Quijote's wet shaving journey

[Quijote]

With using different products as I am, I decided to start this to be able to keep everything straight.

Razor: fat handle tech
Blade: Astra SS (around 10-12)
Soap: Proraso Green Soap
A/S: Stirling Gatlinburg

The shave was not as close as the 2 days prior with Cella and Tabac, but that could be due to the age of the blade. The first pass was not as slick, but I added more water and that improved on the second pass. It however, doesn't hold up as well to my hard water. The A/S left me with a great face feel. The initial scent was not my favorite, but after about 5 minutes, it changed into one I thoroughly enjoy.

 

[Quijote]

Razor: GEM Featherweight
Blade: GEM Stainless steel (3)
Soap: Tabac
A/S: Clubman

I had previously attributed my first 2 shaves with the GEM to poor lather. Today, the lather was great. I think Tabac is one of my favorite soaps. I just wish it doesn't smell like my grandma. The GEM did better this time. It still didn't slice through my stubble as effortlessly as my tech, but it left me with a shave that is closer than most I have with the tech. The increased effort could be due to the weight, or lack there of. I may have to try a different razor in the future. My skin does also have more irritation than normal. Must remember to use a more nourishing A/S when using it.

 

[Guestabc]

Great Reads Don

 

[Quijote]

Ok. Life has been crazy lately. Will summarize my last few days.
Razor: Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Astra SS (only 1 shave) Astra SP (1-5)
Soaps (in order): LNHC Bay Rum, Cella, B&M Lavanille, Stirling Naked and Smooth, Arko, Tabac
A/S (no particular order): Stirling Piacenza, LNHC Cedar and Saffron, Barbasol Pacific Rush, Stirling Vetiver WH

Let's start with the blades. I found that the SS with over 10 shaves on it was still shaving comfortably, but it was more difficult to get as close of a shave as I wanted. I figured that I could live with just low double digit shaves out of one blade. This was my first dance with the SP, well, my first 5 dances. I find that I prefer the SS. The SP was never as smooth as the SS. I also find that I need to replace the SP already after 5 shaves.

The soaps, all of these are great performers. Lisa's Natural has a great slickness and the scent of this one is my favorite scent I have come across thus far. The Cella is a classic. Great lather. The B&M sample I have appears to be the pre-Glissant base. It is still one of the best soaps that I have ever used. The scent is wonderfully complicated. I still can't put my finger on exactly what it is. The Stirling is the first soap I bought. I have had quite a bit of experience with it and it always makes a great lather. I was in a hurry yesterday, so I used Arko. People can say what they will about its scent. I personally don't mind it and performance wise, it just works. Tabac is a wonderful soap that is competing for my top spot. I have read that Fine soaps are based on the Tabac formula with their own scents. I will have to try these in the not too distant future.

The A/S, Stirling Piacenza is a great scent with wonderful face feel. It comes on strong with a lot of orange, but that quickly fades into a scent that I can't get enough of. LNHC calls its balm post shave elixir. I got this as a free sample with my order. It is too heavy for me. It left me feeling sticky. The scent is not high on my list either. A little too floral for me. Pacific Rush doesn't have a strong scent, but it does have a great menthol kick. And last, but not least, there is the Vetiver WH. It has an earthy, lemony scent that is pleasant. Can't argue with the face feel afterwards either.

 

[Guestabc]

Nice catch up read Don!

 

[Quijote]

Razor: Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)
Soap: Proraso Green Tub
A/S: Barbasol Pacific Rush

I froze myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the cold
The only thing that's real
The menthol cools my face
The old familiar sting
It eventually wore off
But I remember everything

This was my first time with a Nacet and I am impressed. It was smooth and very sharp. I did not get to go ATG under my nose die to a couple of weepers from yesterday's shave weren't 100% healed. My first time using the Proraso tub was very lack luster, but I tried again today. It was better this time around, but still not quite to the level of my other soaps. I have used their cream before and liked it. I think it still needs a little more dialing in. I know today is Friday, so it should have been Clubman today, but with using one menthol product, I wanted to use a second to combine the effects. It worked better than I expected. I walked into the bedroom where the fan was running and ended up with goosebumps over my while body. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

 

[Guestabc]

Great Stuff

 

[WildWest74]

Sounds like a nice cold shave!

 

[sskim3]

loved the nacet until i tried the silver blues

 

[Quijote]

loved the nacet until i tried the silver blues

The silver blues are on my short list. My current top 3 are them, Voshkod and Astra SS.
And it was a very good shave, but I have had that song stuck in my head all day.

 

[Quijote]

Saturday:
Gillette fat handle tech
Nacet (2)
LNHC Bay Rum
No A/S

When I was getting ready to shave, my son walked into the bathroom and asked to pick out my shave soap. How could I say no? I pulled them out and let him small them all. He enjoyed the way they all smell, but decided on this one because it has a dragonfly on the label. I can't complain. There isn't a bad soap in my cabinet. I have said it before, and this is still my favorite scent. I am not sure if it is the clays they put in there or something else, but the slickness is amazing. The nacet still performed well. It is in my top 5, but the GSBs work better for me. I didn't use A/S because we went to take care of the cats and would have to take another shower when we got back.

Sunday:
I overslept and ran out of time before I had to go pick up my "niece," so I couldn't shave. I almost died. I went the wrong way on the interstate once and one other dumb thing that I can't think of at this moment. I blame it in not being able to shave and get my head on right.

Monday:
Same razor
Nacet (3)
La Toja stick
Stirling Piacenza

Saturday my son had said that he wanted my to use this one on Sunday. Since I didn't shave, I decided to use it. The tech and Nacet combination easily mowed down all the whiskers to give me an exceptionally close shave. The La Toja is slick and leaves a great post shave feel. It will be my travel soap.

 

[Quijote]

Tuesday:
Fat handle
Nacet(4)
Cella
Clubman

Loaded the Cella for 30 seconds. Made enough lather for many more passes. The nacet sliced through well, but it was the last time it could be used. The Clubman isn't just for Fridays, it was a good end to the shave.

 

[Quijote]

It has been a long time since I posted in here and I have made a lot of progress down my journey. This was mainly started as a way to do 2 things, one is to put my thoughts about different products into writing to better direct me on further purchases and two, to keep track of how many shaves I am getting from each blade. Well, I stopped having as much to say for some reason. Now, I am going to try to get back into at least putting a few of my musings down here and there.

A lot has changed since I was on here last. I got a couple of new razors, tried a few more soaps, acquired more brushes, and aftershaves. For my everyday routine, I rotate my razors randomly. I have the fat handled tech as before, but have added an Old Type and an Ever Ready Shovelhead SE. I have added 2 badgers, a boar, and another synthetic. You will probably meet these later.

Enough about that stuff for now, I will try to continue talking next time. Onto today's shave.
Gillette Fat Handled Tech
Lord Stainless (no idea how many shaves on it, maybe 10-15)
Made Rite 1000 with a 22mm Maggard Finest Badger
Reef Point Soaps Fougre Santal
Chatillon Lux La Forêt de Liguest

Reef Point is not my #1 soap company, but it is definitely in my top 5. Which also contains Stirling, B&M, L&L, and Tabac, so it is in good company. Its lather is nice and slick, and holds up to my hard water really well. Due to my hard water, most soaps tend to start to dry out on me by the time I am finishing up my 2nd pass. This one does not. This brush was PIFed to me with a deteriorating knot, so I bored out the hole, polished the lucite, and dropped in the Maggard. It was one of the best choices that I have made. This knot is great. I have since purchased a Shavemac 21mm finest from someone on the BST, and I actually like the Maggard better. Not to say that I don't like the Shavemac, but it would leave the den before the Maggard. Soft tips and enough backbone to load on any of my soaps. The blade made its last pass on me today. I have adjusted my angle of attack on my tech to be more of a steep angle shaver and it has greatly extended the life of my blades. Starting tomorrow, I am going to revisit feathers. I never had any problem with them being too sharp, but I never got more than one or two shaves out of them before I had to toss them. They would start to tug on me quickly. The ASB that I used today is very soothing, but thicker than I usually like. I think I may have used a little too much today because it has been an hour and my face still feels sticky. The scent goes very well with the Fougere Santal. It has more of a floral note than I usually go with, but it is still very nice. I think I don't gravitate towards the florals as much because my allergies have always been so bad that any time I get close enough to enjoy the smell of flowers, it usually sets off a sneezing fit. Luckily, I don't have that problem with soaps though.

That is enough writing for today, I will try to come back here some more to expand on my relevations that I have had since last time.

 

[Guestabc]

Nice reads and welcome back Don

 

[Quijote]

Lets just start off with today's shave. I didn't see the soap theme thread this month, so I just realized today was the last day of the Bay Rum. I went with Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations Bay Rum.
Razor - Gillette Fat Handled Tech
Blade - Feather (1)
Brush - Omega boar (forget the #, but it has a green resin handle)
Soap - LNHC Bay Rum
A/S - Captain's Choice Bay Rum

The shave today was great. It was a very slick shave and the Feather got me close as always with no nicks or weepers. We will see if it can last for a second shave tomorrow. I do still have a cut on my Adam's apple from not paying enough attention yesterday and nicking it with the blade tab. All in all, was just a very good, very uneventful shave with a great scent on both the soap and A/S. This brush has become one of my favorites. Good backbone and soft tips, always a good combination. It still sheds a hair now and then, but nothing terrible.

On the more personal side, it is that time of the year that my wife and kids get pretty sick. This is going to be a stressful week for me. My wife is sick right now, my son has pink eye, and will have a Tonsillectomy on Friday. The thought of surgery is scaring him so much that even the slightest thing is bringing him to tears. I will be glad when this week is done with.

On a more positive note, work is finally starting to calm back down after all of the hurricane claims that I have had. At one point I was up to around 3 times my normal claim load. I am back in the normal range now.

I have also decided that I will be giving the straight a try. I have to save up some money to buy one. I will probably end up going with a sight unseen one and strop from Whipped Dog. That and I have to convince my wife of it. This has been a relatively expensive year of buying different things (this has been my first year of DE shaving) and I originally sold it to her as a way to save money. Maybe a year of little to no spending will get her in the right frame of mind to be able to get something else. The only other thing that I will have to buy at this point is some blades.

 

[Guestabc]

Good Stuff Don!, are you independent of work for a carrier, and good luck on the straights and the Sight unseen from Larry is a great way to start, Welcome to the Machine, LOL

 

[Quijote]

I am a desk adjuster for an agency.

 

[Guestabc]

I am a desk adjuster for an agency.

Ah OK, I am a brokerage owner so when I saw the lingo, LOL

 

[Quijote]

I understand. I used to be a producer, but I am just not a salesman. I still liked the industry had history in contracting, so I became an adjuster.

 

[Guestabc]

LOL I am not either Just an educator I have some producers and an adjuster as well, I came from the adjustment side, was tired of people being mean all the time, LOL, but that was when I was captive, since opening the IA and brokerage it was like night and day, but I am in the sunset and looking to retire in the next 5-7 yrs