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Perma-Sharp #38

Fatip Gentile
Omega 51
Proraso Green preshave
Cella

3 passes, WTG, XTG, XTG/ATG

The first 2 passes was as per.

Third pass, XTG/ATG but mosty ATG. My face is very smooth but a bit red. It couldn't be called a comfortable shave, not by any stretch of the imagination. 3 passes continues to feels like too much work for me and I still don't prize BBS that highly.

I really will be back to my 2 pass routine next shave.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
As an overdoer, I’m hoping you’re not following such a path on the regular. It would be an otter travesty.
 
As an overdoer, I’m hoping you’re not following such a path on the regular. It would be an otter travesty.

No chance. Just an extended moment of madness. I love my blissful post shaves way too much and when it comes to BBS...

otter.jpg
 
Perma-Sharp #39

Fatip Gentile
Omega 51
Proraso Green preshave
Rasozero Spiffero

2 passes, both WTG

It was a toss up between a hopefully super comfortable 2 pass, WTG and another experimental 2 pass WTG, XTG/ATG/WTG. Boy am I glad I chose the former.

Recent attempts at a 2 pass WTG shave have been strangely lacking in the comfort department compared to a WTG, XTG shave but I've just had the best shave of my life, an absolute pleasure from start to finish. Not only comfortable but closer all round than the last 2 shaves too. A genuine DFS, pushing BBS in places. I kid ye not. And strictly WTG.

The post shave is otter-ly remarkable. Zero irritation, redness or dryness. Not a hint of a weeper anywhere, my skin is super cool and super moisturised. Rasozero is possibly my best soap now and I won't hesitate to buy it again in a different fragrance, or any other soap made by Tcheon Fung Sing for that matter.

Any thoughts that this blade may be nearing the end have been well and truly banished. A top shave.
 
Perma-Sharp #40

Fatip Gentile
Omega 51
Proraso Green preshave
Proraso Green

2 passes, both WTG

A happy repeat of the last shave. With the third theme of the first movement of Bruckners 4th Symphony in my head, I was relaxed from my head down to my toes. About half way through the first pass, on the left side of my face my strokes remained long but became slow and lazy with it. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell. It stayed that way till the end of the shave.

The blade still possesses that strange, soft quality I've mentioned before, especially noticeable under my bottom lip and on the face of my chin. Is it the buttery quality the excalibur crew describe? I wouldn't know but it's very forgiving. I can use a lot of pressure on my most sensitive area with no ill effect.

A splendid, leisurely shave. Ba, ba, baaa, ba, ba, ba, ba!
 
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Perma-Sharp #41

Fatip Gentile
Omega 51
Proraso Green preshave
Palmolive Men Classic

2 passes, both WTG

A smooth shave, no tugging, no sore spots. A degree or two less close for around a 1 x 2 inch area left and right cheeks. Might be the blade, more likely me, since the rest of the shave is at my normal level of closeness. No irritation and a very nice, comfortable post shave, which is the most important thing.

I finished with a squirt of Alvarez Gomez Agua de Colonia Concentrada at the base and sides of my neck. I've had a sample kicking around for ages so I thought I'd give it a go. It's lemony, a bit floraly and a bit eucalyptusy. Pleasant enough but I can't see myself shelling out on fragrances in the future. It's nicer than I expected though.
 
Perma-Sharp #42

Fatip Gentile
Omega 51
Proraso Green preshave
Proraso White

2 passes, both WTG

I've said everything there is to say about Proraso White. The Omega continues to deliver without fault. I slowed down considerably at the start of the second pass, conciously striving for closeness. An uncomfortable stroke at the left corner of my mouth had me reverting to a speedy, careless race to the finish. It was plain sailing all the way home. A genuine DFS+, beautiful post shave.

Over and out.
 
Perma-Sharp #43

Fatip Gentile
Omega 51
Proraso Green preshave
Proraso Red

2 passes, both WTG. Absolutely no tugging whatsoever, at any stage of the shave. The blade still feels great. No irritation, no nicks or weepers, no redness or dryness.

I can't recall Proraso Red letting me down when it comes to post shave. With the green preshave, it's a practically unbeatable combination. Most soaps at the moment are my favourite when I'm using them but one thing is for sure. Proraso Red is the best smelling soap I have, bar none. It's very strong and I love the way it lingers. I can here Tabac calling.

come-to-me-my-precious.jpg
 
Perma-Sharp #44

Fatip Gentile
Omega 51
Proraso Green preshave
Cella


2 passes, both WTG. Last shave: 72 hours

I had company this weekend and on into the beginning of the the week which altered my schedule slightly. The underside of my chin was getting itchy as of last night and I was in dire need of todays shave.

First pass, and first things first; no tugging. I mean at all. On a 3 day beard with a blade on it's 44th use. This Fatip is one helluva razor. The second pass was blissful. Smoothness personified, but my skin has suffered just slightly from the neglect. Everyday shaving is now a real possibility. Ok post shave, no weepers but the closeness is showing the first signs of lacking, although it could well just be carelesness on my part, such was my haste to get the stubble gone.

Itch well and truly scratched. :001_smile

DSCF2971.JPG
 
Stupid question for you, Wes. For those of us still on the Imperial system of weights and measures, is your Omega 51 brush also known as an Omega 10290?

Far from stupid Thom. The full model number of my brush is 10051 but I was just being lazy and leaving off the 100. I never considered that it might be a bit confusing so apologies on my part to anyone who wondered what I was going on about. I kept seeing the Omega 49 referred to as the Omega 49 and for some strange reason I thought that the model was 10049 and it was being aletered due to some kind of advanced Omega shorthand. I've just seen that 49 is the full number of the Omega 49.

Anyhow, my Omega 10051 is equipped with a small barrel handle and a 24mm knot with a loft of just 48mm. It's super scrubby with major backbone but the tips are very soft. I love it. I'll be getting hold of the Omega 40033 you suggested which should be similar but a bit more backbone-y. It'll be useful to rotate when and if I start daily shaving, allowing each brush to dry properly between uses.

The Omega 10290 is similar to my 10051 in everyway but with a larger, differently shaped handle.

The 10290

1597785386912.png


and here's my 10051. Both from Connaughts website.

1597785476842.png


I went through a stage of not being sure if I was soaking mine properly as it developed a couple of cracks. The whole saga is available here . The seller I bought mine from kindly refunded me (after 5 months. Wow!) so I duly purchased my Semogue as a replacement. To cut a long story short, the Semogue was a lot softer but never held enough lather for more than one pass, no matter how long I soaked it for or how heavily I loaded (and some of the loading I did was ridiculous) and I'd also sometimes get broken lathers. As soon as I started rotating my two brushes, since rotating soaps was so succesful, and after trying the 'Wardaddy' lathering technique, I realised just how amazing this little brush is and how much I appreciate backbone. The rest, as they say, is history.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I had the 10051, and was very happy with it, but sadly its lifespan was limited. I was however using as a sole brush, so it wasn't getting drying time, and started shedding heavily after several months. It was a nice brush to use, but I wasn't interested in getting additional brushes to expand drying times (I don't do "rotations" and "systems"), so I went all synthetic.

I find the Kent Infinity (the small one) to be quite boar like in use, and serves the job perfectly for hard soaps. I have a Maggard synth too (the same type Mike @Esox uses), and that looks after the softer soaps and creams. If I wasn't averse to swapping brushes every shave, I'd probably still be using those cheap boars now.
 
I had the 10051, and was very happy with it, but sadly its lifespan was limited. I was however using as a sole brush, so it wasn't getting drying time, and started shedding heavily after several months. It was a nice brush to use, but I wasn't interested in getting additional brushes to expand drying times (I don't do "rotations" and "systems"), so I went all synthetic.

I find the Kent Infinity (the small one) to be quite boar like in use, and serves the job perfectly for hard soaps. I have a Maggard synth too (the same type Mike @Esox uses), and that looks after the softer soaps and creams. If I wasn't averse to swapping brushes every shave, I'd probably still be using those cheap boars now.

Having spent the last year or so really learning how to get the best out of my boars and about the behaviour of boar brushes in general I've developed a real fondness for them. But I'll definitely be giving a synthetic a go sooner or later. Badgers maybe, maybe not.

Rotation has become a thing for me without me really planning it. But it's strict and fair. With absolutely no variation or favouritism the shaving products I select as being useable live in a true democracy. For now (says the self appointed leader).
 
Perma-Sharp #45

Fatip Gentile
Omega 10051
Proraso Green preshave
Rasozero Spiffero

I gave my Fatip a clean yesterday. It needed it. The 88 days worth of accumulated soap scum took a bit of shifting. Now it's nice and shiny again. Everytime I open my bathroom cabinet I feel like a magpie.

fatip cleaned.JPG


Shiny!

2 passes, both WTG.

The first pass was standard, which is to say shallow to neutral but mostly shallow, smooth and mostly straight forward. I overshaved a touch on the left side of my lower lip, resulting in a sore spot and noticed a weeper near my right cheekbone.

Second pass. I read the first half of posts in the Blackland Blackbird Brotherhood thread last night and was struck by a lot of talk of steep angle shaving. So, with no prior planning and completely upon impulse I started at my right ear with the safety bar against my skin, rotated upwards a little and pulled down. After the next stroke my left finger followed the razor. The skin was very smooth. Hmmm. I shaved steep for the rest of the pass. The overall feeling was a bit more...scrapy. Or was it? What I could hear sounded like scraping but the more I concentrated on the feedback from a tactile perspective, the less certain I became. In fact, at times I could barely feel the blade. Perhaps I'm just shaving with the bar, I thought to myself, so occasionally I would rotate the razor upwards a little more or apply a little pressure. Sometimes the audio would grow but I struggled to feel much of anything. I was shaving with a much lighter touch, too, not purposely, it just happened that way.

After rinsing off I had to reshave the front edge of my chin. Otherwise, although it felt a little less comfortable, the steep angle has definitely resulted in a closer shave overall. My cheeks are not far off BBS. The post shave is fine, but not fine, which is ok. I may not be ready to join the SASA brotherhood but I'm glad to have steep angle shaving in my repertoire. I have a feeling that it might come in handy in the future.
 
Perma-Sharp #45

Fatip Gentile
Omega 10051
Proraso Green preshave
Rasozero Spiffero

I gave my Fatip a clean yesterday. It needed it. The 88 days worth of accumulated soap scum took a bit of shifting. Now it's nice and shiny again. Everytime I open my bathroom cabinet I feel like a magpie.

View attachment 1142737

Shiny!

2 passes, both WTG.

The first pass was standard, which is to say shallow to neutral but mostly shallow, smooth and mostly straight forward. I overshaved a touch on the left side of my lower lip, resulting in a sore spot and noticed a weeper near my right cheekbone.

Second pass. I read the first half of posts in the Blackland Blackbird Brotherhood thread last night and was struck by a lot of talk of steep angle shaving. So, with no prior planning and completely upon impulse I started at my right ear with the safety bar against my skin, rotated upwards a little and pulled down. After the next stroke my left finger followed the razor. The skin was very smooth. Hmmm. I shaved steep for the rest of the pass. The overall feeling was a bit more...scrapy. Or was it? What I could hear sounded like scraping but the more I concentrated on the feedback from a tactile perspective, the less certain I became. In fact, at times I could barely feel the blade. Perhaps I'm just shaving with the bar, I thought to myself, so occasionally I would rotate the razor upwards a little more or apply a little pressure. Sometimes the audio would grow but I struggled to feel much of anything. I was shaving with a much lighter touch, too, not purposely, it just happened that way.

After rinsing off I had to reshave the front edge of my chin. Otherwise, although it felt a little less comfortable, the steep angle has definitely resulted in a closer shave overall. My cheeks are not far off BBS. The post shave is fine, but not fine, which is ok. I may not be ready to join the SASA brotherhood but I'm glad to have steep angle shaving in my repertoire. I have a feeling that it might come in handy in the future.

With the BOSC tagline, you are almost required to try at least half of the crazy ways you might hear people shaving. Who would have thought steep would be comfortable? It does turn up the volume though. :)
 
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