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Strop Dragging My Journal Around...

Dagwoodz said:
Ouch! Sorry to hear about the facial filet, but sounds like it was a good shave all things considered. That's a great looking TI!
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Thank you, Josh!

I was super excited when I found that Special Coiffeur...it was the first "newish" used razor that I bought after many vintage blades. I was amazed at the shape it was in, given that I got a very good deal for it. At the time I was doing some restoring of older blades with wet sandpaper, and when I noticed the TI had a tiny, dark water mark on it, I instinctively (and very stupidly) took my lowest grit paper and gave it a little rub. I immediately realized how dumb it was...but not before I had put a big mark right next to the "r". I was SO MAD at myself for that one! Some good member of the cardre suggested using polish to get it out (and also to use nail polish on the logo if I wanted to keep it), and it worked like a charm. Just one more reason for me to be grateful for this community!
 
Ouch! That does not sound pleasant. Time management and traditional wet shaving be it a straight, DE, or SE is of the utmost importance. Once you rush and lose focus...Mr. Murphy decides to visit. Hope it heals up quick!
 
Shave#203

A shave you can't refuse...



Razor - TI Special Coiffeur 1937
Brush - Stirling boar
Soap - Henri et Victoria Chestnut L'Orange
After - TOBS Jermyn St

Well, this was some shave!

Learning the lessons presented from the previous shave, I had a leisurely time in the bathroom today, which resulted in a wonderfully smooth DFS shave! Staying with the TI, I gave it 10 laps on the balsa, 40 on the linen and about 80 on the leather, feeling like a little extra attention at the stropping phase sure wasn't gonna hurt. With a bit of rain and a slightly cool temperature in the air, I felt like the autumnal Chestnut L'Orange was a nice choice for the shave. The Stirling boar whipped up a very nice lather, and with good pre-shave face prep, I was ready for a relaxed straight shave.

This was definitely another "everything comes together" shave, and it is one of the smoothest results I've had in quite some time! My ATG pass is getting lighter all the time, and I am reaping the rewards of that. The peskiest section of my face, the right side of my jawline just next to my chin, is particularly good today. The whiskers there grow parallel to my jawline, and I do wonder if I'll ever get that section truly BBS. But it's pretty darn good today, and that makes me happy!

My aftershave choice was made because I was walking down the street yesterday and was right behind someone who was unquestionably wearing Taylor of Old Bond St Jermyn St! I actually considered saying something to him, but thought it might come across as...odd. It is so normal among the cadre to have discussions about such things, but maybe out on the street it could come across as uncomfortably intimate to a stranger. In any case, it did make me grab for it today!

The soundtrack for this shave was a youtube clip of a film panel discussion with Francis Ford Coppola, answering questions from a couple other filmmakers, Paul Thomas Anderson included. I could listen to Coppola talk forever...he is so engaging and brilliant. A true artist whose work I greatly admire...(as the photo indicates). It was nice to listen to him tell stories as I had a lovely Saturday afternoon shave!

Onward and shaveward...
 
Great Shave and wonderful read! I have had the opportunity to mention a few things to people about shaving out in public. While nothing was ever disastrous, I seem to get the impression that it would have been better if I hadn't said anything at all.
 
Wonderful shave! I've not been back stateside for a while, just over here in an austere environment. But everyone here knows me as "the shaving guy", so I get peppered with questions periodically about facial skin care, fragrances, and of course shaving. I've converted a few to the ways of traditional shaving...not as many as I would like, but a few.
 
Dagwoodz said:
Wonderful shave! I've not been back stateside for a while, just over here in an austere environment. But everyone here knows me as "the shaving guy", so I get peppered with questions periodically about facial skin care, fragrances, and of course shaving. I've converted a few to the ways of traditional shaving...not as many as I would like, but a few.
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Keep on the Keeping On! You are likely the best smelling and best groomed over there...so other will be intrigued. I can see it now...a Book called "The Shaving Soldier."
 
Good couple of reads, pictures, and shaves Brad!

Yeah anytime that I'm rushed to shave I skip the straight. Lesson learned right!

So you lived to shave another day and was rewarded with a great shave, excellent!
 
I know Jermyn Street smells awesome, that soap sounds like it would smell pretty great too.
 
Great job with the TI, Brad!

Strop Dragging said:
....film panel discussion with Francis Ford Coppola, answering questions from a couple other filmmakers, Paul Thomas Anderson included. I could listen to Coppola talk forever...he is so engaging and brilliant. A true artist whose work I greatly admire...(as the photo indicates)....
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Excellent! A few years ago, I went to see Coppola speak at Georgia State University. He definitely holds your attention - it was great! And Paul Thomas Anderson is certainly one of the best new directors going. I was hooked when I first saw, "Hard Eight" - I need to see that one again sometime soon. I like how he uses several of the same actors in his movies. He's certainly not the first, nor the only director to have done that, but I think it's cool.
 
cmh737 said:
Great job with the TI, Brad!
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cmh737 said:
Excellent! A few years ago, I went to see Coppola speak at Georgia State University. He definitely holds your attention - it was great! And Paul Thomas Anderson is certainly one of the best new directors going. I was hooked when I first saw, "Hard Eight" - I need to see that one again sometime soon. I like how he uses several of the same actors in his movies. He's certainly not the first, nor the only director to have done that, but I think it's cool.
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Wow, Chris - I'll just be over here, jealous as hell that you saw Coppola speak!

And yes, as I think we may have discussed previously, PT Anderson is one of my faves as well. Even when I don't love one of his film, I always find them compelling in some way. And they are films I find myself returning to. There Will Be Blood is one that I recently rewatched and found it to be fascinatingly good.
 
cmh737 said:
Excellent! A few years ago, I went to see Coppola speak at Georgia State University. He definitely holds your attention - it was great! And Paul Thomas Anderson is certainly one of the best new directors going. I was hooked when I first saw, "Hard Eight" - I need to see that one again sometime soon. I like how he uses several of the same actors in his movies. He's certainly not the first, nor the only director to have done that, but I think it's cool.
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Coppola's wine ain't half bad either once you get past the bottom tier, but his winery is a bit over the top ?
 
Shave #204

Schizophrenic shave....



Razor(s) - NorthField Cutlery, Joseph Rogers, TI
Brush - vulfix badger
Soap - Stirling Iced Pineapple
After - Pineaud Lime Sec

Well, who would I be if I just consistently followed good advice? Not me, that's who...

With a day off and (for some reason) an itching to to play around with the JNAT, I grabbed my Dovo SS and gave the edge a good look see under the loupe. Taking note of exactly what it looked like, I then proceeded to give it some slurry laps, and then some water only laps on the stone, checking the edge as I went, convinced I was making it better as I went along. After a good, long stropping the edge was passing the HHT very well. Emboldened by what seemed certain to be a success, I "got into the groove" and touched up 3 other blades in the same way...the Joseph Rogers, the Northfield Cutlery and the Genco. I really thought I had a good thing going....

So for this shave, with all of those blades stropped up, I figured I'd give it a shot with one of them. I started 204 with the Northfield in hand, and although it felt ok on the first pass, is was not where I wanted it to be. Argh. After a brief attempt with the JR, I chastised myself for getting bogged down in my obsession to get the JNAT licked, and stropped up the TI, finishing the shave with good results.

As I sit here writing, a few days after that shave, the Dovo, which I did not put to my face, rests on the desk in front of me. I just pulled a hair from my head and sure enough it is in "good shape" as per that test. Perhaps I will give it a go for the next shave, but I guess the truth is I need to bite the $ bullet and buy a good synth finisher. I mean, I suppose that's my best option, as the JNAT just keeps on keepin' on in the mystifying category for me.

I thought wet shaving was supposed to save me money....

?

Onward and shaveward.....
 
Good shave with some nice stuff...sorry to hear that the edges weren't where you were hoping they would be.

 
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