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The tales of a one eyed man.

Tomorrow I will use the same brush same soap but also use the bowl and see if the brush is better for bowl lathering.
I have found, for myself, that synths do a terrific job of bowl lathering. Badgers next and boars being last. All 3 do great at mug lathering and, for me only, the synths are tops at face lathering after loading from the soap container. Synths also do the best, again for me, at lathering with tube soaps in a bowl. I like bowl lathering for the extra time it requires, extending my shaving sessions and "me time".
Not trying to "bowl" you over too much...BADABOOM! Aah, I see the door.

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I have found, for myself, that synths do a terrific job of bowl lathering. Badgers next and boars being last. All 3 do great at mug lathering and, for me only, the synths are tops at face lathering after loading from the soap container. Synths also do the best, again for me, at lathering with tube soaps in a bowl. I like bowl lathering for the extra time it requires, extending my shaving sessions and "me time".
Not trying to "bowl" you over too much...BADABOOM! Aah, I see the door.

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I have 2 synthetics one I really like and one because I thought I would like but do not at all. The CaYuen, Maggards, and C&H are all badger and the Maggards has given me the most success face lathering. I do enjoy bowl lathering, like you it extends the much needed me time.

I never did shave yesterday so I did not get the chance to see how CaYuen bowl lathers, but plan on today when I get home from work.

Some of these jokes need to go in the Jokes that make you groan thread in the clown house!
 
Tuesday the 23rd of April

Well I used the CaYuen bowl and brush combo today. I know the bowl works well to create lather there is no doubt about it. The jury is still out on the brush. But I also think that maybe the Rex 1977 does not perform that great either. But I’m not going to blame the soap just yet. Next shave I will use Sterling Gin & Tonic and the CaYuen brush and face lather, and the next I will bowl lather. When it’s all said and done, I can re knott the handle because I do love the handle.

Today’s shave was still a great shave despite my lather experiment and I’ve never had a closer shave. I used the 1924 Ever-Ready for the first time today. I was amazed how much feedback there was. I’m not sure about the blades (PAL Blue)as the one I used today was a little tuggy but that could be me not keeping the angle always the same. That tiny handle is a little strange in the hand. But, now I am down the SE rabbit hole and kicking myself in the butt for not grabbing the Blackland Sabre when they were 25% off. So now I am watching a few Gems and others on eBay. Any suggestions, razor or blades?

My mailbox was blown up as 4 packages between yesterday and today. All my wife can do is laugh at me. 8 soaps, 3 splashes, 350 blades, and a razor I picked up through a buddy on another forum.

Non shave news, I’ll be working from home tomorrow as I have to go for fasting blood work and no one at work needs to see me before coffee.

That’s all I got for today, I’ll leave you with pics of new soaps and razors, and a picture of Molly. I had her 6 years and she passed away suddenly from a brain aneurism. She was my girl, she went everywhere with me.




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Well I used the CaYuen bowl and brush combo today. I know the bowl works well to create lather there is no doubt about it. The jury is still out on the brush. But I also think that maybe the Rex 1977 does not perform that great either.
The technique, and flexibility, of bowl lathering requires a different approach than face lathering and I would be cautious about assigning blame to any of the components. On the plus side, using your new brush with the bowl several times can help break it in faster, I have found.

If the more modern approach seems unsatisfactory, you can always go back to the Italian barber method of using a drenched brush to load your soap. You should at least end up with enough soap loaded and may not need much additional water. I haven't used the REX soaps yet so I can't comment on their behaviour unfortunately, but I have used a large enough variety that I am sure I have used something similar.
 
Tuesday the 23rd of April

Well I used the CaYuen bowl and brush combo today. I know the bowl works well to create lather there is no doubt about it. The jury is still out on the brush. But I also think that maybe the Rex 1977 does not perform that great either. But I’m not going to blame the soap just yet. Next shave I will use Sterling Gin & Tonic and the CaYuen brush and face lather, and the next I will bowl lather. When it’s all said and done, I can re knott the handle because I do love the handle.

Today’s shave was still a great shave despite my lather experiment and I’ve never had a closer shave. I used the 1924 Ever-Ready for the first time today. I was amazed how much feedback there was. I’m not sure about the blades (PAL Blue)as the one I used today was a little tuggy but that could be me not keeping the angle always the same. That tiny handle is a little strange in the hand. But, now I am down the SE rabbit hole and kicking myself in the butt for not grabbing the Blackland Sabre when they were 25% off. So now I am watching a few Gems and others on eBay. Any suggestions, razor or blades?

My mailbox was blown up as 4 packages between yesterday and today. All my wife can do is laugh at me. 8 soaps, 3 splashes, 350 blades, and a razor I picked up through a buddy on another forum.

Non shave news, I’ll be working from home tomorrow as I have to go for fasting blood work and no one at work needs to see me before coffee.

That’s all I got for today, I’ll leave you with pics of new soaps and razors, and a picture of Molly. I had her 6 years and she passed away suddenly from a brain aneurism. She was my girl, she went everywhere with me.




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I'm so sorry for the loss of Molly.
 
The technique, and flexibility, of bowl lathering requires a different approach than face lathering and I would be cautious about assigning blame to any of the components. On the plus side, using your new brush with the bowl several times can help break it in faster, I have found.

If the more modern approach seems unsatisfactory, you can always go back to the Italian barber method of using a drenched brush to load your soap. You should at least end up with enough soap loaded and may not need much additional water. I haven't used the REX soaps yet so I can't comment on their behaviour unfortunately, but I have used a large enough variety that I am sure I have used something similar.
I agree 100%. I am not blaming any one product. After I run through the brush only and brush combo with a bunch of soaps, I will go back to each soap with a different brush and do it all over again. Could it just be a certain brush soap combos don’t work well together just like blades and razors? I shall experiment and see.



@blethenstrom and @thombrogan
Thank you. She was such a good girl. I still get sad thinking about her. She was my kids first dog as well. I have her ashes and paw print in my family room. I see her every night when I sit down to watch some TV.
 
Could it just be a certain brush soap combos don’t work well together...
I have found that, for example...my boar brushes don't work with lather bowls as well as my synths. They do work with hard soaps and mug lathering. Tube soaps work best, for me, with my synths and bowls. My badger is best with hard soap/mug lathering and loading a softer soap from its container and face lathering. It is what it is. That's why we have different brushes, soaps and methods etc. Experimenting etc is fun for me and variety is what keeps me looking forward to shaving.
It's all about staying and being smooth

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Thursday the 25th of April.

No shave or journal entry yesterday. Was a very busy day, got my blood work done for my cardiologist appointment next week, and I caught up on a few days worth of paperwork that I was behind on. Working from home like I did yesterday allows me that time because I am not getting pulled in a million directions like I normally am. I did however last night still tried a face lather with the CaYuen brush and Gin & Tonic. It was perfect, there was lather on top of lather. I think I need to experiment more with the 1977. Could just need more water. Maybe it is a thirsty soap.

@huck1680
I am going to keep experimenting with bowls and brushes and face lathering and soaps. I have 1 synthetic brush right now, but I do have a Rudy Vay coming from the group buy. I am going to keep plugging along because at the end of the day it’s all just fun and relaxing!

@cajunrph
I am sorry for your loss. Your Molly looks like she was a ball of energy and fun to have around and a good cuddler as well!


As for today’s shave I went with my Fatboy and a Perma-Sharp blade, Trouble Maker soap and a face lather. Lather was great. I loaded the brush and painted my face. Dip the tips in some water and painted my face. Back to the soap, paint, water, paint, repeat a few more times and the lather was flowing. I was having so much fun lathering I almost thought about keeping it going until it broke, but I was running out of time as I had a zoom meeting that I to get on.

Other shaving news, I sent in a donation to the blade exchange today. I’ve learned so much from here already I wanted to give something back. The other day I said I wish I would have grabbed the Blackland Sabre before they were all gone. Well by chance I went and looked and there was one on the site. Polished with level 2 plate. I bought it and I also bought the polished stand. Right after I checked out, also grabbed a box of Personna from them, I noticed that the Sabre in all forms was out of stock. I sent a PM to Shane asking if I had bought the last one, and he said I did. But there might be one or 2 around that they keep on hand just in case. I told him I was telling everyone I got the last one! LOL

Non shave news. My youngest’s school band is going over to the elementary school tomorrow to be the music for the school parade. He’s excited but also mad because of how early he has to get up to be there! I’ll be at work, but I have an alarm set for 5:30am to start calling him and my wife to make sure they get up. They can both sleep through just about anything.

That’s my ramblings for the day I leave you with a picture of todays shave and my favorite coffee mug.


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Saturday the 27th of April

@huck1680
I am a huge NY Giants fan, and being from Jersey and growing up in an Italian family I am a huge fan of the “f” word. My daughter bought me that 2 years ago, I use it all of the time.

@thombrogan
He had a lot of fun and told me he is now convinced he will join the marching band next year as a freshman to follow in his big brother’s foot steps.

So there was no entry yesterday I did not shave and I was busy shopping. I think I have finally scratched the itch between yesterday and today. I bought an Aluminum Hawk from Rudy Vay in BTS, last night grabbed a Game Changer .78 with the Barber Pole handle. Also grabbed a Super Knurled handle to change it up, snagged a Mudder Focker After Shave, Ach Brito Musgo

Today’s shave was great. Super enjoyable, Glastonbury soap, C&H brush, half bowl half face lather and Nacet blade in my 72 super speed. The better my lathering gets the more relaxing it is. Not worried anymore about getting the perfect lather or trying to save it if it goes south. Today I screwed the pooch and you would have thought I used a garden hose to add water. Instead of chasing it, I dumped it and started over. Second go around there was lather for days.

Let’s talk Blades. You all have your favorites as do I. But today I tried the Nacet, what a great shave. After 1 shave I want to buy a 100 of them. But I do have a tuck of them so I am going to use them in my other favorite razors just to be on the safe side. Has that happened to any of you? Use a blade once and say”Yup, need to buy a metric ton of these!”? Cause that’s where I am right now Lol!

Non shave news. There really isn’t much today. We had some Chinese food for dinner while we watched an episode of Suits. We love that show, this is our 2nd run of going through all of the seasons on Netflix.

That’s my ramblings for the day. I leave you now with a pic of my shave of the day and a pic of me 30 minutes after my Pacemaker/ICD was implanted. My wife was in a group text with some the people that work for me, and a few that are above me and they asked how I felt and my wife snapped this pic.

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But today I tried the Nacet, what a great shave. After 1 shave I want to buy a 100 of them. But I do have a tuck of them so I am going to use them in my other favorite razors just to be on the safe side. Has that happened to any of you?
Yeah, true story... when I first started messing around with DEs a few months ago, I found a decent deal on GSBs and Nacets so I bought a 100 of each... figured they're popular enough I could trade them away if I didn't like them. It was a few days before I tried the Nacets but after one shave I went and ordered 500 more.

Since then I've found a few blades I like just as well or maybe better but I don't regret the investment at all.
 
@thombrogan its funny you say that. It was that picture that made me decide I was going to start shaving and growing out by hair and not just shaving it to a #1. I got back into daily shaving with a Harry’s handle and carts I bought at Publix. I did buy the Harry’s cream and balm, I never did like the caned goo.

@Darth Scandalous

I did that with Perma-Sharp after going through a tuck of 5. I know have 500. I had gotten some AccuForge in a sampler pack, used them up bought 60 more but waited for a discount and when RE had 15% code I bought 250. They are pricey but they are the only blade I have been able to get multiple shaves out of. The best I got was 5 shaves out of one. I also have 300 Personna once I found out that AccuForge was the new name for them, I grabbed a few boxes at a much better price than AccuForge.

Now all I need is to find the Personna GEM PTFE blades in stock somewhere for my Sabre and Ever-Readys. I know RE has the AccuForge Gem which from what I can tell is NOT the rebrand of the PTFE. I have found the rebrand at one place but they were pricey because of the shipping they are called Acutec Pro Premium Coated. I hate this hobby!
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Connaught’s is your source for Accutec Pro Coated and/or Personna Stainless PTFE GEM blades.

I’m confident there are GEM-shaped blades that do the same job for much less, but I promise you they’re not Foshio stainless blades. Amazon Basics Men’s Single Edge Razor Blades has a single review from Italy saying they’ll work in Ever Ready razors, but they’re carbon and RazorBladeCo.com might have better deals with the triple-facet carbon blades they carry.
 
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