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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 1, 2020

Fabulous shave to kick off DX/Decision December. I have accumulated way too many safety razors, many of which I no longer use. My mug shaves for at least half this month will focus on my wood handled Feather DX and Kai Captain Kamisori Clone. I’ve really enjoyed shaving with both, but of all my open edge mug shaves, these are the two I’ve shaved with least. I admit I’ve had a problem focusing on just one shaving tool, but I think I’ll be able to carry it off. The shave variety I enjoy will be noggin-focused and will include a review of my safety razors with a particular focus on modern artisan offerings.

For my kickoff shave I selected my Feather DX barber’s razor for my mug and the Christopher Bradley safety razor from Karve Shaving for the dome featuring a D-OC plate. I own several plates for this safety razor and will shave with all of them over the course of the month, but not necessarily sequentially. My JR Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger #378 generated the two lathers I like for my shaves. Both noggin and mug shaves were excellent. The DX loaded with a Feather Super cleaned away the mug stubble in three enjoyable passes (WTG, ATG, XTG), despite an initial very slight set down nick. Feather Supers are very sharp blades, and I need to be more mindful of this fact as I continue this focus.

The mug shave was just perfect! The Karve was the first modern artisan safety razor I purchased after an initial flurry of vintage acquisitions after 50 years with my Schick Krona DE. I remember my oldest son referring to my Krona as a vintage safety razor. In fact when I purchased it in 1969 it was a then contemporary safety razor. My initial amazement at the quality of shave the Karve delivered was repeated this morning. My only gripe after the initial purchase was the traditional top cap design which exposed the blade tabs and led to some ear nicks early on. That’s all gone away with my purchase of Karve’s ‘wide body’ cap. My two pass (ATG, ATG) dome shave was brilliantly close. What a terrific safety razor! This is a keeper. I’ll decide which other plates I’ll keep as my Karve shaves continue over the course of the month. I feel clean, velveteen and refreshed!

RAZOR: Feather Wood Handled DX (Mug), Karve Safety Razor D-OC Plate
BLADE: Feather Super AC (Mug), Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: JR Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger #378
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Krampert’s Frostbite AS Splash and Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme Balm.
 
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SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 2, 2020

DX Decision December’s second shave featured the Blackland Tradere, a truly groundbreaking razor for its time in 2012. According to Sharpologist, the original design, here replicated by Blackland Razor eight years later, represented one of the first CNC SS safety razor designs delivered with a unique serial number. The name “Tradere” in Latin means ‘to pass on posterity’ and the safety razor was designed by Richard Mason, a lawyer and wet shaving enthusiast from Reno Nevada. Only 1100 original razors featuring both safety bar and open comb designs were produced during the two years of operation of the original company and cost $169.99, a high price for the time.

The new razors are faithful to the original design, which is moderately efficient in the safety bar version here, but given the current plethora of US produced CNC designed razors these days - Timeless, Charcoal Goods, ATT, HC&S, and Carbon Shaving - to name a few, the Blackland Tradere is a dated design that has been improved on by its successors. So the question is, does it stay or does it go? The two pass (ATG, ATG) dome shave today was good, but not in the same category as my vintage Shake Sharps, Schick E Type or even my Valet Auto Strops. So there’s an excellent chance it will go on the auction site shortly.

The Feather DX delivered a bloodless three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) velveteen mug shave. The highlight of this morning’s shave was the wonderful croap lather generated from A&E Kaizen. It was almost comparable to MWF, but in fairness is in a different lather making product category. According to pedants on one of the major Wet Shaving Forums, there are 4 categories of lather making product using a brush. Canned shave foams are naturally excluded as there is no brush involvement. They are, and I quote directly with added numbering and my comments in brackets:

“ 1) Soap: Hard not moldable, can sometime be melted and poured. ex. Tabac, Soap Commander, Williams, Col. Conk, Van Der Hagen, etc ‘[also easily grated]’

2) Stick: Comes in stick form to be used to build lather on face. Some sticks can be softer some harder, but these are all sticks. ex. Arko, La Toja, Palmolive, etc

3) Croap: A soap that can be molded easily, and has consistency thicker than a cream, but still classified as a soap due to ingredients used to create product. ex. Cella, Stirling, Proraso, etc

4) Cream: An item that comes in a tube or tub, but has the consistency similar to lotion or a balm. ex. Proraso (tube), Godrej, KMF, TOBS, etc. ”

Kaizen, according to this typology falls neatly into the Croap category. It generated a rich, lather that also provided excellent post shave skin feel. The only negative for me was the scent, which I killed with a healthy application of wintergreen oil. All in, the result was a marvelous shave with great post shave. I feel refreshed, clean, and smoothly velveteen.

RAZOR: Feather DX Wood Handle (Mug), Blackland Tradere (Dome)
BLADE: Feather
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 Tribute w/ 26mm Two Band Badger Ferrule
CROAP: A&E Kaizen (Scent killed w/ wintergreen oil)
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme Aftershave Balm.
 
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SOTD THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 3, 2020

Great shave this morning on my second outing with the scent-muted Kaizen. A&E Kaizen is a super lathering croap with great post shave skin feel which would be killer with just a very slight clean, soapy scent like MWF. Nevertheless, 5 drops of wintergreen oil effectively neutralizes the scent and provided a great platform for this morning’s shave.

A friend mentioned my Colonial Silversmith yesterday in conversation. My dome shave with it this morning was much better than yesterday’s run with the Blackland Tradere. There are those who love the Tradere shave, and in all fairness, beard growth and whisker type definitely play a part. I now only use safety razors for my dome shaves.

So comparing dome stubble to facial whiskers is like apples to oranges. So I’ll qualify my last statement by saying that the Silversmith provides a much more efficient two pass (ATG, ATG) dome shave for me. YMMV! The Feather DX is really growing on me. It delivered another flawless three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) mug shave that again checked all the boxes. I feel refreshed, clean and smoothly velveteen.

RAZOR: Feather Wood Handled DX (Mug), Colonial Silversmith (Dome)
BLADE: Feather Super AC (Mug), Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Rearden Razor 316L SS Tuxedo Synth
CROAP: A&E Kaizen
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.
 
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SOTD FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 4, 2020

My shave this morning during DX/Decision December was too danged good! I’ll probably be selling my Tradere, but this Rex Ambassador is definitely staying. It is just an excellent head shaver. On 6 and riding the cap with a Feather blade it delivered an awesome velveteen noggin result. The DX is definitely growing on me as well. The first few shaves with a Feather Super loaded taught me to avoid set down errors. This morning’s mug shave checked all the boxes. The two slow ATG passes put the baby to bed. I’m finding that I really prefer smaller straight shavers like the DX. For me, achieving a VBBS result above the jawline is easy, but doing so below with the swirling growth is a challenge with a longer bladed straight. Maneuvering with a shorter blade is easier and just works for me. I feel refreshed, clean and velveteen smooth!

RAZOR: Feather Wood Handled DX (Mug), Rex Ambassador (Dome)
BLADE: Feather Super AC (Mug), Feather DE (Dome)
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 Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.
 
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SOTD SATURDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 5, 2020

I woke up to a rainy, overcast Saturday morning. I had no recourse but to opt for a great morning shave. A number of my shave brothers at TSD this month have pulled out their Barbasol Floating Head safety razors, so-called because of the way the blade appears to float above the safety bar. This safety razor model dates from the early thirties, but I was able to obtain a NOS example at a Shave Collectibles Meeting over a year ago. It came with the case, an original blade tuck, and the box with original use instructions. I still remember how the dealer’s jaw dropped when I told him I was planning to shave with it.

This razor, for a display Queen, shaves highly efficiently, and certainly didn’t disappoint this morning. Two ATG passes easily put the baby to bed on my dome. The MWF, my regular shave soap, didn’t disappoint either, supplying the two types of lather I enjoy for my mug and noggin shaves. The wonderful wood handled Feather DX was a pleasure to shave with. I remember having some doubts a few months ago when I switched from the Feather SS, but I'm really glad I did. The shave angle on the DX is virtually identical to that of a regular straight razor which was not the case for the SS model. My Feather SS now resides in Canada. In any case, after the usual three (WTG, ATG, XTG) passes I’m velveteen smooth and smelling like a fresh lime.

RAZOR: Feather Wood Handled DX (Mug), Barbasol FH (Dome)
BLADE: Feather Super AC (Mug), Feather DE (Dome)
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 Old Spice Fresh Lime.
 
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SOTD SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 6, 2020

Woke up to a very cool, sunny 28 degree morning here in the western Philadelphia suburbs. My Feather DX mug focus continues as do my decisions regarding my safety razor collection. My Tradere review led to the sale of that razor, currently wending its way to California. In that same spirit, I've halved my AC safety razor collection from 4 to 2. My SS Hawk V3 and my green aluminum Hawk V2 are on their way south along with a new magazine of Feather AC Supers.

Next on the block for review this morning was my SS Supply V2. Even before I began this morning’s shave, I pretty much knew it was staying. It's just a magnificent shaver. This morning I loaded a fresh Schick Twinjector blade, and had at my noggin. One ATG pass effectively sheared my stubble right down to the skin line. The shave with the Twinjector reminded me of my Shake Sharp dome shaves with stacked DE blades. All that I really needed to do was some selective buffing after that first pass, but I enjoy my shaves too much! So I lathered up for a wholly unnecessary second pass which ended another great shave leaving me refreshed, clean and velveteen smooth!

RAZOR: Feather Wood Handled DX (Mug), Supply SS V2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather Super AC (Mug), Schick Twinjector (Dome)
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 and Osage Rub.
 
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SOTD MONDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 7, 2020

A bright sunny Pearl Harbor Day morning here in the Philadelphia suburbs. Seventy-nine years since the “day that will live in infamy”. My father fought in the Pacific as a young Marine Officer from Iwo Jima through the Japanese surrender. I dedicate this shave in his memory, and will briefly step away from my Feather DX focus to use what has become my favorite straight razor, my Manhattan Cutlery Sheffield Steel 13/16 for the mug shave. Continuing my den reduction safety razor review, this morning featured my Classic Shaving Occam’s DE, acquired a year ago and only used a few times. The MrEE Tuxedo Synth Aluminum handled ‘Monster’ easily whipped up the two kinds of MWF lathers I enjoy for my shaves - the thinner wet lather for my mug, and the thicker, yogurty lather for the noggin.

The three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) mug shave with this wonderful straight was awesome. I selected the most aggressive plate, clearly modeled on the Eclipse Red Ring design, and completed an uneventful superb two pass (ATG, ATG) dome shave. The shave reminded me of my Eclipse Red Ring in feel, although the Occam’s Razor with the enhanced gold handle is heavier. I do like this razor, but do I need another Red Ring influenced shaver? I’ll have to think on this in light of the terrific shave it delivered. Should I sell it so someone else can give it the attention it deserves? It could easily, with its three plates and two top caps, serve as someone’s daily driver. Classic Shaving designed it as a razor for newer wet shavers, and it could serve in that role nicely. In any case I feel velveteen smooth, clean and refreshed.

RAZOR: Manhattan Cutlery Modified French Point 13/16 (Mug), Occam’s DE from Classic Shaving
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Aluminum Handle Monster Tuxedo Synth
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Williams Aqua Velva (Spanish Version).
 
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