The _____ Willy, 3017 Williams Mug Soap Challenge V2.0

[clyde72]

2-22-2017
The Cowboy Willy, 3017 Williams Mug Soap Challenge V2.0
Shave #14
Pre Shave: Dove Men+Care Deep Clean+ Face Scrub (in shower)
Hot Towel
Razor: Edwin Jagger DEL8914BL
Blade: PolSilver Super Iridium
Brush: Satin Tip The Purest
Soap: Cowboy Willy
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse Alum Block and Thayers
After Shave: Bootlegger's Virginia Perfecto
Non Shave Areas: LAB Series Pro LS All-In-One Face Treatment

Well I finally made a small hole in the puck. I can see the bottom of the container. The puck today was pretty dry due to the lack of shaves the last few days. I got a pretty decent lather and It stayed around for the finish. Nice residual slickness today. Would have been a good BBS shave, but somehow I managed to give my self a pretty good nick just below my ear on the 1st pass. I think there must have been a bump there. It required alum to stop the seepage before lathering for the 2nd pass. 15 shaves on the PolSilver and it's done. I could feel it pretty good on the ATG pass. Finished up with the Bootlegger's Virginia Perfecto After Shave.

Setup 2-22-2017

 

[TheVez2]

I've only got 15 shaves on my Green Willy so far this month. Here's what it looks like.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ad Astra]

... and another. Like The Blob, it keeps growing. Dandy Willy puck has grown to 2.5"x4.5", and cracked my mug!

I have a feeling, though, when the month ends this soap will somehow *also* be gone.

Won't break my commitment, just a feeling something bad might could happen to this lemony-bland, once-great-but-now-cheapened-by-corporate-greed product.


AA

 

[MuhleShaver]

Shave #14 for me this morning with the Lime Willy. Same thin, but slick lather, same great shave. It was shave #46 with the Rapira Super Stainless blade, incredibly smooth at this point. DFS+ shave.

The hole in the bottom of the puck is increasing. I probably won't be able to complete it in February, but it most likely won't last long into March.

 

[azwetshaver]

Shave #21

I started on the 2nd and only missed one day. I didn't like this brush and rarely used it. It was too small for my tastes. It had a 24mm TGN Finest knot. Well, I got the urge for a soft 3 band silvertip. I remembered that I had this WSP Silvertip 26mm knot laying around. I quickly replaced the knot and have been using this brush exclusively for about a week.

I won't go into detail about the lather from this vintage Williams because it just feels like cheating.

 

[clyde72]

2-23-2017
The Cowboy Willy, 3017 Williams Mug Soap Challenge V2.0
Shave #15
Pre Shave: Bulldog Original Face Wash (in shower)
Hot Towel
Razor: RazoRock Protege
Blade: Feather
Brush: RazoRock Bruce
Soap: Cowboy Willy
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse Alum Block and Dickerson
After Shave: Bootlegger's Lime Bay Rum
Non Shave Areas: Every Man Jack Face Lotion and Post Shave

Another good overall shave with the Cowboy Willy. I got a little to aggressive with the Protege and the Feather and the alum, let me know it! Still a BBS. The lather was good. Finished off with the Lime Bay Rum.

Setup 2-23-2017

 

[Rory1262]

Another day, another routinely great shave with Brave Willy.
I had skipped two days, so it was fun to turn loose the GEM Featherweight.
No matter which brush I use, things are fine.

 

[strop]

The little ring of Lilac Willy just keeps on keeping on. I just might make it thru the month! 22 great shaves with this soap. I really do feel ad for all that struggle with this soap, because the shaves are no better than I get from Tabac or AOS!

 

[dexutter]

19 shaves on Bootlegger Willy, still holding strong! The lather keeps getting better!

 

[Ad Astra]

Truthfully, not a bad shave with the stuff today. Lot of water; grind it with the brush until you have a creamy soap-water-air mixture (that also truthfully cannot be called lather. It's flat, but works.)


AA

 

[MuhleShaver]

Shave #15 with the Lime Willy this morning. I didn't change anything this morning from the routine that I've been using since I started getting a thin lather that was slick and just worked. This morning the lather was thicker, but started dissipating - I added some water and face lathered some more...same thing. It was still slick, so I shaved with it anyway.

I probably have about a week's worth of shaves left in the container, so I'll keep going until it's gone, but I'm baffled as to what changed this morning. The only thing I can think of was that I was drinking an Oolong tea instead of a classic black tea. I'll switch back to the regular black tea tomorrow and see what happens

 

[dkeester]

Today was shave #20 on my Blue Willy puck. I used my new RazoRock Big Bruce to lather it.

It was a good lather today, but I didn't spend quite enough time loading and building. There was plenty of lather for 2 passes, which is all I needed, but a third pass would have been problematic.

It definitely lathers better when held in the hand than in the ramekin.

 

[YKMV]

#14 and #15....
barely damp brush and a mere top layer of water. 30 to 60 seconds loading.
The lather was kinda foamy but not terribly thick. Decent cushion and my usual smooth cheeks and chin with 2 passes and little cleanup.
Not horrible but still not what I hoped for.
More experimenting won't be hard, though, as there is still quite a bit of puck left.

 

[mark1JT]

I won't go into detail about the lather from this vintage Williams because it just feels like cheating.

View attachment 763956

That's because it is....

 

[SocalRick]

Yesterday, on shave number 22, the bottom of my one-cup Pyrex dish showed through. It was a small hole, maybe the size of a dime. By the end of today's shave, number 23, the hole was HUGE. I can't imagine getting more than 3 or 4 more shaves out of the puck. I'll post my final shave total, once the puck is gone.

I used my Omega 10049 today. Got the best lather, yet! This is been an interesting journey, filled with great shaves.

 

[clyde72]

2-24-2017
The Cowboy Willy, 3017 Williams Mug Soap Challenge V2.0
Shave #16
Pre Shave: LAB Series Invigorating Face Scrub (in shower)
Hot Towel
Razor: Rockwell 6S (R4 Plate)
Blade: Rockwell
Brush: Whipped Dog 24mm Synthetic
Soap: Cowboy Willy
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse Alum Block and Thayers
After Shave: Dove Men+Care Hydrate+ Post Shave Balm
Non Shave Areas: Dove Men+Care Hydrate+ Face Lotion
Cologne: Florida Water

Same routine, drowned the puck while I was showering, dumped, loaded squeezed out brush till lather started to form. Lather in scuttle for 2 to 3 minutes. Good lather. 3 pass shave with the Rockwell for a BBS. Very little alum sting today. Mainly just in a couple places that I expected it. Finished off with the Balm. Since it was going to be a spring like day, splashed on some Florida Water. Nice start to the last work day of the week.

Setup 2-24-2017

 

[mark1JT]

Shave # 15 came and went.

 

[Ad Astra]

Another meh shave with Willy.

Thought occurred while shaving: was a time when I used a can of goo until the end. Never cared about its scent or noticed its performance.

And some people have never had good pizza either. They think they are happy ...


AA

 

[clyde72]

2-25-2017
The Cowboy Willy, 3017 Williams Mug Soap Challenge V2.0
Shave #17
Pre Shave: LAB Series Invigorating Face Scrub (in shower)
Hot Towel
Razor: Gillette Fatboy (set on 6)
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
Brush: Semogue Excelsior 830
Soap: Cowboy Willy
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse Alum Block and Thayers
After Shave: Soap Commander Integrity
Non Shave Areas: Bulldog Original Moisturizer
Cologne: Acqua di Parma Colonia Leather eau de Cologne Concentree

Well that was interesting. I decided to move from the Synthetics and give my Semogue Boar a go at the Cowboy Willy. This was my first time to use this brush. Can you say lather hog? I loaded what looked like a good amount of soap on the brush. Worked what looked like the normal amount of lather in the mug and moved to my face. Where did the lather go? This brush just absorbed it. I had to go back to the puck 3 times to complete this shave. The lather was much thinner than normal but still plenty slick and stable. The Fatboy and ASP yielded a good BBS shave. Just a little alum sting in a couple of stubborn areas which was expected. Finished with the Soap Commander Integrity.

Setup 2-25-2017

 

[John Rose]

Stickified Brutus Vilius shave #20
Face-lathered with Omega 86 Travel boar.
Razor: Pre-War Tech
Blade: Astra SP (2)
2 Passes
Post: cold water rinse, alum stick only on front of chin, rinse, Mennen Skin Bracer
Results: BBS, but ... my "post sting" rating was 4/5, worse than average.
I'm thinking I might be getting a sensitivity to the Brutus Vilius, because the post sting ratings started out at the beginning of the Challenge around 1/5 to 2.5/5. The last week or so, I've been getting 2.5 and 3 ratings. Tonight was different though, in that I didn't do an all-over alum application. Still, OW!
Or maybe I'm just getting sloppier with my technique.
I'm down to 20 g remaining from my batch of 82 g.

On another note, I think arthropods like to watch me shave. I don't usually see them any other time in the bathroom.
Last week I saw something flying around as I filled up the sink. I got the fly swatter ready, but put it away when I saw that it was a ladybug, after it landed on the side of the sink. It's okay, I don't mind them. They're cute, eat aphids and other insects. It stayed there through my entire shave.
The next night, and other one (or the same one) did the same thing.
The third night there was a tiny black spider that appeared out of nowhere, unless it rappelled down from the mirror. They're okay too, as long as they don't land on my person or my lunch. They catch flies. He/she didn't bother anything.
Tonight, a ladybug showed up again on the spout of the faucet. I didn't see it land.

Any time a house fly shows up though, it's toast. Last night I nailed two of them, mid shave.