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

[JimDandy]

Ahhh....The blissful relaxation of a Friday Evening Shave.

Friday 04/6
Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum (4th)
· Brush: Semogue 1800 boar
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: Cold River Soap Works - Glide: Morning Ghost
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

I had a long busy weekend ahead of me, so intentionally, kept my Friday plan quite low key. The hectic agenda was completely work related, and that harried pace started on Friday as I was pulled into many last-minute tasks in that final countdown before a major IT system upgrade. I got out of work late, had a good workout at the gym and was excitedly thinking about the relaxation a Friday evening shave would provide.

That said, I wanted overt luxury, and gravitated towards my Cold River Soap Works as the foundation for a relaxing shave. This is the first time I really, really felt like a well executed wet-shave was pure 100% pleasure. I almost always get some form of pleasure out of a shave since breaking free from the downward spiral vacuum of disposable cartridges and the products normally linked to them, but the notion of the shave as purely an indulgent pass-time was a new feeling. After all, it was Friday, no real need for a shave.

Anyway I showered and grabbed a large almond size piece of the CRSW soap. According to thier website, Morning Ghost is "A beautiful fragrance highlighting a special vetiver essential oil that is green, earthy and spicy. Rounding off the complex in-house blending is a mixing of essential oils bringing an aromatic woodsy scent with a balanced lemony citrus running throughout." Those who've previously endured my gushing here about specific scent profiles may recall my love of Vetiver and citrus, so it's no surprise that I love this scent. If you're like me and could be happy with pine needles and ferns stuffed in your shirt to provide fragrance, I would really encourage you to grab this scent. Admittedly there are less expensive soaps, but in my limited experience, the scent and performance of this soap are perfect for a well-paced, relaxing, unrushed shave. I personally, would not use this soap for rushing though a 5 minute two-pass shave. Its just too fun to use and has such a rich and luxurious feeling, both in the bowl, brush and on the face.

And even on it's 4th shave the Bic Chrome Platinum combined with this soap set the stage for an absolutely delightful evening shave that left me feeling very satisfied. The shave was very very smooth, and provided me with a real sense of departure from the bustle of the previous days. Who knew taking a piece of very sharp metal to your face would do such a thing...LOL.

 

[JimDandy]

Saturday Night's Alright for Shavin'...
- thank you Elton...lol

Saturday 04/07
Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (part of a blade sampler from TryaBlade)
· Brush: Semogue 1800 boar
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: Stirling Arkadia (probably my 5th shave on this sample)
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

Well I was prepping to pull and all-nighter at work starting at midnight, so after an evening nap prior to going to work, I showered and shaved around 10:30 pm. Possibly the latest I've ever shaved.

I showered and craved the strong scent of the Arkadia shave soap. Earlier that day, I had cleaned my razor to remove some of the soap residue and put in a new blade. I never used the Gillette Silver Blue before, so I was a little excited to try it.

Of course, I adore Arkadia's nearly intoxicating scent that is said to be a "blend of Orange and Grapefruit, middle notes of Black Pepper and Pelargonium (Geranium), and base notes of Patchouli, Cedar, Vetiver, and Vanilla. It's elegant, grassy, and amazingly provocative". This is a very fitting description. I'd say this scent isn't subtle. It lingers for sure. I was at work at least 3 hours later and could still catch the occasional passing whiff of it.

If you are on the fence about some of Stirling's very interesting scent profiles, they have very generous samples for sale. There was a bit of discussion earlier in this journal about Stirling's unique scents and substantially sized samples. I am on what it quite possibly my 5-6th shave on this sample and I still cant see the bottom of the tin where I put this sample. I would really encourage you to try them if you are thinking about it.

This soap went on thick. Huge peaks in the bowl. I did 3 passes and a clean up, and wanted to do more, but my neck was whispering "you're there, rinse and enjoy" lol. One more pass, and my neck would have been saying "you had to have one more didn't ya."

That said, this was my closest, most irritation free shave to date. So maybe a sweet-spot combination EJDE89 W the Gillette Blue Silver and Stirling Soap? Donno but man it felt great for HOURS afterwards. Now to me, that a great time.

 

[JimDandy]

Catching Up With DEpeche Mode......

For those of a certain age (LOL)

This week's journaling got away from me a bit, and, although I keep a little logbook of shaves (date/razor/blade/soap/brush), I am pretty sure I missed logging one on either 04/8 or 04/9. Its a blur.

Tues 04/10
This was a morning shave using items all talked about here previously with one exception.

Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (3rd shave)
· Brush: Vie-Long 12601 Horse Hair Shaving Brush
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: CRSW – Glide: Morning Ghost
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

I've had this Vie-Long horsehair brush since before I started journaling here, and wanted to use my Semogue boar as often as possible to get the break-in going, so the Vie-Long took a back seat. I am trying to develop a skill for matching a brush to a particular soap consistency profile. The boar has rarely let me down (because I bowl lather exclusively). But I don't want to get into a rut.

I'd say the Vie-Long can get the job done well enough, but there are three things I need to dial-in a bit in order to love this brush. And I do want to love this brush.

1. Stiffness is over-shadowed significantly by the Semogue. Not that I expect different natural hair from different beasts to have the same stiffness, just my ability to adapt to the best lathering technique for a given stiffness/brush. Conversely, this brush is softer, but the tips are not softer than the tips of the boar (if that makes sense).
2. I wish there was bit more bloom (bigger knot?). The Semogue looks like a head of unruly bed-head, and I like that (is that Splay? Or is that term strictly the spread of the bristles when being pressed down?)
3. Post shave brush cleaning. Seems circular motion while lathering gets the hair in the center of this brush more tangled than other brushes. No biggie, just comb it out.

The CRSW Morning Ghost was, of course, typically luxurious and lathery, and the Vetiver notes did not disappoint. I am finding myself getting better at developing the right touch to apply lather in a thick “whitewash”. It seems a light touch is the way to go (probably common sense to many, but a mini-revelation to me LOL).

While getting more acquainted with the characteristics of the Vie-Long I was able to really focus on how to get full and thick lather coverage. The lather seems to want to creep up into the brush closer to the handle, so it was fun to work on ways to get the later from that deep in the brush to come out on my neck and cheeks.

I’ve got to say with three passes and clean up, after 3 shaves, I am loving the Gillette Silver Blue and EJDE89 combo. I’ve had some of my smoothest shaves to date with that blade, so I may need to get a bigger tuck.

 

[JimDandy]

Temps finally rise in the East….I got my rubber sandals, and my straw hat

Wed 04/11
This was an evening shave

Hardware:
· Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L (CC)
· Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (4th shave)
· Brush: Vie-Long 12601 Horse Hair Shaving Brush
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: Summer Break - Brain Break
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Homemade Preshave Oil/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

My second foray into the samples I got from this fledgling soap maker, and so far I’d say two thumbs up for sure. I’ve posted a bit in the Soaps forum about this company. My experience with them has been refreshingly personal, and my experience with their products has been very pleasing indeed.

I used their History 101 a bit ago, and there is an entry above. Their issuing of two new scents earlier this week or last, reminded me that I have to try the other two samples I purchased from them. Now they have 5 shave soap offerings in all, with 4 permanent and one limited.

This Brain Break is described as a Lavender/Peppermint/Vanilla scent. I found it well balanced and not too overpowering. The lathering on these soaps has been phenomenal thus far. When applied to the face there is a deep protective lather that, if I recall correctly, doesn’t leave a ton of slickness behind.

I used the Vie-Long again for this shave and this soap behaved very well using the horse-hair brush. Thick meringue like peaks. Tons of fun to play with. A smooth shave using the Gillette SB on its 4th shave. I am liking this blade more with each shave that passes.

You may want to read Summer Break’s bio, imo it was one of the most compelling reasons to try the soap.

 

[JimDandy]

The Maiden Voyage of a New Addition to the Razor Fleet

Thurs 04/12/2018 – A Night After the Orchestra

A recent B&B BST acquisition got an audition with some familiar supporting cast.

This was an absolutely delightful evening where I was a witness to some musical magic. Under the skilled (and admittedly progressive) baton of Yannick Nezet-Sequin, Pianist Danill Trifonov brought the rather staid and conservative Philadelphia classical music-loving crowd swiftly to their feet in an ovation of sheer adoration following the climatic conclusion of a fresh and completely rousing interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto # 2. I love being witness to something as moving as the synergy of an entire orchestra melding with a soloist to produce music that can make you both weep and jump with glee in the same evening. But alas, since this is a shave journal and not the liner-notes for a Deutsche-Grammophon release, let’s get onto why we’re here.

This shave was going to tread some new territory for me. I recently acquired a Merkur 45C Bakelite (CC) razor from a fellow B&B member. Following his very sage advice, I surround the new razor with familiar hardware and software, so that the only new variable in the mix was the razor itself.

Hardware:
· Razor – Merkur Bakelite 45C
· Blade: Astra Green (3rd shave)
· Brush: Vie-Long 12601 Horse Hair Shaving Brush
· Lathering location: Textured bowl

Software:

• Pre: Hot shower, Homemade Bergamot and Tangerine Preshave oil
• Soap: Cold River Soap Works – Glide: Morning Ghost
• Post: Hot Rinse/Cold Rinse/Theyers Cucumber Witch/Kiehl's Facial Fuel

So at this point, the lathering of the CRSW, as you know, albiet familiar turf in this journal, is always a fun and rewarding time. The Vie-Long was the conduit for producing a thick, peaky, dense later.

The real star of this evening’s shave was the (new-to-me) Merkur 45. The gent that sold it to me was extremely generous with insight and advice about how to approach this razor, given my relative newness to wet-shaving. So, just to spread the love for those curious about this razor (I’m sure you can find more in the DE Razor subform, but since you’re already here….) I’ll paraphrase a bit of his advice below.

This is a super-lightweight razor. And, I’m told, because of this, one wants to be extra vigilant about applying absolutely no pressure in order to optimize the efficiency of it. For me this can be easier said than done – I’m still deleting four decades of shaving-muscle-memory. The other nugget of guidance was to really experiment with the angle throughout the shave. He suggested a steeper angle than what may be familiar to a newbie to get the most efficient shave. He also emphasized employing as slow a pace as possible.

I have to say that following his advice as I excitedly tried out this new razor was the best thing I could have done. It took (and will continue to take) a bit of angle adjustment throughout the shave to really dial in this razor’s efficiency. This thing shaves close – really close – but not “Open Comb-Irritation-You-Feel And-See-for-3-Hours-Afterwards” close. This left my neck and cheeks smooth and irritation free.

Things I need to strive get used to include the weight (or complete lack of), the angle difference in comparison to something like my EJDE89, the length of the handle and the feedback.

In closing I’ll say that I shaved around 10:30 in the evening (yesterday) and right now approximately 14 hours later, I am still essentially stubble (and irritation) free.

An absolutely glorious shave.

 

[JimDandy]

Seems like ages since I've made a journal entry. I've been working like mad and preparing for Spring in other ways, so keeping up with my shave journal has suffered. Spring has finally sprung in US Mid-Atlantic area, so I have been chipping away at my laughable golf handicap, and as well as other outdoor activities.

I will try to do full reviews of each of the following individually, but I got some Cold River Soap Works recent LE offering SpringTime LE Tallow. Advertised as Fresh, green, lemon, earthy, rosemary, woodsy. I also picked up some more samples from Summer Break Soaps, some DE Razors in the BST forum here, and a new soap by a Philadelphia local - The Urban Cabin Soap Co. All of which I'd like to catalog here.

I am on the @Rory1262 Natural Ireland Soap Pass-around list and am very excited to participate in that. I am also on the @GlazedBoker RockWell 6S Pass-around and will be having fun reviewing that as well.

So, a lot on deck. Hopefully, I'll be more vigilant about keeping up to date here, or for the pass arounds - within those specific threads.

 

[Steveymetal]

Good score on the Merkur! Looking forward to your upcoming soap reviews too!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JimDandy]

Hi All

My next few journal entries will be in the Rockwell 6S Pass-around thread. I am participating in the pass around and currently have the razor for the next week or so.

J