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New Horizons in Shaving

HMan

HMan

Doften Savant
I figured I'd start one of these here and promptly proceed to forget about it.

SOTD:

I've read a bunch of people praising the Fatip again recently so figured I'd bust mine out today.
I have a love hate relationship with them. Having used them for a year straight, there came a day when I just had enough, and have come to the conclusion they are just overrated. Not super smooth, nor efficient, and comparatively wretched blade alignment.
So I guess, it's more like one loved but now forgotten.

So I put a Minora, a favorite blade of mine in the Grande, and proceeded to give myself 3 nicks in one pass. I decided to abort, and used a Gillette NEW SC to finish the shave, thank god. Now that's was a love at first sight razor that opened the world of Gillette Vintage to me.

Sorry for even looking the other way dear miss.

Soap was Tallow and Steel Kyoto. T+S has a strange habit of making soaps that smell not so great at first, yet they draw you back and over time become beloved friends. The flaws become the strong points somehow as they mellow with age. Kyoto is absolutely in this category and every time I use it now I love it more and more.

To top off the nearly disastrous shave, I spritzed some Floid Blue on and it made me forget all the wrongs the Fatip had done to me.

Rest of the Day:

Having a deload week at the gym so mega easy workouts.

Unfortunately my small business is in a rocky state as I'm finding my self becoming burnt out and disappointed with the co-owners. That's a long story, better left untold. It's already tough to put it out there that I don't feel it's working.

Ok that's journal entry #1. Shaving a soul purgers manual has begun.
 
A heartfelt read! Sorry the Fatip isn’t to your liking, I like mine, though not as much as some of its den brethren. It just doesn’t get called on all that often.

Sorry to hear about the business. I hope you can find a way to reinvigorate yourself and your business!
 
Great start @HMan! I have a Fatip Grande as well. I like mine, but I don't pull it out as often as I used to. Also, the finish (gunmetal) started to wear off after only a few months. Doesn't affect the shave but still a little bothersome.

Hope the business starts to change directions for you. Owning your own small business can be really tough. My dad did it for years.
 
Thanks SCF! Yeah, I wouldn't ordinarily slag it off so hard, but being a personal shave journal makes it seem easier to just get it out there. I know a lot of guys love them and it served me very well as a stepping stone to finding what I really like.

I hope the business turns around too. It's in a great field that I really am passionate about, if only my partners had time for it.
 
Never used a fatip but my gillette new sc is pretty sweet so I hear you there.

Best wishes on the business side of things.
 
Good read, as a business owner you will go through this stuff and it sucks, just trust the process you have devised in you business and it will work out
 
Vintage for the win! Hang in the on the business, that passion can take you a long way.
 
I absolutely love the Special Edition Piccolo Fatip my Rudolph buddy got me bit the SB and the OC plates for it are absolutely amazing shavers. It is a surprisingly good razor!
 
Random shave thoughts -

I'm pretty much a daily shaver, unless my schedule is extra hectic. Normally it's something I do late morning. As I'm self employed and for the most part set my own schedule, I take care of business and doing coffee first thing. Then have a shower and shave, a late breakfast (bad habit) and off to the gym.

The wife likes me clean shaven, and stubble makes my face and neck itch, so a daily shave works great for me. Plus I like the ritual of it all. That time of easy quite concentration.

I generally just use the gear that strikes my fancy that day. I'm love Tallow and Steel so over 50% of my shaves are with one of Ryan's soaps. That said, I'm really looking forward to trying CBL. I know I'm weird here, but I just haven't loved the other couple of top drawer soaps I have (Whole Kaw and Noble Otter) as much. I think it's the lanolin, but I'm still going to keep giving them their due.

I've got some Declaration Grooming on the way and think I'll try A&E as well. If only because SoCal Hipster and Portrait in SoHo sound too good not to try.

Today's shave -

A great shave, Tallow and Steel Morocco, Myrsol Plastic AS, Zentih Dark Synthetic Brush, Rocket HD and Minora Blade, followed up with DR Harris Sandalwood. Saturday is luxury shave day, which means I whipped it up in my SWK bowl, which is a treasure.

@Spider idk if you've tried this one, but based on what you were saying about DG Harmony, it might be one you'd like. A little more Church than New Age Store, but a great evocative scent. Just don't read the scent description, it's way off base. Not floral at all, and I can't discern any rose. Sad that Ryan has dropped it from the line, I love it personally.

Rest of the day -

The wife is not feeling well. Last weekend we had a sick houseguest and now she has it. :(

Went to ballet class and then a quick easy deload workout. Next week back to work and then a chance to hit a great gym in CA. I always look forward to going there due to the massive selection of Hammer Strength machines they have. Great except for one thing. The gym is huge (especially by Helsinki standards, my gym is probably smaller than a lot of you guy's houses!) Yet, only one squat rack! I'm no powerhouse squatter, but still, it's a crap shoot if you'll get to use it or just watch some guy use it for rows or something. Argh!
 
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HMan said:
@Spider idk if you've tried this one, but based on what you were saying about DG Harmony, it might be one you'd like. A little more Church than New Age Store, but a great evocative scent
Click to expand...
Thanks. Sounds interesting, just not a huge fan of T&S.
 
Spider said:
Thanks. Sounds interesting, just not a huge fan of T&S.
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Yeah it seems to be a divisive brand for some reason, I took right to it personally. Well, not 100% true, there is an acclimation curve with some of the scents for sure.

That cinnamon thing has me worried, I think I'm going to test the Harmony first before popping on Portrait in Soho just to be safe.
 
Monday shave -

The wife was sick this weekend, and I was lazy, so skipped a day yesterday. Made up for it with a great shave today.

Gillette New SC, Minora Blade, Tallow and Steel Himalaya, APShaveCo 24mm SynBad, Myrsol Don Carlos

I played around a bit with the shave angle on the New, going more towards the teeth and as counter intuitive as it may seem the sharp feel of the teeth went away and the shave was fairly smooth. I sometimes find this razor to be a bit tuggy on first pass and the teeth tilt did seem to improve the overall feel. Then for the final pass I went to my more usual cap side and that seemed to scoop up and shear off those annoying last stubs nicely.

Rest of the Day -

I worked all weekend, and that left me fairly clear today. Which was nice as I'm starting a new heavier cycle at the gym, and after a 5 weeks of light weights and high reps, getting under the bar felt awkward. It certainly wan't going to be a big day, but it did feel good to use some weight again. For sure this cycle, going to keep so heavy stuff in the whole block just to avoid losing touch.

Of course, I'm weak as a kitten so my heavy is most guys grandmother''s weight, but hey, that's the whole reason for going in the first place.

We've got spring in the air here, though it's far from warm at 6 deg C, but with the sun shining and the days getting longer, the whole atmosphere of the city starts to change. Thank god. I'll never figure out how I landed in a place so much the opposite of what makes me happy climate wise. Of course there are plenty of pros, trade offs, always trades offs.

I say this because living in the Helsinki center area, I walk every where, rain or shine. And having started at a new ballet school a couple fo times a week, it's a 20 minute walk for me and you notice the changes in climate and social atmosphere.
 
I like T&S in that they go all out for their scents. Which makes them polarizing because they are so strong and not “standard” scents. Unfortunately the scents don’t jive with me other than Maya. I really want that one.
 
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