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There and Back Again, A Wet-Shaver's Tale

First non-shave of the new year

Razor: Rockwell 6c #4 plate
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Brush: Black Walnut Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Opuntia
Aftershave: Saponificio Varesino Opuntia
EDC: Acqua di Parma Colonia Intensa

What a great way to kick off the year! Opuntia is one of my favorite soaps, both in scent and performance, and the Rockwell 6c has, in a short time, become my favorite DE. The black walnut tuxedo is the first handle I ever turned, and it remains the one I reach for when I can't decide what brush to use on any given day.

Opuntia is one of those soaps that I am happy to take my time lathering. Everything about the experience just drips luxury, and it never fails to create the perfect surface for the razor skate around on. Two passes with a little clean up left me with a very nice BBS on the neck. The SV aftershaves are one of those that I am very sparing with. Only a few drops is enough to make my skin feel great, and more than that can make it feel very tacky.

AdP Colonia Intensa is another favorite, and has the most missing out of any other fragrance I own. It goes on with a blast of citrus woodsiness with some cardamom nipping at the edges, and dries down beautifully. It doesn't last quite as long as I'd like on my skin, but while it does the projection is no slouch, even in winter. And here is something crazy; it's been a while since I looked up the notes in it, and one of the base notes is Lignum Vitae, which is a wood that I bought quite a while ago to make brush handles with. I had never heard of it being used in fragrances before, but do enjoy the smell while working with it. As a side note, that wood is so incredibly hard and dense that, while it's being turned on the lathe it creates as much powder as it does wood shavings. It's about as close as you could probably come to turning stone without actually turning stone, and a 2"x2"x12" piece feels about as heavy as a baseball bat when you're holding it. This is not a very good pic of it, but it's the only one I could find, and I had to zoom way in. It looks amazing even before it's been turned, and even more so when it has some finish on it.


Enough rambling. Happy New Year everyone!
 
Happy New Year Eric! I’m just jumping on board your journal here, I’m so far behind in many that I’m just jumping in at the current spot. Good stuff though! That is a beautiful brush handle.

Also I have to say, I absolutely love the title of your journal!
 
SteveChuckFrank said:
Happy New Year Eric! I’m just jumping on board your journal here, I’m so far behind in many that I’m just jumping in at the current spot. Good stuff though! That is a beautiful brush handle.

Also I have to say, I absolutely love the title of your journal!
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Thanks Steve, and Happy New Year! I'm in the same boat with the journals. I'm so far behind that I usually just hop to the latest couple of shaves lol.

Lol for some reason I just saw the last line of your post. Not a lot of people have gotten the reference, but it's one of my(and many other's) favorite books.
 
NurseDave said:
Interesting, I have that wood inset into my wedding ring.
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That's awesome. I need to order some more soon. I screwed up the last piece I started turning due to a bad grind on my spindle gouge, and only have enough left for one brush.
 
Interesting reading, as always, Eric. Not much of a frag man myself. I love the brushes you turn out!
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Graybeard57 said:
Interesting reading, as always, Eric. Not much of a frag man myself. I love the brushes you turn out!
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Thanks Bruce!

Mail Call today:


cmh737 had several razors for excellent prices in the b/s/t, and I couldn’t resist adding to my DE collection. A U.S. Aristocrat, Fatip Grande, and two Gillette NEW’s, an sc and an lc. Chris definitely takes care of his gear and they are all beautiful, and he threw in a few extras; some Chambers shave soap and as, and a lot of frag samples. These are going to take some time to go through, but I’m up to the challenge. Thanks Chris!
 
Wait, is Chsmber’s website up? Dave never heard back from them about ordering.
 
Nice haul and I’m glad those OCs went to a good home ? I’m glad you got them before I broke down.
 
Spider said:
Wait, is Chsmber’s website up? Dave never heard back from them about ordering.
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I heard back and Tim (Contacted by email, not the website) said he was having trouble with labels coming in wrong. Jan 2nd was last contact but I am in the "S" thing and can't buy so he may be done with me...............
 
I've had a cold since the last time I posted here, and what with the constant congestion my nose isn't at it's best, so I've held off on testing any of the frag samples until I can smell properly again lol. I have used the Aristocrat and Fatip in a couple shaves each. The Aristocrat is an excellent razor, and gave me an easy BBS. During the shave it felt like there would be some aftershave sting, but there was none. The Fatip was a little more aggressive, and it was harder to find the angle, but it still delivered a very nice BBS with just a bit of sting from the aftershave. CBL soaps were used for both, and I continue to be impressed with Chris's product. It is as good as any shave soap I've ever used and better than all but a small few.
 
Thanks guys! The cold is more of a nuisance than anything, but I’ll still be glad when it’s gone. Fisherman’s Friend lozenges have made things a lot more comfortable.

I took advantage of Stirling’s sale and picked up a tub of body butter in the Christmas Eve scent. It’s been doing a great job of combatting the dry skin brought on by our recent bout of actual cold weather. It took a while to get here, but the last two days in single digits, both above and below zero, means Michigan is making up for lost time. It was -9 when I got to work this morning.

Have a great night all!
 
We’re getting the same thing here, luckily no snow though. The worst is going to be when the temps are back in the 50’s at the end of the week. Everyone is going to get sick!
 
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