Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

[jgreenepa]

SOTD THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020

Yesterday was my first no-shave day since my hospitalization back in January. My daughter-in-law had a bit of a medical emergency early yesterday morning! So I ended up spending the day at my son’s watching my youngest grandson, Nate, all day. Everything is fine now. So this morning when I woke up, I was really in the mood for a good shave! I’ve had a few shaves with the Feather SS Kamisori loaded with a Feather Super, which provided a close shave, but left me with at least 1 and sometimes 2 weepers consistently.

Since I’m still mastering proper hold technique, albeit with 6 extra pounds strapped to my forearms, I decided to heed my friend, Bill Morgan’s (@Edison Carter) advice. I didn’t own any ProGuards, but while admiring my son’s shave den yesterday, noticed a box of 10 Feather Proguards. So I helped myself to a magazine of 15 blades, and informed my son upon his return later that day that it constituted my childcare payment. Although in all honestly I should have paid him! Nate and I had a grand time.

Back to this morning’s shave! I decided to bowl lather my MWF this morning for a change. So I bloomed the puck in hot water during my shower. After my cold water rinse and Rabid Banana Preshave application, I loaded the Feather SS with the Feather Proguard blade directly from the magazine. Instead of a Schick injector style metal key, there’s a plastic post that fits into the end of the Kamisori SS and allows for direct, hands-free blade injection right into the razor.

With that task complete, I grabbed the Jayaruh Custom #343 Synthetic, a great little lather machine, and proceeded to generate an enormous amount of thick, slick lather from the bloomed MWF puck. The different blade resulted in an actual VBBS two pass (WTG, ATG) Mug Shave, my first with an open edge! Thanks, Bill! Should have heeded your well-intentioned advice earlier. What was even more amazing is that the alum check revealed no heat whatever! I considered using the same razor for the dome, but decided to quit while ahead. The Supply V2 is probably the best injector razor I own, and delivered its usual bloodless VBBS dome shave.

But the best part was yet to come! After a liberal splash of Humphreys WH followed by Osage Rub, I pulled out what used to be one of my favorite AS splashes, and a guaranteed migraine inducer for poor SWMBO, Ogallala Bay Rum and Sandalwood AS Splash. Fortunately, SWMBO is 374 miles away on Cape Cod until Monday. As my friend, Jim (@jluc) has been known to say, “I smell pretty!!”. I may have gone a bit overboard application-wise! I know thisbecause my good friend, Gromit, the dachshund, had an initial violent sneezing fit, and has since been keeping his distance probably until the fumes die down. I feel cool clean, and oh so velveteen!

RAZOR: Feather SS Kamisori (Mug), Supply V2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather Proguard AC (Mug), Schick B-20 Proline (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse and Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Jayaruh #343 Synthetic
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by HumphreysLilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Ogallala Bay Rum & Sandalwood ASSplash.

 

[NurseDave]

while admiring my son’s shave den yesterday, noticed a box of 10 Feather Proguards. So I helped myself to a magazine of 15 blades

Lol! Awesome! Kids can never fully repay their parents anyway.


One of the scent YouTubers I watch put out a isolation scents video. It was his favorite strongest scents that you can go overboard with in isolation because there's nobody around to offend. Live it up!

 

[jgreenepa]

Lol! Awesome! Kids can never fully repay their parents anyway.


One of the scent YouTubers I watch put out a isolation scents video. It was his favorite strongest scents that you can go overboard with in isolation because there's nobody around to offend. Live it up!

Oh, I am, Dave! PAA Star Jelly F4 is on the block for tomorrow’s shave!

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

Welcome to Wool Fat Friday my shave brothers and sisters. Last night I did something I thought I’d never do, and that’s strop a razor mor than 40 strokes. I still disliked it, but the 70 strokes really brought back the edge back to the Dovo Special. The razor finally shaved as it’s supposed to. I've discovered that my two Feather Barber’s razors are sharper than any of the straights I’ve used. But I still was able eke out a decent two pass (WTG, ATG) DFS.

I’ve decided to ship all three straights currently in my possession out for rehoning and edge checks. I recently swapped a fairly beat up Gillette Single Ring for a recently honed Genco 35 straight razor. Included in the deal are two new bottles of Osage Rub I’ll be adding to the den. My shave buddy and I are both happy with the swap. I’ll be shaving with the two Feather SS Barber’s razors until the Genco arrives.

For my dome shave I opened up the Rex Ambassador all the way. I really believe my straight razor experience has helped improve what I always thought waspretty decent safety razor shaving. It has to do with a greater appreciation for the zero pressure shave. I was a bit hesitant at first, as my usual Rex setting is 4.5. I began the head shave with fairly conservative strokes, but very quickly developed a greater sense of comfort, despite one minor set-down error in the back of thedome. The result was an incredibly close VBBS. I feel cool, clean and velveteen!

RAZOR: Dovo Special (Mug), Rex Ambassador (Dome)
BLADE: Suneko (1)
BRUSH: MrEE Aluminum Handled Hybrid Knot #007
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub w/ Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by HumphreysLilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Fine Accoutrements Platinum AS splash.

 

[HMan]

I think using a straight might be the best thing you can do to improve your DE shaving, once you've gotten past a certain level. Same thing happened to me. I was always good with the pressure, but it helped me with finding angles better.

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2020

Today turned out to be Sandalwood, Slim, Straight Saturday to be alliterative. One more day after today of scent freedom before SWMBO returns. So being a nasal barbarian, I decided to pull out all the stops, practically bathe in some of my favorite scents! It’s great; I practically reek, and have no concern for balance or harmony in scent application. I just need to get it out of my system before it’s back to Unscented Purgatory on Monday!

Thw shave went well, DFS++ all around. I used my father’s Gillette Slim opened up all the way for the dome shave and one of the two Custom Damascus straight razors my son gifted me on Father’s Day for the mug. I informed him that the straight razors, and in fact my entire safety razor collection would be returned to him after I leave this realm to make acquaintance with all our dead relatives. I just love it; I feel refreshed, smell like a low rent barbershop with my DFS mug and clean velveteen noggin.

RAZOR: Custom Damascus Straight (Mug), Gillette Slim (Dome)
BLADE: Suneko (2)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
CREAM: TOOBS Sandalwood w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Royall Lyme AS and Ultimo EdT

 

[GearNoir]

Unscented purgatory

Glad you’ve had the chance to rock those scents Jeff!

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

Great shave this morning! Really starting to get the hang of this straight shaving thing. Finished a two pass (WTG, ATG) that actually required no safety razor clean up, and resulted in a DFS++. Grabbed my trusty VC1 and completed my usual two pass (WTG, ATG) VBBS dome shave. I feel refreshed, cool, clean and velveteen!

RAZOR: Dovo Special (Mug) Valet Auto Strop VC1 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather FHS-10
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Boar #372
SOAP: Haslinger Schafmilch w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Ogallala Bay Rum & Sandalwood AS Splash followed by Royall Bay Rhum EdT

 

[GearNoir]

Heeey! That’s a new view! Nice lineup back there!

 

[jgreenepa]

Heeey! That’s a new view! Nice lineup back there!

Thanks, Chris.

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

THE RETURN OF SWMBO

The dreaded day has come. Early morning communication revealed an ETA of 6:00 PM. It’s my last scent hurrah!! Scents pictured are what I’ll begin with. I expect to hit the Canoe, Creed Aventus, and Tom Ford FF over the course of the day. Maybe even some Polo, Old Spice and whatever else I can dig up between scent removals and applications before 4:00 PM at which time I will shower and do my best to deodorize both myself and the house. I know I smell way over the top since Gromit, my dachshund, elected to spend the morning outside with his cat girl, Cassie.

The shave, despite the day was, as usual, the highlight of my day. Great mug shave with the Dovo Special, the closest to a VBBS I’ve come to date with some very slight roughness around the Adam’s Apple. For the noggin shave, I grabbed my sadly neglected brass Christopher Bradley razor from Karve shaving. The OC E plate with the new wide body cap did the trick, and left me with a lovely VBBS. All in all a great shave! I've really enjoyed the week, but will be glad to see SWMBO. Unfortunately, I’ll need to shelter in place for 14 days and hope SWMBO won’t be returning with a viral present for me. I feel refreshed, smelly, clean and velveteen!

RAZOR: Dovo Special (Mug), Christopher Bradley Karve Safety Razor w/ OC E Plate
BLADE: Suneko DE (1)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
CREAM: Kapo Fresh w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Florida Water, Caswell and Massey #6 and Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme Balm.

 

[GearNoir]

That journal title for the day!

Enjoy your final moments of scent freedom!

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD JULY 14, 2020

Welcome to Tabac Tuesday. Today was the inaugural shave with the new-to-me Genco 35. The fellow who swapped with me claimed he had honed this vintage razor after restoring it with a series of progressive hones all the way to 12,000 grit. Well it was certainly sharp enough. The two pass (WTG, ATG) mug shave went well with one slight weeper during the second pass just below the Adam’s Apple which disappeared upon WH application. I’ve learned that a thinner, slippery lather seems to work best for me with a straight razor, and that was certainly the case this morning. The result was another DFS++.

I spent more time building my dome lather into the thick, yogurty consistency preferred with my safety razors. The razor for my dome shave was my 2011 R41 which I have sitting on my spare Occam’s DE handle. This razor was initially intimidating given its reputation for efficiency, until I began using it regularly. In actuality, my Barbasol FH is probably a tad bit more efficient. In any case, the R41 made short work of my dome stubble, mowing everything right down to the skin line, in the process leaving a few remaining rough areas in the usual valleys on the back of the noggin. Some selective buffing eradicated that problem and left me cool, refreshed, clean and oh so velveteen (VBBS).

RAZOR: Genco 35 (Mug), Muhle R41 (2011)
BLADE: Suneko (2)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 w/ 26mm Boar Knot
SOAP: Tabac w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Osage Rub and Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.

 

[elmerPHuD]

Caswell and Massey #6

So how do you like that? I just bought a bunch of their bar soaps since they do not have fragrance samples.

 

[jgreenepa]

So how do you like that? I just bought a bunch of their bar soaps since they do not have fragrance samples.

I love it! It’s a very old scent! Apparently, George Washington wore it. I've had the bottle for years. Can't wear scents anymore, my wife has a fragrance allergy.

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020

What a wonderful Wednesday shave! The new-to-me Genco 35 continues to perform beautifully without daily stropping! I really like this razor! A very experienced straight shaver/mentor on one of the larger straight razor forums informed me that there was no need to strop the Genco daily. He claimed to have gone over 20 shaves between strops on his, my kind of guy! Just swapped my virtually unused Merkur 34 for a brand new Monsieur Charles Barber’s Razor which uses injector blades. After reading a series of horror stories on half DE shavettes, I’ve decided to steer clear. I like variety (comes from 50 yrs with a Schick Krona). The Feather and Monsieur Charles should be fine. Looked at the IBC shavette, but there is a major design flaw with AC blades. Since my favorite blades are AC and injectors, my Feather SS and Monsieur Charles should meet my needs nicely.

I've said elsewhere that my favorite shaving Gillettes are the New Standard, Deluxe and LC. I enjoy shaving with Old Types, of which I own two, in addition to this early production (1920) Big Fellow with the Old Type head design. Later production near the end of the 20s featured a New Standard head design. While the Old Type is a better than average shaver, this king size version is a truly spectacular shaver and definitely holds it own with the Gillette New models. I imagine a late production Big Fellow with the New flat bottom design would be an even better shaver, if that’s possible. The late model Big Fellow is the only safety razor I would snap up if one in good condition came my way. The only safety razor currently on order is the Tradere. I’ve cancelled my Wolfman order. I’ve more than enough razor variety to keep the shave interest up at this point.

I’ve learned both here, elsewhere and personally that a thinner, more slippery lather is best for a straight razor shave. The beauty of Pannacrema Nuavia Blu is its incredible slickness. So for the mug shave I used a bit more water and achieved a great slick platform. In fact I initially worried that the stropping advice wasn’t so good since it felt for the first time like the Genco was just scooping the lather off my face until I noticed the copious amount of shorn whiskers in the lather. Still struggling with the ATG pass on my neck, but everything above the jaw was a clean VBBS with a DFS+ below the jaw. The Big Fellow brought the roughness around the Adam’s Apple to the VBBS level in short order, and did the same for the dome where that great Jayaruh brush generated the kind of thick, yogurty lather I prefer for my safety razor shaves. The post shave skin feel is great with this soap. I feel refreshed, cool, clean and oh so velveteen!

RAZOR: Genco 35 (Mug), Gillette Big Fellow (Dome)
BLADE: Kai (1)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger #378
SOAP: Pannacrema Nuavia Blu w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite AS Splash.

 

[elmerPHuD]

I love the Nuavia Blu scent!

 

[jgreenepa]

I love the Nuavia Blu scent!

Me too, I like to use the residue to wash my face after each shave! Great skin feel!

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

Well, as one shave buddy recently commented, it does appear that I’ve jumped down the straight razor rabbit hole with both feet! In my defense I still haven’t spent dime one. I’ve traded several safety razors some of my local shave buddies have been eying for a couple of straight razors and shavettes. The straight razor I used today was a Double Duck Goldedge. I traded a LaResche razor for it that I never really cared for. It was a straight one for one after he checked pricing. I will say it is a pretty razor, and probably the sharpest straight razor I’ve shaved with to date. It did seem as sharp as my Feather SS with a Feather Super loaded. There were two weepers during the second ATG pass around the Adam’s Apple, but otherwise it was just about a BBS. The Feather AS-D2 cleaned things up in its usual highly capable fashion on the dome, and that is really all I have to say about the actual shave.

As a MWF true believer of many years, what I would like to talk about is the new pre-shave method using this soap for a straight razor shave that I learned about on one of the straight razor forums. I normally do not bloom my MWF. But this pre-shave method relies on doing just that. After my shower, I poured the bloomed water into a separate bowl as directed. I then poured the bloomed water into my palm, rubbed my hands together and massaged it into my beard on face and neck. The next step was to use the brush to generate a loose liquidy lather and apply it over the prior effort. After waiting about a minute, I lathered up as I normally would over the liquidy lather effort which had pretty much been absorbed into the skin. The shave itself was a delight. According to the author of this method, consistent use leads to the development of a nick-proof surface thanks to the lanolin in the soap. He claimed to have straight shaved this way for 20 yrs. I’ll give it a try. Probably any soap with lanolin in it would suffice. In any case, I’m again refreshed, cool, clean and beautifully velveteen!

RAZOR: Double Duck Goldedge (Mug), AS-D2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Shave surface massage w/ MWF bloom water followed by brush application of wet lather soak
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Boar #374
SOAP: Mitchell's Wool Fat w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Chiseled Face Cryogen AS Splash.

 

[jgreenepa]

SOTD FRIDAY JULY 17, 2020

Another great face shave from the Double Duck Goldedge. I do understand the appeal of this anachronistic approach to shaving. And it’s delivered real benefits to my safety razor shaving vis a vis skin stretching. I just really detest the whole stropping/honing thing, and knowing myself as well as I do after 7 decades of strutting the planet, it’s just not going to work for me. I’ll definitely do it intermittently, but I admit, I appreciate shave technology, and find safety razor shaving and replaceable blades much more to my liking. It really hit me yesterday, when I purchased the new Fine Accoutrements SS safety razor. I do enjoy open edge shaving, but the majority of it will be done with my Feather SS razors and my new Monsieur Henry. If I invest in a new open edge razor it will probably be a Feather DX razor. I achieved a true BBS this morning with the Goldedge which was my goal! It’s still sharp, but I hate having to strop it and want absolutely nothing to do with sharpening/honing. I’m putting it up on the shelf. It’s time to return to what I love, shaving with my wonderful collection of safety razors and my replaceable blade Barber’s razors. So am I leaving open edge shaving? Not on your life! Will I spend money on one, yes, but it will be either a Feather DX or a Kai Captain Excelia. I’m grateful for the new skill acquisition which I’ll continue working on with my Barber’s razors.

Now I’d like to sing the praises of the Seki Feather AS-D2, and it’s predecessor the AS-D1, razors that used to represent the ultimate SS razor, prior to much of the modern artisan SS safety razor renaissance. That is until a crowd of newbs to DE shaving purchased it, did not discover its very narrow sweet spot, and pronounced it “mild”! The razor, understandably, was designed to accommodate the company’s very sharp Feather DE blade. According to “Refined Shave”, a Health/Beauty blade testing organization, the Feather DE Blade is the sharpest blade on the planet by a wide margin, followed not so closely by the Nacet. Seki’s challenge was to design a blade holder that tamed their incredibly sharp DE blade. Their first effort, the AS-D1, which had true negative blade exposure, erred too far on the side of mildness. Their second effort, however, the AS-D2 has neutral blade exposure, and is an incredibly efficient shaver for those who take the time to master it.

My health is no longer as robust as it once was, and over the past year I’ve been hospitalized twice, once for almost a week and a half. Being of Mediterranean extraction (Italian/Hungarian), I’ve always had a dense, heavy beard. My razor of choice to shear away 10 days of growth on both dome and face is the AS-D2, equipped with its signature blade. I find myself smiling when I read commentaries exhorting the heavy denseness of the writer’s beard and the AS-D2’s failure while loaded with a suboptimal DE blade (virtually any other non-Feather DE blade except maybe the Nacet) to shave effectively. This razor, when mastered, is capable of consistent irritation-free VBBS shaves, as it again delivered for me this morning. I feel refreshed, cool, clean and extremely velveteen!

RAZOR: Double Duck Goldedge (Mug), AS-D2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE (2)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Mentholated Mysterium Serum.