💎 💎 💎 SOTD - “Unknown Gems" Theme Week - May 20th-26th, 2024 💎 💎 💎

[SwamperWI]

Pre-shave: Warm water rinse
Razor: Greencult GC 2.0 II plate
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (new)
Soap: B&M Behold The Whatsis
Brush: RV Eagle Muhle STF 25mm
Post Shave: Alum
Balm: Stirling Unscented
And a splash of the Veg

Thank you @Beto Salatini ! You have wonderful taste in music, and now I tried a Gillette Silver Blue blade in the Greencult GC 2.0 II with wonderful results. Hidden gems, are the great members here on B&B.

 

[Beto Salatini]

View attachment 1851113

Pre-shave: Warm water rinse
Razor: Greencult GC 2.0 II plate
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (new)
Soap: B&M Behold The Whatsis
Brush: RV Eagle Muhle STF 25mm
Post Shave: Alum
Balm: Stirling Unscented
And a splash of the Veg

Thank you @Beto Salatini ! You have wonderful taste in music, and now I tried a Gillette Silver Blue blade in the Greencult GC 2.0 II with wonderful results. Hidden gems, are the great members here on B&B.

Thank you very much for your extremely kind words, dear friend.
I'm very happy that you like the songs I post and above all, knowing that the combination of Greencult 2.0 II and GSB pleased you.

Have a good night.

Cheers!

 

[m949]

Friday, May 24, 2024

Pre-Shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerin
Razor: DSC V92, brass, scalloped cap
Blade: Suneko Amorphous Diamond
Brush: Arno Brush, 26mm Classic #12, Gen5 synthetic
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: Smoking Monster - Red Dragon (tallow)
A/S: POLA - Galantom II after shave lotion
Aftercare: Aloe Vera Gel
EdT: Fées Beauté - Reims Vetiver

Friday morning shave with a veritable BBS in two passes WTG with some buffing. A few very small weepers on the neck, but nothing which required any Alum intervention.

Today's hidden gem, aside from the Arno brush, the Smoking Monster tallow soap and the Suneko blade, are the POLA aftershave lotion and the EdT from Fées Beauté.

POLA is a Japanese ultra-high end cosmetics company largely unknown outside of Asia. They cater mostly to the affluent and discerning woman but have a small line of gentlemen products such as the Galantom line of aftershave lotion and aftershave balm. They are mostly known for their incredibly expensive anti-wrinkle cream where a 20 ml tube will cost USD 100.
Let me all tell you a secret (don't tell the LOTH): this wrinkle cream works. POLA developed the product for over a decade and before the product hit the market, they decided to apply for "quasi-medicine" status with the Japanese Ministry of Health. They had to submit a ton of documentation, testing results, etc. and then wait another 3 years for the Ministry of Health to confirm the efficacy of this product. Naturally, this process costs a lot of money as well.
Finally, POLA received the "quasi-medicine" status for their wrinkle cream which basically confirms that this product will visibly reduce the depth of wrinkles on the face within three weeks. Hence the very high price tag.

Back to the aftershave lotion. Galantom II aftershave lotion comes in luxurious leather clad bottle and has a refreshing scent. However, the interesting part is the ingredient list. It contains witch hazel, allantoin, glycyrrhizic acid (saponin of licorice root), rice glycosolipid, menthol, royal jelly, lecithin, tocopherol, and a few other things. It is an incredibly well nourishing aftershave lotion; POLA clearly carefully looked at what components would make a well performing aftershave. As it is widely unknown outside of Asia and can only be sourced directly from Japan, a bottle of this wonder juice will be quite expensive; I've seen them sold at USD60 per bottle, which of course is far too expensive for aftershave. In Japan a bottle of Galantom II is sold for USD 25, which is also on the pricier side. However, given the high end ingredients and the luxurious presentation it may well be worth it.

Fées Beauté - Reims Vetiver is an unknown fragrance. It is so unknown that even Fragrantica doesn't have an entry for it. Top notes are Lemon and leaves, middle note is lavender, base notes are sandalwood and rock orchid. The company was founded in 2022 in Taiwan and has launched small shops in shopping malls in Kaohsiung and Taipei. The fragrance was developed by Argeville in France for Fees Beaute. It's a lovely refreshing summer scent which performs remarkably well given that it is an EdT. The price for this high-performing scent is in the mid range at USD40 for 30ml.

That's pretty much it for today's unknown gems. I hope you all enjoyed this little excursion into Asian aftershaves and fragrances.

 

[Chard52142]

Fri 24
Soap LaToja Stick
Aftershave Yaqi Malibu
Brush Yaqi 26mm Rainbow
Razor Gillette Red Tip
Blade American Shave Platinum
Another wonderful lather from the soap and brush combination...
The razor is good and so is the rare blade... an excellent shave...hopefully the penultimate before disembarkation...

 

[Lil Cooties]

Razor: Yates Precision Stainless Winning
Blade: Treet Carbon Steel, BIC Chrome Platinum
Brush: Vielong Horse
Soap: Stirling Sheep
Alum: Nice Cool
Aftershave: Malizia Uomo Vetyver

Wanted to try a Treet in the Winning, it was OK WTG, but didn't cut ATG, so I swapped it for a BIC. Mostly smooth result with a little irritation. Only second time using the Vielong horse, I left the brush much wetter so it didn't hog the lather as much as last time. Took some time to build the lather with painting strokes. The tips are a little prickly, I don't think it'll replace my boars.

 

[Gian66]

 

[ajkel64]

1) Portugal: Brush Semogue Owners Club Boar.
2) Germany: Shaving Soap Tallow Tabac.
3) England: Razor Gillette Four Piece Tech.
4) Russia: Razor Blade Voskhod.
5) France: Alum Block Osma.
6) Poland: Aftershave Balm Nivea Men Sensitive Skin and Stubble Balm.
7) Spain: EDT Nautica Blue.

 

[awk_m4]

SOTD
Date Friday May 24, 2024
Brush Simpson X3 Commodore
Lather Tabac
Razor Henson +++
Blade Feather
Post Tabac

 

[Sascoman]

Paradigm TiBack • Gillette Platinum New

 

[FreddieP318ti]

Friday mix of Bourbon and tobacco. Going to start it off right!

 

[Mike R]

Monday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Cream: Coate's Lime
Razor: Merkur HD
Blade: Super-Max Platinum
A/S: Stetson Cooling Moisture
Cologne / Fragrance: Kouros


Tuesday

A/S: Brut
Cologne / Fragrance: Aspen


Wednesday

Brush: Omega 13522 Pure
Cream: T&H Almond
Razor: Merkur HD
Blade: Super-Max Platinum
A/S: Afta
Cologne / Fragrance: Quorum


Friday

Brush: Made Rite Pure Bristle #5
Cream: T&H Almond
Razor: Merkur HD
Blade: Super-Max Platinum
A/S: Stetson Cooling Moisture
Cologne / Fragrance: Aspen


Mike

 

[CapnPanther]

Friday
Pre-shave: Kiehl’s Facial Fuel /Cremo Sandalwood
Razor: OREN
Blade: KAI Captain Titan Mild ProTouch MG
Brush: DS Cosmetic Ken Surfs 2020 Limited Edition 2-band
Soap: Mama Bear’s Aged Spice
Aftershave: Alum/ Kiehl’s Blue Astringent Herbal Lotion/Floid Blue
Balm: Neutrogena Hydro Boost

 

[bosenberg]

‘71 Gillette Super 109
Astra Platinum
Duke 3
RR Dead Sea
Floid

 

[lindyhop66]

Parker 510
Yaqi Brush
3 P Pre/Post Shave
Strop Shoppe Baker Street Shaving Soap
Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel
Booster June Clover After Shave Lotion

 

[shm]

2024-05-24

Vie-Long 13800 Horse ¤ Gillette Aristocrat #15 + 7 o'clock SE
La Toja Shave Stick ¤ Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur Afteshave

​

 

[Ted A]

Razor: Yaqi DOC
Blade: SuperMax (4)
Brush: Yaqi
Bowl: Captain’s Choice
Soap: AOS Oud
Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman

 

[Stikeyoda]

"What hath God wrought?"​

The first telegraph message was "What hath God wrought?" sent by Samuel Morse from the U.S. Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 24, 1844.

Morse had the idea for the telegraph while returning from Europe on a ship, where he had learned about electromagnetism. Morse code uses dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers, like the ones and zeros of the modern computer. Before delving into telegraphy, Morse was a renowned painter and co-founder of the National Academy of Design.

Tonight’s Shave recognizes 1844 with the oldest formulations in the shaving den and Morse’s interest in design with award-winning (or should be) designs.

Prep: Shower, St. Ives Apricot Scrub
PreShave: Wm. Neumann & Co. Pre-Shave Oil, Signature 1907 (first use) Pre-Shave Oil, Signature 1907® - https://www.wmneumann.com/products/pre-shave-oil-signature-1907
Razor: Design94 Titanium SunRise safety razor (PVD rose gold) Titanium SunRise safety razor | Design94 - https://www.design94.co/en/product-page/titanium-sunrise-de-rasierhobel (Winner of the German Design Award, the premium award from the German Design Council.)
Blade: Super Gillette Blue (first use)
Brush: Custom-made Titanium with anodized bronze highlights. Boti Enlightener 2 band SHD Badger knot. (I think it should win an award ) (first use)
Bowl: Traditional barber’s mug
Soap: Wm. Neumann & Co. Soap Signature 1907 (first use) Shave-Soap, Half-Pounder, Signature 1907® - https://www.wmneumann.com/products/shave-soap-half-pounder-signature-1907
Aftershave: Wm. Neumann & Co. After-Shave Signature 1907 (first use) After-Shave, Signature 1907® - https://www.wmneumann.com/products/after-shave-signature-1907

 

[SgtCrppls]

Brush: Black Eagle 25mm, love this brush
Blade: Timor (1)
Soap: GD “Kai” Aion Maxima
Razor: WR2 Ti SB 1.25 w/ Timeless Ti Crown Handle

Doug

 

[Calm_Shaver]

5 STAR SHAVE
OSPREY POLISHED
POLSILVER
SEMOGUE TORGA C5 FINEST
MdC FOUGERE
CELLA​

 

[Anchovie666]

Friday Morning Research Shave

I called yesterday's post Friday Morning when it was in actuality Thursday. I think I have my Days
straight now so this is the correct Friday Post.

Proof of Concept with the Parker again. A little snip and these Light AC Blades are useful again.

Parker Solo Edge Razor
Feather PRO Light AC Blade (Modified)
TOBS Royal Forest Shave Cream
Omega Mighty Midget Mixed Hair Brush
Citrus Musk Splash On
Aqua Velva Musk Aftershave