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Ramblings of a MilkCrate
- Thread starter MilkCrate
- Start date
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
Hey Tim where did you find those samples? Judging from the phone number on the label, it looks like they're based somewhere near me.
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Shave Count (DE: 231 SR: 80)
Pre Shave-
Hot shower and warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Three Ranners SR
Vie Long Horsehair
Proraso Red soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Proraso Red AS
Random shave weekend, so yesterday I brought out a complete kit change. Wrapped up a bunch of yard work and had an early evening shower/shave. We were headed to a club, a few towns over, to see a local band we know.
The Vie Long can be kinda hit or miss. Some days it lathers great and some days, not so much. I think it takes longer to really break in and it may not be there just yet. I think it also holds a lot of water like the Zenith. Tried my new lathering technique and loaded for 40 seconds. It cranked out a really nice lather.
I hit the strop 20 laps on fabric and 50 laps on leather. I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. As I was shaving I noticed my edge wasn’t where I wanted it, but I kept going. That shave was horrid, I walked away with a CCS. The prior shave with this razor was good enough to keep in rotation, but not after this shave. This was the first SR that I picked up and it was from WhippedDog. The edge lasted for a good while.
Wrapped up my shave with a splash of water and a towel dry. A splash of the AS and everything was right as rain! Sans the remaining stubble. Nothing much planned today except honing this razor. I think that’s it, but if I have other plans, I’m sure the missus will let me know. Life is good!
Pre Shave-
Hot shower and warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Three Ranners SR
Vie Long Horsehair
Proraso Red soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Proraso Red AS
Random shave weekend, so yesterday I brought out a complete kit change. Wrapped up a bunch of yard work and had an early evening shower/shave. We were headed to a club, a few towns over, to see a local band we know.
The Vie Long can be kinda hit or miss. Some days it lathers great and some days, not so much. I think it takes longer to really break in and it may not be there just yet. I think it also holds a lot of water like the Zenith. Tried my new lathering technique and loaded for 40 seconds. It cranked out a really nice lather.
I hit the strop 20 laps on fabric and 50 laps on leather. I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. As I was shaving I noticed my edge wasn’t where I wanted it, but I kept going. That shave was horrid, I walked away with a CCS. The prior shave with this razor was good enough to keep in rotation, but not after this shave. This was the first SR that I picked up and it was from WhippedDog. The edge lasted for a good while.
Wrapped up my shave with a splash of water and a towel dry. A splash of the AS and everything was right as rain! Sans the remaining stubble. Nothing much planned today except honing this razor. I think that’s it, but if I have other plans, I’m sure the missus will let me know. Life is good!
Lawrence Township, NJ according to eBay.
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Got them off the bay. I think it’s what they call melt and pour, where they buy the base glycerin soap and add a fragrance. They have a ton of scents and matching AS too.
I am still a soap noob with 8 in rotation. So I’m sure a lot of people have been there / done that, with this type of soap. They also do combined shipping, at least the vendor I used. I think I can post a link since it is a BIN.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F181560053060
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F172510896796
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Less than 10 in rotation was perfect for me, especially if you like them all! Now, even with my modest collection, I have too many!
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Yeah, it’s a good number to work with and I purposely keep it smaller. I just mention it because of my limited exposure to various soaps. So take my soap/scent descriptions with a grain of salt ?
Speaking of which, I just shaved with that Dragons Blood sample ... coming up.
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Shave Count (DE: 231 SR: 81)
Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Boker SR
Vie Long Horsehair
LMS Dragon Blood soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Nivia ASB
Continuing random shave weekend and changed up most of my gear. Went with the ever popular late morning shave. This is a sample of Love My Skin Dragon Blood. This is a glycerin based soap and may be one of those melt and pour soaps. Not sure about that though. My first soap was VDH and it did a good job before I found other soaps so ...
It had an interesting description, so I thought I would give it a shot. Off the puck, I wasn’t sure what I thought. It reminded me of walking into a candle shop. The scent was fairly strong but I couldn’t tell you what I smelled. it was just a mix of “stuff”. Loaded it for 40 seconds with the Vie Long and got a decent lather out of it. The lather didn’t build as much as others, but it was workable. It may loosen up more with use. Scent wasn’t as strong when lathering, but was nice. I may have went nose blind because I lost the scent during the shave.
I hit the strop 20 laps on fabric and 20 laps on leather. I also went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. This was a redemption shave for yesterday. I walked away with a 95% BBS for the win! On my third pass my lather was drying on me. Maybe I can squeeze out a better shave on my next go round.
Wrapped up my shave with a splash of water and a towel dry. A splash of the AS and everything was right as rain! The AS was Nivia, so I didn’t get the lingering scent of a matching splash. But there was some scent left and the dry down was nice. Had the missus give me the sniff test about an hour later. She said it was real faint and I should get sample AS to match the soaps. So for those looking to keep expenses down, this may be a good deal. More to follow. Life is good!
Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Boker SR
Vie Long Horsehair
LMS Dragon Blood soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Nivia ASB
Continuing random shave weekend and changed up most of my gear. Went with the ever popular late morning shave. This is a sample of Love My Skin Dragon Blood. This is a glycerin based soap and may be one of those melt and pour soaps. Not sure about that though. My first soap was VDH and it did a good job before I found other soaps so ...
It had an interesting description, so I thought I would give it a shot. Off the puck, I wasn’t sure what I thought. It reminded me of walking into a candle shop. The scent was fairly strong but I couldn’t tell you what I smelled. it was just a mix of “stuff”. Loaded it for 40 seconds with the Vie Long and got a decent lather out of it. The lather didn’t build as much as others, but it was workable. It may loosen up more with use. Scent wasn’t as strong when lathering, but was nice. I may have went nose blind because I lost the scent during the shave.
I hit the strop 20 laps on fabric and 20 laps on leather. I also went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. This was a redemption shave for yesterday. I walked away with a 95% BBS for the win! On my third pass my lather was drying on me. Maybe I can squeeze out a better shave on my next go round.
Wrapped up my shave with a splash of water and a towel dry. A splash of the AS and everything was right as rain! The AS was Nivia, so I didn’t get the lingering scent of a matching splash. But there was some scent left and the dry down was nice. Had the missus give me the sniff test about an hour later. She said it was real faint and I should get sample AS to match the soaps. So for those looking to keep expenses down, this may be a good deal. More to follow. Life is good!
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
Looks those soaps are made about an hour from where I’m at. Pretty cool that they’re kind of local to me. I might have to check them out. Can’t argue with those prices either!
Love that description! I'm no good at describing scents.
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
I’m horrible at scent descriptions ?
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Shave Count (DE: 231 SR: 82)
Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Henckel SR
Zenith Boar
Tabac soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Tabac AS
I have another week of vaca to burn before year end, so ... another late morning shave! This will be another working vaca, but it’s all good. Yesterday I gave the Henckel a bit of a cleanup. Nothing extreme, just working by hand for a few hours. Then rubbed it on the Naniwa stones up tp 12k. Checking my progress with the pocket microscope as I went. Then finished it off with 50 laps on each of the Balsa strops. Today couldn’t come soon enough for a test drive.
The Zenith is breaking in pretty good, so it was on deck today. It holds a bunch of water, so load a little heavy and don’t rinse between passes. Now to pick a soap. Let’s rock it old school ... Tabac! Loaded for 30 seconds and then came the moment of truth.
I hit the strop 20 laps on fabric and 20 laps on leather. I then went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. That first stroke was Awesome! That razor sang loud and proud as it mowed down anything in its path. After the first pass, I knew. I am chasing that white whale today. I continued on with the rest of the shave in sheer amazement. Wrapped up with a little face wetting for a bit of cleanup and I had harpooned that mighty beast! Friends and neighbors it was glorious! I AM BBS!
Wrapped up my shave with a splash of water and a towel dry. A big ol’ “who’s your daddy” splash of the AS and everything was right as rain! Have a few errands to run and some work to do today, but you know I’m going to tell you ... Life is good!
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Awesome stuff Tim !!
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
Way to go Tim!
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
I picked up a couple of soap samples. Not sure if they are worth using, but we’ll give them a shot.
I see you found Love My Skin. they can be had for a decent price, and is not a bad M&P soap base. They have a nice selection of scents to choose from.
A buddy of mine Jim from another fourm uses LMS quite a lot. Have a few sample pucks floating around the den somewhere, should pull them out and give it another shot, i know the Patchouli Oud smells pretty good.
\n\nIt was mostly out of necessity but I used 2 razors for 2 years Shaving 2-3 times per week without touching them to a hone. Granted they are wedge/near wedge grinds so they have more edge support. When you start you really should avoid honing yourself unless you have 1 blade for that and 1 to use while you learn. \n\nTldr they are not as bad maintenance wise as they seem. I have used them almost exclusively for about 5 and a half years. \n\nThat being said I am curious what milkcrate does as there is more than one way to do things.