SOTD "FREE WEEK" September 24th - September 30th, 2018

[sealer]

Closing the month...

Pre: Shower
machine: Timeless 0.95 open comb + Ladas
brush: Rudy vey/Shavemac
soap: AP Reserve General Ledger
splash: Chatillon Lux TSM Fougere

It could have been better. This blades are either not for me, or not for the timeless. Will try next time with other razor.

 

[CapnPanther]

Sunday
Pre-shave: Blind Barber Wild Watermint Gel Facial Cleanser
Razor: Gillette Flair-tip Rocket
Blade: Rockwell Stainless
Brush: Vulfix Boar/Badger Grosvenor
Soap: C.O. Bigelow Shaving Cream
Aftershave: Alum/ Dickinson’s Witch Hazel
Balm: Burberry Brit

 

[primotenore]

Sunday, September 30

Cyril R. Salter~~Rooney Style 3 Medium~~D3 Fatboy (7)~~Personna 74~~Meehan Sandalwood Cologne
Have a great day!​

 

[afpist]

Sunday Sotd! 093018
Straight Imperial 14 [emoji173]️ (restored by Emidio D'Astolfo)
Soap + Aftershave Nomad RazoRock
PantaRei “Soleluna” 28mm Manchurian badger
That’s amazing shave!!!

https://www.pantareibrushes.it/?post_type=product&s=Nomad

Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

[jackgoldman123]

Yoresh custom scuttle
Simpson's Case 1 in pure brush
CRSW Glide Olfactory Hue soap
Feather AS-D2 razor
Kai blade
Maggard alum
CRSW Olfactory Hue splash
CRSW Olfactory Hue moisturizing aftershave

 

[cmh737]

Thiers-Issard w/bone scales//Rudy Vey w/AMACK4 Game Changer synthetic//Art of Shaving Sandalwood

 

[eezee]

9/30/18
Cade by L'Occitane
Plisson pour L'Occitane
13/16 Filarmonica #14
Tony Miller 3" Steerhide Strop
RazoRock Alum Stick
La Toja
Proraso "Green" Balm
Versace "Pour Homme"

​

 

[Vesalio]

LEA menthol, Romera rustic chubby badger manchurian, 5th anniversary barbearia do bairro, astra superior platinum, Myrsol agua balsamica. Good Sunday friends.

Sent from the Wolf's Den

 

[samlark]

Pre-shave: 50/50 blend of Grapeseed and Sweet Almond oils
Razor: iKon ShaveCraft X3 Slant with OSS Stainless Steel Handle
Blade: Super-Max Blue Diamond Titanium (added 3 shims to increase blade gap)
Brush: Rubberset 400 with PAA Switchback Aluminum Top Cap loaded with AP Shave Co. "Cashmere" 24mm Synthetic
Soap: "Hallows" by Barrister and Mann
Aftershave: T.N. Dickinson's Witch Hazel followed by Bootlegger's Bay Rum and "Hallows"

-- Sammy

 

[PACO GALAN]

Cada vez me gustan mas las navajas, afeitarse con ellas creo que se llega al sumun del afeitado clásico.

Rating: 5 / 5

Razor: NAVAJA A.CASTRO 7/8 Barbers Notch Ebano
Brush: ZENITH FA EE 2017
Lather: PHOENIX A A CaD
Aftershave: CLUBMAN PINAUD original
Additional Care:
MYRSOL emulsión​

 

[DTrem5]

 

[KW Driver]

A road shave today.

 

[i_dont_bite]

Scheon burg 776 6/8
Catie's LPV
RazoRock Plissoft Barber Handle
Thayer's Rose Witch Hazel


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[azwetshaver]

10/1/2018
RazoRock Napoleon's Violet
Proraso Pro
Joseph Elliot Real Hollow Ground
Westholme Cordovan/Linen
Folsom & Co. Shambala

​

 

[PJO]

Phoenix Shaving | Doppelgänger
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Copper Matrix | AP Shave Co. SynBad 30mm
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74

It has been an absolute joy using Phoenix Shaving's Doppelgänger for the past 2 months, but it's been driving me crazy because I haven't been able to talk about it. While I was not in the extensive test group from it's inception, I was afforded the opportunity to test and provide feedback for a couple of the late iterations of this "CK-6" base. In fact, the version prior to this final recipe had already surpassed my personal benchmark soap, such that I'd assumed it was the final version. Ultimately, this release version performed essentially the same except the post-shave was extended considerably.

CK-6 offers no-nonsense loading. Over the weeks of testing, I've used synthetics, boar, and badger knots, and the results are the same: a damp knot easily picks up enough product in just a few seconds. In this respect, it's quite similar to the standard Crown King base, as well as several other artisan offerings for that matter.

I typically face and scalp lather, but for testing purposes, I did bowl lather a few times. Trying to find CK-6's limits proved to challenging. I have extremely hard water which can diminish even the best of lathers. Over the years, I've tried using distilled water or adding a little citric acid to my reserve bowl, but ultimately I've learned to just load more and scrub and agitate more. Certainly, the higher performing artisanal soaps have overcome this hurdle. One of my favorites, the Barrister's Reserve base, has essentially made a mockery of hard water, such that I have to take care to avoid overloading the knot else I'll be met with an uncontrollable amount of lather. CK-6 is somewhere in between. I can load a typical amount of soap in a 26-30 mm knot that will ultimately yield enough lather for a leisurely 2+ pass head and face shave with plenty more to spare. When I use CK-6, that "more to spare" is has now become an essential element to my routine, but more on that later.

CK-6 thrives even on an unreasonable amount of water. With just a little agitation, the lather quickly expands and then stalls right at that optimal density thereby yielding a thick creamy lather that can be painted to a glassy sheen devoid of brush marks. The more water I introduce, the slicker it gets. The resulting slickness is matched by very few of the artisanal soaps I've used. I did try neglecting the hydration to evaluate the rookie factor, and I found it still performed on a spectacular level. In fact, if you like a stiffer stucco-like substrate, you can achieve this by skimping on the water, and you'll still get a very slick shave. If you do this, I recommend letting the lather rest on your skin for a bit before taking a blade to it. It won't break down, but the prolonged exposure seems to allow the buttery lather to impart its slickness. Whereas a well hydrated lather is ready to go right away. In practice, personally, I prefer a wetter lather, but CK-6 simply has a wide water range accommodating individual preferences (or even errors) without sacrificing glide. That said, this is one of the more intuitive soaps I've ever used.

If you're into doing 45 minute single-pass shave videos, then feel free to keep working the lather, but you can't over-work it and you'll be hard pressed to drown it. There are very few soaps in my den that allow me to lather my entire face and head all at one time without risking breakdown of the final areas. Being a shower shaver, even the most robust lathers are at risk of falling apart under these humid circumstances. Despite these conditions, CK-6 remains quite stable, allowing me to take my time on a leisurely face shave while the lather waits on my scalp. By the time I transition the shave to focus on my head, the lather is just as dense and slick as if I'd just painted it on.

In my experience, my hard water certainly impacts residual slickness. I discovered this in the past when I experimented with distilled water or by introducing a pinch of citric acid to my reserve bowl. It was only then that I could fully appreciate residual slickness. Times have changed, and now several current artisanal soaps offer good to outstanding residual slickness without having to jump through hoops. The residual slickness I've been experiencing with CK-6 is unmatched by any soap I've ever used. In some soaps with exceptional residual slickness, I find holding onto my brush to be somewhat precarious. Being a shower shaver, I tend to let the lather fly, so this is a real concern with lather dripping down the brush handle. CK-6 actually doesn't mess with my grip, though. It seems the residual slickness is directly related to the prolonged exposure to my skin and not passive exposure to the handle materials.

Other than perhaps the durability and residual slickness aspects, the qualities I've mentioned thus far can also be boasted by a select few other bases currently on the market. Where CK-6 leaves the pack for me is the post-shave. Just how soft can one's skin be, you ask? Consistently, after shaving with Doppelgänger (CK-6), my skin feels as if it's never sprouted a hair, nor ever had a blade dragged across it. So, Icarus does that. Catie's Bubbles' jojoba magic does it as well. As does Ariana & Evans, Nuàvia, and so on. The real leap with CK-6 is that this feeling literally lasts all day with no additional products. In fact, while my stubble is yet reemerging, my skin still feels as if I've just applied moisturizer. When using my highest performers, I smear whatever pulled lather remains on my scalp where it stays while I clean up my gear. In the case CK-6, the post-shave benefits are so luxurious that I actually account for that extra lather when loading so I can ensure there's enough pulled lather to completely cover my scalp, face, and neck. The results are an unmatched flawless and protracted post-shave feel.

There will be plenty of documentation out there by way of the artisans as well as more professional reviewers explaining the details as to why this base performs the way it does, so I won't even attempt it. In the midst of testing, there were some comments from the artisan that suggested CK-6 may never come to fruition due to cost. As of this writing, I believe this is still a concern. I doubt the artisans will switch over their entire line to this base, but I can certainly see it maintaining a place in their catalog as a premium line much like Declaration Grooming's Icarus and Barrister and Mann's Reserve.

Again, as of this writing, I don't know what the final cost of CK-6 will be, but I do remember in the not-too-remote past paying hefty prices for the likes of Martin de Candre and Nuàvia, while current artisans churn out products that meet or exceed the performance of those at a fraction of the price. Given the current volume of talented artisans in the community, certainly from a pragmatist's perspective, a luxury-level wet shave can be achieved on the cheap. However, when I consider performance benchmarks for a soap, I do not incorporate cost into the equation. Nor do I consider packaging, marketing, fragrance, or customer service. With that in mind, here are my benchmark ratings of CK-6:

• Ease of loading: Unsurpassed
• Ease of lathering: Unsurpassed
• Water range: Unsurpassed
• Density: Unsurpassed
• Primary slickness: Unsurpassed
• Residual slickness: Unequaled
• Durability: Unequaled
• Post-shave feel: Unsurpassed
• Post-shave feel duration: Unequaled

Given these results, after several weeks of using this base under various conditions with various hardware, CK-6 is the current pre-eminent benchmark soap base title holder in my den. This is the best all-around performing soap base I've ever used...for now.

More pics:

Very thorough review and great pics. Did I miss a mention of the release date?

Patti

 

[120inna55]

Very thorough review and great pics. Did I miss a mention of the release date?

Patti

I think today is the release of the Doppelgänger line.

 

[Norman Gunston]

Prep: Valobra Glycerlanolina soap, Myrsol Emulsion
Brush: Paladin Lotus Select Badger
Soap: Declaration Grooming Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli
Razor: Blackland Blackbird
Blade: Vintage NOS Personna P74 Tungsten Steel (1)
Post: CRSW Alcohol-Free American Barbershop Moisturising Aftershave
Scent: Parfums de Marly Galloway Royal Essence

Although their inception dates are almost 50 years apart, the synergy I felt between the Blackland Blackbird razor and the Personna P74 blade was as though they were made for each other. A stellar shave!
Three passes and I am absolutely BBS and grinning.