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

[Raven Koenes]

What part of Scotland is that, Rave?

Happy shaves,

Jim

The Dutch part, Jim, the Dutch part.

 

[JoWolf]

SOTD
View attachment 1196471

Brush: Shavemac 18/43 Pure
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: Worlds Finest Safety Razor
Blade: Silver Star (2)
ASL: TFS Kathmandu

Another very nice shave.

My colorful little Shavemac was feeling a bit neglected (with only eight shaves on it), so out it came to join today's team. It's a wee belter (lather monster and scrubbing wizard).


Happy shaves guys.

That handle needs a Bosc emblem on it Cal. Beauty.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: Fatip Olive Wood
Blade: Silver Star (3)
ASL: TFS Kathmandu

An excellent shave.

Back to my beloved Fatip OC on its custom olive wood handle today. It took a few strokes to adjust to the shaving angle required, after so long with the WFSR. This handle is THE BEST. At 75mm (<3") it's so maneuverable and easy to keep a steep blade angle in all the valleys. Unfortunately (due to thread differences) it won't fit my WFSR.

The Shavemac 2-Band was a touch of decadent luxury.

The soap and aftershave continue to perform and smell great.


Happy shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: RazoRock GC84 with custom olive wood handle
Blade: Silver Star (4)
ASL: TFS Kathmandu

Another great shave.

Being in a mildly flirtatious mood I changed my razor again (but kept my favorite handle). The rest of the team remained the same. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, I'm enjoying the daily razor change and may continue doing this for a while (or not).


Happy shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: 2020 Gillette Tech with custom olive wood handle
Blade: Silver Star (5)
ASL: TFS Kathmandu

A good shave.

Nothing spectacular, but then, if I keep changing my razor every shave I guess it's par for the course. I've sort of come to expect nearly every shave to be at least great, I think I'm getting spoiled.


Happy shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: 2020 Gillette Tech with custom olive wood handle
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (2)
ASL: TFS Mandarino Tachibana

An excellent shave.

I think I'm going to stop playing the "which blade is best with 'this' razor" game. I've always thought that idea was kinda stupid anyway (for me at least). So I'm back to I like/don't-like "this" blade... and it'll perform the same way for me in ANY razor.

I loaded up with my old benchmark blade, the famous Personna Red. Fabulous. Reds, along with BiC Chrome Platinums and Polsilver Super Iridiums are my top three. (That won't stop me trialling different blades of course.)

My new TFS Mandarino Tachibana aftershave splash (to go with the super soap) arrived just in time for my shave this evening. I enjoyed it in a "you're going to grow on me" way. The base notes that I'm smelling now are certainly "different."


Happy shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: The Inheritance 2020 Best Badger 22/54 by Semogue
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: 2020 Gillette Tech with custom olive wood handle
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (3)
ASL: TFS Mandarino Tachibana

A fine shave.

It was Christmas AGAIN today with my new Semogue arriving in plenty of time to be prepared for its first shave. Out of curiosity I wanted to try their long lofted "Best" (mixed Pure and Finest) hair. I wasn't disappointed. Here are my opinions on the brush:

Hereditas 2020 Pros
Great flow-through (a lather monster)
Pleasant face feel (not throw-up soft)
Accurate painter
Sufficient backbone (good, but not tremendous)
Comfortably shaped handle (same dimensions as the SOC, but the Hereditas should be smaller [which I would've preferred])

Hereditas 2020 Cons
When wet (not soapy wet), the handle feels like it's been dipped in oil — most unusual and a little unpleasant
Too big (for my personal tastes, but [only one shave in] it might grow on me)


Happy shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Hereditas 2020 Best Badger 22/54 by Semogue
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: 2020 Gillette Tech with Fine handle
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (4)
ASL: TFS Mandarino Tachibana

Another fine shave.

Putting my Fine WFSR heavyweight handle (heavyweight for me that is, at 69g) on my lightweight 2020 Gillette Tech head was certainly different (to my lightweight olive wood handle [13g]). It was like I'd thrown all control and finesse out the bathroom window. But, being the experimenter I am, I intend at least a few more shaves with the light-head/heavy-handle to see if I can find any advantage to it.

Although my shave started in an "unbalanced" fashion (the Heavy Handle Blues) it quickly rectified itself. I guess "fixing problems" is just human nature.*

* That made me recollect an oft' used phrase by X3. Whenever I'd fixed something for her, she would gaze at it, smile, and say "Ah, untouched by human hand."


Happy shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Hereditas 2020 Best Badger 22/54 by Semogue
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: 2020 Gillette Tech with Fine handle
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (5)
ASL: TFS Mandarino Tachibana

A great shave.

I have nothing to report, barring the fact that all of the team are performing very well (SURPRISE ).


Happy shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Hereditas 2020 Best Badger 22/54 by Semogue
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: 2020 Gillette Tech with Fine handle
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (6)
ASL: Proraso Red

A very nice shave.

I just made one change today, back to my old love Proraso Red aftershave. It seems to blend nicely with the TFS Mandarino Tachibana soap (so far anyway).


Happy shaves guys.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Does that brush handle still feel slippy, or has it settled down, Cal?

 

[Cal]

Does that brush handle still feel slippy, or has it settled down, Cal?

It didn't feel slippery, Al. It just felt unpleasantly oily... a "different" sort of feeling (for me).

I've more or less got used to that now though, and although it's different in feel to all my other brush handles (in a strange way) I do like the shape (and the feel of the shape).

Although lots of folk would consider it to be a "small" brush it's pretty huge by my standards... so I'm still trying to be objective about it.

The things we do for "science."

 

[Cal]

HOGMANAY SHAVE

Brush: Semogue Torga-C3 Finest Mistura 22/49
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: Worlds Finest Safety Razor
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (7)
ASL: TFS Mandarino Tachibana

A luxury shave (in preparation for the New Year).
I picked out my (current) top favorites for my Hogmanay Shave, just superb.


Happy New Year aw youse.

 

[Esox]

Happy New Year!

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Shavemac 18/43 Pure
Soap: TFS Mandarino Tachibana
Razor: Worlds Finest Safety Razor
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (8)
ASL: TFS Mandarino Tachibana

A good shave.
I thought I'd bring my colorful little Shavemac Pure out, for a good face massage.


Happy Shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: TFS Kathmandu
Razor: Worlds Finest Safety Razor
Blade: Nacet (1)
ASL: TFS Kathmandu

A nice shave.

Barring one week with a Nacet in "The Coach" ages ago, this is my first Nacet trial with one in a "safety" razor. On first shave/impression it seems like a very nice blade.

There's a certain "je ne sais quoi" about the TFS scents. They're sort of oddly different, unusual, but compelling (to me anyway).


Happy Shaves guys.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Just invested a good little while catching up with this thread. It looks like every shave is a good shave. Plus every shave is an adventure in new kit.

My favorite of your handles, Cal, might be the red one with the Shavemac (?) Pure knot. Mostly for the color. I'm very much looking forward to trying my inbound Shavemac Pure knot.

I believe this is the first time I've shared on the forum a photo of the brush Rudy made for me, a brush I've yet to see in person. This Shavemac Pure sure looks much different from the Pure of Cal's red handled Shavemac brush pictured a few posts up.

Since mine's 26 mm, Cal and I won't have much trouble figuring out which is his and which is mine. We've determined that we like similar knots but in different sizes. I think 24 mm is smallish. Cal thinks 24 mm is huge.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

We've determined that we like similar knots but in different sizes. I think 24 mm is smallish. Cal thinks 24 mm is huge.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Shavemac 20/47 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: Rasozero Agrumella
Razor: Worlds Finest Safety Razor
Blade: Nacet (2)
ASL: Rasozero Agrumella

An excellent shave.

Back to the outstanding TFS Rasozero budget line today. I love the simple scent.
The extra menthol I added to the aftershave certainly finished off the session with a bang.


Happy Shaves guys.

 

[Cal]

SOTD

Brush: Omega 11047 Mixed Midget
Soap: Rasozero Agrumella
Razor: Worlds Finest Safety Razor
Blade: Nacet (3)
ASL: Rasozero Agrumella

A great shave.

It might even have been a magnificent shave if it hadn't been for the shedding Midget. Although I said I was going to chuck it out I wondered if maybe it might just have stopped its mischief... but no. 12 hairs/bristles today. It's such a great little brush but the shedding just drives me crazy (or should that be crazier). I'll order a new one as soon as I stop playing here on B&B.

Happy Shaves guys.