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Not quite Music City USA

Tonight's shave was sub-lime!

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Derby Premium (2)
Brush: Simpson Berkeley 46 Best
Soap: Ethos/CBL Lime (first use)
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Ethos Lime Splash

A couple of weeks ago, @BarberDave did a glowing review of Ethos/CBL Lime shave soap and Aftershave splash. I was very impressed and the next day I ordered some. It arrived today and I just finished trying it out. First of all, it smells great - fresh lime, as advertised. It does feel very soft on the face, and when I finished up, my face was very soft and supple. It has just the right amount of cooling agent - it sort of announces itself around the second pass, and the Aftershave is also dosed properly with the cooling agent. It doesn't take much After-Shave to get the benefits. My face is smooth and supple. I think I've found a new soap for my Sunday special shave, unseating MdC. It's some pricey stuff for the amount you get, and I'm holding my decision on whether to reorder for a later date, but the soap is great. It loads quickly, feels very soft on the face, and has tons of residual slickness. Two thumbs way up.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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I spent the evening listening to baseball on the radio. Classic and Korean. I really enjoy the classic games, and I'm digging the Korean games, even though I don't know any of the players (except for two former Orioles), and the game sounds wierd since there are no fans in attendance, so all you hear are the cheerleaders, and teammates, shouting out their support from on top of, and within the dugout, respectively. As the Korean game was finishing up (it was a rout), my phone notified me of a new @BarberDave video! I was about to go shave, but I figured I'd check out the video first. It is a record of Dave and his wife checking out a box of cologne samples, and I highly recommend it. I have to say that I came away from it, reminded of how unrefined my sense of smell is. I love soaps and Aftershaves, and have quite a few of each, but aside from broad categories like "citrus," patchouli, or Vetyver, and a few flowers like lilac, geranium, rose, and lavender, I can't really describe individual notes in a complex formulation. Nevertheless, I find experiencing the scents of soaps and Aftershaves to be one of the greatest of shavings manifold pleasures. I envy the noses of many of you, but I fully revel in scents, as best as I can experience them. Anyway, Dave's collection of scents named after years inspired me to go with one of my favorite Aftershaves, which plays an important role in the Histoires Des Perfumes, 4711.

Prep: Hot Shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Derby Premium (3)
Brush: Parker Long Loft Badger
Soap: Ethos/CBL Lime
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: 4711

4711 is dear to me because it transports me back to Köln, Germany, when I was a young, spry 25, teaching Computer Science, and performing the role of responsible adult, accompanying some high school seniors on their language class trip. Köln has a street, the name of which is lost to my memory, down which all the tourists are funnelled, which is lined with tourist-stuff stores and bars serving Kolsch beer. As an aside, the custom in Köln is to bring beer as soon as one is seated, and to keep bringing them until told to stop. This is, in my view, the way it should be done! Well, one of the tourist-stuff items available all along the avenue is 4711, in all it's varied forms: Small bottles, huge bottles, soaps, Aftershaves. It was everywhere. The entire area smelled like 4711. This was 1997. I was a tourist. So I bought a huge bottle and some soap. I never replaced the soap once it was used, but I have never since been without 4711. I don't use it as often as I did years ago, when it was pretty much all I wore for years, but I can still dig it out like I did tonight and be transported back to a simpler time and a happy memory of being an innocent abroad, soaking in the sights, sounds and smells of a beautiful European city and drinking its marvelous style of beer.

It was a great shave.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great shave too!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Glad you liked it @fhalden. I’ve had 4711 on my blind buy list for some time. I think I first saw @Spider using it back on B&B and I put it in my amazon list. Still haven’t pulled the trigger because I’ve never smelled it.
 
NurseDave said:
Glad you liked it @fhalden. I’ve had 4711 on my blind buy list for some time. I think I first saw @Spider using it back on B&B and I put it in my amazon list. Still haven’t pulled the trigger because I’ve never smelled it.
Click to expand...
It’s a light citrusy scent with a faint cologne-Type note. It’s light and very refreshing smelling. The scent in the aftershave doesn’t last very long. The cologne does last a bit longer.
 
I too love 4711. I find that Ferrari's Bright Neroli (EDT) is very similar and has the longevity that 4711 (EDC) does not. But I still prefer my big bottle of 4711 over Bright Neroli, and I just ordered a big bottle of the 4711 Ice.
 
GearNoir said:
Nice read Frank! I haven’t experienced 4711 yet either! Now that I’ve found Florida Water locally, it’s one of the next on my list!
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I hope you like it! If there's a shortcoming, it's that it lacks longevity. Otherwise, I think it's great.

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Having fallen asleep early and missed my Saturday night shave, I did it early this morning. An Italian classic.

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Green Pre-shave cream
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Cream: Proraso Green
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Proraso Green Lotion


It was Proraso Green day. It simply works, and works well. I'm BBS after four well-lathered passes, plenty of slickness, good face feel, and fully mentholated. The Green Aftershave is what it took with me when I went to Maui a few years ago, so it always reminds me of that great trip. Just a fine, thoroughly enjoyable shave!

Thanks for reading, and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
How delightful to be awake and fall asleep on a natural cycle and not as dictated to by a construct of man-made time!

I too will fondly remember my time on the Islands! Hope to be able to go back some day!
 
I was feeling a little prickly so I went ahead and did a second shave this Sunday.

Prep: Hot shower, Stirling Charcoal Facial Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Astra SP (2)
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super Badger
Soap: Martin de Candre Vetyver
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Fine Green Vetiver

Vetiver, to me, smells sort of like freshly unearthed Grass Roots - specifically, the smell of a golf divot. I played golf every summer when I was in junior high-school and high school, usually late in the afternoon when the course would open up to people my age. Earlier in the day, I was a caddy,vao I'd end up walking the course with a full bag of clubs four or five rounds a day. The smell of Vetiver really transports me back to that course. Fine Green Vetiver does it, but a noseful of MdC Vetyver really takes me back to that time and place. My googling research tells me that Vetiver is indeed a grass root, so this makes sense of course, but it's funny that that scent would be something people would choose to wear - I guess I sort of associated it with dirt. Sort of like how sugar beets remind me of dirt. I eat those though, so I guess I obviously don't mind dirt that much!

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

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Time for a late night shave with Mystic Water Lavender. What a soap!

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Astra SP (3)
Brush: PAA Starcraft
Soap: Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender (first use)
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Fine Italian Citrus

Lavender is one of, if not my favorite scents. I go to sleep to an EO diffuser pumping lavender into the air. I have several lavender soaps: PAA Lavender Planet, TOBS Lavender, Stirling Bergamot Lavender, and this one, which I haven't tried before tonight. I have to say that Mystic Water Lavender is the best, in terms of scent, that I own. The strength is fantastic, and very much in line with the effect of the EO. It was assertive off the puck, and on the face. Add to it the terrific face feel, residual slickness, and hydrating effect of the soap - all Mystic Water Soaps are tremendous - and this was a shave to remember! I think I may use it again tomorrow and for the next few days, as it is very calming and focusing for me. Combining performance and scent puts this soap near the top of the list! Four passes of rich lather later and I'm BBS with no irritation. I finished off with a splash of Fine Italian Citrus, and I'm ready to settle in for the evening/morning.

Thanks for reading, and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Lavender has become a favorite of mine too! Such a pleasant floral, without being feminine, when done right!

Great shave choices today!
 
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