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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD MONDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 23, 2020

This morning’s dome shave was fun! The one safety razor I love tinkering with is my 2011 Muhle R41. I ditched the original handle years ago, and have tried several others. The Weber SS handle paired with the razor today seems perfect for it. It’s heft, weight and length felt ideal for me. One bloodless ATG pass put the baby to bed. The regular dome trouble spot in the back of my noggin was sheared right down to the skin line. The dome shave was every bit as good, if not better than the one achieved with my AC safety razors, and in fact only matched by my Shake Sharp!

My mug shave also checked all the boxes. Rather than my usual three pass traditional shave, I decided to try something different this morning by dropping the usual first WTG pass. The buttery smooth silver steel Tanifuji Airi delivered a two pass (ATG, XTG) shave that achieved the same result as my usual three pass one, despite what I thought was a weeper below my right ear (red on the blade). However, as seems to regularly be the case with MWF, it disappeared after the second lather. In any case, I feel clean, velveteen smooth and refreshed!

RAZOR: Tanifuji Airi 11/16 (Mug), Muhle 2011 R41 w/ Weber SS Handle
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Knurled Aluminum Handle Hybrid Knot #007
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme Aftershave Balm.
 
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SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 24, 2020

Great shave this morning! The Dubl Duck Goldedge 11/16 delivered its usual great mug shave! The only difference this morning is that I relied on a two pass (ATG, XTG) shave instead of my usual three pass shave. The two pass shave works, but does require more technical skin stretching. I think I prefer the more relaxed three pass shave. My noggin shave was the usual two pass (ATG, ATG) and featured my RazoRock DLC Coated SS Lupo. I keep forgetting what a tremendously efficient razor the Lupo is. I feel refreshed, cool, and velveteen smooth.

RAZOR: Dubl Duck Goldedge 11/16 (Mug), RazoRock DLC Coated SS Lupo (Dome)
BLADE: Suneko DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Rearden Razor 326l SS Tuxedo Synth
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brushsqueezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.
 
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SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

SWMBO and I have a condo in Philly we had not visited since February of this year. My daughter visited it yesterday to report on its condition, and also retrieved my nickel plated Shake Sharp Model 2.0 safety razor. This morning’s dome shave featured it with two stacked Feather blades. I own three Shake Sharps. Used to have 5, but gifted one to a friend at TSD and the other to a friend in one of the FB wet shaving groups. They are remarkable head shavers, and this morning’s dome shave was incredibly close and velveteen. My mug shave featured my Frederick Reynolds which never fails to deliver a great shave. The JR Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger generated great MWF lathers leaving me refreshed, clean and velveteen smooth.

RAZOR: Frederick Reynolds 5/8 (Mug), Nickel G.E. Jones Shake Sharp Model 2.0 (Dome)
BLADE: 2 Stacked Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: JR Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger
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 THURSDAY, THANKSGIVING MORNING, NOVEMBER 26, 2020

Although it was a bit overcast, my shave this morning was exemplary! The 5/8 Puma 88 Special never lets me down. The Ronson Safety razor loaded with a Schick Proline B-20 also delivered the goods. I feel clean, cool, velveteen smooth and refreshed. Our Thanksgiving meal in these plague times is being hosted by my oldest son, Ben. It’s a much smaller meal this year. Ben’s oldest daughter, Jennifer, will never be joining our Thanksgiving table again. She was killed by a drunk driver three months ago, but her sweet daughter, Lily Ellen, my first great granddaughter will. Despite all that we have much to be thankful for. My second oldest son, Sam, is a first responder who survived Covid, and thankfully all my other children and grandchildren are healthy and safe, although not joining us at table this year due to my and SWMBO’s immunocompromised selves. So zoom it will be. Happy Thanksgiving to all my shave brothers and sisters.

RAZOR: Puma 88 Special 5/8 (Mug), Ronson Safety Razor (Dome)
BLADE: Schick Proline B-20 Injector
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Sapele/Resin Handled Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Pre de Provence Bergamot & ThymeBalm.
 
GearNoir said:
Happy Thanksgiving Jeff!
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Thanks, Chris! Right back atchaD87E8E73-79D7-4780-8C23-313140BA68A0.jpeg
SOTD SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 28, 2020

It was a bit of a difficult shave this morning. I fell and fractured two ribs on my right side playing pickle ball yesterday afternoon. So my shave was a bit painful! Looks like I’ll be sleeping sitting up for a few weeks. Nevertheless, despite all that, my shave this morning. I picked two razors I’ve enjoyed my shaves with, but have neglected of late, one a vintage straight razor, my Vintage Lord 6/8 with its buttery smooth jasper edge, and the other my Seki AS-D2 safety razor, a sadly misunderstood shaving tool.

The AS-D2 is frequently referred to as a “mild” safety razor by those who have never taken the time to learn its very narrow sweet spot. However, equipped with a Feather DE which it was designed around, it can handle any beard type. I used mine to effortlessly take down two weeks of mug and dome growth after a hospitalization about a year ago. This morning’s shave while somewhat uncomfortable, easily delivered me to velveteen smoothness! I feel cool, clean, refreshed and velveteen.

RAZOR: Lord 6/8 (Mug), Seki AS-D2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 w/ 26mm Two Band Badger Ferrule
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 SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 29, 2020

There really is something revivifying about a great shave! Trying to sleep sitting up with broken ribs is not easy, but despite that, this cold, beautiful, sunny morning set the stage for the shave to follow! I selected my favorite, and probably my oldest straight razor, the Manhattan Cutlery 13/16 for the mug shave and the Tom White repaired Schick F Type for the dome.

The MrEE #007 Knurled Aluminum Hybrid Knot brush easily created the two types of MWF lather I like for my shaves - a thin, slick lather for the mug and a nice thick yogurty lather for the noggin. I do love shaving with the Manhattan Cutlery 13/16 Stubtail. Three slow, luxurious (WTG, ATG, XTG) passes with this magical stubtail left me velveteen smooth. I truly feel like a caretaker for this 200 yr old beauty! It always takes exquisite care of me. My son, Ben, shaved with it and shares my opinion. He’ll be the next caretaker.

When I was first gifted this old, somewhat battered Schick F Type by my neighbor, the razor was non-functional. The very able administrations of TSD’s Tom White (@twhite) restored its function. My two pass (ATG, ATG) dome shave with it was close and very comfortable! And as I said earlier, the total shave, both mug and dome, almost made me forget about my broken ribs! I feel cool, clean, refreshed and velveteen!

RAZOR: Manhattan Cutlery 13/16 Stubtail (Mug), Schick F Type (Dome)
BLADE: Schick Proline B-20 Injector
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Knurled Aluminum Hybrid Knot
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brushsqueezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Osage Rub and Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme Balm.
 
I'm terribly sorry to hear about your ribs! I hope they heal sooner than later.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
GearNoir said:
I hope so too!

But I’ll bet Jeff’s the kind of guy that still finished the play and won the game! 😎
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You’re right, Chris, I stupidly finished the game, but we didn’t win against two young 30 somethings. Thus my desperate lunge resulting in my bringing the net down, fracturing two ribs and bruising my thigh on the same side as my ribs! What can I say, the mind was all over it, but that danged 73 yr old body just couldn’t keep up! :p
 
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SOTD MONDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Welcome to a dreary, rain-soaked Monobilt Monday! For today’s shave I broke out a few stalwart members of my shave kit that I just don’t use enough! The Cooper Monobilt, first and foremost amongst them, followed by the Riga Razor 7/8, sadly the only modern straight razor I own, and what used to be a regular feature of all my shaves for half a century, Williams Aqua Velva. The hard-working, bargain basement Rooney Badger generated the two MWF lathers I like to shave with, and the result was as expected, a velveteen smooth, cool, refreshing result. As George Peppard in his A-Team TV character Hannibal Smith used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together”!

I’ve grown very fond of my vintage shave tools, and have been neglecting my modern artisan safety razors. I rarely shave with my Karve, my Rex Ambassador, my brand new Fine New LC homage, and my Blackland Tradere sits alone in its box along with several others. So this next month I will have a series of dome shaves with these razors to help me decide which will stay and which will go. My shaves with the Riga straight razor are ok, but just don’t compare to some of my favorite vintage straights. That may be an edge issue, so I’m going to have the edge refinished by my son, Ben, on his jnat progression, and see if that makes a difference. Enjoy your shaves, my shave brothers and sisters!

RAZOR: Riga Razor 7/8 (Mug), Cooper Monobilt (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Rooney Ebony Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Aqua Velva (Spanish Version) and A&E Post-Shave Serum.
 
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