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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

I pull out my Osage Rub very often. Even in cooler months I love that brisk feel on my skin. It's definitely good stuff.

Pickle ball? Now I can get down with some of that sport...looks like fun!
 
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SOTD SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 11, 2020

Although the day was dreary, my shave certainly wasn’t. I realize that the theme this month has been Open Comb (OC) October. The safety razor I selected for my dome shave has a very unique head design. The LaResche 77 was designed with what can only be described as a reverse open comb (ROC) head design. The highly arched head design has influenced modern artisans either directly or through later design mods (e.g. Italian Barber’s BBS). The razor is somewhat rare, but delivers an exquisitely close shave as my dome attests this morning. For my mug shave, I chose my somewhat newly acquired Saito SK3. This is my second outing with this smiling blade which left me smiling as well with the results. My son owned two; now I own his less desirable model. Regardless, it delivered a great shave which in combination with the LaResche 77 left me smooth, refreshed, clean and velveteen.

RAZOR: R. Saito SK3 (Mug), LaResche 77 (Dome)
BLADE: Polsilver
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: JR Rosewood Two Band Badger #378
CREAM: TOBS Peppermint
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with PAA Frost Byte AS Splash.
 
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SOTD MONDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 12, 2020

I own three Japanese straight razors. I shaved with the Tanifuji Airi two days ago, the R. Saito SK3 yesterday. This morning I selected the Nichiri Tokusen by Diamond Hayashi. I really love its buttery soft edge, and today it didn’t disappoint. Just a whisker-meltingly two pass WTG, ATG) great mug shave. Last Monday was Monobilt Monday at TSD. The dome shave that day was excellent! So after my great face shave I pulled out the Cooper Monobilt, and experienced another excellent two pass (ATG, ATG) dome shave. Both shaves were facilitated by the slick Baume.Be lather carpet generated by my MrEE Knurled Aluminum brush! I feel smooth, clean and velveteen on this rainy Monday!

RAZOR: D.H. Nichiri Tokusen 6/8 (Mug), Cooper Monobilt (Dome)
BLADE: Polsilver (2)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Knurled Aluminum Hybrid Knot #007
CREAM: Baume.Be
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin Soap followed by Humphreys WH. Finished with Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash.
 
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SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 13, 2020

Another dreary, rainy day here in the Philly suburbs serving as foil for a tremendous shave. The NOS Witte Solingen Copperhead 6/8 arrived with an accompanying note in the coffin case stating, “honed by Henerey 1939”. The bevel was still in surprisingly good condition. After a touch up on the jasper stone, the shave turned out to be a blissfully smooth two pass (WTG, ATG) pleasure that put the baby to bed and tucked her in. My dome shave was every bit as good and featured my silver plated Valet Auto Strop VB2. After stropping the FAS-10 carbon steel blade the safety razor demonstrated why this model lasted 42 years until the advent of the SS DE blade rendered its stropping function obsolete. Nevertheless, it’s a remarkable shaver and with the enclosed freshly stropped carbon steel Feather FAS-10 blade delivered a two pass (ATG, ATG) shave leaving me feeling smooth, clean and velveteen.

RAZOR: Witte Solingen Copperhead 6/8 (Mug), Valet Auto Strop Model VB2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather FAS-10 Carbon Steel
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Monster Aluminum Tuxedo Synthetic
SOAP: Stirling Glacial Obsidian
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Stirling Glacial Obsidian AS Splash.
 
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SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 14, 2020

Well it seems I’m on a streak. My shave this morning was more than acceptable. The Riga Razor delivered a fine three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) shave, but just feels large and clumsy in hand. I think at this point I prefer my vintage Japanese Silver Steel and old cast steel Sheffield razors. They feel more balanced to me, and much more comfortable to shave with.

I may have been unduly influenced by my son, Ben, who claims that many modern razors are gimmicky with either shortened or unnecessarily extended spines and blade widths. He stated that that was not the case with my Dovo Special or with modern TI or Boker. He encouraged me to try the Riga as it is also more traditional in design. If I end up pursuing modern artisan razors I’ll probably stick with traditional designs.

My dome shave featured another Valet Auto Strop model, the VC1. I loaded and restropped the Feather FAS-10 blade from yesterday’s shave in the VB2 Auto Strop. The result was another excellent two pass ((ATG, ATG) dome shave that left the noggin feeling smooth and velveteen after the 888 Splash from RazoRock.

The Soap Commander lather was ok, but at this point I definitely prefer MWF and Nancy Boy to any artisan soap I’ve tried, and I’ve tried a lot. Most of them are slick, but all the ones I’ve tried leave my skin feeling dry after the shave as does Soap Commander. Lush Prince does not, but that is a brushless cream in the same category as the Cremo and Headblade Slick products. The only unscented soap bases I’ve not tried are the PAA CK6 and the A&E Shave Butter. I’ve ordered both. We’ll see. I feel clean and refreshed.

RAZOR: Riga Razor 7/8 (Mug), Valet Auto Strop Model VC1 ( Dome)
BLADE: Feather FAS-10 Carbon Steel
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger Fan Knot
SOAP: Soap Commander Honor
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with GlyceGlycerin Soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with RazoRock 888 Eucalyptus and Tea Tree Splash.
 
jgreenepa said:
View attachment 37773

SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 14, 2020

Well it seems I’m on a streak. My shave this morning was more than acceptable. The Riga Razor delivered a fine three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) shave, but just feels large and clumsy in hand. I think at this point I prefer my vintage Japanese Silver Steel and old cast steel Sheffield razors. They feel more balanced to me, and much more comfortable to shave with.

I may have been unduly influenced by my son, Ben, who claims that many modern razors are gimmicky with either shortened or unnecessarily extended spines and blade widths. He stated that that was not the case with my Dovo Special or with modern TI or Boker. He encouraged me to try the Riga as it is also more traditional in design. If I end up pursuing modern artisan razors I’ll probably stick with traditional designs.

My dome shave featured another Valet Auto Strop model, the VC1. I loaded and restropped the Feather FAS-10 blade from yesterday’s shave in the VB2 Auto Strop. The result was another excellent two pass ((ATG, ATG) dome shave that left the noggin feeling smooth and velveteen after the 888 Splash from RazoRock.

The Soap Commander lather was ok, but at this point I definitely prefer MWF and Nancy Boy to any artisan soap I’ve tried, and I’ve tried a lot. Most of them are slick, but all the ones I’ve tried leave my skin feeling dry after the shave as does Soap Commander. Lush Prince does not, but that is a brushless cream in the same category as the Cremo and Headblade Slick products. The only unscented soap bases I’ve not tried are the PAA CK6 and the A&E Shave Butter. I’ve ordered both. We’ll see. I feel clean and refreshed.

RAZOR: Riga Razor 7/8 (Mug), Valet Auto Strop Model VC1 ( Dome)
BLADE: Feather FAS-10 Carbon Steel
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger Fan Knot
SOAP: Soap Commander Honor
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with GlyceGlycerin Soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with RazoRock 888 Eucalyptus and Tea Tree Splash.
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Good Stuff today! It seems you have a whole family of traditional wet shavers!

I have only tried Soap Commander in small samples. I found it okay...but prefer others. If you know what works for you, definitely stick with it!
 
jgreenepa said:
I may have been unduly influenced by my son, Ben, who claims that many modern razors are gimmicky with either shortened or unnecessarily extended spines and blade widths. He stated that that was not the case with my Dovo Special or with modern TI or Boker. He encouraged me to try the Riga as it is also more traditional in design. If I end up pursuing modern artisan razors I’ll probably stick with traditional designs.
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Interesting thought. I guess it’s true though! A lot of modern SR artisans have really pumped up the aesthetics of their razors in comparison to the rather uniform designs of yesteryears. Both are quite beautiful to me.
 
GearNoir said:
Interesting thought. I guess it’s true though! A lot of modern SR artisans have really pumped up the aesthetics of their razors in comparison to the rather uniform designs of yesteryears. Both are quite beautiful to me.
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Chris, it’s really up to each of us as to what we like! My sweet spot is 6/8.
 
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SOTD THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 15, 2020

Another great mug shave followed by a decent dome shave. The Dubl Duck Goldedge is just a great razor that really holds a great edge. My son’s pasted strop regimen followed by a leather strop is really maintaining my straight edges beautifully. My youngest grandson, Nate, Ben’s ‘happy surprise’ child -his next oldest sib is 17 yrs older - spent the night with us. He’s having some adjustment issues with his niece, he’s three, she’s 6 months, moving in as his sister after losing her mother recently. In any case, my dachshund, Gromit, adores Nate, and the two of them get into all sorts of mischief together. I was up at 5:00 AM and in the middle of my straight mug shave when the two of them burst into the bathroom with Nate shouting “boo” and Gromit barking excitedly, leading to a minor set down error on my neck and a grouchy grandma shooing the two of them down for breakfast. In any case, I finished the mug shave successfully and completed my dome shave with my Fatip Piccolo sweeping away the yogurty thick, slick MWF lather, leaving me clean, smooth and velveteen.

RAZOR: Dubl Duck Goldedge 11/16 (Mug), Fatip Piccolo (Dome)
BLADE: Feather
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: JR #374 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub.
 
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SOTD FRIDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 16, 2020

This morning’s shave was uninterrupted by the two little hooligans from yesterday - my gyoungest grandson, Nate, and his running buddy when visiting, my dachshund, Gromit. Old G-Pop‘s been outsmarting grandchildren for almost two decades. I simply kept the little bugger up way past his usual bedtime last night watching Toy Story until he fell asleep. For this morning’s shave, I selected the Genco 35, the second straight I ever shaved with. A run on the pasted and leather strops last night ensured a smooth and comfortable three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) shave this morning. I made sure to play this morning’s shave music - Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - through my hearing aids so as to not push my luck and have my shave interrupted like yesterday. JR’s #343 brush whipped up a pleasantly cooling lather. My long-neglected MMOC delivered a spectacular two pass (ATG, ATG) dome shave. I feel cool, clean and velveteen!

RAZOR: Genco 35 5/8 (Mug), Gem MMOC (Dome)
BLADE: PTFE Coated Gem
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: JR #343 Synthetic
SOAP: Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite.
 
dangerousdon said:
That is one cold Shave! And a daring man to run the MMOC over your scalp! Great Shave!
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Don, I’ve never had a problem shaving my head with any of my safety razors with one exception, my French Spadson! That particular razor is not aggressive, it’s assaultive! I’m probably going to try a one month focus with it, if I can ever gather up the courage to do so! 😫
 
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