deficit. I know I’ll be using this razor with much greater frequency. It is an awesome shaver. My shave today was a real pleasure! I really enjoy OC DEs for the efficient shave delivered. They tend to have a much more generous sweet spot, and because of this do require some minding, but the head and face shaves they provide more than make up for the increased attention required. Mr. Bradley put the baby to bed after two and a half passes (WTG, ATG, ATG), where the last half pass consisted of buffing cleanup. The 6 drops of M-Bomb added to one of my favorite shave creams, Kapo, left me feeling incredibly cool, smooth and refreshed. BBS land is where I prefer to dwell, and this particular razor is one of my 12 keys!

RAZOR: Karve Christopher Bradley with E-OC plate and Wide Body Cap
BLADE: Suneko (1)
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger Fan
CREAM: Kapo Menthol w/ 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 Cremo Post Shave Balm.
 
SOTD THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

Decided to end April with one of my favorite vintage razors. I was fortunate to source this NOS LaResche 51 from the very end of their safety razor production. It’s a marvelous shaver. Since I have to be out of the house for the rest of the day, I decided to keep things brief today. My oldest son sent back my heavy (1 lb) Rearden 316L SS handled synth knot brush. It’s much heavier than other brushes, but the synthetic knot is unique in that this type of knot is usually used in make up brushes. It’s softer than my other synthetics and seems to retain water better. It generated a great 6 drop M-Bomb salted MWF lather for my two and a half pass (WTG, ATG, ATG) face and noggin BBS shave this morning. I feel clean, cool, smooth and refreshed today!

RAZOR: LaResche 51
BLADE: Polsilver (2)
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Rearden Razor 316L SS Synth Knot
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat salted with 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Murray & Lanman Florida Water AS/Cologne5398F4A1-C855-4835-B577-92020FD19CB9.jpeg51D5E010-3174-4BBB-BC21-74F2A3B23A1C.jpeg
 
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SOTD FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2020

To kick off May, I decided to go old school, since I fit the category. It’ll be a May Mayhem launch. I selected my French Spadson DE that dates from the late 20s to the early 30s. It was originally designed to supposedly have a mild side and an aggressive side. Frenchmen in those days must have had Kevlar beards, because the easiest way to characterize the two shave sides of this razor head for me is as insanely aggressive and positively assaultive.

In order to anesthetize my two shave surfaces - face and noggin - I selected one of the coldest menthol combinations in my den, Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite Soap and AS. I then added 3 drops of M-Bomb to the soap. In hindsight the M-Bomb was a bit much! But I was hoping for numbness to help deal with the potential bloodshed. El Scratcho (@9nein9) would be proud!

I selected my favorite Boar brush, the Omega Pro48 and soaked the tips in ice water, and set aside a bowl of ice water, totally influenced by my old FB friend, Joe (@JACarbone). I normally start every shave with a cold water rinse right out of the tap, but must admit that the ice water rinse was much more refreshing. Now the M-Bomb salted Snake Bite was close to my menthol limit, but the ice water lather felt great.

Everything seemed to be going swimmingly when I picked up the Spadson and loaded a Voskhod in the vain hope of mitigating future mishap. I thought I was using the insanely aggressive side of the head, but quickly discovered that it was the assaultive side as I experienced a set-down error by my right sideburn which my styptic put to rights. An auspicious beginning you ask?

Well I quickly flipped the head and very carefully rode the cap through the rest of that first WTG pass using very careful short strokes, with special attention devoted to my dome, and managed to complete it without further bloodshed. A check with the alum did reveal considerable heat around my usual trouble spots. That first pass did shear through my whiskers right down to the skin line.

In the interest of self preservation I confined the second pass to very careful WTG buffing around my problem areas and ended with a nick above my Adam’s Apple and three weepers on the back of the noggin that the Thayers dealt with. A check with the alum revealed a fair bit of irritation around the buffed areas leaving me with a shave hovering between CCS and DFS, pretty much what I expected. I feel a bit sore, somewhat smooth, but definitely very cool and content that I managed to keep the damage under control. Time to store this torture implement until Awkward August rolls around.

RAZOR: French Spadson DE
BLADE: Voskhod
PREP: Ice water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite
POSTSHAVE: Ice water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Snake Bite AS Splash. Finished with Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm
 
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SOTD SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

Despite the kerfuffle with my savage Spadson assaultive safety razor yesterday, I really enjoyed the software, and decided to repeat everything but the brush. Fine Snake Bite Soap is wonderfully cooling, especially when enhanced with 3 drops of M-Bomb and finished with the corresponding AS. I decided to put off the LeCoq Cage Head shave until tomorrow. I own two Gillette Silver Plated Single Rings, which date from the first year of production, 1905. Both were tarnished black when I came across them in a garage sale, and went for $5. They both exhibit the very slight neck cracks one sees in this model; and one shows the slight outline on the top cap of the end of the tightening screw developed by an overenthusiastic previous owner, all of which are just cosmetic. Both razors are decent shavers. I selected the unmarred top cap razor for today’s shave. What always occurs to me whenever I shave with either is the 115 years of history I hold in my hand. As a sixth generation owner, I feel a sense of respect and responsibility. The prior owners were good enough caretakers, that I was able to restore both back to gleaming utility. Let’s return to the actual shave.

After my shower, and preliminary ice water rinse, I generated a thick, yogurty lather with my Alpha Shaving T-400 Tribute brush. I selected the 26mm ferrule set with the two band Badger knot for the job, and it over delivered. I ended up with more than enough lather for three three pass shaves. Note to self, spend less time picking up soap paste before working it in the bowl. Madame Gillette was surprisingly efficient for a 115 year old lady. I enjoy only a few vintage Gillettes, but the Old Type is definitely one of them. The old lady did not reopen any of yesterday’s nicks and weepers. She delivered a relaxing, delightfully cooling, leisurely DFS++ level three pass (WTG, XTG, ATG) shave. The best part of any shave for me is the finish! The Thayers lavender WH, Snake Bite AS, and Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm put the icing on the cake for me. I feel smooth, clean, cool and refreshed.

RAZOR: Gillette Old Type 1905 Vintage
BLADE: Wizamet Super Iridium
PREP: Ice water rinse
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 Tribute w/ 26mm ferrule sporting a Two Band Badger Fan knot
SOAP: Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite AS Splash. Finished with Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.
 
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SOTD SUNDAY MAY 3, 2020

Yesterday’s shave was excellent, although not quite as close as I prefer. My single bar Gillette OT usually brings me to BBS land, but was constrained by healing French Spadson injuries of two days ago. Just to prove I have nothing against French razors I selected my 100 yr old Le Coq Cage Head for today’s shave. This is a moderate to slightly more aggressive shaver, about a 7 on a 10 point scale, and generally provides a highly efficient shave with a fair bit of blade feel. For this shave I decided to try a bit of an experiment. My best vintage shaver is my SE GE Jones Shake Sharp with two stacked blades. Why not try stacked blades in my Le Coq? I really enjoy shaving with Suneko DE blades; so I selected two, aligned them, and loaded the Le Coq.

Six drops of M-Bomb and a bit of ice water in the iced scuttle combined with MrEE’s Custom brush fitted with its hybrid Badger/Boar knot sticky with WK King of Oud paste generated a beautiful, icy, cooling lather. Both dome and face felt great. Madame Le Coq made short work of my whiskers in that first WTG pass mowing them right down to the skin line. The second XTG and third ATG passes brought me very close to BBS land, but didn’t quite make it due to some of the still healing injuries from the Spadson shave. It was BBS everywhere but around the healing areas circling the Adam’s Apple, and in one spot in the back of my head. Great shave! I feel clean, cool, smooth and refreshed.

RAZOR: Le Coq Cage Head
BLADES: 2 Stacked Suneko DE
PREP: Iced water rinse
BRUSH: MrEE Knurled Handle #7
SOAP: Wholly Kaw King of Oud salted with 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Royall Lyme AS Splash. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum
 
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