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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian
- Thread starter jgreenepa
- Start date
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
All I can say, Dave, is that the shave was great!
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
Thanks, I’m very glad the problem’s sorted!Glad to hear your razor problems are solved.
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
SOTD Wednesday, February 19, 2020
There’s really not much to say today! The Rex Ambassador is an excellent razor, and will go into the regular rotation. Today’s shave was exemplary. I cranked it up to 6 for the face and 4 for the dome initially, but that was clearly too much. My shave settings on this razor are 5 for the face and 3 for the dome. This razor is decently efficient, but does not match up to either the LaResche 51, the Colonial Silversmith or the GE Jones Shake Sharp. All three of the latter get me to the same place in two passes, but frankly, I don’t care! I was more than satisfied with my leisurely, bloodless, three pass BBS shave this morning. I did not use any Preshave Soap this morning. There was really no need to. My MWF regime has thoroughly conditioned my shaving surfaces. I feel clean, smooth and very refreshed!
Tomorrow I’ll break out the Barbasol Floating Head. We’ll see how it goes. That razor is highly efficient, and delivers a very close shave, but has always required an attentive focus on the shave. We’ll see how it goes!
RAZOR: Rex Ambassador (5,3)
BLADE: Wizamet Super Iridium
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Rosewood #378
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Murray and Lanman Florida Water AS and Cologne
There’s really not much to say today! The Rex Ambassador is an excellent razor, and will go into the regular rotation. Today’s shave was exemplary. I cranked it up to 6 for the face and 4 for the dome initially, but that was clearly too much. My shave settings on this razor are 5 for the face and 3 for the dome. This razor is decently efficient, but does not match up to either the LaResche 51, the Colonial Silversmith or the GE Jones Shake Sharp. All three of the latter get me to the same place in two passes, but frankly, I don’t care! I was more than satisfied with my leisurely, bloodless, three pass BBS shave this morning. I did not use any Preshave Soap this morning. There was really no need to. My MWF regime has thoroughly conditioned my shaving surfaces. I feel clean, smooth and very refreshed!
Tomorrow I’ll break out the Barbasol Floating Head. We’ll see how it goes. That razor is highly efficient, and delivers a very close shave, but has always required an attentive focus on the shave. We’ll see how it goes!
RAZOR: Rex Ambassador (5,3)
BLADE: Wizamet Super Iridium
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Jayaruh Custom Rosewood #378
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Murray and Lanman Florida Water AS and Cologne
Awesome stuff
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Amen! You’re enjoying it and that’s what counts!
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
That’s my stuff. My skin feels incredible! I’ve also had a completely bloodless month! I don’t know whether it’s the MWF, but using it every day this month has been an eye-opening experience!
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
SOTD Thursday 02/20/20
The shave today went well! I'd forgotten how efficient the Barbasol Floating Head was. Thank goodness for muscle memory! The ego dynamics are completely different. The Rex Ambassador is a hefty, short-handled razor, whereas the Barbasol Floating Head has a much longer handle and different weight distribution. My only gripe is that the longer handle makes it a bit more painful to do the back of my head. My Barbasol is an 85-90 yr old girl who knows her business, but will bite if not attended to. I loaded up with a Suneko and had a very relaxed and pleasant shave. Since it was my first outing with the old girl in several months, I decided to not push for the BBS.
My prep consisted of a cold water rinse. I then began my first pass by whipping up a rich, glistening MWF lather with my trusty Omega Pro48 Boar, the end of which had been soaking in warm water while I finished my shower. There’s something about a well-broken in boar that is just indescribable! The firm backbone builds that thick paste that is then face and head lathered and feels so good on the skin. The first WTG pass consisted of short careful strokes and reduced the whiskers pretty significantly on both face and dome. My second lather set the stage for a leisurely XTG pass that, as the Rex master of TSD is known to say, “put the baby to bed”. The third ATG pass just consisted of some very careful buffing in the usual problem areas, but I didn’t push it, as Madame Barbasol has been known to bite at this point. After rinsing off, I did feel some stinging from the back of the dome that I’d just finished buffing, but a napkin revealed no blood. The shave overall was enjoyable, but ended with some very slight roughness around the Adam’s Apple. All in all the shave finished as a DFS. Tomorrow I’ll load a Feather to see if it will get me closer to the goal. I feel clean, smooth and refreshed.
RAZOR: Barbasol Floating Head
BLADE: Suneko
PREP: Cold water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Murray and Lanman Florida Water AS/Cologne
That is what counts. I see no benefit to using gear I know won't give me the best shave possible (other than that Bad Razor challenge you called me out on!).
This is a major reason I use one soap at a time. It is easy to dial in the lather, giving me weeks of pleasurable shaves.
This is a razor I have not used.
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
Thanks, the Barbasol is a highly, yet unforgiving shaver! I love the shave it delivers, but like my 2011 R41, I need to pay close attention to the process, but then again, that’s why we do it!That is what counts. I see no benefit to using gear I know won't give me the best shave possible (other than that Bad Razor challenge you called me out on!).
This is a major reason I use one soap at a time. It is easy to dial in the lather, giving me weeks of pleasurable shaves.
This is a razor I have not used.
Yeah, whenever I get too casual with my shaves, I am "reminded" that it's bad practice.
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
SOTD Friday, February 21, 2020
Today, as promised, I loaded the Barbasol with a Feather. My shave yesterday was very good, but this month with my MWF focus I’ve found that I’m able to shave as closely as before, and really don’t need my PAA Preshave Cube soap. I do believe that the MWF shave soap focus over the past 21 days has very effectively conditioned my skin. I do wash the shave surfaces with Glyce glycerin soap in the shower to remove any accumulated skin oil, but other than that, my prep simply consists of a cold water rinse followed by a good old reliable MWF lather. I have finished every shave this month with a wash of the shaved surfaces with the soap squeezings.
Given the presence of a Feather blade, I took my time on that first pass, making sure to ride the cap with very short, slow strokes. And that Feather blade cradled in Madame Barbasol delivered, leaving me after that first WTG pass at the same place I was yesterday after two passes with the Suneko blade. I could easily pass the cotton ball test everywhere but my usual two places - the Adam’s Apple and the middle of the back of my head where only a hint of roughness remained. I lathered up only the two remaining areas, and again very carefully buffed both areas ATG with short slow strokes leaving me with my desired BBS and one very slight weeper below the Adam’s Apple which closed up after application of the witch hazel. I feel clean, smoooth, and refreshed after one and 1/2 passes.
RAZOR: Barbasol Floating Head
BLADE: Feather
PREP: Cold Water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash
Today, as promised, I loaded the Barbasol with a Feather. My shave yesterday was very good, but this month with my MWF focus I’ve found that I’m able to shave as closely as before, and really don’t need my PAA Preshave Cube soap. I do believe that the MWF shave soap focus over the past 21 days has very effectively conditioned my skin. I do wash the shave surfaces with Glyce glycerin soap in the shower to remove any accumulated skin oil, but other than that, my prep simply consists of a cold water rinse followed by a good old reliable MWF lather. I have finished every shave this month with a wash of the shaved surfaces with the soap squeezings.
Given the presence of a Feather blade, I took my time on that first pass, making sure to ride the cap with very short, slow strokes. And that Feather blade cradled in Madame Barbasol delivered, leaving me after that first WTG pass at the same place I was yesterday after two passes with the Suneko blade. I could easily pass the cotton ball test everywhere but my usual two places - the Adam’s Apple and the middle of the back of my head where only a hint of roughness remained. I lathered up only the two remaining areas, and again very carefully buffed both areas ATG with short slow strokes leaving me with my desired BBS and one very slight weeper below the Adam’s Apple which closed up after application of the witch hazel. I feel clean, smoooth, and refreshed after one and 1/2 passes.
RAZOR: Barbasol Floating Head
BLADE: Feather
PREP: Cold Water rinse
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash
Nice shave today! Way to wield that razor like a sabre!
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
Thanks, Don!
Aggressive razor, sharp blade, and MWF for the win!
jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
You’ve got me there! What was it’s inspiration?
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Apparently Czech & Speake Oxford & Cambridge it’s said. I hadn’t tried it either; was just curious.
I don't know how it's taken me this long, but welcome to the journals! I kinda skimmed through over the past few minutes. I'm loving your collection and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more stuff that I never knew existed. MWF is one hell of a soap from what I've heard; the closest I've gotten to it is Haslinger Schafmilch, which was super nice. Keep up the great shaves!