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February 2023 Gentlemanly Restraint Until Month End (GRUME)

02/02/23 - February GRUME Day 2 - Still in!

Pre - Palmolive
Soap - MWF/Kent
Brush - Omega 10019/GFS The Hog
Razor - Fat Handle Tech
Blade - Gillette Super Nacet (4)
Post - Witch Hazel
AS - Wars Sensitive

I think I've used this brush, maybe 10 times now. If I'm honest, I'm not really liking it so far. It seems quite pokey; even after a good long soak in hot water, whilst I was trying to build a lather in a bowl, it was like lathering with a stick I found in the garden! My attempts to bowl lather were poor, so I tried to face lather, and the tips were very scratchy indeed. Looking at the brush later in the day, it looks like some of the tips are splitting so it should get softer over time.
Nonetheless, I still managed to build a pretty decent lather with the Fat, but I find it's a shaving soap that excels with a synthetic brush for whatever reason. I had a good 3 passes worth of lather, so that's how many passes I went for. The blade in the FHT was delightfully smooth, a really comfortable finish from start to finish. The Super Nacet seems to be one of Gillette's more elusive blades, and it's a good sharp blade but I don't think it's upto the performance of more commonplace Nacet Stainless, which is a superior blade IMO.
First time using a new splash from Wars. On the label it has the word 'Sensitive' and 'Mountain Herbs', when I put it on my face, it was on fire! I'm not sure if it was down to picking up a bit of brush burn in the shave, but I think this splash has a very high content of alcohol, but the burn dissipates reasonably quickly. As for the scent, it's a nice mild herby scent but it seems to fade quicker than most other aftershaves I have used, several hours later, there's not much scent left on my skin.

Anyway gents, I hope you are well and have an excellent day.

2 2 23.jpg
 
2023 GRUYERE #49 - Still in
February 2023 GRUME #37 - First shave of February

Razor: Gillette Fatboy
Blade: Personna Med Prep (4)
Brush: Vielong Black Horse Hair
Pre-shave: Hot shower using Dr. Bronners Almond on face and head with facial scrubber
Lather: Arko Stick - Face lather
Passes: 2 - 1st pass #4 - 2nd pass #2
Post Shave Routine and products:
1 - Hot rinse with microfiber towel X2
2 - Cold rinse with microfiber towel X1
3 - Alum block
4 - Cold rinse with microfiber towel X1
5 - Aftershave - Original Old Spice
6 - Balm: LEA 3in1
 
Shave #2
- Still In -

  • *MdC Fougère - SOTM
  • *T&H Rooney 3/2 - Silvertip
  • *Thiers Issard Sheffield- 6/8
  • *Mühle R89
  • *Gillette Minora Platinum (2)- OBIF
  • Thayer's Astringent
  • Florida Water with menthol
* SWS
img_0475-jpg.1599134

Easy (and surprisingly quick) 3-pass shave with the R89 and Minora Platinum today before stepping into a mess of AM meetings. MdC was very very nice this morning, while the Minora is everything the Nacet should be; for a milder razor.
 
1 day worth of growth

Febraury GRUME : 2
2023 GRUYERE : 19

Razor : Baili BR179
Blade : Astra Superior Platinum aka Astra Green (2)
Pre Shave : bar soap by the sink
Soap (SOTM) : Gillette Pure Cream
Brush : Semogue 1305
Aftershave: OSMA Alum Block, Proraso white

not so great at all, next on Sunday with different blade, something sharper
 
Still in 🙏🏽

Hurray for my plaything Prismatic and the good old Gillette Platinum.
This twentieth blade I tried in this lovely razor was excellent. The series started with one great shave after the other, but the last few shaves were not what I was hoping for. But this blade showed me again why I adore the PAA razor.
What can I say about the badger fat (!) tallowed Areffa soap? Absolutely brilliant. Can't believe these Ukrainian soaps haven't rocked this forum yet. Try this soap, brethren. Best soap out there.

View attachment 1599004
Try this soap he says, to a bunch of GRUME and GRUYERE participants. What kind of evil enabler are you Jack? :lol:
 
WR2 1.25
Nacet
TroyCraft 'Apollo' 26mm G5C
The Dead Sea soap and splash

I def have a problem. Wasn't going to shave as my routine is now anywhere between 2-4 days (occasionally a week) between shaves and considering I had an ultra smooth BBS from the BB the night before I swore this shave I would only do two passes, one WTG and one ATG, just for the pleasure of the shave....

.....well, after the second pass i totally changed course and went ATG. No worries with the shave, was smooth and comfy and left no issues but I just cant bring myself to a non ATG shave

IMG-6852a.jpg
 
02/02/23 - February GRUME Day 2 - Still in!

Pre - Palmolive
Soap - MWF/Kent
Brush - Omega 10019/GFS The Hog
Razor - Fat Handle Tech
Blade - Gillette Super Nacet (4)
Post - Witch Hazel
AS - Wars Sensitive

I think I've used this brush, maybe 10 times now. If I'm honest, I'm not really liking it so far. It seems quite pokey; even after a good long soak in hot water, whilst I was trying to build a lather in a bowl, it was like lathering with a stick I found in the garden! My attempts to bowl lather were poor, so I tried to face lather, and the tips were very scratchy indeed. Looking at the brush later in the day, it looks like some of the tips are splitting so it should get softer over time.
Nonetheless, I still managed to build a pretty decent lather with the Fat, but I find it's a shaving soap that excels with a synthetic brush for whatever reason. I had a good 3 passes worth of lather, so that's how many passes I went for. The blade in the FHT was delightfully smooth, a really comfortable finish from start to finish. The Super Nacet seems to be one of Gillette's more elusive blades, and it's a good sharp blade but I don't think it's upto the performance of more commonplace Nacet Stainless, which is a superior blade IMO.
First time using a new splash from Wars. On the label it has the word 'Sensitive' and 'Mountain Herbs', when I put it on my face, it was on fire! I'm not sure if it was down to picking up a bit of brush burn in the shave, but I think this splash has a very high content of alcohol, but the burn dissipates reasonably quickly. As for the scent, it's a nice mild herby scent but it seems to fade quicker than most other aftershaves I have used, several hours later, there's not much scent left on my skin.

Anyway gents, I hope you are well and have an excellent day.

View attachment 1599018

just keep at it, until hairs break in boar brushes are crap, but once they do, there amazing.. I had an Omega 11137 and couldnt get along with it at all, but once it broke in the brush totally changed and I loved it

It can take months to break in
 
just keep at it, until hairs break in boar brushes are crap, but once they do, there amazing.. I had an Omega 11137 and couldnt get along with it at all, but once it broke in the brush totally changed and I loved it

It can take months to break in

Yes you are spot on. The last Omega boar I bought, the Wild Hog (which is the bigger brother of this one, both branded by Goodfellas Smile) had really soft tips out of the box. I forgot that not all are that way!

I've been using synths for the last month, since Decemboar and my terrible memory forgot that boars can be erratic little beasts to break in, but that's the joy of them!

What's your guitar in your avatar? CBS era Strat? Looks a beauty!
 
Yes you are spot on. The last Omega boar I bought, the Wild Hog (which is the bigger brother of this one, both branded by Goodfellas Smile) had really soft tips out of the box. I forgot that not all are that way!

I've been using synths for the last month, since Decemboar and my terrible memory forgot that boars can be erratic little beasts to break in, but that's the joy of them!

What's your guitar in your avatar? CBS era Strat? Looks a beauty!

As much as I enjoy a good boar and badger brush, for me, nothing comes close to a good synthetic.. My favorite brushes are the G5C (pictured above), the lansky HD and DS cosmetics G7. I find they give the best of both natural and synthetics in one brush.

Unfortunately that is not my strat :( I have two at home one American Standard (rosewood neck) and the other is a MIM standard (maple neck), both are sunburst. I saw this one after the fact and cant bring myself to spend any more money.. but if i win lotto :) .......................
 

Chef455

Head Cheese Head Chef
@StratMan , if you win the lotto you still have 26 days to go. :punk:

Still in.

20230201_161604.jpg

My fixed 5 for the month continues.

Shark platinum day #2 as good if not better. Only 2 passes again (w/x) but I took a moment to plop the alum block on the counter and rub my digits across it in order to pull my neck tight. This is something I neglect to do when I'm shaving with a DE razor. If I'm using my FAC or my straight I always do. Turns out I get a better shave if I stretch/pull my skin tight. Imagine that.

Slim is still set on 3. Arko! has its naysayers, but I can't understand where they are coming from. It really does perform remarkably well. The Duke is a pleasure. Again I can get lazy and fall back on my synthetic brushes that don't need a soak. They do great, but there is something luxurious about a good badger.

Anyhow, I wound up with a DFS, reinforced some old habits that I've been skipping and definitely continue to reinforce the fact that I own some great shave gear and have no need to acquire more.

Happy shaves!!
 
As much as I enjoy a good boar and badger brush, for me, nothing comes close to a good synthetic.. My favorite brushes are the G5C (pictured above), the lansky HD and DS cosmetics G7. I find they give the best of both natural and synthetics in one brush.

Unfortunately that is not my strat :( I have two at home one American Standard (rosewood neck) and the other is a MIM standard (maple neck), both are sunburst. I saw this one after the fact and cant bring myself to spend any more money.. but if i win lotto :) .......................

Interesting. For many years I had synths and boars but my boars were the ones I'd enjoy the most, now I'm coming to appreciate new generation synths are actually fantastic. They seem to produce great lather with less trouble, with no lather eating and so on.

That's a beauty of a brush with the G5C though.

Thanks for the info about your guitars. US/MIM's are great guitars! I think we live in a golden era for great equipment, be it guitars, amps, pedals or pickups.
 
Interesting. For many years I had synths and boars but my boars were the ones I'd enjoy the most, now I'm coming to appreciate new generation synths are actually fantastic. They seem to produce great lather with less trouble, with no lather eating and so on.

That's a beauty of a brush with the G5C though.

Thanks for the info about your guitars. US/MIM's are great guitars! I think we live in a golden era for great equipment, be it guitars, amps, pedals or pickups.

thanks, def one of my favorites
 
Day 2, 7.1% complete.

Preshave: Hot washcloth
Soap: Saponificio Varesino 70th Anniversary
Brush: Yaqi 24mm synthetic cashmere
Razor: GC.84 SB, Al Handle, Astra SP #3
Bowl: Turkish copper
Post-shave: Nivea Balm, Hyaluronic Acid

Since the month divides tidily into 4 x 7, I'm going to stick to one soap per week. I've got one MWF and 3 SVs on the go, so this is also a great excuse to use lots of SV. :D

Continuing with SV70 (Beta 4.1 edition), I got another excellent near-BBS. This stuff is even easier to bowl-lather than MWF.
 
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