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Not quite Music City USA

Haven’t seen a Merkur pop up here in ages! I miss mine occasionally. Great shave Frank!
 
Evening shave with Maca Root cream.

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium
Brush: Semogue Boar
Lather: Body Shop Maca Root and Aloe
Aftershave: Nivea 2 in 1
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

I like the cream and it did just fine. It reminds me of TOBS Avocado. Four passes and I'm BBS with no irritation.

I sort of went all in with the new Cremo fragrance #4, Blue Cedar and Cypress. I got the EdT a few weeks back, and earlier this week I ordered the body wash, shampoo, and antiperspirant. I really like the scent. The body wash arrived today, so I gave it a spin. It does well, but unlike soap, it sort of leaves me feeling silky, like Old Spice body washes do. There's sort of a vague impression of not having rinsed, but it may actually be the absence of the residue of soap. At any rate, I've now got another coordinated toiletry fragrance. Next month I'm going to try one of the other Cremo scents. The price is right, at least in this first instance.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Man, you went all in all in with the Cremo huh? 😂 Hows the deodorant working for you?
 
I have some thoughts about shaving tonight. Good thoughts.

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium
Brush: Simpson Milk Churn Best Badger
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Aftershave: Royalle Lyme Aftershave Lotion
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

Tonight I inaugurated my 5th puck of Mitchell's Wool Fat in my 7 years of wetshaving with soap and a brush. As I'm sure you're well aware, opinions about MWF are strong and often expressed with passion both in support of, and denigration of, its latherability. I've read posts where users relate having loaded for 5 minutes, in vain. And I've read of 10 second loads that produced copious amounts of lanolin laced goodness. People love it, and other people hate it. One recent rumor is that they changed the formula. It's a curious phenomenon, this soap. Well, here's my two cents worth. If I was told that out of the 130 or so soaps I've tried in my journey, I had to choose just one to use exclusively for the rest of my shaving life, it would easily be Mitchell's Wool Fat that I would choose. It lathers just fine for me - for what it's worth, I bloom the puck while I shower, and load with a badger brush for around 30-45 seconds, then I face lather, painting, scrubbing, adding water, painting, scrubbing, and so on until I get a sheen and soft creamy peaks. I love the simple aroma, the extreme slickness, and residual slickness that can seemingly endlessly be renewed with a splash of water. And it leaves my face feeling soft and hydrated. It gives me everything I need in a shaving soap. If I had to choose one razor, it would be the Diamondback. Aftershave? Royall Lyme. Tonight I shaved with my desert island setup and it was great. Now, I love variety - it's a lot of fun and is a real treat to choose a setup for each day, but it's a privilege to be able to use the hardware and software I used tonight, and I'm blessed and thankful to have what I have.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Great read Frank! It’s a great thing to be able to enjoy and appreciate what we’ve been blessed with.
 
If it's still available, I've decided to go ahead and splurge on the CBL Orion bundle, the middle of next month, when I have the funds. I had planned on the purchase of four other soaps from another vendor, but the impressions of @BarberDave and @Spider have convinced me to take a shot. Until now, the only really extravagant expenditures I've made on a soap have been for a couple of hard of MdC and SV. Oh, and Ethos. Of those three, the SV and Ethos were definitely good buys, and the MdC is, while lacking in post shave feel, will give me so many shaves that it's really not insane to have spent what I spent. My only reservation with the Orion bundle is that I'm not a big fan of post-shave oil or balms. I'm a splash man. Still, I have nothing but respect for the experience of KJ and Dave, so I'm going to go ahead and give the Orion bundle a shot. As Neil Peart once wrote, " Experience to extremes." And if two deeply experienced reviews say Orion is simply the best, well then, I think I have to give it a try.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
fhalden said:
but the impressions of @BarberDave
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Follow your custom title!

fhalden said:
'm not a big fan of post-shave oil or balms. I'm a splash man.
Click to expand...

While white, the tonic is no balm. It's still basically a splash. You'll like it. I don't care for oils either, but you're only using a drop or two and within a couple short minutes it's completely soaked in, unlike other oils.
 
Spider said:
Follow your custom title!



While white, the tonic is no balm. It's still basically a splash. You'll like it. I don't care for oils either, but you're only using a drop or two and within a couple short minutes it's completely soaked in, unlike other oils.
Click to expand...
I'll be ordering it mid-November, assuming it's still available.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Stuck with a winning lineup this afternoon.

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless
Brush: Simpson Duke D3 Best Badger
Pre-Shave: Proraso Green
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Aftershave: Captain's Choice Venture
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Late evening shave to close out the weekend.

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super Badger
Pre-Shave: Proraso Red
Lather: Spearhead Seaforth Heather
Aftershave: Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Black Bot
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

I'm anguishing over getting the Orion bundle. I really want to try the soap, but I'm almost certain I won't use the oil. I simply do not like the feeling of even minute amounts of oil on my face. I'm totally a splash guy. So I'm still pondering the purchase. Sigh.

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Maybe you could give it a go and try just reselling the oil if you don’t like it?
 
Tried out another variety of Moon Soaps tonight. It's really good soap, and I'm going to go ahead and get the other three.

Razor: Gillette Fatboy Adjustable
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
Brush: Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Atomic Rocket
Lather: Moon Soaps Havana
Aftershave: Captain's Choice Venture
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

The Astra SP in the Fatboy on 7 is a pretty sweet shave! Havana smells like freshly cut cannabis, which is a strange scent, that takes me back to my college days. I don't think that was the intent of the maker, but that's definitely the note I'm picking up. And my sense memory, in this context, is *very* strong. The soap performs great with plenty of slickness and residual slickness. I find I'm saying this about a lot of soaps. Pretty much all of them are good performers. Arko dries me out. But the new artisans and TOBS and Proraso, Lea, La Toja... all very good. I think if I had to choose a luxurious champion, it would be SV Opuntia, but it doesn't outperform MWF, it just has a magnificent scent, where MWF is minimally scented. I find all these soaps working well, but I still love trying new ones out.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
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