SOCTOBER 2021

[JAHE]

SOTD #246/2021
05-10-2021

>> SOCTOBER / TALLOW TABAC TUESDAYS /TABACTOBER / OCtober <<

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue Owners Club Boar Cherry wood
Soap: Mäurer & Wirtz ~ Tabac
Razor: Blackland Blackbird Stainless Steel Open Comb
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Post shave: frigid tap water, Tabac ASL.

A lovely shave with excellent performing gear today. 3 very close passes, no irritation. I kind of overloaded the SOC boar and ended up with a wonderful dense and shiny lather. I don't rate my shaves but this was a stunning one and very close to perfection.

Happy SOCTOBER, y'all!

 

[Rhody]

I’m catching up here for SOctober. I haven’t shaved everyday but I’ve got in several shaves with the same setup:
Mistura perfection of course
Lupo dc
Bic blade
Proraso preshave
T+S Shikoku soap and aftershave
I plan on changing the blade but keeping up the setup.
Cheers

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

 

[Multum in parvo]

Being the softest from the bunch I felt today like face lathering with my SOC Finest 2 Band.
I seriously underestimated the amount of water that it can hold and made a fine mess first time around...
After that it worked very well and I enjoyed a DFS+ shave.

 

[TBoner]

No time for a pic again today, but back to the Mistura. I cycled through my four SOCs in the order of acquisition the first four days, but from here on out it'll be every other day with the boar to help break it in. I also expect to use the Mistura a bunch because it has been neglected.

Semogue SOC Mistura
La Toja shaving stick*
RR Gamechanger .84
Perma-Sharp shave 2
CO Bigelow Dr. Galen
L'Homme Rochas EDT

*used as a stick, which is not generally my preference, but it worked well today.

 

[hairless wonder]

Last night, I had shave #27 with blade #2 of the Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. The blade was held in place with a Fendrihan Kingston razor head on a West Coast Shaving 79BR handle.

I used Tabac (Tallow) shaving soap and made an even better lather than last time. I think I'm getting close to dialing in Tabac to how I like my lather. In any case, the lather was slick and provided a bit more cushioned than before. I managed to get an (almost) irritation free BBS shave, I could've sworn I nocked myself at one point, but I didn't see any blood and my post shave routine didn't really have any stinging feedback.

Prior to the shave, I showered with cold water and also used cold water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. Additionally, I poured some cold tap water on top of the soap. I think I may have bloomed it too much, again. I'll have to cut back even more on the bloom water next time.

After the bloom water turned filmy with soap, I squeezed my brush dry, picked up the soap puck in one hand, and then swirled the brush across the top of the puck for a minute. I then set down my brush and dumped the bloom water from my shaving bowl into an empty yogurt cup. Next, I scooped up all the protolather still on the puck and transferred it to the shaving bowl where I began to swirl my brush while gradually adding some of the bloom water (along with more cold tap water) to make my lather. When my lather was good to go, I applied a little of the bloom water to my face by hand before each lather pass.

I did my usual two pass (WTG and ATG) shave and buffed my trouble areas. I wound up feeling the blade a little more than with the last shave. Still the shave was really smooth.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block pass before washing it off and applying aftershave splash (Stirling Spice) and aftershave balm (Nivea Men Sensitive Soothing Post Shave Balm). Again, I felt no real sting from the alum block and only the barest hint of a sting from the alcohol in the splash.

I'm pretty sure that once my lather is dialed in, I can get better shaves with this blade--even as it pushes 30 shaves.

All in all, I would give this shave a 97.75/100.

 

[Tanuki]

You might need some patience with the piggy SOC. Mine has been used approx. 60 times and I sometimes wonder if it is already fully broken in...
But it's getting constantly better...

So true! I have been doing so many lathers with mine, but nowhere near 60 yet. Constantly better is far from good, to date. Still...

Today I let the SOC do the whole shave, 'lathering' the Murphy&McNeil Ouroboros that it has hitherto been positively destroying. It took a lot of soap (my Murphy&McNeil samples are generous). The lather rated "completely unacceptable, but what the hey". Terri-bad Ouroboros lather was still enough to get me to a careful DFS+.

Photoshoot with backup brush and soap:

 

[Tanuki]

Hey, @Multum in parvo , give us your review of the Alt-Innsbruck. Also, that brush handle looks like the pick of the litter. Beautiful!

 

[Multum in parvo]

Hey, @Multum in parvo , give us your review of the Alt-Innsbruck. Also, that brush handle looks like the pick of the litter. Beautiful!

Sweet tobacco flower and a healthy dose of menthol more for summer but I like now in then in the cooler months as well.

 

[JAHE]

So true! I have been doing so many lathers with mine, but nowhere near 60 yet. Constantly better is far from good, to date. Still...

Today I let the SOC do the whole shave, 'lathering' the Murphy&McNeil Ouroboros that it has hitherto been positively destroying. It took a lot of soap (my Murphy&McNeil samples are generous). The lather rated "completely unacceptable, but what the hey". Terri-bad Ouroboros lather was still enough to get me to a careful DFS+.

Photoshoot with backup brush and soap:
View attachment 1340690

I constantly got better (now: good) results with the brush when I overload it.
Enjoy!

 

[TBoner]

SOC Boar in ash
Valobra hard soap
Gamechanger .84
Perma-Sharp #2
Bigelow Dr. Galen
Platinum Egoiste

 

[Rhody]

Mistura butterscotch today with lupo DC

 

[Tanuki]

SOC boar break in report

Another tiny increment. I did a number of throwaway lather builds using my least endearing croap. Then I shaved with too much Tabac. I made it all the way through with one heavy dose, using two stainless OCs from different eras. There was Tabac for two plus passes. The lather was laughable, but laughable Tabac will do the job.

Flimsy lather from the croap.

 

[JAHE]

SOTD #247/2021
06-10-2021

>> SOCTOBER / OCtober <<

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue TSN 2020 LE
Soap: Saponificio Varesino ~ Manna di Sicilia 4.3
Razor: Karve CB Stainless Steel with brass OC "F-plate"
Blade: Gillette Permasharp (1)
Post shave: frigid tap water, BOSS Bottled AS and EDT.

I would have loved to see this brush coming with a B&B branding, however, I have to admit this LE Semogue quickly has become one of my favourite badger brushes. The softness of the tips paired with the excellent backbone and the lovely shaped SOC handle is a pure pleasure to use. It's flow through and the way it constantly releases the lather is textbook-like.

Today's shave, again, was a very close one. 3 passes, full bbs. I applied a tad too much pressure on one half of my neck (went too speedy and got a bit careless), that's why I now can see a tad of redness on my neck. But not too bad, though.

The only downside of this combo is its efficiency - maybe I will have to skip tomorrow's shave again due to the lack of a significant amount of stubble.
We'll see.

Happy SOCTOBER, y'all!

 

[TBoner]

Semogue SOC Mistura in Taj resin
D.R. Harris Lavender shave soap
Razorock Gamechanger .84-P DE
Gillette Perma-Sharp blade day 4
C.O. Bigelow Dr. Galen Tonic a/s
Azzaro Pour Homme EDT (vintage)

 

[hairless wonder]

Last night, I had shave #28 with blade #2 of the Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. The blade was held in place with a Fendrihan Kingston razor head on a West Coast Shaving 79BR handle.

I used Tabac (Tallow) shaving soap and made my lather just about right. It was rich and creamy with plenty of slickness cushioned. I managed to get a nice irritation free BBS shave.

Prior to the shave, I showered with cold water and also used cold water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. Additionally, I poured a 1/2tsp of cold tap water on top of the soap. I'm curious if I should cut back even more to just a couple drops or even not bloom the Tabac at all. I may do that with my next couple of shaves.

After the bloom water turned filmy with soap, I squeezed my brush to remove some water, picked up the soap puck in one hand, and dumped the bloom water into an empty yogurt cup. Next, I swirled my brush across the top of the soap for a minute before scooping up all the protolather still on the puck and transferring it to the shaving bowl where I began to swirl my brush while gradually adding some of the bloom water (along with more cold tap water) to make my lather. When my lather was good to go, I applied a little of the bloom water to my face by hand before each lather pass.

I did my usual two pass (WTG and ATG) shave and buffed my trouble areas. I wound up not feeling the blade as much as I had with the last shave. Overall, the shave was really smooth.

I finished up my shave with my usual alum block pass before washing it off and applying aftershave splash (Aqua Velva) and aftershave balm (Duke Cannon After Shave Balm). Again, I felt no real sting from the alum block and only the barest hint of a sting from the alcohol in the splash. I did, however, enjoy the reinvigorating menthol blasts from both the splash and the balm.

I'm pretty sure that if I continue making my Tabac lather like this, I can make it to 30 shaves with this blade.

All in all, I would give this shave a 98/100.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

 

[noslen]

View attachment 1341263SOTD #247/2021
06-10-2021

>> SOCTOBER / OCtober <<

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue TSN 2020 LE
Soap: Saponificio Varesino ~ Manna di Sicilia 4.3
Razor: Karve CB Stainless Steel with brass OC "F-plate"
Blade: Gillette Permasharp (1)
Post shave: frigid tap water, BOSS Bottled AS and EDT.

I would have loved to see this brush coming with a B&B branding, however, I have to admit this LE Semogue quickly has become one of my favourite badger brushes. The softness of the tips paired with the excellent backbone and the lovely shaped SOC handle is a pure pleasure to use. It's flow through and the way it constantly releases the lather is textbook-like.

Today's shave, again, was a very close one. 3 passes, full bbs. I applied a tad too much pressure on one half of my neck (went too speedy and got a bit careless), that's why I now can see a tad of redness on my neck. But not too bad, though.

The only downside of this combo is its efficiency - maybe I will have to skip tomorrow's shave again due to the lack of a significant amount of stubble.
We'll see.

Happy SOCTOBER, y'all!

Very nice, don't usually see that done with Karve. I generally slap brass plates on my copper Karve, but you can't deny SS with a brass/copper plate as way more striking in appearance

 

[tehnothing]

Just delivered. Cleaning these up now. I'm in for a few shaves a week.

 

[TARHEEL_85]

After rotating though some other lovely badger brushes my SOC dried out enough to give it another whirl for the month of SOCTOBER.

SOCTOBER Shave #2:
Brush: Semogue Owners Club, Cherry Wood Handle, 2-Band Finest Badger
Soap: The Sudsy Soapery - Frosted Lemon
Razor: Wolfman WR1 .74
Handle: Wolfman WHR7 custom hybrid
Blade: Voskhod (2nd shave)
Bowl: Captain's Choice Large Lather Bowl in Gunmetal
Aftershave: Black Ship Grooming Co. - Thomas Tew