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Not quite Music City USA

Tried out Stirling Baker Street today.

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Personna Israeli Red (3)
Brush: Tech Hive Synthetic
Soap: Stirling Baker Street (first use)
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Talc: Borotalco

I have around 15 Stirling soaps, most of which I really like. Perhaps someone can distinguish among them in terms of performance. For my part, they all perform pretty much the same, and scent is what differentiates them. Baker Street is a really nice scent. Fresh and clean. Like a dryer sheet. It's a keeper. I'm going to go through all my Stirling soaps and try to pull out a few to PIF. I'm running out of room. Everything else about today's shave was also top notch, and I'm BBS after four irritation free passes.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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I got two pucks of Stubble Buster soap, a name new to me, for about $6 on sale. I got "Coastal" and " Burnish." Today I tried out "Coastal."

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (1)
Brush: Simpson Berkeley 46 Best Badger
Soap: Stubble Buster Coastal (first use)
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Razorock XXX
Talc: Clubman (first use)
Fragrance: Cool Water Carribean Summer

I don't really know much about Stubble Buster except that it was on sale. I've never seen anyone else comment on it except that I think it's made by the guy who shaves in a button down shirt. This purchase was purely curiosity and price driven. So my hopes weren't really very high, and were lowered by the presence of petroleum jelly as an ingredient. It smells nice, sort of an ocean-style scent. Not very complex, but it's pleasant. The soap performs well, although it lacked residual slickness, but, hey - six bucks. It allowed for a comfortable four pass shave, and I'm BBS, so I really have no complaints. I'll try Burnish on Monday. Sundays are special.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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Stirling has some great scents and the base work’s very well for me.

I haven’t tried Stubble Buster, but petroleum jelly as an ingredient sounds odd.
 
The Sunday shave was really nice. I feel super smooth and refreshed.

Prep: Hot shower, Kiehl's Facial Fuel
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (2)
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super Badger
Soap: SV Opuntia
Post-shave: Humphreys Lavender Witch Hazel (first use)
Aftershave: Captain's Choice Cat O' Nine Tails Bay Rum
Talc: Borotalco

The new kid on the block today was the Humphreys Lavender Witch Hazel. It was refreshing, but I really prefer the Maravilla. The Diamondback, due to negligence, bit my upper lip and it's still bleeding a bit. It's a spot I cut badly the very first time I used a DE, and every few months, I catch it again. Other than that, the shave was superb. The Chubby 2 is such a great brush! And I relish every moment with the Opuntia. After the decent performance of Stubble Buster yesterday, the SV was a real treat. I may just stick to that for a few days.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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I was feeling like a late night shave and I'm glad I satisfied the urge. It was a great shave!

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Green Pre-shave cream
Razor: Gillette Fatboy on 7
Blade: Astra Superior Stainless (2)
Brush: Simpson Duke D3 Best Badger
Soap: Stirling Black Cherry
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Stirling Glacial Black Cherry
Talc: Pinaud Clubman

I was really wanting to break out the Stirling Black Cherry to compare it to Victory Shaving Flak Bait. Stirling definitely is stronger scent wise, but it's a monolithic single note, where Flak Bait had a bit of smokiness that makes it a somewhat richer darker scent. Performance wise, the Stirling makes a richer, creamier lather, but the slickness and residual slickness of the two are close to within my ability to discern a difference. The glacial AS provides a blast of menthol that makes my eyes water, but I really do like it a lot. It's basically alcohol and scent, and I don't get any kind of nourishment from it like I do with Ethos SFS or the Pitralons, or Speick, but it's a match with the soap, and that's what I wanted. This was an 18 hour growth shave, which is, um, cutting it close froman irritation standpoint, but I was very careful around my lip injury from this morning, and although I drew a little blood, it had stopped on its own by the time I hit the Maravilla. The Fatboy on 7 does a great job and left me BBS with no irritation. So I'm refreshed and serene, and ready for a long nights slumber. Oh, and I love the Simpson Duke D3, the little bit of scritchiness from the Best Badger bristles is right up my alley, flow through is perfect, and it give up the lather very well. My next brush purchase will be a Simpson's Milk Churn. I'm definitely collecting Simpsons brushes at this point. I started out with the Chubby 2, and have since bought a Berkeley 46 B Best Badger, a Wee Scot, and the Duke D3. I really like the Simpson brushes. Then I'm considering an Eagle, just to try out a pure badger brush.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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12 hour shave because I felt like it, so I treaded lightly, with no ill effects.

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (2)
Brush: PAA Atomic Rocket
Soap: Barrister and Mann Seville
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Ethos Lime SFS
Talc: Borotalco

I own only B&M Seville, and I like it a lot. I'm not wrll-learned note wise to discuss the scent in detail, but it's a very fresh mild scent combined with a base that performs really nicely. I basically chose it today because when I opened up my soap storage compartment, there it was, and I had only used it once before. As it was a 12 hour growth shave, I treaded very lightly and went with the Atomic Rocket because it is so soft on the skin. My GSB was on its second shave, so I knew it would be nice and smooth in the Diamondback. I did four passes without discomfort or irritation. The nick on my lip is healed. I finished with the Ethos Lime Skin Food Splash, so my face is now nice and cool feeling, and that should be the case for the next hour or so. A very nice shave indeed!

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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