The Shaving Cadre
Welcome to The Shaving Cadre, a forum dedicated to gentlemanly discourse about wet shaving and other topics of common interests. Membership is always free so register today and join in the fun
SOTD May 2026
- Thread starter BarberDave
- Start date
Yetzirah
Shave Member
Fantastic lineup Akhi!Friday, May 8, 2026
A terrific shave today with almost 2 days of growth. I used the R4 plate on the 6s and it was amazingly smooth. What a great frosty shave. BBS finish. I feel very refreshed after taking our dog on a 2+ mile walk.
View attachment 158919
Overall Rating: ★★★★★ (Epic Shave!)
Smoothness: ★★★★★ (BBS Perfection)
Irritation: ★☆☆☆☆ (Zero Burn)
Time of Day: Afternoon
Blade Uses: 3
Passes: 3
Razor Setting: 4
Razor: Rockwell 6s
Blade: Rex Platinum
Soap: Stirling Soap Co Eucalyptus Mint
Shaving Bowl: HC&C Stainless Steel Straight Walled Bowl
Brush: PAA Green Ray
Pre-Shave: Hot Shower
Pre-Shave 2: Stirling Soap Co. Mentholated Pre-shave Soap
Aftershave: PAA Alum Solid Block No slip Grip.
Aftershave 2: Thayer's Cucumber Facial Toner - Witch Hazel
Aftershave 3: Stirling Soap Co Eucalyptus Mint Aftershave Splash
Aftershave 4: Stirling Soap Co Eucalyptus Mint Post-Shave Balm
Generated by Shaving Sherpa — Shaving Sherpa - Master Your Wet Shaving Journey
Shabbat Shalom!
Paul
SpeedyPC
Shave Member
Pre-shave:- Cold Shower
Bowl/Scuttle:- Captain's Choice Handmade Ceramic
Brush:- Omega MB1899 Black Resin 24/53mm knot Elite Fibre Synth.
Soap/Cream:- MacDuff's Soap Co ~ Aspen Parkland (Unscented) sample
Razor/Blade:- RazoRock Goat SS / Voskhod #1
Post/After-shave:- T.N. Dickinson Witch Hazel Astringent mixed into the 240ml bottle with Plunkett's Vita E Pure with Rosehip Oil (10 drops), Natural Plant Glycerine (20) & Tea Tree Oil Antiseptic (5)
Moisturising Cream:- Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Fragrance-Free (for autumn & winter season)
Fragrance:- Milkman King of Wood (Australian made)
Deodorant:- Milkman King of Wood (Australian made)
Bowl/Scuttle:- Captain's Choice Handmade Ceramic
Brush:- Omega MB1899 Black Resin 24/53mm knot Elite Fibre Synth.
Soap/Cream:- MacDuff's Soap Co ~ Aspen Parkland (Unscented) sample
Razor/Blade:- RazoRock Goat SS / Voskhod #1
Post/After-shave:- T.N. Dickinson Witch Hazel Astringent mixed into the 240ml bottle with Plunkett's Vita E Pure with Rosehip Oil (10 drops), Natural Plant Glycerine (20) & Tea Tree Oil Antiseptic (5)
Moisturising Cream:- Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Fragrance-Free (for autumn & winter season)
Fragrance:- Milkman King of Wood (Australian made)
Deodorant:- Milkman King of Wood (Australian made)
remfan170
Jr. Shave Member
May 9, 2026 (Mystic May Every Other Day)
• Bowl: Doug Smith Pottery – Ceramic Shave Bowl
• Brush: Semogue – 1470 (Boar)
• Razor: Muhle – R41 (Black)
• Blade: Tatra – Platinum
• Soap: Mystic Water – Jeff’s Lavender
• Aftershave: Catie’s Bubbles – Sunset Before and Aftershave
• Balm: Stirling – Unscented Post Shave Balm
• Fragrance: Spearhead Seaforth! – Roman Spice EDT
Michelle Burns of Mystic Water possesses some of the best traits that many artisans in our community have. One trait that I want to highlight today is her willingness to listen to customers and to even go as far as making specific scents and preparations that they might like. Michelle openly admits to her first foray into shave soap making was not particularly good. But, lots of testing and research led to her making her truly outstanding base. Part of her research involves speaking to her many customers at the farmers’ markets in and around Washington, D.C. where she sells her products and to folks on the forums and through emails.
The story of Jeff’s Lavender is a very touching one. You can see Jeff (yes, there’s really a Jeff) write about it here. She worked closely with his particular skin sensitivities and his love of lavender. This is a wonderful lavender scent built from Bulgarian lavender essential oil, French lavender essential oil, and a lavender absolute. The result is something that is not too floral and not too Earthy.
I have my fingers crossed as I have been trying to work with (read: politely beg) Michelle to create a soap that I think we could use in the wetshaving world. I asked Michelle to consider making a soap that is solely scented with spearmint essential oil. Mama Bear soaps does make one, but I have not tried it and it is glycerin based. Stirling’s glacial spearmint is gorgeous, but there is so much added menthol that it covers up the scent of the spearmint (same with glacial wintergreen). Shout out to Rod Lovan, he did forewarn me about that. The Sudsy Soapery’s Fresh contains peppermint and spearmint essential oil.
My mother would always send me outside in the morning to pick mint from her garden for our breakfast tea and I grew up to grow several kinds of mint myself. I love mint in all of its forms that I have tried. Especially, spearmint. And, sometimes, I want that scent without the face-freezing feeling. But, in the wetshaving world, mint often means menthol, and lots of it. Whereas peppermint essential oil has about 30-40% menthol content, spearmint has less than 1%. Then, there are the added menthols and synthetic coolants out there. To me, it is rather jarring to have menthol (or that sensation) in the absence of mint. But, that is what Osage Rub is. Let’s hope that Michelle considers…or that I break down and finally make an order from Mama Bear…or both.
There are other soaps that she has created for specific customers that I will be using this month. But, if you are into lavender, as many of us are, give Jeff’s Lavender a try. It is even different (though I think just as good as, and similar in spirit to,) my beloved Mike’s Natural Hungarian Lavender.
Have an awesome day, friends!
• Bowl: Doug Smith Pottery – Ceramic Shave Bowl
• Brush: Semogue – 1470 (Boar)
• Razor: Muhle – R41 (Black)
• Blade: Tatra – Platinum
• Soap: Mystic Water – Jeff’s Lavender
• Aftershave: Catie’s Bubbles – Sunset Before and Aftershave
• Balm: Stirling – Unscented Post Shave Balm
• Fragrance: Spearhead Seaforth! – Roman Spice EDT
Michelle Burns of Mystic Water possesses some of the best traits that many artisans in our community have. One trait that I want to highlight today is her willingness to listen to customers and to even go as far as making specific scents and preparations that they might like. Michelle openly admits to her first foray into shave soap making was not particularly good. But, lots of testing and research led to her making her truly outstanding base. Part of her research involves speaking to her many customers at the farmers’ markets in and around Washington, D.C. where she sells her products and to folks on the forums and through emails.
The story of Jeff’s Lavender is a very touching one. You can see Jeff (yes, there’s really a Jeff) write about it here. She worked closely with his particular skin sensitivities and his love of lavender. This is a wonderful lavender scent built from Bulgarian lavender essential oil, French lavender essential oil, and a lavender absolute. The result is something that is not too floral and not too Earthy.
I have my fingers crossed as I have been trying to work with (read: politely beg) Michelle to create a soap that I think we could use in the wetshaving world. I asked Michelle to consider making a soap that is solely scented with spearmint essential oil. Mama Bear soaps does make one, but I have not tried it and it is glycerin based. Stirling’s glacial spearmint is gorgeous, but there is so much added menthol that it covers up the scent of the spearmint (same with glacial wintergreen). Shout out to Rod Lovan, he did forewarn me about that. The Sudsy Soapery’s Fresh contains peppermint and spearmint essential oil.
My mother would always send me outside in the morning to pick mint from her garden for our breakfast tea and I grew up to grow several kinds of mint myself. I love mint in all of its forms that I have tried. Especially, spearmint. And, sometimes, I want that scent without the face-freezing feeling. But, in the wetshaving world, mint often means menthol, and lots of it. Whereas peppermint essential oil has about 30-40% menthol content, spearmint has less than 1%. Then, there are the added menthols and synthetic coolants out there. To me, it is rather jarring to have menthol (or that sensation) in the absence of mint. But, that is what Osage Rub is. Let’s hope that Michelle considers…or that I break down and finally make an order from Mama Bear…or both.
There are other soaps that she has created for specific customers that I will be using this month. But, if you are into lavender, as many of us are, give Jeff’s Lavender a try. It is even different (though I think just as good as, and similar in spirit to,) my beloved Mike’s Natural Hungarian Lavender.
Have an awesome day, friends!