Cal's "I don't do journals" Journal

[AimlessWanderer]

I was trawling through my shaving spreadsheets (they're kinda long) and discovered that I had actually trialed a SuperMax BDT before (January 3, 2016)... with exactly the same conclusions as yesterday.

Ahh, that's a shame. Must just be a blade that doesn't suit you or your set up, much like the Polsilver has no place here. It's a shame you had to get 200 before you found out though

BLADE
Astra SP. I don't have much experience with Astra SPs, but the experience I do have was and is consistently good – sharp and smooth.

The Astra is my third longest lasting blade so far, and absolutely one of my favourites. Not only is it a great blade, but it's also significantly cheaper than several blades which don't perform as well for me.

Aside from the longevity, I actually find them similar in feel and performance to the Blue Diamond Titanium

SOAP
Mitchell's Wool Fat. As much as I've been enjoying Wickham 1912, good ol' MWF walks all over it. It's definitely the best performing soap that I possess (so much for MdC [at ten times the cost of MWF]).

I know it's early days, but I haven't found anything as good as Mitchell's yet either. I'm still hoping for good things from the samples I've got lined up though.

FINAL THOUGHTS (well, today anyway.)
I believe I've discovered my minimalist dream. That includes the DE razor (and good ol' Polsilver SIs too).
I'm still playing around with SEs and straights of course.

Despite having so many razors here, I kind of feel the same way about my set up. The Jagger for the daily grind, and everything else is just for mucking around with.

FOOTNOTE
Is it possible for anyone to become a "true" minimalist after significant immersion in B&B?

I don't see why not. Look at Spike as an example, he went all minimalist after his exploration. OK, he still swaps soaps every three months, but aside from that I think he's cut it right to the bone.

I'll end up there to some extent too. Yes, I'll have a bucket full of different blades, but that's understandable after struggling to get hold of the damn things for 20 years I'm having a little explore of soaps at the moment too, but I'll get bored of that before long. It would be nice to find one or two things to buy instead of Mitchell's when it's time to buy a new soap, but i'll be back to using one till it's finished before opening the next.

You never mentioned being minimalist with a brush though Is the Shavemac "the one"?

 

[Cal]

Define minimalist.

In my mind .

Maximum hardware and software for a SHAVING MINIMALIST:
One shaving brush
One shaving soap
One razor
One (make/model of) blade (unless the razor's a straight of course)
One ASL

You never mentioned being minimalist with a brush though Is the Shavemac "the one"?

Yes, my tiny Shavemac is "the one."

 

[Esox]

You are correct, the Blue Diamond blade is not that sharp! I place it above Derby blades though. Sorry Mike @Esox

I liked the Blue Diamond Titanium in my SC, but it failed miserably in my Grande. The Blue Diamond Platinum failed even worse in my Grande.

The gap in the SC for me was enough to make the Titanium work well. I didnt find either of the Blue Diamond blades as smooth or to cut as well as Derby Extra. Night and day difference between them and a Derby in my Grande.

Polsilver or Derby Extra in my Grande is a tough call. If I shave ATG first pass its Polsilver all the way. If I dont, its a toss up. I can get the same BBS shave with both but the quickest I can get there with a Derby is 2 1/2 passes. The Derby is smoother and easier on my skin, the Polsilver needs a bit more care. Flip a coin, I'm good with either.

Is it possible for anyone to become a "true" minimalist after significant immersion in B&B?

I seem to be moving in that direction too. MMOC/PTFE, Maggard synthetic and CRS, Wickham, PdP. WK isnt even making the cut lately. Like Jim, I cleaned up my shelves and stashed all my other soaps. PdP, Wickham, CRS, WK and CC 45th cream is all I have out now.

@rabidus. I used PdP last shave and would put it up against either Wickham or CRS. I'd really have a hard time picking between them for performance. That was shave 8 on that blade. I'll be seeing just how far it can go.

 

[rabidus]

One ASL

Post shave, I splash on some

And then I moisturize my entire face with

I've been using these for quite some time.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

One shaving brush
One shaving soap
One razor
One (make/model of) blade (unless the razor's a straight of course)
One ASL

Brush. Check. One boar at home, plus a synth for travel. There is a spare boar in the drawer, but it doesn't get used, and I didn't buy it.

Soap. Work in progress. Most likely a puck at home, and a shave stick for travel. Soap might vary, but I hope to get down to one in the bathroom, and a spare (not necessarily the same type) waiting to go should "growth" happen. Not there yet, and have more exploration to do.

Razor. I could fairly easily stick with two. Closed comb for daily shaves, and shavette or open comb for edging up the beard. The others are playthings. I'll call this a work in progress, as I don't know how many of the others I'll keep long term (or replace if dropped).

Blade. As far as disposable blades go, I only use DE.... Is there really any difference between having 200 of one type, and 50 each of four different types?

Aftershave. Another work in progress. It's likely to be one lotion and one balm, to suit variations in weather and skin.

EdT. Three! A light daily use scent, something a little bolder for casual "events", and a deeper toned one for the occasional evening do.

 

[Johnnynroy]

As I'm sure everyone reading this is aware, I'm nowhere close to a minimalist. Having done a fixed four last year, I can definitely see the appeal. I actually do have a "desert island" setup that I'd be happy with in perpetuity:

Schick Type F
Schick Proline B-20
TurnNShave Quartermoon synthetic
Stirling Piacenza soap
For now, Fine Italian Citrus but this would be Stirling too if I had my druthers
Kyoku for men moisturizer spf 15

The wife is also happy with this setup. The issue for me is that the Type F had a copper spring that is integral to the entire razor working. And that spring is quite easily corroded in my experience. I also don't like the type F with a Chick blade.

I have several razors that take the twin blades, which I like but my skin doesn't. They seem to consistently give me ingrown hairs if I use them more than the odd shave here or there. I think my type M will become my daily razor with a Chick or a Proline once I use up the twin blade that is in there since it can be dialed in precisely to where I want the closeness to be.

I like Piacenza a lot. I'm not as big a fan of the price and that it is an artisan soap. I'm probably thinking too long term here, but if Stirling stops making soaps then my favorite soap would be gone. Other companies like Cella and proraso have been around for a very long time and their products have stood the test of time. That said, even the big name English brands had some issues in the recent past with their reformulations. So maybe I should just use what I enjoy and if things change to where I don't like them, don't use them? I'd likely do what spike does, though: a scent for each season. Piacenza in the summer, Stirling arkadia in the fall, bay rums in the winter, and SV 70th in the spring. That does leave out any oud scents though, and I almost enjoy RazoRock the Stallion aftershave enough to use it daily. My wife doesn't like it as much as Piacenza though...

I do have a lot of products to divest myself of either way. I'll probably keep around the injector collection that I've made since it is a lot of history. Clean them up and display them somewhere. Get a few extra of the daily driver I want to use (likely the Type M) and just enjoy the shaves.

Thanks for this exercise, gentlemen. Don't know that it was intended to be that way, but putting my thoughts down here has helped me immensely. I have a RazoRock Mamba 70 that I'm using right now before I make up my BST posting, and it has been doing decent work. Best DE I've used. Not injector or AC level of shaves for me yet, however. Getting all of this written out has made me reconsider a lot of the products I haven't been considering for the BST chopping block. It's also put a very solid halt on any purchases I was considering until I get my den pared down a lot.

Enjoy the shaves gents!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Joel @Johnnynroy, that Type F really hit the spot. I'm a bit surprised at how much you like the Type M. I like the M just fine, but I like both the E-2 and the L-3 a lot more. For me, as a steep angle or design angle shaver, the M's adjustability adds nothing. The one with the guard for travel is my least favorite M because the head seems heavy but it's the one M I'd keep if only for traveling.

The ebarbershop Type O clone (and the Type O) are also keepers.

Even though I'm only using the straight, the injectors have a place in my den.

I need to get rid of a lot of stuff. So far, I've moved a bunch of neglected items, aftershaves mostly, to my office. I plan to move a bunch more items. I'm becoming an "at home" minimalist, but an "at the office" collector or something. Stupid hobby this is; at least on occasions.

The big problem is all the soaps. What am I to do with them? I have a zillion.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Tiny Shavemac Silvertip D01
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Razor: RazoRock GC84
Blade: Astra SP (2)
ASL: Reuzel

A very nice shave.

The only thing that wasn't so good was too much ASL. I like the Reuzel (plastic) bottle but getting just the amount I like out of it can be tricky. It's too easy to squeeze too much out. I guess I'll have to decant some into one of my mini bottles (which are great for getting precise amounts out of). Being a perfectionist can be a real pain at times.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Most people around town say to one another when I'm supposedly out of earshot that I believe you can't possibly use too much ASL.

Spoiler: Actually...

That's not true...

I hope!

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

SOTD

Brush: Tiny Shavemac Silvertip D01
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Razor: RazoRock GC84
Blade: Astra SP (2)
ASL: Reuzel
View attachment 948021

A very nice shave.

The only thing that wasn't so good was too much ASL. I like the Reuzel (plastic) bottle but getting just the amount I like out of it can be tricky. It's too easy to squeeze too much out. I guess I'll have to decant some into one of my mini bottles (which are great for getting precise amounts out of). Being a perfectionist can be a real pain at times.

Is the aftershave a cream or a liquid?

It drives me nuts when I get too much aftershave out of the bottle.

 

[Cal]

Is the aftershave a cream or a liquid?

It's a liquid, Seveneighth.

ASL = Aftershave lotion
ASB = Aftershave balm

I hate nasty sticky ASBs. Give me ASLs every time.

It drives me nuts when I get too much aftershave out of the bottle.

Indeed!

 

[Cal]

SOTD: A leap backwards

Brush: none
Soap: Neways™ Close Shaving Gel
Razor: Gillette Sensor Excel
Blade: Gillette Sensor Excel twin blade cartridge (5?)
ASL: Proraso Red

Today I decided to go back to where I started before joining B&B in October 2015. The above pic shows my kit (barring the ASL) for probably more than two decades. I didn't use ASL. So as far as shaving goes, you could probably say that I was a minimalist.

Close Shaving Gel is a very pleasant liquid which one simply lathers by hand onto a wet face. It was made by Neways who were taken over some time ago and none of their good (for me) products are available now. The Best Before date on the tube is December 2015, but it's just fine still. I have some unopened spares too.

I didn't enjoy getting my hands all soapy so I'll use a shaving brush next time.

I'm guessing that the Gillette Sensor Excel cartridge had about four uses before I moved over to DE in 2015. So I'm saying that today's shave was its fifth use.

Using a cartridge again was quite an experience. It just seemed to want to hold on to my whiskers and stay there, till I realized that you need to press the damned thing into your face for it to work (not something that I'll be doing any time soon with my "No Guard DE" [The Coach]).

Once I'd more or less got the hang of it again the shave went very fast (for me [I'm slow]) and was actually quite enjoyable (while it lasted). The result was BBS, but only for a few hours... I need to get more practice in. On saying that, the previous time I used it I didn't even know what BBS meant.

INTENTIONS? YEAH!
I intend using the Sensor Excel for a while just for the heck of it. If I really like it there's still plenty of the discontinued cartridges available.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

SOTD: A leap backwards

Brush: none
Soap: Neways™ Close Shaving Gel
Razor: Gillette Sensor Excel
Blade: Gillette Sensor Excel twin blade cartridge (5?)
ASL: Proraso Red
View attachment 948772

Today I decided to go back to where I started before joining B&B in October 2015. The above pic shows my kit (barring the ASL) for probably more than two decades. I didn't use ASL. So as far as shaving goes, you could probably say that I was a minimalist.

Close Shaving Gel is a very pleasant liquid which one simply lathers by hand onto a wet face. It was made by Neways who were taken over some time ago and none of their good (for me) products are available now. The Best Before date on the tube is December 2015, but it's just fine still. I have some unopened spares too.

I didn't enjoy getting my hands all soapy so I'll use a shaving brush next time.

I'm guessing that the Gillette Sensor Excel cartridge had about four uses before I moved over to DE in 2015. So I'm saying that today's shave was its fifth use.

Using a cartridge again was quite an experience. It just seemed to want to hold on to my whiskers and stay there, till I realized that you need to press the damned thing into your face for it to work (not something that I'll be doing any time soon with my "No Guard DE" [The Coach]).

Once I'd more or less got the hang of it again the shave went very fast (for me [I'm slow]) and was actually quite enjoyable (while it lasted). The result was BBS, but only for a few hours... I need to get more practice in. On saying that, the previous time I used it I didn't even know what BBS meant.

INTENTIONS? YEAH!
I intend using the Sensor Excel for a while just for the heck of it. If I really like it there's still plenty of the discontinued cartridges available.

A few months ago, I decided to try a GII (Trac II) razor again that I had kicking about. It came in a grooming kit which I'd been given several years back, and I'd used everything other than the razor in it. I ended up replacing the razor with the Dovo shavette, and the cartridge carrier with a tuck of blades, and they both fit very well.

Anyway, I loaded a cartridge in the razor, took one swipe, swore at it, and threw the cartridge in the bin. I then loaded the other cartridge (cheapskates only included two in the five cart carrier), took another swipe, swore again, and hurled the lot in the bin.

It's only reading your post just now, that made me realise I didn't press on...

It had been a couple of decades since I'd used a cartridge razor, and pressing on never occurred to me.

 

[Seveneighth]

It's a liquid, Seveneighth.

ASL = Aftershave lotion
ASB = Aftershave balm

I hate nasty sticky ASBs. Give me ASLs every time.

[emoji23] Indeed!

Ahhhh - I can't keep up with all this terminology. Thanks!

The formulation of ASLs somehow seems to affect how much comes out of the bottle. Chanel seem very wet and I always, always get either too much or too little out. Floris aftershaves seem slightly oily in comparison and it's much easier to dump just the right amount out by onto your hand. Consequently, Floris ASLs seem to last me 3-5 times longer that Chanel. The Floris ends up being much better value for money.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Apparently unavailable across the pond from me, the amount that comes out is perfect. Not as perfect as the bay rum but nothing is.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

Apparently unavailable across the pond from me, the amount that comes out is perfect. Not as perfect as the bay rum but nothing is.

OK Jim, just rub it in.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

OK Jim, just rub it in.

Ah, I will, uh, rub it in since you insist, but usually I just splash it on.

I wish a UK vendor would carry some of the products which seem just about impossible for you gentlemen to obtain. Either that or there should be an inexpensive tax and shipping option.

I talked a few months ago with a fellow in Argentina. He was totally unable to obtain anything not made in Argentina. He also couldn't find information about what was available in Argentina, information I could easily find from here in the US; maybe there were internet information restrictions or something. I'm not sure.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

Ah, I will, uh, rub it in since you insist, but usually I just splash it on.

That's exactly the response I was expecting the moment I pressed the POST REPLY button.

I talked a few months ago with a fellow in Argentina. He was totally unable to obtain anything not made in Argentina. He also couldn't find information about what was available in Argentina, information I could easily find from here in the US; maybe there were internet information restrictions or something. I'm not sure.

That reminds me of an RT video I watched recently on North Korea:

Looking at the video I'd be happy to live there, despite their somewhat draconian rules.

Freedom from smartphones and the internet... WONDERFUL. I'd miss B&B of course.

 

[Somerled]

Looking at the video I'd be happy to live there, despite their somewhat draconian rules.

Freedom from smartphones and the internet... WONDERFUL. I'd miss B&B of course.

That country fascinates me, but I wouldn't want to live there.

You can always say you've suddenly become allergic to cellphones and laptops, or basically anything that transmits radiation of any kind.
Rules out most modern equipment.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I watched the entire video. I feel so sorry for the people of North Korea.

Happy shaves,

Jim