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Not quite Music City USA

I went with Moon Soaps Havana for the second straight day. It really is a fine soap!

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless
Brush: Simpson Duke D3 Best Badger
Lather: Moon Soaps Havana
Aftershave: Ogalalla Bay Rum with Lime and Peppercorns
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

The Duke 3 is such a great brush. It's the perfect size, and feels so soft on my face. It doesn't hog lather like the Chubby 2 can do, and it just works really well. Now, I'm off to the clubhouse to get the mail. I have two soaps waiting for me up there!

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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Midnight with the Milk Churn and Envoy. And an Ariana and Evans soap with a scent I unreservedly like! The Undersea.

Razor: Rex Supply Envoy
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium
Brush: Simpson Milk Churn Best Badger
Lather: Ariana & Evans The Undersea
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

I love the Kaizen base, and scent wise, the third time is the charm. The Undersea is an aquatic with a very ugly label, but the soap is fantastic. The Wizamet in the Envoy left me smooth and feeling great!

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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Early morning shave with Stirling Christmas Eve, which is glorious and perfect for a chilly Autumn morning.

Razor: Rex Supply Envoy
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
Brush: Yaqi Sagrada Familia
Lather: Stirling Christmas Eve
Aftershave: Captain's Choice Venture
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

I've taken a deep dive into watching YouTube shaving videos, and it is fascinating. Some of the guys are foul mouthed but funny, some really struggle with their straights. There seems to be a bit of a community over there and on Facebook, but I don't use Facebook, where I would be the product. I've come across a couple of good channels, but most of them are one and done for me. Only a couple even approach the facility exhibited by @BarberDave, and none are his equal. I have been turned on to some new to me artisans, and will be placing several soap orders mid-month. And I've decided to get a Simpson Persian Jar 2 in Best Badger. I'm pretty much becoming a Simpson collector. I just love their brushes. 36 hours growth this morning was dispatched in short order by the Envoy. Four irritation free passes and I'm BBS. Captain's Choice Venture and Dossier Musky Oakmoss and I smell like a poor man's Aventus fan.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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Razor: Rex Supply Envoy
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super Badger
Pre-Shave: Proraso Green
Lather: Proraso Green Cream
Aftershave: Proraso Green Aftershave Lotion
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
fhalden said:
Early morning shave with Stirling Christmas Eve, which is glorious and perfect for a chilly Autumn morning.

Razor: Rex Supply Envoy
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
Brush: Yaqi Sagrada Familia
Lather: Stirling Christmas Eve
Aftershave: Captain's Choice Venture
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

I've taken a deep dive into watching YouTube shaving videos, and it is fascinating. Some of the guys are foul mouthed but funny, some really struggle with their straights. There seems to be a bit of a community over there and on Facebook, but I don't use Facebook, where I would be the product. I've come across a couple of good channels, but most of them are one and done for me. Only a couple even approach the facility exhibited by @BarberDave, and none are his equal. I have been turned on to some new to me artisans, and will be placing several soap orders mid-month. And I've decided to get a Simpson Persian Jar 2 in Best Badger. I'm pretty much becoming a Simpson collector. I just love their brushes. 36 hours growth this morning was dispatched in short order by the Envoy. Four irritation free passes and I'm BBS. Captain's Choice Venture and Dossier Musky Oakmoss and I smell like a poor man's Aventus fan.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
6 out of my 7 brushes are Simpson’s best 👍 don’t forget to check out their Black Friday sale 😎
 
Morning shave with a new cream.

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

Captain's Choice Venture is their take on Creed Aventus, and I like it a lot, but performance wise, it's a little meh. Slickness was okay, but residual slickness was not great. Plus, the tub was about half full new. While I'll keep stocked up on the splash, I probably won't be rebuying the cream. Too bad too, because I love the scent, but it's not in the same class as Ethos Succes, which smells just as good while providing far superior performance. The Diamondback with a 3rd use Feather did its usual stellar job. Four pass BBS with no irritation.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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Tried out Razorock Black Bay soap tonight. It has left me puzzled.

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless
Brush: Semogue Boar
Lather: Razorock Black Bay
Aftershave: Razorock XXX
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

Black Bay smells like fresh cut grass with a hint of peppermint. And it is *green*. Very green. It's like they ran lawn fescue through a juicer and added the pulp to this soap. And the lather it makes is slightly green as well, so I was sort of concerned about staining my white shaving towel. It loaded fine with my small Semogue Boar, and made plenty of lather, but it wasn't very slick, and residual slickness was almost non-existent. This was a problem I've not encountered with any other Razorock soap. So, I'm going to give it another try tomorrow, with a synthetic, and I'm going to load more and give it more water. We'll see how it goes, but if it doesn't improve, I may have found my new least favorite soap since Arko.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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Another new soap. Henri et Victoria Terre d'Henri.

Razor: Gillette NEW Short Comb
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Brush: Simpson Milk Churn Best Badger
Lather: Henri et Victoria Terre d'Henri
Aftershave: Pitralon Classic
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

This soap is another grassy scent, but without the green chlorophyll effect of Black Bay. It is a good performer, but my main focus was on the NEW Short Comb, which I hadn't used in a while. A good amount of blade feel, and it certainly holds the blade tight - feedback was audible, but no singing, and I never felt what I would place as the result of chatter. This was only after 16 hours of growth, so things were a little sensitive, but a light touch made for a comfortable shave, which is what I needed!

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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I tried out my first YouTube hype soap tonight. Murphy and McNeill Barbershop de los Muertos. The name is spot on, and the scent is very enjoyable. It's my first M&M soap, and I'm very pleased with it, although I am glad I didn't go for the splash. A lot of soap scents are really enjoyable, but I don't want to carry the scent around with me.

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Nacet Stainless
Brush: Simpson Duke D3 Best Badger
Lather: Murphy and McNeill Barbershop de los Muertos
Aftershave: Fine Platinum
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

So I've been watching some of the young men of the YouTube/Instagram/Facebook community. Some of them are pretty foul mouthed, and a couple are really struggling with straights. There are three Swedes with perfect English speaking ability. These guys have anywhere from a couple of hundred subscribers to several thousand. One guy's been there for years, and another just started posting a month ago. It's very interesting. Anyway, over the last couple of weeks, M&M sent these guys a freebie tub of Barbershop de los Muertos (BDLM). I think I saw 5 different videos with this soap. Well, they all really liked the scent, so I succumbed to the hype and jumped in for the Friday the 13th drop. My first drop. I got a tub before it sold out withing the hour. It arrived today so I cracked it open and, yes, it's a very good scent. Definitely a Barbershop with a dark musty background that differentiates it from other barbershop scents I've tried. It is a great base, this Kodiak base of theirs. Very creamy, dense, low volume... check, check, check. Slickness is great, residual slickness is very much like Zingari Man Sego. This is a good thing. The artwork is very high quality, with labels on the top, side, and bottom, but that doesn't really matter to me like it does for these YouTube guys. Shaving for me seems to be centered around touch and smell. The smoothness of the razor, and my face, and the smells of the products. The feeling of the brush. That's where it's at for me. This saves me a lot of money on brushes, as I don't find myself desiring exotic handles.

Anyway, BDLM is a very good soap, it sold out in an hour, but he promises he's already curing the restock. I recommend it, fwiw.

Two days growth was swept away by the Diamondback in four Zenlike passes, and I'm BBS with no irritation. Tomorrow, I'm trying A&E Asian Plum - my fourth Kaizen and already my favorite scent of the four.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Good review! Glad you got to give it a go and decide for yourself!

I watched a couple YouTubers here and there over the years, not really following anyone religiously. It’s hard when most of them are continually so positive about everything and, like you say, there’s just some crass dudes out there who are more focused on their schtick...so I ended up just tuning in more to the gents who’s personalities and storytelling I enjoyed.
 
GearNoir said:
Good review! Glad you got to give it a go and decide for yourself!

I watched a couple YouTubers here and there over the years, not really following anyone religiously. It’s hard when most of them are continually so positive about everything and, like you say, there’s just some crass dudes out there who are more focused on their schtick...so I ended up just tuning in more to the gents who’s personalities and storytelling I enjoyed.
Click to expand...
Yes, I've definitely come across some shills and some obnoxious guys.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Ariana and Evans Asian Plum. I'm in love.

Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Gillette Nacet Stainless
Brush: Simpson Milk Churn Best Badger
Lather: Ariana and Evans Asian Plum
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman Reserve Cognac Neat
Additional Care:
Osma Tradition Alum Block
Humphreys Maravilla
Roberts Borotalco Talcum Powder

My soap collection is around 130 soaps, and I like most of them very much. I've PIFed the ones I flat out didn't like. Today I tried out A&E Asian Plum, and I absolutely adore this scent. It is assertive, but delicate. Fruity, and a bit floral. It may be the best scent I've come across. I'll have to review my notes and retry some others, but I really love it. Seaforth Heather is up there, and Stirling Christmas Eve as well, but I was floored by this stuff. It's my fourth A&E soap, all Kaizen, and it's the first one I like without reservation. And the base is superb. I'm going to order a backup tub. The usual perfection from the Diamondback. 2nd use Nacet is a joy. Four pass BBS shave with no irritation.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
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