Thanks guys. The other problem is judging a whole soap line from one use of a sample. But there is so much out there, I guess there's not a huge loss if something good passes one by.
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Nurse Dave's Journal
- Thread starter NurseDave
- Start date
2018 shave #164 (DE:36 SE:58 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Personna Med Prep (1)
Lisa's Tobacco & Bay
Synth burshe
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
V's Barbershop Tonic
Since I shaved not that long ago, I wanted something a bit more mild than the RX and a Feather blade. When I was early in DE shaving, I was PIFed a few Med Prep blades to see if they felt different than the Israeli Personnas. To me, they were the same and a little more expensive, but I saw this sitting at the top of my balde box and put it to use.
I only went with one sample today because I wasn't sure how much shaving I would be doing. And I chose Tobacco & Bay because it is the first soap with a tobacco scent that actually doesn't smell like to honey to me. On lathering the tobacco I got from the sample pretty much disappeared, it could have still be in there, but if it was it
blended in the bay rum nicely. I like this scent and may pick it up at some point. It's a nice middle of the road bay rum without a sharp spice note or a sweet eggnog note. Performance was as expected and middle of the road. Good enough to use without worry, but not standing out from the pack.
Yesterday we celebrated my dad's birthday. He cooked up some baby back ribs, which the kids ask for every time they are in town. Opened a nice bottle of Zin and had a blueberry dessert. It was a good evening. We got him tickets to a jazz concert tonight in SF and will have them driven there so he doesn't have to worry about his car in town. Should be another good evening for them. For us it's a little rougher. We give up our room to my parents, so we take over the oldest's bedroom and sleep on an air mattress, which of course doesn't provide the best night's rest. So we're enough having them around and spending time with the kids, we're also looking forward to getting on the plane to D.C. Saturday morning and might get some good rest on the way there.
Parker 76R w/ Personna Med Prep (1)
Lisa's Tobacco & Bay
Synth burshe
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
V's Barbershop Tonic
Since I shaved not that long ago, I wanted something a bit more mild than the RX and a Feather blade. When I was early in DE shaving, I was PIFed a few Med Prep blades to see if they felt different than the Israeli Personnas. To me, they were the same and a little more expensive, but I saw this sitting at the top of my balde box and put it to use.
I only went with one sample today because I wasn't sure how much shaving I would be doing. And I chose Tobacco & Bay because it is the first soap with a tobacco scent that actually doesn't smell like to honey to me. On lathering the tobacco I got from the sample pretty much disappeared, it could have still be in there, but if it was it
blended in the bay rum nicely. I like this scent and may pick it up at some point. It's a nice middle of the road bay rum without a sharp spice note or a sweet eggnog note. Performance was as expected and middle of the road. Good enough to use without worry, but not standing out from the pack.
Yesterday we celebrated my dad's birthday. He cooked up some baby back ribs, which the kids ask for every time they are in town. Opened a nice bottle of Zin and had a blueberry dessert. It was a good evening. We got him tickets to a jazz concert tonight in SF and will have them driven there so he doesn't have to worry about his car in town. Should be another good evening for them. For us it's a little rougher. We give up our room to my parents, so we take over the oldest's bedroom and sleep on an air mattress, which of course doesn't provide the best night's rest. So we're enough having them around and spending time with the kids, we're also looking forward to getting on the plane to D.C. Saturday morning and might get some good rest on the way there.
I am not one that has used a lot of samples Dave, but I have heard others say that have say that they get a better result when loading from a puck than they do from samples. Regarding the GD, any possibility that there was more potential from these that you just were not able to realize due to an incomplete load of the soap? Perhaps you have taken this into account and and corrected fully. Just a question, not a judgement.
Good points, but I think i'm one of the outliers that never loads from a puck unless it's a hard soap. Every other soap I scoop out a bit with a gelato spoon, smear it in my bowl and lather from there. Might be a bit odd, but I'm always thinking that at some point I might pass on any of what's currently in my den, so I keep them clean for the next guy. Also, and without any evidence I think of applying water to the whole puck with every use as possibly deteriorating the scent quicker. Plus, I don't have to let them dry before putting them away. So using from a sample or a full tub is actually the same for me.
Maybe that would help with a thinner air mattress. We have one that's 20" thick. Seems to just provide too much volume to be firm and not shift all around when someone moves.
Ah, I'll have to post when I figure that out. Usually the only concessions I make for traveling are putting the witch hazel in a small pump bottle, using soap samples and only bringing on fragrance. Otherwise, it's all the same stuff I usually use.
Me too! My parents used to always stay in a hotel when they visited, until I met my wife. And she said no way are parents staying in a hotel. So now I sit at my desk trying to stay awake....
Thanks guys
One would have to be more into the make-up of the soaps than I am. I tend to just go by brand, though obviously the base can make a big difference.
2018 shave #165 (DE:37 SE:58 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Personna Med Prep (2)
Razor Master Toivo
Synth brush
Witch Hazel & Alum
Bath House Spanish Fig and Nutmeg balm
Tommy Bahama St Kitts
Today was a cornucopia of scents. I have a feeling Dave might be screaming "WHAT????" in his head as he reads my software for today.
I had the Toivo sitti
ng out from my original culling of the passaround box. To me, now I say to ME, the first image I got from the sample scent was a strong English tobacco. Since tobacco smells turn into honey to me, I was thrilled with this. Not just a hint of tobacco, but in your face, strong like 7 out of 5 strength. Lets do this! I mentioned before that I like the performance of the Razor Master soaps and this was the same. Reading my last report, maybe less slickness in this one, but could be do to variations in lathering as well. This is one of those soaps that makes me inhale deeply as I'm applying the lather to just swim in the scent. As I was shaving, I thought of other things this scent could be because I had no memory of what it was supposed to be. Now I associated it with tobacco, but the English blends I have are VERY smoky smelling. And that's what this soap is. Smoke. Yummy, after a camp fire waking up in the morning to grey ashed and smoke being held down by morning fog smoke. Oh so good. But, your wife might associate it with you jacket when you come home from a camping trip. Anyway, I love this and it will prompt a for certain order and offering of samples.
Give how much I love that scent, I certainly didn't want to walk around smelling like I hadn't washed my shirt since the last boy scout jamboree. Luckily, this isn't one of those soaps that sticks with you after final rinse. Chris H was nice enough to send me a sample of the fig and nutmeg balm to try. I've been eyeing this whole line of products for a while and never pulled the trigger because it would have been a blind buy and the shaving soap part of it isn't cheap. I'm thankful he did. I was hoping for more of the nutmeg and less of the fig scent. I would say this is a bit floral with a stewed fruit or over ripe fruit scent over it. Not bad at all, just not what I was picturing from the name. Needed something a bit sweet to finish off with and went with the St Kitts which hasn't had any airplay since last summer.
Addendum: I forgot to mention what that soap actually is scented as. Here it is from their web page.
Razor Master was born in Kainuu, in the middle parts of Finland where back in the days pine tar was extracted from pine by burning it in tar pits. Tar was also the first export product of the country in the 15th century.
Our Toivo soap has been made using a very small number of ingredients and real pine tar. It is not sticky nor it will color your brush, but it smells incredible. Razor Master’s granddad, called Toivo (in Finnish: hope), used to work on the tar pits in his young years. In memoriam!
My mail call yesterday was a suction cup mount for my phone. The first step to posting a video. Parents are here this week, we're gone most of next week. My plan is to do the 7 deadly sins after that. But I'm also calling out my buddy TJ. TJ, I gotta hear that Opie Taylor voice! How about a blade brother agreement to posting 7 sins videos before the month is over?
Parker 76R w/ Personna Med Prep (2)
Razor Master Toivo
Synth brush
Witch Hazel & Alum
Bath House Spanish Fig and Nutmeg balm
Tommy Bahama St Kitts
Today was a cornucopia of scents. I have a feeling Dave might be screaming "WHAT????" in his head as he reads my software for today.
I had the Toivo sitti
ng out from my original culling of the passaround box. To me, now I say to ME, the first image I got from the sample scent was a strong English tobacco. Since tobacco smells turn into honey to me, I was thrilled with this. Not just a hint of tobacco, but in your face, strong like 7 out of 5 strength. Lets do this! I mentioned before that I like the performance of the Razor Master soaps and this was the same. Reading my last report, maybe less slickness in this one, but could be do to variations in lathering as well. This is one of those soaps that makes me inhale deeply as I'm applying the lather to just swim in the scent. As I was shaving, I thought of other things this scent could be because I had no memory of what it was supposed to be. Now I associated it with tobacco, but the English blends I have are VERY smoky smelling. And that's what this soap is. Smoke. Yummy, after a camp fire waking up in the morning to grey ashed and smoke being held down by morning fog smoke. Oh so good. But, your wife might associate it with you jacket when you come home from a camping trip. Anyway, I love this and it will prompt a for certain order and offering of samples.
Give how much I love that scent, I certainly didn't want to walk around smelling like I hadn't washed my shirt since the last boy scout jamboree. Luckily, this isn't one of those soaps that sticks with you after final rinse. Chris H was nice enough to send me a sample of the fig and nutmeg balm to try. I've been eyeing this whole line of products for a while and never pulled the trigger because it would have been a blind buy and the shaving soap part of it isn't cheap. I'm thankful he did. I was hoping for more of the nutmeg and less of the fig scent. I would say this is a bit floral with a stewed fruit or over ripe fruit scent over it. Not bad at all, just not what I was picturing from the name. Needed something a bit sweet to finish off with and went with the St Kitts which hasn't had any airplay since last summer.
Addendum: I forgot to mention what that soap actually is scented as. Here it is from their web page.
Razor Master was born in Kainuu, in the middle parts of Finland where back in the days pine tar was extracted from pine by burning it in tar pits. Tar was also the first export product of the country in the 15th century.
Our Toivo soap has been made using a very small number of ingredients and real pine tar. It is not sticky nor it will color your brush, but it smells incredible. Razor Master’s granddad, called Toivo (in Finnish: hope), used to work on the tar pits in his young years. In memoriam!
My mail call yesterday was a suction cup mount for my phone. The first step to posting a video. Parents are here this week, we're gone most of next week. My plan is to do the 7 deadly sins after that. But I'm also calling out my buddy TJ. TJ, I gotta hear that Opie Taylor voice! How about a blade brother agreement to posting 7 sins videos before the month is over?
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Great shave and review Dave! I didn’t know you enjoyed Smokey scents. I’m surprised you gave up the Delfts Wit in the PIF. Was it just not the right Smokiness?
The Toivo sounds like a winner! I love post campfire smell as well. Fond memories of family camping when younger!
The Toivo sounds like a winner! I love post campfire smell as well. Fond memories of family camping when younger!
I honestly don't remember the smell of that one. I think with this it was just the right smell and any other smoke I might not be down for. Like floral scents. Many are just too sweet for me or make me think of pollen and allergies or old ladies. But PdP 63 I love.
I realized, now I also need to find a deep leather scent to wear with stuff like that.
2018 shave #166 (DE:38 SE:58 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Personna Med Prep (3)
Grooming Department Absinthe & Leather
Synth brush
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
GTB AS
GTB EdP
It was suggested to me that I might want to give GD soaps another try because they are normally great performers. I had some other soaps I wanted to try before shipping off the box, but they were only other scents of soaps I already use. So I thought I'd give DG the chance it deserves. And, risk acquiring a desire for soaps I have to pay over retail for.
I like Absinthe & Leather from sample. Although I have no idea was absinthe should smell like, there certainly was leather and it wasn't shy about it. A good 5/5 from the sample. I used a touch more soap than I normally would given my lathering issues before. And, I took my time addin
g in the water. I didn't get that fluffy lather this time, and ended up with a decent creamy type lather. I didn't get the sense at all that this would hold a lot of water though. It seemed to change with little additions of water. So I stopped where I was and got my shave on.
The shave a good, and I wanted to be graced with a soap that really met the hype, but I wasn't. It was good. But I wasn't getting much slickness. I thought maybe it was because I was worried about the water so I added a touch more before my last pass. Nope, that took it right over the edge to thin soap and didn't add to the slickness. I've read others having issues with soaps most think are great. For some reason the GD soaps just don't jive with me. Though for the scent, I'd like to be able to use this one.
In other news, I think I'm accidentally sliding down the shaving brush rabbit hole. This is one I didn't think I'd really get into. I had a couple. Mostly one I used pretty much every day, and a couple to add in variety. Then the cadre brush came, now I have another custom one coming soon from the guy that made my Shawshank one and a line on a couple more in the future and think I could easily become a regular customer of Sorrentino brushes.
Parker 76R w/ Personna Med Prep (3)
Grooming Department Absinthe & Leather
Synth brush
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
GTB AS
GTB EdP
It was suggested to me that I might want to give GD soaps another try because they are normally great performers. I had some other soaps I wanted to try before shipping off the box, but they were only other scents of soaps I already use. So I thought I'd give DG the chance it deserves. And, risk acquiring a desire for soaps I have to pay over retail for.
I like Absinthe & Leather from sample. Although I have no idea was absinthe should smell like, there certainly was leather and it wasn't shy about it. A good 5/5 from the sample. I used a touch more soap than I normally would given my lathering issues before. And, I took my time addin
g in the water. I didn't get that fluffy lather this time, and ended up with a decent creamy type lather. I didn't get the sense at all that this would hold a lot of water though. It seemed to change with little additions of water. So I stopped where I was and got my shave on.
The shave a good, and I wanted to be graced with a soap that really met the hype, but I wasn't. It was good. But I wasn't getting much slickness. I thought maybe it was because I was worried about the water so I added a touch more before my last pass. Nope, that took it right over the edge to thin soap and didn't add to the slickness. I've read others having issues with soaps most think are great. For some reason the GD soaps just don't jive with me. Though for the scent, I'd like to be able to use this one.
In other news, I think I'm accidentally sliding down the shaving brush rabbit hole. This is one I didn't think I'd really get into. I had a couple. Mostly one I used pretty much every day, and a couple to add in variety. Then the cadre brush came, now I have another custom one coming soon from the guy that made my Shawshank one and a line on a couple more in the future and think I could easily become a regular customer of Sorrentino brushes.