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Not Another Jorunal - SunShave Edition

Great write-up!

I'm curious what about the OC Era you didn't like compared to the SB?
This may be total user error with my technique, just personal preference, or more likely both as this was my first time using an opencomb. While I could maybe identify a bit more blade feel, it felt less "even" on my face. As in, I had a harder time feeling like I had the full razor at a cutting angle at any given time. I did like how it kept more lather around. But once I switched over to the 5 plate for the other side of my face, I felt like I was getting much better coverage as I made my way through the pass, and once I compared afterward it felt like a better shave. Maybe in a couple months I'll make my way back to open combs, but for now I'm pretty content to stick to straight (or my favorite, scalloped) bars while I keep improving technique
 
Progress on the Era front: I've had great shaves this week alternating between both the 5 plate and the 4 plate. I genuinely like them both, but I'd prefer to only keep one. I'll be leaving town for another weekend trip, so I'm thinking I'll come back with two days growth see how well the 4 plate handles it. If it does well, I think it might hit the perfect "sweet spot," and I'' return the 5.

In other news: I got my Gillette Slim back from our friend Chris over at Back Roads Gold. Feast your eyes, but shield your RAD, as it might be enough to make anyone want to stock up on a replated vintage or two!

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The razor has a date code from my parents' birth year. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. If you need replating done, you can't go wrong with Back Roads Gold. I wasn't particularly hot or cold on the shave I had with it before getting it replated, but now that I have a few more (read: several dozen) blades at my disposal, I think I'll give it a go with a feather or the wider kai blade on a more aggressive setting and see what I can do with it. Regardless, I think it's a gem to keep in the den for nothing more than the aesthetically pleasing history!
 
Progress on the Era front: I've had great shaves this week alternating between both the 5 plate and the 4 plate. I genuinely like them both, but I'd prefer to only keep one. I'll be leaving town for another weekend trip, so I'm thinking I'll come back with two days growth see how well the 4 plate handles it. If it does well, I think it might hit the perfect "sweet spot," and I'' return the 5.

In other news: I got my Gillette Slim back from our friend Chris over at Back Roads Gold. Feast your eyes, but shield your RAD, as it might be enough to make anyone want to stock up on a replated vintage or two!

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The razor has a date code from my parents' birth year. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. If you need replating done, you can't go wrong with Back Roads Gold. I wasn't particularly hot or cold on the shave I had with it before getting it replated, but now that I have a few more (read: several dozen) blades at my disposal, I think I'll give it a go with a feather or the wider kai blade on a more aggressive setting and see what I can do with it. Regardless, I think it's a gem to keep in the den for nothing more than the aesthetically pleasing history!
Very unique! Nickel and gold? Looks sharp and definitely one of a kind!
 
This is the week I'm trying to decide between the level 4 and level 5 plate for the Era, and I'm having a hard time. The 4 is a bit smoother, the 5 a bit more efficient with some more (but not harsh) blade feel.

Yesterday was a full shave with the level 4, today was half-face 4/half-face 5, and tomorrow I'll do a full shave with the level 5. If I had a better idea of when I would use one over the other, I would probably just keep both, but no such luck. I'm just chasing a pure preference here. All that said, I'm glad they were sold out of the 3 plate when I ordered mine - that was my first inclination, but now I think would have been too mild for my liking.

All around, it's still a great razor and gives a great shave. Beautiful design, and has a nice weight that does a lot of the work for you.

All these shaves have been done with Permarsharps, which I'm still loving. Later today my Lupo with the 72/95 plates come in, so that's on the schedule for next week! I think between the Era, Gamechanger, and Lupo, my RAD is satisfied for the time being, so I'll get to go back to working through my blade and soap samples.
 
Habemus platem!

After spending all week swapping back and forth between the level 4 and level 5 plates, and here's what I've determined my perception of the differences to be:
  • Level 4 - Comfortable, not inefficient
  • Level 5 - Efficient, not uncomfortable
A half step between the two likely would be my perfect sweet spot for everything I want out of a razor. That said, I decided that the one plate I would keep (for now), is the Level 4. It comes much closer to what I want out of a razor than anything else I've tried so far: decent blade feel, efficient enough to be a daily driver with a closeness that varies depending on the number of passes, and probably the most comfortable/smooth shave on top of it all.

The next few weeks, my plate wars continue with a revisiting of the Gamechanger 68/84 plates, and the Lupo 72/95 plates. I'm looking forward to evaluating them solely against one another, but also holistically. Now that I have my Era level 4 as my "goldilocks" razor at the center of my frame of reference, I think it'll be easier to know what I want out of the other two razors. I like to think of my den as a golf bag of sorts - I have my driver, now I can add in a fairway wood, a couple of irons, a sand wedge, putter, etc.,

Another thing I checked off my to-do list this week was to play around with my Chiseled Face soap samples. I whipped up a lather or two each evening and handled some touch-ups before bed. Tomorrow I'll come back and share my thoughts on the various scents, they've got some good ones I was happy to find.

Happy shaving!
 
Around the beginning of the month, I got a 5oz jar of Chiseled Face soap in the Sherlock scent. I had heard good things and was looking forward to trying an artisanal soap after only having tried our trusty Proraso White. The lather was *immaculate*...I couldn’t stand the smell. I went ahead and ordered a soap sampler, which I should have done from the beginning, so I could hopefully find some other soaps that I enjoyed more. After sitting down and both producing and applying a lather from each sample, I’m happy to report that endeavor was successful! I now share my short reviews of each of the ten soaps I tried - ranked, of course, for your reading pleasure:

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  1. Cryogen – This soap does exactly what it’s supposed to do, and it does it well. It felt super refreshing and I’ll for sure grab some to enjoy the occasional cold shave. This grabs my top spot not for the scent, but the experience.
  2. Ghost Town Barber – This was my favorite scent. Clean, light, yet manly. If I only had to grab one soap from Chiseled Face, it would hands down be this one.
  3. Bay Rum – Chiseled Face’s take on the popular Bay Rum scent works well. Combined with their superb lather, there’s not much more to say, it’s a fantastic soap.
  4. Pine Tar – Pine Tar was a woodsy, fresh smell. It’s not built into the scent profile, but I got impressions of cola – not too dissimilar from what you would smell opening a bag of cola gummies. All in all, it’s also a very good scent.
  5. Cedar Spice – This is a great seasonal scent. Use it before going on a great fall or winter date with your sweetheart. You’ll both enjoy it.
  6. Summer Storm – This is supposed to be a clean spring, evoking rain and greenery. I wanted to like it more than I did. This one can sometimes be overpowered by a wet moss scent. After using it for a while that might diminish, but right out the gate it’s a bit too much for me.
  7. Sherlock – I actually enjoyed this one much more when I revisited the sample as opposed to the 5oz jar that introduced me to Chiseled Face. In the larger quantity, the black pepper scent overpowered the rest. This is probably similar to Summer Storm, where the overpowering notes will diminish after repeated use and the soap will “settle” a bit more into an even-scented experience.
  8. Trade Winds – This reminded be of dove soap. It was clean smelling, but nothing special. If you’ve ever used a normal, white bar of soap, and wished you could get a great lather with it for shaving, this is your jam.
  9. Midnight Stag – This smells like the inside of any large outdoor retail store.
  10. Santa Paula – Smelled like fruit loops. Decent breakfast, subpar scent to rub all over my face.

I could see myself buying any of the first five I have listed. In fact, I’ll more likely than not keep some Cryogen and Ghost Town Barber in the den, and my also grab some Cedar Spice for the autumn/winter season. I’ll restate how much I enjoy the way this soap lathers, and the way razors cut through it. I didn’t shave with each of them, but I have shaved a couple of times using a few of the different soaps, and IMO the results were consistent.
 
Happy spooky season, friends!

Been a little MIA as my semester and work demands have picked up. Last week, I took some time to get back to basics and spend some time with my Gamechanger 84. What a quality little piece that is. It helped primed me for testing out the lupos 72/95 this week and, after a shave with each of them, I'm...less than impressed? I likely need to spend some time dialing in the preferred angle each has, but I was surprised. I didn't take too long to get accustomed to the the GC or the Era, but obviously different razors have their differences. I can see them being more effective if I had more growth than a daily shave would provide, and that may be a shortcoming of the other two razors I mentioned, so that might be the utility I have for keeping a lupo around. But time will tell!
 
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