Primo's Journal du Jour...

[primotenore]

Wednesday, October 13

Williams~~Simpson "The Duke"~~Gillette Pre-War Canadian Tech/Gillette Swede~~Vintage Balenciaga
Have a great day!​

 

[GearNoir]

Love my Prewar Tech! Always gives an awesome shave! Good one Primo!

 

[Fightingillini22]

Vintage Williams is my "comfort" soap - fantastic performance and a very light clean soapy scent!

 

[Scuttlesoap]

Nice shave!

 

[primotenore]

Nice shave!

Vintage Williams is my "comfort" soap - fantastic performance and a very light clean soapy scent!

Love my Prewar Tech! Always gives an awesome shave! Good one Primo!

Thanks, Gents.

 

[primotenore]

Thursday, October 14

Tallow + Steel Kyoto~~Simpson Astor~~Gillette #44/Voskhod~~Arabian Oud Kashmir
This week, I have shaved with my three Gillette Techs. They're are quite similar in feel, ergonomics,
blade gaps, and angle of attack. Today's #44, I find to be the mildest of the trio,
Indeed, I needed to sufficiently hydrated the T+S soap so that the #44 would not clog.
I have always maintained that if your shaving soap does not rinse away easily from your razor,
your soap is under-hydrated.
New Voskhod was sufficiently sharp 'n smooth to buff when called upon.
Nice to report a successful ATG pass on my neck. Some of you will recall,
this area is a particular nemesis of mine.
Post shave followed the usual pattern, with Thayer's Unscented Witch Hazel precededing
the after shave balm bearing the same company name.
Today's scent is from the house of Arabian Oud:

​

You may have noticed the Yuzu top note. T+S uses a fair amount of Yuku in their Kyoto shave soap.

This is a luscious take on Oud. Magnificent.​

 

[GearNoir]

 

[Bill M]

Cool side lighting on the pic.

 

[Luecke3262]

Tuesday, October 12

Yardley Black Label~~Simpson MC~~Gillette Pre-War USA Tech/Gillette Swede~~Nasomatto Black Afgano
I mentioned that I am a big fan of vintage gear and today's soap is probably the G.O.A.T
vintage soap in my den: Yardley Black Label. Stunning lather, that is amazingly thick and slick.
The Gillette Tech, combined with a day 2 Gillette Platinum, slid around my face like Dick Button
in the '48 and '52 Olympics.
Buffing galore sans issues of any kind, resulted in an excellent shave.
Post-shave routine remained the same, cleaning off residual soap with some unscented witch hazel,
followed by today's ASB Proraso for sensitive skin.
Side note: whatever Proraso did in the last reformulation resulted in a product that is
now stickier than the old formula.

Darn reformulations. In my shaving career, I can think of only ONE, that's right, ONE
reformulation that has resulted in a "better" product. Ready:
Ralph Lauren Polo. When Cosmair reformulated the original Warner, they actually improved it.
Today's juice is from the Italian house of Nasomatto (Crazy Nose)
View attachment 63536​

View attachment 63537
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I have to choose carefully when I opt for this juice. SWMBO has not given it the coveted SWMBOSOA©
(She Who Must Be Obeyed Seal Of Approval)
Yes, as @Bill M recently mentioned, this is one of a number of copyrighted acronyms.
Any and ALL usage by TSC members, other than myself, must first attain permission from my
lead counsel, F. Patrick Smithington. (BTW, the first "I" is long)​

That YARDLY SOAP!

You are killing at these journal entries!

 

[primotenore]

That YARDLY SOAP!

You are killing at these journal entries!

Thank you, I appreciate the encouragement.

 

[primotenore]

Saturday, October 16

AoS Oud~~Simpson Emperor 3~~Dovo Best~~Gucci Guilty Absolute
Got some fantastic lather from the oud cream, very slick with a strong scent of pencil shavings.

I like the way the Simpson is turned, the handle fits nicely in my hand.
The "Grey Box" era knot is soft, has good flow-through and a modicum of backbone.
This Dovo, I got from a great member of another forum. He purchased it direct from Lyn Abrams,
who also honed it. It had a fantastic edge and with the help of my Shapton 16K glass stone,
I have been able to maintain that keen edge.
Two and 1/2 passes and I called it. DFS+++
Post-shave scent o' the day is from the house of Gucci:


​

This juice gets a lot of wear-time. The leather scent is so amazing, I can't get enough.
It receives the coveted SWMBOSOA©

 

[Bill M]

Interesting description on the soap scent. I’m intrigued enough by it to buy more soap I don’t need.

Do you recommend it?

 

[GearNoir]

I don’t care what anyone else says! AOS has one of the better commercial creams out there and fantastic scents!

 

[jgreenepa]

Saturday, October 16

AoS Oud~~Simpson Emperor 3~~Dovo Best~~Gucci Guilty Absolute
Got some fantastic lather from the oud cream, very slick with a strong scent of pencil shavings.

I like the way the Simpson is turned, the handle fits nicely in my hand.
The "Grey Box" era knot is soft, has good flow-through and a modicum of backbone.
This Dovo, I got from a great member of another forum. He purchased it direct from Lyn Abrams,
who also honed it. It had a fantastic edge and with the help of my Shapton 16K glass stone,
I have been able to maintain that keen edge.
Two and 1/2 passes and I called it. DFS+++
Post-shave scent o' the day is from the house of Gucci:

View attachment 63898
View attachment 63897​

View attachment 63899

View attachment 63900

View attachment 63901
This juice gets a lot of wear-time. The leather scent is so amazing, I can't get enough.
It receives the coveted SWMBOSOA©

Awesome post, Maestro! That’s a great-looking razor!

 

[primotenore]

Awesome post, Maestro! That’s a great-looking razor!

Thank you, Jeff.

 

[primotenore]

Sunday, October 17

Valobra Patchouly~~Simpson CH2~~Feather AC/Super Professional~~Vintage Givenchy Gentleman
Something very relaxing about the Sunday shave. No time constraints make for a pleasurable experience.
Valobra Patchouly is a triple-milled Italian soap, especially known for their Czech & Speake lines and the vintage
AoS tallow soaps...sadly, both discontinued. Luckily, Primo had enough sense to stock up.
The "Grey Box Era" Simpson CH2 is a real Grail knot. These exemplars really demonstrate the
hand-tying abilities of those true artisans. The tips are nice 'n white and the knot has a beautiful bulb shape.
I have always thought a CH2 knot (like this one) would be PERFECT in a CH3 handle. Food for thought Isle of Man...

When new, the Super Professional AC blade by Feather is unrivaled in sharpness.
The blade I used was not new. and I could tell. Not rough, but clearly a degraded edge.
Awkward set-down, left jaw...you know the feeling, not really "pain", but enough nerve stimulation
to cause yourself to think: "that's going to leave a mark..."
A 1" straight line. Chicks dig scars, they say. Sadly, this won't leave a scar.
Thayer's Witch Hazel for the clean up/soap removal. I splash it on heavy and work it ever-so-quickly and lightly and
immediately wipe skin dry. In between cleaning brush and razor, I choose between 3
un-(lightly)scented aftershave balms.
1) Thayer's 2) Proraso 3) Stirling Glacial Un-scented.
Proraso was today's balm-choice.
The OG of Patchouli for men is this vintage bottle of:​

This is a magnificent, older scent, that is comforting to wear.​

 

[Bill M]

Chicks dig scars, they say.

Once the Mrs noticed a booboo of mine and I quoted that phrase.

Her response was “What Chicks?”

For me, it was one of those, ‘wish I had them words back’ moments.

 

[primotenore]

 

[GearNoir]

I was fortunate to be able to have vintage Givenchy Gentleman. It was overall nice but that musk note just popped out really heavy for me for some reason, couldn’t get past it…had to pass it on.

 

[primotenore]

I was fortunate to be able to have vintage Givenchy Gentleman. It was overall nice but that musk note just popped out really heavy for me for some reason, couldn’t get past it…had to pass it on.

Interesting. It might have been the Civet that disagreed with you.