JimDandy's "Just One More Soap Cant Hurt" Diary - A Noob's first steps.

[JimDandy]

I also tried to use a very shallow angle, but was recently told that some will use a steeper angle with an open comb for better results.

Oh, Jim Dandy Homebrew Shave Oil....has a nice ring to it! Needs a good Philly themed slogan and logo!

Hey, great suggestion on trying a different angle. Maybe next time I'm up for some OC action, I'll try a steeper angle instead of a more shallow angle.

RE the shave oil logo, maybe I'll see if Stirling wants to add it to their Ben Franklin line? Although my Tangerine and Bergamot PSO does not smell like 'an older gentleman’s pantaloons at the end of a hot July day in Philadelphia' maybe we can pitch it as a 'Complimentary Scent' ....LOL, with a Quill Pen add-on.. can you see the Gift Set? It comes in a wrapper that looks like its holding a greasy cheesesteak....

 

[JimDandy]

The Lather Rises - a recap of Easter Weekend Shaves

After a few days lapse, its time for me to catch up a bit. In summary, three shaves, two with soaps I've used before (but one only once) and a new sample that arrived in my mailbox on Saturday.

Friday 03/30
Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: PolSilver Super Iridium (fresh)*
· Brush: Semogue 1800 boar
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:
Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Preshave oil
Soap: Stirling Arkadia
Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Urban Cabin 'Copperhead' Beard Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

Experience:
This was my first time with the PolSilver Super Iridium blade, and at first blush it seemed smooth and mild-ish. Of course I love the scent of the Stirling Arkadia. To me, this soap is an absolute joy to work with. It lathers up into a peaks of heavily scented goodness. It's application on the face is a thick cushion layer. I feel like I've gushed about Stirling soaps elsewhere in this journal or perhaps the Soap forum, so I wont go off the deep end here. I'll sum up by saying I enjoy this soap very much, and whenever I am about to shave, this soap is one that is always in the "which soap today' lineup, despite the pleasure i get from trying new soaps. To me that says something.

This was a wonderful three pass shave, but there was definitely a feeling and desire to 'get closer'. Perhaps I've been spoiled by my recent, albeit imperfect, super-close maiden Open Comb voyage. The closeness of that shave became my new benchmark I suspect.

 

[Steveymetal]

Great shave! It's always hard to resist another pass to try to get closer haha.

It seems Stirling soaps are really working for you! I'll have to get my hands on some. From what I hear their samples are pretty decent size and last a lot longer than most other samples. I might have to grab a few.

 

[JimDandy]

Sunday 04/01
Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: PolSilver Super Iridium (2nd shave)
· Brush: Semogue 1800 boar
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:
Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Preshave oil
Soap: Summer Break - History 101*
Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

I received a sample of Summer Break soaps on Saturday and was excited to try them. Currently this rather new (I think) company offers 3 soaps. The Teacher's Pet is supposedly apple and there are a few reviews on YouTube popping up by popular wet-shave vloggers. Out of the three samples, its actually my least favorite, BUT i haven't bloomed it yet, just sniffed the sample. The sample whose scent I most liked was History 101, followed by Brain Break. I have quite a few teachers in my family, so naturally, given the bio this couple gives to the public, I was compelled to try their soap. Also, there was a hand written thank you note on the packing slip with the samples encouraging feedback about my experience with their products - a nice touch.

A pea sized piece of the rather soft soap pressed into the bottom of my lather bowl with just a few drops of water on it was all that was needed to really get the brush loaded up. Once I got the tell-tale pulling and stickiness, it was tome for more water. I dont know that I have enough experience to say if this is a 'thirsty' soap or not, but I'll say I went back and moistened the tip of my brush 3 times while working up a lather until the transubstantiation into silkiness occurred. I find it remarkable that the lather gets 'quieter', a little shinier, richer, denser etc as it morphs into the finished product. I'll say from that pea sized peice i ended up with a huge bowl of lather. What looked like enough for 4 generously lathered passes.

The soap went on pretty thick and didnt break apart. It held up well in the bowl the entire time. The sent was present but not overwhelming. I got three passes and a touch up. I contemplated how quickly these PolSiver blades start to go dull since I felt like my shave on Friday was closer. Any comment about these PolSivers would be welcomed. More than likely a combo of my technique, the blade and the full moon... LOL

The scent of this soap paired well with my Citrus and Bergamot homemade shave oil, which I also apply post sometimes under a moisturizer. Im excited to try the other two Summer Break Soaps. The are a bit denser (harder) than Stirling soaps but dense like a puck. It kind of reminded me of a sample of Natural Irish I got from Rory in its consistency.

 

[JimDandy]

I hear their samples are pretty decent size and last a lot longer than most other samples. I might have to grab a few

Hey Steveymetal - i would totally encourage it. I HAD to stop putting them in my cart at 6 samples. I could go back and put 6 more different scents in the cart. The little pucks are semi-soft and a generous size. I absolutely love their scents so far. I stuck the Arkadia puck into an old hair paste tin and it fit well. They come wrapped in cellophane with a scent label and are pretty pliable, so if you have something to put them in you're all set. those little 2 oz mason jars are good, old American Crew type hair product plastic tins are nearly perfect. I used the Arkadia soap 3 times, and did a practice lather when I first got it and it appears to me as if there is still half the disc left, I cannot see the bottom of the tin yet.

I totally recommend them.

 

[Steveymetal]

That's what I've heard. About 8-10 shaves per sample. I'll have to look in to the Mason jars. Or Stirling sells reusable containers for about a buck.

The teacher themed soaps sound interesting as well! I'll have to check them out for sure!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JimDandy]

Sunday 04/01
They are a bit denser (harder) than Stirling soaps but dense like a puck. It kind of reminded me of a sample of Natural Irish I got from Rory in its consistency.

minor correction. should say " NOT dense like a puck."

 

[JimDandy]

Monday 04/03
Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: PolSilver Super Iridium (3rd shave)
· Brush: Semogue 1800 boar
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: Natural Irish - Natural - one of the samples in a PIF from Rory1262
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

Experience:
This was a morning shave. I shaved yesterday, but was going to be in a situation where looking well groomed was expected, so I wanted to avoid a shadow poking through by noon. That said, I couldn't spend 30 minutes on a shave. I love being very methodical, deliberate and contemplative during my evening shaves, but this morning it was a bit of 'auto-pilot'. That said, I dipped into the sample drawer and pulled out a sample of Natural Irish - Natural. I had previously used their Seaweed a few weeks ago. I also did a practice lather around the same time with the Natural. I recall really liking the unique scent of the Seaweed.

I'll say one should not confuse that Natural scent to mean Neutral. It is not.. It definitely has an interesting, and in my opinion attractive scent. That said, i thought the Seaweed scent was remarkably unique, and preferred that a little more than this one. I had to dig just a bit on the internet to find out more about this soap. It seems Natural Irish is a very well regarded soap-maker with several awards to show that they have a quality product. I could look a bit deeper but it seems there were no immediately evident CONUS re-sellers. Based upon my experience with both the Seaweed and the Natural, it may be worth my effort to seek out a US re-seller.

I very much enjoyed working this soap into a lather. Voluminous would be an understatement. I don't want to get hyperbolic, but cumulo clouds come to mind when i try to illustrate what my bowl looked like after whipping this soap up. The Natural scent was hard to pin down, but interesting, and i found myself really enjoying it's elusiveness. The Seaweed that I used prior, was also very unique and compellingly complex.

The shave with this Natural Irish made me want to do pass after pass after pass. It just made me want to play with it for as long as I could. Easy to lay on thick, providing a nice slickness, no razor drag at all. I easily did the usual WTG, ATG, XTG, and a bit of cleanup in the throat adam's apple area. No irritation at all, and a nice smoothness. Although i think 3 shaves on this PolSilver blade is it. I perceived (falsely or not) mid-shave that the blade was dulling. B

I really enjoyed this Natural Irish soap and I should definitely start keeping a list of soaps that would eventually make up a 'core rotation'. This brand would be among them for sure. Thanks Rory for providing me with a soap that was totally off of my radar.

 

[MilkCrate]

Hey Steveymetal - i would totally encourage it. I HAD to stop putting them in my cart at 6 samples. I could go back and put 6 more different scents in the cart. The little pucks are semi-soft and a generous size. I absolutely love their scents so far. I stuck the Arkadia puck into an old hair paste tin and it fit well. They come wrapped in cellophane with a scent label and are pretty pliable, so if you have something to put them in you're all set. those little 2 oz mason jars are good, old American Crew type hair product plastic tins are nearly perfect. I used the Arkadia soap 3 times, and did a practice lather when I first got it and it appears to me as if there is still half the disc left, I cannot see the bottom of the tin yet.

I totally recommend them.

I recommend them as well. The sample sizes are generous. They threw in a free sample of barbershop hand soap too. Now I’m going to have to get the shave soap sample to match.

 

[WildWest74]

I am a little behind in doing so, but welcome to the journals, James! We have multiple Daves and Chrises around here, so it will be nice to confuse people with another James/Jim, lol!

Great stuff so far, and I look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Rory1262]

I am in Ireland now and had Natural Ireland deliver some goods to my hotel. I too am well pleased. Look for a passaround to start when I get home. (They do ship to the US.)

 

[Rory1262]

I hadn't seen you mention using the Seaweed until now, James. I guess that outing predated your journal.

I could happily use Natural Ireland soap every day. I look forward to trying the Stout and Seaweed variety soon.

 

[JimDandy]

I hadn't seen you mention using the Seaweed until now, James. I guess that outing predated ....

Hi Rory - that is exactly correct. But as you know the PIF samples have enough for several shaves. My plan was to use the Seaweed again and write something up with more detail. In short, both the natural and the seaweed were fantastic IMO.

I could go out on a limb at this point and say that of those samples I’ve tried the Irish would be very close to the top, maybe just eeking out Susdsy.

I want to use them all again before I ‘rank’ my preferences. One shave may not be enough to form a complete decision about a particular soap.

Again, I appreciate the PIF. I am having so much fun trying and writing about all of these soaps.

 

[JimDandy]

Once, Twice, Three Times a........

Tuesday 04/03 and Wednesday 04/04
Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum
· Brush: Semogue 1800 boar
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: Mike's Natural - Hungarian Lavender - one of the samples in a PIF from Rory1262
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

Well, I am still exploring what went wrong with my process here. I am hoping it was just the alignment of the stars, or too much water or something. That said, although I cannot expect epiphanies with every shave, after reading and viewing so many gushing reviews of Mike's Natural, I was surprised by my lack-luster experience with this soap.

I made two separate attempts to use this soap. I was excited to experience its luxury based upon the handful of reviews I've read here and scene on YouTube vlogs. My first attempt was an evening shave. I took a nut sized piece of the soap out of the sample container and pressed it into the bottom of my bowl. I added a tbs of water or so to moisten the blotch and get it ready to load up into my presoaked and wrung out boar brush. I noticed it loading up and getting to that bubbly thin state. It started to get sticky and 'pull' a bit, and to me, in my short experience, this has been a sign that the soap is ready to accept more water and transition into a lather. So I dipped my brush under the faucet for a second to give it some water. I started to whip the lather up, it got thick and silky and I was ready to begin to lather my face. As I was lathering in preparation for my first pass, the lather began to 'fade' and dissipate before my eyes. I got enough on my face for a pass, which was moistened and had some PSO on it, but it was a thinner layer than I expected.

I got through the first pass, and went back to the bowl to find the lather had complexly dissipated. Surprising and a bit perplexing since I was mid-shave. I wanted to not give up the ghost, so I resuscitated what was in the bowl by tossing in a fingernail size bit of Cella. I chose this soap because I have never seen this soap fail me, and I wanted to incorporate that into whatever was happening with the Mikes. The almond-y scent of the Cella was familiar and the lather quickly whipped up into something I could work with. I finished the shave with the Mike/Cella frankensoap and it was a very smooth shave. I was mystified by what happened to the Mikes, and thought, I'd just try it again next time i was ready for a shave.

So the next evening i DID try it again. Same set up. I used a bigger blotch of soap this time, thinking maybe I was too greedy with the soap. Well it lathered up fine to a nice peaky bowl full of lather, but as I applied it to my face, the lather dissipated AGAIN - both in the brush and the bowl! Most odd. Of course, I immediately thought that maybe this soap is really touchy with how much water it takes, and since a lot of the soaps I've been playing with are kind of 'thirsty', maybe I was using a brush that was too wet? Maybe. This time though, it wasn't a complete fail. I did not have to rescue the soap by adding more, but it was not the thick rich peaky lather (at least not after the first minute) that everyone seems to rave about. I got through the shave with three passes, but it was a thin layer of lather for all three. There wasn't any irritation, but I have definitely had more robust lathers with other soaps.

I'd be interested to hear other's experiences with Mikes. Is it too much water, an aversion to Boar brushes? I'm puzzled. I have enough for one more try I think. I'm a bit determined to find this soaps sweet spot and experience what others have gushed about.

 

[JimDandy]

Another Excellent Natural Irish Shave

Thursday 04/5
Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum (3rd)
· Brush: Semogue 1800 boar
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: Natural Irish - Seaweed - one of the samples in a PIF from Rory1262
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

After my two less than stellar shaves with Mike's I was craving big, voluminous, dense lather. I contemplated another Stirling Arkadia, or CRSW Glide Morning Ghost shave, but then I recalled my experiences with two samples that Rory gave me from Natural Irish. I had used the Seaweed once before, but didn't document my experience with it in my journal. So that was the perfect reason to dip into the sample again.

I really enjoyed both the Natural and the Seaweed versions of this soap. I have a bit of a stronger draw towards the scent of the Seaweed. They seem to also have a Stout and Seaweed. This sample was just Seaweed.

Again, this soap did not disappoint. - and that's an understatement. It's a joy to use. It was easy to lather and a little goes a long way. I really like the scent, and the texture and feel of this soap. It's forgiving enough to take quite a bit of whipping and water, and get really stiff, which I love. Again, this scent is unusual, complex, and hard to pin down. I enjoy it immensely.

I was able to do three passes WTG, ATG, XTG, and a cleanup that almost counted as a full pass. The slickness left behind after each pass was pleasing to me - and perhaps that's what was provoking me to do 'just one more quick one'..LOL.

As I said before, this Irish Natural will make its way onto a short-list of soaps that I will rotate regularly, once I am out of samples. Specifically, I will seek out the Seaweed. IMO based upon three shaves, Irish Natural and I get along very well. I have maybe two more shaves in the Natural sample and one more in the Seaweed, and I hope that my future shaves w NI are just as pleasing as the ones I've had thus far.

@Rory1262 - I can see why you like these soaps so much. They are excellent, IMO. Thanks Again. I hope your Ireland trip goes well.

 

[Rory1262]

You may wish to join the forthcoming Natural Ireland passaround if for no other reason than to try the Stout and Seaweed, James! (I got home last night.)

 

[JimDandy]

....but welcome to the journals, .

@WildWest74 Thanks Jim! Any affiliation with the Wild West Shaving Co., or just a coincidental handle?

 

[JimDandy]

...the forthcoming Natural Ireland passaround

@Rory1262 Welcome Home, and I'll keep an eye peeled for that PassAround for sure!

 

[Rory1262]

Passaround - Natural Ireland soaps - all three varieties

 

[WildWest74]

@WildWest74 Thanks Jim! Any affiliation with the Wild West Shaving Co., or just a coincidental handle?

No affiliation, but I will admit that I only tried the soap because it was called Wild West. That's been my nickname for a few years. Fortunately the soap doesn't suck!