5/5/23
RazoRock Tobacco #2
Zenith B16
FaTip Grande
Gillette Silver Blue (3)
West Coast Shaving Alum Block
Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum
Stirling Sandalwood Balm
Banana Republic Cordovan
5/6/23
Art of Shaving Lavender Shave Soap
Plisson for L'Occitane
11/16 Puma #91
Tony Miller 3" Steerhide Strop
West Coast Shaving Alum Block
4711
Nivea Maximum Hydration Balm
Davidoff Cool Water
5/7/23
Reef Point Soaps Earl Grey & Ginger
Art of Shaving in Fine Badger
11/16 Red Imp #132 by Case USA
Tony Miller 3" Steerhide Strop
West Coast Shaving Alum Block
Murray & Lanman Florida Water
Nivea Maximum Hydration Balm
Nautica Blue
Razor : Yaqi Excalibur AC, 50mm with Yaqi Milano SS handle , Mfg 2021>, mild to tame mid range, simple blade clamping system, very small head parts, very enjoyable razor head with the Milano handle. Very comfortable close shave this morning.
I think this could be a great daily driver IMO. Blade : Schick proline p30 50mm (3)- sharp & smooth with reasonable longevity. Great blade with the Yaqi Excalibur razor. Soap : Gillette Pure Cream, nice sweet clean scent with excellent lather qualities. Brush : Yaqi "black marble" 24mm tuxedo knot, excellent lather generator, cloud like soft tips, gentle splay scrubber + excellent lather painter. Pre shave : (Dedicated Cashmere synthetic)Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with a dollop of clear Aloe Vera on the cleaned beard area. Prep : Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups. Post shave : Nivea freshness splash + a dollop of Nivea Sensitive balm. Results : or CCS,DFS,BBs + no irritation + no weepers= excellent shave with my Yaqi Excalibur SE 50mm with a coated Schick proline 50mm p30 blade.
Razor: Lambda Athena
Blade: King C (1)
Preshave: PAA The Cube
Soap: Hags Darkside (Donkey Milk base)
Aftershave: Rex Supply 1955 splash, White Proraso Balm (on neck area, more prone to irritation and 10 minutes after using splash on face), Duke Cannon Aftershave Balm (later on after to get a nice cooling feel)
(If this is too long for your reading you can skip of course or even if it was shorter you can always skip, this is just my thoughts after a shave , I thought I'd be shorter but ended up typing longer)
Well my first time using this razor and I did enjoy it quite a bit! I did not find the handle too long at all, rather thought it worked really well with the razor after the first few strokes getting used to it. I liked the heft, the looks, the engineering and the general quality feel of the razor, I really did. I almost forgot about the water shooting thru the channels but I did remember after doing my first rinse and how cool it was to see and efficient to in clearing out the lather! It was quite awesome, the King C did not have lather afterwards on it so it did a good job there.
The shave itself was good. I found the angle pretty quickly on this one, neutral to steep worked well for me. It was efficient, surpinngsly (like many have said) given the lack of blade exposure and feel. I know I have said this before but the shave specs on this vs how it actually shaves is rather true, way more efficient than it should be with what to me was 0 blade feel or so little I didn't feel it. Blade does not bother me whatsoever so I wouldn't be the greatest person to judge on that. It was also gentle on the skin as well.
I usually play music when I shave, its one of the things I really, really like to do but in this case I did not because I wanted to hear the razor auditory feed back. It really does sound like your putting butter on toasted bread, it was quite cool to hear.
The Hag soap was really good except it took me a bit to get the lather going. I am a face lather and usually once I load the brush (badger) after its pre soaked its not a problem but this time it took some time to get the lather to get going meaning more loading and more water, maybe I didn't load up enough (I usally do more than I need) but I think this might be a soap that needs more water to use. I might even try to start in a bowl before I face lather or bowl later altogether to see how much water is needed. Once I got it going, its a very good soap, really nice post shave feel.
The 1955 splash was good, I enjoyed the clean scent of it, I don't use alum but always enjoy the aftershave sting/feel and this did the trick there. Proraso white to prevent any irritation or get razor burn, it just does the trick. The Duke Cannon after a bit to get that cooling feel, not the most menthol feeling to me but it still has a nice cooling sensation.
The shave was good actually, achieved a very nice DFS+/BBS on 4 day growth with no cuts, weepers, nick, irritation. I thought I would get to maybe a DFS when I started but with cold water the shave always feel closer later on and yea it did.
I really like this razor thus far, I think I can get much better results to.
Missed quite a few days due to travel...
Thu 4 Soap & Aftershave Proraso Green Brush Yaqi 24mm Goblin Husky Knot RazorGillette Tech Blade Derby Extra 3rd
Mon 8 Soap & Aftershave Ariana & Evans Peach & Cognac Brush BOTI 26mm Fan Silvertip Razor Wade & Butcher 13/16 Wedge
The soap's lather and scent are good. The brush is a joy to use.
This razor was put through the HBA around 200 laps with just water. The edge is ok..smooth and keen enough but wanted it to be better. Overall a dfs+ finish after 3passes...
5/9/23
Bourbon French Doussan
Vie-Long 12705
5/8 C.V. Heljestrand Mark #3
Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Strop
West Coast Shaving Alum Block
Oleo Soap Co. "Bonaire"
Nivea Maximum Hydration
Bourbon French Doussan EdT