GC.68OC, GOLD GRANDE, YAQI CHROME MELLON - A JOURNEY

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Jim my biggest surprise is a favoured blade being great in one razor and disaster in a different razor. Trying the different blades in the Grande. The Feather I thought might end up being a single use, a few months back. The FOCS has confirmed that for me.

I found that different blades were better in different razors, too. However, then I found the Polsilver was perfect in all razors. I'm certainly not saying my experience tells anyone but me anything.

Jim, are your FOCS shaves more comfortable than your straight razor shaves?

What I noticed right away with straights was how comfortable the shaves were compared with safety razor shaves in general. That's what kept me with the straights.

The FOCS is at least as comfortable as the straight razor and maybe more comfortable. It wasn't what I expected. The FOCS is also very very easy to shave with (for me).

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[JoWolf]

Thursday September 24
Ten minute hot shower
Lo Storto
Feather
Zenith Chubby Scrubby Boar B27 - 28mm x 55mm
Vitos Extra Super Coco
Osma Alum Block
T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel
Hyaluranoic Acid
Bull Dog Skin Care Moisturizer
Lucky Tiger After Shave & Face Tonic

Months ago with another razor I thought there was a probability that a single use Feather may well be my routine and set up. I wanted to try out and measure other blades compare a couple of razors to determine it a good choice. My last Lo Storto shave removed any further speculation and doubt for me. There are many excellent blades in my inventory. Feather is my number one. Except for the brush. My kit is set and locked. Tonights shave pure enjoyment. Lo Storto is wielding my sharpest blade. My favourite soft as badger, Zenith Boar Chubby Scrubby brush. Vitos creamy lather. A wonderful BBS+ face and head shave. Lo Storto is exclusively locked on steep angle for me. Cutting strokes are smooth and clean. No hesitation through a five day growth. A couple of clean up strips along the chin line. A few extra touch ups on the back of the head swirls. Very little extra buffing. A superb ATG Single Pass shave. I’m not using shallow strokes anymore. They are not quite as close as steep strokes. No audio feedback with shallow strokes. A detail I prefer with a sharp blade. Lo Storto and Feathers shave performance on all my neck sensitive areas is the best I’ve had. I’m happy.

 

[JoWolf]

Answering My Questions In the Realm of Acquisition

My January Post

Without doing an inventory if your motoring at medium to high speed in acquisitions. You know who you are, you don’t just buy one brush, you buy two or four. You don’t buy one or two soaps you buy eight or ten, you get it. Is there an end game for you on your journey? Have you acquired enough that you could even consider an end game? Moving inventory out of the shave den to make room for new products is the fork in the road for me. Yogi Berra said when you come to a fork in the road take it. I see myself with eight favourite brushes, eight favourite soaps, and three favourite razors. You can have all the blades you want. I don’t know how long it is going to take me to get there the ride is a lot of fun. Do you have an End Game?

My DE end game is complete. I have two favourite razors, I haven’t tried the Piccolo yet but it will be a third favourite. There aren’t any other DE’s that interest me. Anything that wasn’t a Fatip went to BST.
Fatip Lo Storto Originale set a very high bar and closed that chapter for me. Only The House of Fatip can reopen that DE chapter.
I’ve tried maybe twenty or so soaps. Agreed not that many. Vitos Extra Super Coco stopped my soap curiosity. Excellent in all attributes for My Perfect Shave. I have about five soap samples and maybe four or five new soaps on the shelf untried. I may try them I don’t plan or know when. Vitos does it for me with exceptional shaves.
The brushes are the passion in my shaves. I love lathering and always find a reason to increase lathering times. The seven brushes I rotate are very different and unique. One horse, three boar, three badger. I shave with a brush for two shaves and than rotate. It takes two and a half months to get through the rotation at 120hrs per shave. Enough time and variety to make the brushes feel very vibrant for every shave and I love all of them for their individual uniquenesses.
The blades. Arguably the Feather is the sharpest. Any of the blades I have in inventory will deliver a DFS shave in any of the three razors I have. Yes I’m a BBS freak and always will be. The Feather loaded for a single use in Lo Storto delivers My Perfect Shave with repeatability. In over a half a century of shaving nothing approaches the shave excellence and comfort of this combination for me. My sensitive neck areas have never had the comfort I’m enjoying from my last two Lo Storto Feather blade shaves. I really do feel and believe I can close my DE chapter on this part of my shave journey.

Where to now? This part comes with a warning. Beware of enablers there are many around. My keepsake razor from my father-in-law was beautifully restored with Buffalo Horn. Made shave ready by David the Enabler. A Boker blade sporting Buffalo horn a fork in the road as the journey continues.

 

[Blad]

I have a new title "David the Enabler"! Sweet! Your journey is not over John. It's just about to get more interesting!

 

[JoWolf]

I have a new title "David the Enabler"! Sweet! Your journey is not over John. It's just about to get more interesting!

Your right David I’m be going down another rabbit hole still chasing an edge. Thank you for the beautiful restoration. I have a very fine ride. What could go wrong?

 

[Blad]

Your right David I’m be going down another rabbit hole still chasing an edge. Thank you for the beautiful restoration. I have a very fine ride. What could go wrong?

BBS with a very old, but new to me, 4/8" Wade and Butcher remnant this evening. So small and manoeuvrable. Beautiful aqua blue boar and Zingari Man Explorer. Heaven!

 

[Clay S]

I have a new title "David the Enabler"! Sweet! Your journey is not over John. It's just about to get more interesting!

"Blad the Enabler" would sound more vampiric.

 

[Blad]

"Blad the Enabler" would sound more vampiric.

 

[JoWolf]

Wade and Butcher

"Blad the Enabler" would sound more vampiric.

Doesn’t sound like a candy shop. why does the word blood keep racing through my mind?

 

[JoWolf]

BBS with a very old, but new to me, 4/8" Wade and Butcher remnant this evening. So small and manoeuvrable. Beautiful aqua blue boar and Zingari Man Explorer. Heaven!

Is this the blade delivering the first BBS?

 

[Blad]

Yes. Numero uno!

 

[JoWolf]

Tuesday September 29
Ten minute hot shower
Boker-Hollow something or other. Restored with Buffalo scales. That’s all I know right now.
FIRST STRAIGHT RAZOR-SHAVE
Lo Storto
Feather
Zenith Chubby Scrubby Boar B27 - 28mm x 55mm
Vitos Extra Super Coco
Osma Alum Block
T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel
Hyaluranoic Acid
Bull Dog Skin Care Moisturizer
Lucky Tiger After Shave & Face Tonic

Blood! I haven’t seen this much blood running off my face in sixty years. At sixteen years old my first Gillette TTO shave I opened up the right side of my face a bit. Today’s slashes the first cuts since then. Thank You for the edge David Aka: “Blad the Enabler” I didn’t feel a thing. Impression. Fantastic!

First problem with my first straight shave is holding the razor. I have to hold it in my right hand and then place the left on it to mirror the grip. I’m right handed. Everybody’s comment use your left hand for your left side. May as well start the shave on the left side. I meant to shave same as the Grande and Lo Storto three quick strokes and repeat. Didn’t happen. I did one long sweeping stroke from sideburn to chin. I reapeted two more long sweeping strokes and my left cheek a solid DFS. I go around the chin and straight down the throat. I intuitively seemed to find the angle. Alarmingly fast smooth strokes. I went through a five day growth with no discernible drag or resistance. First stroke the blade in physicality felt a little light and fluttery, maybe it was vibrating, not sure. I attribute all of that to my grip. Lo Storto with a fresh Feather is not a slow razor. The left side of my face seemed to get done twice as fast as I‘m used to. I’m thinking WoW!
This is one of those times when the full IDIOT inside me says, how hard can it be. I proceed to the moustache and chin. Going at the left side moustache still with left hand somehow first slash. I make a mental note to compose myself and slow down as I work to stop the bleeding. I proceed to the chin and open it up right away I do not know how it happened. Stopped the bleeding and went to the right cheek. The right side went smoother and quicker than the left, comparatively a blur to what I am used to. The right chin and throat again quick as a wink North to south. WTG on both my cheeks, and XTG on N. to S throat strokes. Chin and moustache area techniques will need to develop as well as my left handed grip on the razor. The razor felt very comfortable in my right hand. Back to the moustache and chin, its opened up and bleeding again. I stop the bleeding try XTG strokes on moustache and cut some whiskers without removing nose. Chin starts bleeding again I had also opened up a pimple wound which started bleeding out. I really don’t know how I got the weeper on my Adam’s apple. I’m about 95% face shaved and decided to call first outing a success. The shaved parts are a nice comfortable DFS. I snap a pic for posterity and reach for Lo Storto. My straight shaves can only get better. Right!

I know there is a crowd out there that says just do one cheek first time etc. A 120hr shave schedule puts number 100 sometime a year after this coming Christmas. All my shaving progress on DE was on an accelerated pace. I found my first Straight shave the same. Start shaving and see what happens. Both cut mishaps were with the left hand on the left side of my face. I will add a concentrated effort on the left hand and face next shave.

Impression. Fabulous. I loved it and slash la-roo will be back. The straight shave was a lot closer, smoother and way faster than I thought it would be. Actually I thought it would be slower than DE not twice as fast. The post skin and shave comfort is excellent. I got a lot of enjoyment out of the straight shave. Not so much on the cuts though. I’m more than happy to dive down another rabbit hole. They are a lot of fun. I continue to use my Lo Storto on head and face clean ups for now. I think I’ll blow the dust off my beloved Grande and try my Piccolo for a first shave as I go forward learning how to hold a straight razor more better.

Lo Storto’s last Slantember outing was a little quicker on the face. A Boker with Buffalo horn scales on my first straight outing removed the five day growth. About the same resistance in whiskers as the remaining blood from the straight. A small task for Lo Storto to complete the 95% straight shave and ease it into a very comfortable BBS. Without too much strain on a 1st use Feather an excellent ATG Single Pass BBS head shave. Above average post skin comfort. I can hardly wait for my next shave.

 

[Esox]

Those old Boker blades are nice, even if I didnt get a good shave with the one I tried. I didnt have any blood either but the edge didnt suit my whiskers. I was shaving at around a 75° angle, more scraping the growth off than cutting it or it wouldnt shave.

You're a braver man than I to try it left handed. I didnt have any issues only using my right but I can see where using both left and right hands would be an advantage.

I think I bled more from using a GSB than you did using a straight haha.

 

[Clay S]

Blood! I haven’t seen this much blood running off my face in sixty years. At sixteen years old my first Gillette TTO shave I opened up the right side of my face a bit. Today’s slashes the first cuts since then. Thank You for the edge David Aka: “Blad the Enabler” I didn’t feel a thing. Impression. Fantastic!

“Blad the Enabler” does sound better.

 

[thombrogan]

Heal quick, @JoWolf Not all the straight razor users shave ambidextrously, but most do. A large amount also have goatees because the sites of your injuries because of the difficulty in navigating those angles. But many do shave their entire face (some their entire head or use a safety razor for the skull), so it should be in your grasp, too. Congratulations

 

[JoWolf]

Heal quick, @JoWolf Not all the straight razor users shave ambidextrously, but most do. A large amount also have goatees because the sites of your injuries because of the difficulty in navigating those angles. But many do shave their entire face (some their entire head or use a safety razor for the skull), so it should be in your grasp, too. Congratulations

Thank you Thom. I am excited to start learning a new skill. The shave journey continues.

 

[MilkCrate]

Very nice razor!

The left hand will get better and it will remember, if you continue to use it. There are also shavers that only use their dominant hand too.

 

[Blad]

You jumped in at the deep end John! Threw caution to the wind! Well, it's better to get the first one over with and on to the next. Congratulations on joining the club, and on doing so well first time out. No looking back now!

 

[JoWolf]

Very nice razor!

The left hand will get better and it will remember, if you continue to use it. There are also shavers that only use their dominant hand too.

Thank you the razor is keepsake from my father-in-law. Makes it a little extra special.
I enjoyed using the left, complications arose around moustache and chin areas only. It felt very good on the cheek and neck. I also preferred the sight lines.

 

[JoWolf]

You jumped in at the deep end John! Threw caution to the wind! Well, it's better to get the first one over with and on to the next. Congratulations on joining the club, and on doing so well first time out. No looking back now!

Thank you David. I really enjoyed the shave. Surprised how quick and smooth the blade was. The edge you set worked brilliantly. The keen edge probably kept me out of further problems. Very pleased with my first effort.