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Not quite Music City USA
- Thread starter fhalden
- Start date
fhalden
"Like BarberDave… I make my own fun”
It's Friday morning and I'm shaving with Stirling Bergamot and Lavender.
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Soap: Stirling Bergamot Lavender
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Florida Water
Talc: Borotalco
Stirling Bergamot Lavender is primarily a lavender experience, with the Bergamot giving an Earl Grey tanginess to the scent. It's not quite as strong as PAA Lavender Planet, but it succeeds in giving me a lavender shave. The aroma is strong enough that you smell it on your face. The scent does not have the slight green-ness of Lavender Planet, and it might be because Lavender Planet is scented with not only two Essential oils, but an absolute, which can definitely incorporate more leafy notes than a distilled essential oil. The Stirling Bergamot blend is very nice though, and as expected, the soap performs brilliantly. Loading my boar brush for 15 seconds gave me a paste I then used to face lather, painting, scrubbing, and dipping the tips to add water. I got a lovely, slick lather with great residual slickness. Honestly, I think you could flip a coin between Lavender Planet and Stirling Bergamot Lavender. They're both really great soaps. The Diamondback with a Gillette Platinum on it's second day eradicated my stubble in four irritation-free passes, leaving a nice BBS face! Florida Water to prime me for sweet dreams, and Borotalco to finish things off right. Tomorrow, I'll be using Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender.
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Soap: Stirling Bergamot Lavender
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Florida Water
Talc: Borotalco
Stirling Bergamot Lavender is primarily a lavender experience, with the Bergamot giving an Earl Grey tanginess to the scent. It's not quite as strong as PAA Lavender Planet, but it succeeds in giving me a lavender shave. The aroma is strong enough that you smell it on your face. The scent does not have the slight green-ness of Lavender Planet, and it might be because Lavender Planet is scented with not only two Essential oils, but an absolute, which can definitely incorporate more leafy notes than a distilled essential oil. The Stirling Bergamot blend is very nice though, and as expected, the soap performs brilliantly. Loading my boar brush for 15 seconds gave me a paste I then used to face lather, painting, scrubbing, and dipping the tips to add water. I got a lovely, slick lather with great residual slickness. Honestly, I think you could flip a coin between Lavender Planet and Stirling Bergamot Lavender. They're both really great soaps. The Diamondback with a Gillette Platinum on it's second day eradicated my stubble in four irritation-free passes, leaving a nice BBS face! Florida Water to prime me for sweet dreams, and Borotalco to finish things off right. Tomorrow, I'll be using Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender.
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
fhalden
"Like BarberDave… I make my own fun”
My wife used to make a lavender lemon cake that was fantastic! I could certainly go for a cookie!
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
fhalden
"Like BarberDave… I make my own fun”
An early morning shave with Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender.
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
Brush: Omega Pro 48 boar
Soap: Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: PAA Captain Smythe's Bay Rum
Talc: Borotalco
Lavender-wise, Jeff's Lavender is right up there with PAA Lavender Planet. Strong, full-bodied, fresh, with some green, it's really a great lavender take. Performance-wise, I think it's actually a little better. Both soaps lather easily, and are plenty slick, with great residual slickness. Where Mystic Water really shines is in post-shave feel. My face felt great - hydrated, smooth, and clean. My final lavender to try is Art of Shaving cream, and I can pretty much say that out of the tub alone, it's not going to measure up scent-wise. I'll be taking tomorrow for my Sunday special shave, so I'll be finishing up my lavender tour on Monday. Today's shave was great, with the Gillette Platinum really getting smooth, yet sharp. The Diamondback excelled as usual, and I got a four pass BBS with no irritation. I finished off with Captain Smythe's Bay Rum, which is redolent of leather and very nice. Once it fades enough, I'll add Grey Flannel. The Borotalco really smoothed things out. I'm loving the talc! Thanks Dave!
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
Brush: Omega Pro 48 boar
Soap: Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: PAA Captain Smythe's Bay Rum
Talc: Borotalco
Lavender-wise, Jeff's Lavender is right up there with PAA Lavender Planet. Strong, full-bodied, fresh, with some green, it's really a great lavender take. Performance-wise, I think it's actually a little better. Both soaps lather easily, and are plenty slick, with great residual slickness. Where Mystic Water really shines is in post-shave feel. My face felt great - hydrated, smooth, and clean. My final lavender to try is Art of Shaving cream, and I can pretty much say that out of the tub alone, it's not going to measure up scent-wise. I'll be taking tomorrow for my Sunday special shave, so I'll be finishing up my lavender tour on Monday. Today's shave was great, with the Gillette Platinum really getting smooth, yet sharp. The Diamondback excelled as usual, and I got a four pass BBS with no irritation. I finished off with Captain Smythe's Bay Rum, which is redolent of leather and very nice. Once it fades enough, I'll add Grey Flannel. The Borotalco really smoothed things out. I'm loving the talc! Thanks Dave!
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Really? Surprising! Do you generally not enjoy AOS product scentings? Or their particular version just is not what you’re looking for like PAA? I do happen to enjoy most of AOS’ scentings, though they can be refined, I’ll admit they usually do lean toward that “cologn-y” vibe.
Feel free to wait on answering until your review day
fhalden
"Like BarberDave… I make my own fun”
Well, my lavender week wrapped up with the Art of Shaving Lavender Cream, and I have to say, I'm impressed!
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Schick Krona
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Cream: Art of Shaving Lavender
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Fine American Blend
Talc: Borotalco
I got @Spider 's DE pass around, and I'm very excited. I have most of these razors in my collection, if not the exact year, the model, and am really going to focus on the adjustables and the Krona, which I do not have. Today I tried out the Krona, and found it provided an effortless, close comfortable shave. The balance is very nice, and there wasn't the chatter I feared would occur which I've encountered in so many TTO razors. The shave cream really outperformed my expectations. The scent, while not the strongest of those I tried this week, was better than the TOBS cream. And the performance of the lather was much better than TOBS. So, it was a pleasant surprise. Now that I'm done with my lavender tour, I can say that my favorite is definitely Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender. It combined an assertive lavender aroma with absolutely top-notch performance. Tomorrow I'll get to peruse my software and choose another razor from the pass around. Life is good!
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Schick Krona
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Cream: Art of Shaving Lavender
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Fine American Blend
Talc: Borotalco
I got @Spider 's DE pass around, and I'm very excited. I have most of these razors in my collection, if not the exact year, the model, and am really going to focus on the adjustables and the Krona, which I do not have. Today I tried out the Krona, and found it provided an effortless, close comfortable shave. The balance is very nice, and there wasn't the chatter I feared would occur which I've encountered in so many TTO razors. The shave cream really outperformed my expectations. The scent, while not the strongest of those I tried this week, was better than the TOBS cream. And the performance of the lather was much better than TOBS. So, it was a pleasant surprise. Now that I'm done with my lavender tour, I can say that my favorite is definitely Mystic Water Jeff's Lavender. It combined an assertive lavender aroma with absolutely top-notch performance. Tomorrow I'll get to peruse my software and choose another razor from the pass around. Life is good!
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
fhalden
"Like BarberDave… I make my own fun”
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Agreed!
Indeed. I think AOS’ cream formula is still quite top notch compared to other main stream creams.
All caught up Frank
fhalden
"Like BarberDave… I make my own fun”
Day two with the DE passaround, and I learned an important lesson. The tuition was blood.
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Schick Krona
Blade: Astra SP (2)
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super
Soap: Hub City Soap Company Morning Hike
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Pinaud Clubman Reserve
Talc: Borotalco
Fragrance: Grey Flannel
The lesson is: If the razor doesn't feel right, stop and check the razor. Or perhaps even better, check your TTO before each use to insure it's tight. I have one TTO, a birth quarter Super Speed, and I never use it. It's a collectible, valuable mainly because it's a birth quarter razor. All my other razors are three piece, except for a two piece slant. So the first couple of strokes this morning with the Krona were very blade forward. I should have stopped and checked, but it was only my second shave with it and I stupidly just kept going. And it bit me. Hard. Then I woke up and checked the razor, and sure enough, it had come loose. Once I tightened it, it resumed its lovely smooth feel. I shaved off the newly formed skin flap, and finished my shave without further incident. I really like the Krona. I'm going to have to get one. But I'll always check to make sure things are tightened down in the future! There are three razors in the passaround I don't own already, so I'm going to use those three and then pass it on, but it's already been a productive experiment because I got to try a Krona. My soap today was Hub City Soap Company Morning Hike, and I love it! It's got a bright, clean, tropical fruitiness that was a real pleasure to use, and its slickness, and particularly its residual slickness are top notch. It's in the same class as Stirling, and PAA CK-6. And I'm settled that the Chubby 2 purchase was worth the investment. It's a luxury I'm fortunate to be able to enjoy. I got a four pass BBS with no irritation, and finished with a splash of Clubman Reserve. I like it, but have no idea what the scent notes are. It's a pleasant mystery.
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Schick Krona
Blade: Astra SP (2)
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super
Soap: Hub City Soap Company Morning Hike
Post-shave: Osma Tradition Alum Block, cold water rinse
After-Shave: Pinaud Clubman Reserve
Talc: Borotalco
Fragrance: Grey Flannel
The lesson is: If the razor doesn't feel right, stop and check the razor. Or perhaps even better, check your TTO before each use to insure it's tight. I have one TTO, a birth quarter Super Speed, and I never use it. It's a collectible, valuable mainly because it's a birth quarter razor. All my other razors are three piece, except for a two piece slant. So the first couple of strokes this morning with the Krona were very blade forward. I should have stopped and checked, but it was only my second shave with it and I stupidly just kept going. And it bit me. Hard. Then I woke up and checked the razor, and sure enough, it had come loose. Once I tightened it, it resumed its lovely smooth feel. I shaved off the newly formed skin flap, and finished my shave without further incident. I really like the Krona. I'm going to have to get one. But I'll always check to make sure things are tightened down in the future! There are three razors in the passaround I don't own already, so I'm going to use those three and then pass it on, but it's already been a productive experiment because I got to try a Krona. My soap today was Hub City Soap Company Morning Hike, and I love it! It's got a bright, clean, tropical fruitiness that was a real pleasure to use, and its slickness, and particularly its residual slickness are top notch. It's in the same class as Stirling, and PAA CK-6. And I'm settled that the Chubby 2 purchase was worth the investment. It's a luxury I'm fortunate to be able to enjoy. I got a four pass BBS with no irritation, and finished with a splash of Clubman Reserve. I like it, but have no idea what the scent notes are. It's a pleasant mystery.
Thanks for reading and have a great shave!
Frank
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
fhalden
"Like BarberDave… I make my own fun”
Exactly! It took some serious styptic work to slow things down!We have video of the outside of Frank's shave den from this morning...
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Been there done that and cringed as you described it.....
Ditto! Though I don't shave off skin flaps.
Just reading the words skin flaps makes me cringe. I hope it heals up quick!
Also. That wasn't the description I thought I would see on Morning Hike. I'm intrigued.
Also. That wasn't the description I thought I would see on Morning Hike. I'm intrigued.
