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SOCTOBER 2021

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SOTD #257/2021
23-10-2021

>> SOCTOBER / OCtober <<

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue Owners Club 2-band finest badger butterscotch
Soap: Stirling Soap ~ Pharaoh's Dreamsiecle
Razor: Blackland Blackbird Stainless Steel Open Comb 85mm
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (3)
Post shave: frigid tap water, Stirling Soap ~ Pharaoh's Dreamsiecle AS, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Aqua Creme.

2 passes, some touch-ups, and my face was silky smooth again. The combination of Blackbird and Polsilver Super Iridium proved to be very good, the blade slid easily through my whiskers and took no prisoners.

I chose a rather shallow angle, which resulted in me barely feeling the blade. Almost no feedback from Stirling's after shave, too. So nice.

Happy SOCTOBER, y'all!
 
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Semogue TSN LE silvertip SOC
TOBS Cedarwood shave cream
Rapira DE razor & blade day 1*
CO Bigelow No. 047 Tonic a/s
Cartier Declaration EDT spray

*the razor is a cheap thing I bought on clearance on a whim from IB last week for travel, but I tried it out today. Agressive blade exposure and gap. Bit rough. Might wind up staying with a Fatip for travel.
 
SOCtober 24th


PreshavePAA Mentholated Cube /PAA The Tube
BrushSOC Cherry Wood Boar
BowlCC Copper
SoapCyril R. Salter hard soap
RazorWolfman WR2 1.15 SB with Timeless TI Crown
BladeWizamet Polsilver Stainless (25)
Post ShaveAlu, Witch Hazel
After ShaveVintage Yardley
BalmAOS Lavender Balm + Hyaluronic Acid
FragVintage Caron Pour Un Homme EdT
RatingDFS 9.7/10 No blood and no irritation
 
Last night, I had shave #35 with blade #2 of the vintage Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. Again, the blade was held in place with a Fatip Open Comb Piccolo in nickel.

I used Tabac (tallow) shaving soap and made pretty good lather. It was slick and cushiony.

Prior to the shave, I showered with warm water and also used warm water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. After I shook my brush to remove some water and picked up the soap puck in my left hand, I began swirling my brush across the top of the soap for a minute before scooping up all the protolather left on the puck and transferring it to the shaving bowl. Next, I rinsed the remaining protolather off my fingers with some tap water and collected the soapy water in an empty cup. I then picked up my brush and began to stir it in the shaving bowl while gradually adding some of the soapy water to make my lather. When my lather looked shave-ready, I applied a little of the soapy 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 did not feel my blade; this is how I like it. I wound up with a very smooth BBS shave.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block pass before washing it off and applying aftershave splash (Pinaud Clubman) and aftershave balm (Van der Hagen Post Shave Soothing Balm). I felt no sting from the alum block. I did feel a bit of sting from the alcohol in the splash, though.

This was my third time using the VDH balm. Again, I thought the balm was "heavier"/greasier than the skin than other aftershave balms I've used in the past and it seemed to cause me to perspire a bit more on areas of my face to which I applied the balm than areas without balm.

All in all, I would give this shave a 99/100.

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SOTD #258/2021
25-10-2021

>> SOCTOBER / OCtober <<

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue Owners Club Mistura Taj
Soap: Speick ~ Tallow Men Shave Stick
Razor: Fatip Open Comb Slant
Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (1)
Post shave: frigid tap water, Speick Men ASL, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Aqua Creme.

The Mistura is such a joy to use for face lathering... honestly, I really like it.
Other than this experience there is not much to report today. I had a flawless and efficient enough two pass shave with some touchups to enter DFS-territory. No cuts, no drama.

Happy SOCTOBER, y'all!
 
Semogue SOC Mistura Taj
Taylor Cedarwood cream
RR Gamechanger .84P DE
Personna Med Prep day 1
Bigelow Rosewater Tonic
L'Homme Rochas EDT

The Taj Mistura continues to be my favorite brush. My boar has nearly broken in, and the silvertip is always a pleasant change of pace with its plush feel, but the Mistura is tops, followed closely by the 2-band Finest. Still haven't taken that family pic.
 
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SOTD #259/2021
26-10-2021

>> TALLOW TABAC TUESDAYS / SOCTOBER / OCtober <<

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue Owners Club Mistura Cherry wood
Soap: Mäurer & Wirtz ~ Tabac
Razor: Mühle R41 GS
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (4)
Post shave: frigid tap water, Tabac ASL, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Aqua Creme.

Did I already mention "the Mistura is such a joy to use for face lathering?"
Okay, I did. But it's plain and simple true.

Two very efficient passes today, I chose a shallow angle with the R41 GS (this angle worked flawless and was nice and smooth). No nicks or irritation - just a great shave with a lovely lather and a fine BBS result.

Happy SOCTOBER!
 
Oct 26th
PreshavePAA Mentholated Cube
BrushSOC Ash Wood Finest Badger
BowlCC Copper
SoapB&M Hallows Soft Heart base
RazorWolfman WR2 1.15 SB
BladeWizamet Polsilver Stainless (26)
Post ShaveAlum followed by Witch Hazel
After ShaveB&M Hallows Splash
BalmB&M Hallows Balm
FragB&M Hallows Frag
RatingDFS+ 9.7/10 No irritation and One nick


Hallows shave with Soft Heart base this time. No itchiness that I had with Hallows Excelsior base. Maybe it was something else. I will try again with the Excelsior. I took two days growth down with the WR2 1.15. My neck is pretty smooth for the most part. My chin, soul patch, and, upper lip could be better. Next week I will add the shim to try 1.25. It was a good shave. I didn't chase BBS which I wouldn't achieve anyway. Alum gave very little feedback. There was no irritation, though I did get a small nick going ATG on the underside of my chin. The Unobtainium blade performed stellar once again. I got my Wizamet Iridium Supers made in Poland yesterday. I really want to shave with one of those and see how long they last. If the Stainless is any indication I see good things for my favored blade in it's vintage incarnation. Then again, I also want to try my other vintage blades. Patience was never one of my virtues.
 
A stern test for the SOC boar break in today.

I had two fairly lengthy interruptions to the Tabac stick lather shave passes today. I daringly had applied a normal amount of Tabac. By the end of the shave the boar had been feeding at the lather trough a bit.

Nonetheless, I made it to the end of the shave without adding soap. The boar is tamer, but much credit goes to the well-known Tabac tallow slickness. (A nod to Captain's Choice copper, as well!)

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Last night, I had shave #36 with blade #2 of the vintage Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. Again, the blade was held in place with a Fatip Open Comb Piccolo in nickel.

I used Tabac (tallow) shaving soap and made my best lather with it, yet.

Prior to the shave, I showered with warm water and also used warm water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. After I shook my brush to remove some water and picked up the soap puck in my left hand, I began swirling my brush across the top of the soap for 45 seconds before scooping up all the protolather left on the puck and transferring it to my Captain's Choice Seaworthy lather bowl. What I couldn't remove from my hands, I rubbed on my face.

Next, I rinsed the remaining protolather off my fingers with some tap water and collected the soapy water in an empty cup. I then picked up my brush and began to stir it in the lather bowl while gradually adding some of the soapy water to make my lather. When my lather looked shave-ready, I applied a little of the soapy 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. Except when I held my razor really steeply against my face (to set the angle only), I did not feel my blade; this is how I like it. I wound up with a very smooth BBS shave.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block pass before washing it off and applying aftershave splash (Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue) and aftershave balm (Van der Hagen Post Shave Soothing Balm). I felt no sting from the alum block. I did feel a bit of sting from the alcohol in the splash, though.

This was my fourth time using the VDH balm. I think I used just a little bit less this time as it wasn't quite as "heavy"/greasy on my skin this time. Maybe I need to use less than a pea-sized amount. Still, I did perspire a bit more on areas of my face to which I applied the balm than areas without the balm. Also, I'm not sure if this is related to the balm, but I felt some small acne bumps on my chin earlier tonight.

All in all, I would give this shave a 99/100.

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Phoenix DOC
Derby Extra
Fine Platinum
SOC 2-Band

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The rotation of SOC brushes is holding up very well. Today was an odd day so it was badger day. I really like this brush.

Have a good shave today and a better one tomorrow...
 
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