Shave of the Day 2015

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Proraso Red Preshave
New Forest 1901 2 band
Catie's Bubbles Purple Grapefruit
Schick Dial @ 6
Personna blade (?)
Alpa Fougere
 
Brush: Love Your Shave Badger
Soap: Shaver Heaven Spiced Mahogany
Razor: Merkur 34C
Blade: Gillete Super Stainless Steel Blade (5), made in Australia.
Aftershave: Alum

Another two pass shave. A different Shaver Heaven soap. I like the smell on this one it is woodsy yet a tiny bit sweet. Looking forward to more shaves with this to see how the scent develops. Again performance wise I can't fault this soap. As this is my first vintage blade, how many shaves do you usually get with each blade?
 
Pjotr said:
Yes it is a nice razor. Nifty push button too. Doesn't get enough love in SE shaver world. Why?...because it's got a plastic handle. Yet another example of the metalhead dominance paradigm.

Well, I had another go with my GEM 1912. And I didn't like it at all. Although I started SE shaving with one I just don't get on with it any more. I think it's the blade gap and the very open design of the comb. Or maybe it's the handle but I don't feel I've got control over the head at all. Very close second shave with a GEM SS but a few too many scrapes. Oh well, you can't like them all. Just plonked the blade in the Streamline where it will reside until it's done.
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@Pjotr I have found the 1912 to be one of the best shave results but the actual shave can feel less than smooth. The head angle seems really critical for a smooth shave. I saw some posts on one of the US boards about improving the 1912 by shiming the back of the blade. Apparently when the 1912 was originally designed the blade spline was thicker which made the blade angle different to modern blades.

I love the fact you can roll out the ultimate :)

Steve
 
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Brush: Ploccitane
Soap: Jabonman Brisa de Oriente
Razor: Kukri 11/16
Razor: Eclipse Red Ring
Blade: Gillette Platinum [1]
After-shave: Jabonman Brisa de Oriente milk

The Kukri is a nice little razor. It certainly sings as the whiskers disappear. Good to hold; its light and nimble. Aside from the gold wash embossing there is some lovely spine work. That's what I love about vintage blades; they have a lot of character.
 
Brush: Vie-Long 13061
Cream: Yardley Gold
Razor: Gillette Rocket 'Parat'
Blade: Gillette Super Stainless Australia@3
After-shave: Aqua Velva Ice Sport

Anecdote of the day: After shaving I scrolled Ebay to find some tea related products. I informed a seller that the item he thought was a tea strainer was in fact a shaving scuttle : / Where are we heading to, I ask you.
 
Maxime D. said:
Brush: Vie-Long 13061
Cream: Yardley Gold
Razor: Gillette Rocket 'Parat'
Blade: Gillette Super Stainless Australia@3
After-shave: Aqua Velva Ice Sport

Anecdote of the day: After shaving I scrolled Ebay to find some tea related products. I informed a seller that the item he thought was a tea strainer was in fact a shaving scuttle : / Where are we heading to, I ask you.
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My wife has purchased an older original style scuttle and "repurposed" it to hold teaspoons and drain teabags when friends have a cup of tea. They think it is a wonderful adaptation [so do I] :)

Steve
 
@SydBJW it is a question of how long they're comfortable and effective, not how many uses.

@unobtainium81 opinion upon the Alpa Fougere ?
 
 
That's a bit of a dodgy link you have there @Pjotr - I wouldn't recommend clicking it to the wary amongst us.
 
Pre-shave: Proraso Green
Brush: Simpson Duke 3
Cream: Catie's Bubbles Black Bergamot
Razor: GEM 1923 SE
Blade: GEM (6)
After-shave: Thayers Witch Hazel & Ogallala Bay Rum

The shave on a day 6 blade was really impressive, highlighting the merit of a good pre-shave. I'm quickly becoming a believer in a product that often manifests into hot debate. A more suitable pre-shave for the coming winter season is now on the way.

Catie's Bubbles reminds me a lot of Shaver Heaven. The texture and ability to lather both soaps are almost identical.

A splash of Ogallala Bay Rum brought on some welcome warmth to my very chilly face. I should have doused myself in it before I started shaving.
 
Lifes a Peach said:
The shave on a day 6 blade was really impressive, highlighting the merit of a good pre-shave. I'm quickly becoming a believer in a product that often manifests into hot debate. A more suitable pre-shave for the coming winter season is now on the way.
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If I don't shower before a shave I will prepare my face using a pre-shave soap and hot face towel. So at the moment that's quite frequent.

Usually I use @Occams pre-shave soap and in Summer it's the Proraso. But I've recently re-purposed an unwanted puck of Col Conk to use as a pre-shave. In my mind the Ole' Conk makes hopeless lather but it does clean the face and with high glycerine it provides plenty of extra glide. That's the idea behind using it as a pre-shave anyway.
 
eggbert said:
That's a bit of a dodgy link you have there @Pjotr - I wouldn't recommend clicking it to the wary amongst us.
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Yeah I'm not sure how that happens. It seems to be every time I insert a quote and provide a comment it comes up as a link to my membership details. Not dodgy. Very interesting.
 
unobtainium81 said:
Kinda Fougere like lol. It's nice, not massively strong and drys down a bit powdery. It's a cologne but I splash it on like an aftershave.
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glad to hear a third parties opinion.
I like it, @Monsta_AU also does, yet at this stage, I think I'm to only one here in possession of some, so good for others considering it to hear another opinion.

Pjotr said:
Yeah I'm not sure how that happens. It seems to be every time I insert a quote and provide a comment it comes up as a link to my membership details. Not dodgy. Very interesting.
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Clickbait :p
 
unobtainium81 said:
Kinda Fougere like lol. It's nice, not massively strong and drys down a bit powdery. It's a cologne but I splash it on like an aftershave.
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borked said:
glad to hear a third parties opinion.
I like it, @Monsta_AU also does, yet at this stage, I think I'm to only one here in possession of some, so good for others considering it to hear another opinion.
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Yeah, hard to tell as I only smelt it in the bottle, but Fougere-like with a slightly powdery barbershop finish.

Cracking value at the price, you don't mind if you knock it over and you lose a couple of glugs.

BOT....

My shave today:

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Thanks to Son & Dad Barbershop in Penang, who gave the best possible shave with the tools he had (Trig Blade, unfortunately).

Did drop back and showed them the Plissitane & the B&M Ferox. I may have just created a Malaysian Monsta!
 
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Pre-Shave: Occams pre-shave soap, cold water
Razor: RazoRock Stealth Slant V1
Blade: Voskhod (1)
Brush: Whipped Dog Synthetic 24/48
Soap: Stirling Lavender & Sage
Post-shave: Alum, South Australian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Stirling Coniferous alcohol free Witch Hazel

Nothing better to unwind after a 27 hour trip, than a great shave. Perfect travel setup, very happy with everything and a silky smooth result. Don't know when I will have time for the next one though...
 
Recently a friend sent me some SE razors and one of them was a Micromatic Open Comb. I didn't know what to expect as many people post horror stories of the aggressiveness of this razor and the bloodbaths that ensue so I approached this mornings shave with "care". It is marginally more aggressive feeling than the 1924 however there is a real sense you are very close to the exposed blade. The blade I used was up to its 7th shave this morning yet it felt as good as shave #1. The expression no pressure is so important with this razor because you are sitting almost directly on the cutting edge. Having said that, the shave was magnificent. The sensation of the stiff ultra sharp blade and the audio feedback is very addictive. Finding the angle was simple and short strokes countered any feelings of loosing control.

Standard SE 2 passes for DFS/BBS
#1 Turkish brush and face lathered my homebrew soap.
Cold water between passes and a cold face shower to finish with a splash of Witch Hazel.
I had one minuscule knick this morning because I believed I was better than I was :) So small it washed off.

What a truly amazing razor. The shave is so close I know I will not need to shave tomorrow. I just wonder how many shaves a GEM blade will give in this type of razor.

Steve
 
Monsta_AU said:
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To date I've only seen pictures of @Monsta_AU container load of vintage blades. Now I also know what the inside of his nostrils look like. Anyhow, whilst he's lathering it up in Malaysia, his board is being completely taken over by SE shavers. Here's another one:

BS cracked handle reknot: Thanks again for this beautiful little handle @Mark1966 . Why the brush sads haven't embraced cracked handles as the nicest looking BS out there baffles me.
TOB Jermyn Street cream: Taking a short break from my never ending quest to empty a tub of Body Shop Macca Root
Ever Ready Streamline: I've salivated enough about this weapon.
GEM SS on No3.
 
Missed a day's shave on Tuesday. Always nice to have some extra growth to attack ;)

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It means for me that I have a perfecr excuse to drag out one of my very favourite razors - the Ikon Slant DLC ;)

Face Wash - Musgo Real Glyce Lime Oil Soap
Pre Shave - Razorock Peppermint Shaving Lube
Soap - Tabac
Brush - Shavemac Custom Silvertip
Razor - Ikon Slant DLC
Blade - Voskhod <0>
After Shave - Agua Balsamica

A relaxed and pleasant prep routine. The Razorock Peppermint was a whim purchase online which has turned out to be great. Wonderful Peppermint scent and a somewhat menthol-like cooling sensation on the skin. It's not at all oily and enhances rather than interferes with the lather. The Shavemac and Tabac combo performed exactly as expected - superb lather, quickly and easily :)

The Ikon Slant easily wears the crown for the loudest razor in my collection. I find it incredibly satisfying hearing the razor doing its work. Even small cleanup patches still make it sing. None of which would even rate if it didn't match the noise with outstanding performance. It has easily enough stainless steel heft that no additional pressure is needed at all, and it lasers its way through whatever you point it at. In this morning's case, it made child's play of 2 days growth in a single pass, and a gentle second pass ATG left me BBS above the jawline, with a couple of difficult patches below the jawline managing only a DFS rating. More than acceptable for a Wednesday. Interestingly, it's quite a fierce looking razor with a pronounced torque-based slant, but is a much more comfortable shaver than its appearance suggests.

Cold rinse, Alum and dry off followed by a generous and luxurious splash of Aqua Balsamica, and I'm good to face whatever today throws at me.
 
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