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Straight Shaver Interview - Superbleu

Very pleased to continue putting these interviews up, they're a treat for me to read and i hope you're enjoying them too. Superbleu was a blast putting this together with and to hold his feet to the fire, he also promised us a few more photos :biggrin:

Bong and I joined B&B around the same time and have traded a handful of items back and forth, some time sooner or later, i hope we can get a drink, we're not too far from each other!

There is a lot of good info here, and if you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to fire away.



Who are you?
People call me, for some reason, Bong.
I like to hike, camp, ski, snowboard, run, cycle. Actually I will do pretty much anything (albeit not always so well) except for swim, it's my Achilles heel. I have tried taking lessons several times, but when the swim instructor calls you the human anchor, that's usually not a very good sign.

Where are you located?
In and around the Greater Seattle area

Where are the better Brick & Mortars in town?
I get most everything online or on the bst, but. There is a Crabtree and Evelyn, The Body shop, Bath and Body work and an AOS store in Bellevue square, Marios men's store carries some stuff, oslos men's stores, the Arctic club hotel carries Lavender and Lime TOBS creams, essenza fragrances in Fremont has some Musgo, Santa maria novella and Acca Kappa products. There are a few other places around town that carries some stuff, but that's all I can come up with off the top of my head.

How do you take your coffee?
Black. Occasionally I will add cream to mix things up a bit

Being up in the Pacific NW, do have a particular coffee you enjoy?
West Seattle Gold Coffee, Bill handles the roasting and distribution in here, while his brother runs the plantation somewhere down south in Latin America.

What happened that made you seek a better shave, or if the chicken came before the egg, how did you find B&B?
I was drawn in by the lure of the cheap shave, boy was I wrong about that one. I think a lifehacker post directed me to Cory Greenburg’s shave blog, and I soon found the leisure guys’ blog, which lead me to B&B, then SMF, then TSD, then SRP, I wander a bit, but always seem to come back to B&B.

When you sign on, what is the first page/forum you look up?
Bst/newest/straight general/restores/.........


What was it that held your interest?
Variety, I like to tinker. So the ability to mix and match, soaps, creams, brushes, aftershaves, razors, blades, gives you endless possibilities while searching for the ultimate shave.

If i remember from your posts, you started with DE's before switching to straights; What did you start with? I started with a Merkur Progress, and some feather and (ashamed to say) Merkur DE blades.

How long was it before you started mixing in straights?
Probably about a year after joining here.

Shave Cream & Soaps? what did you find that worked well from those initial trials?
I started out with Trumpers GFT and Sandalwood creams, this was one of the first things I looked up on B&B, I spend hours on the shaving cream thread, trying to find the best there is. My first soap was VDH deluxe glycerine soap, I was so disappointed in it, it got thown away, I didn’t understand the magic of soaps till I got a mystery box from our own Jim that was full of top notch soaps that really turned the corner for me.

Now I use both creams and soaps(even glycerine based) and enjoy them equally well.

Do you buy the wooden bowls?
Only when I get a good deal, otherwise, plastic bowls suit me fine.

Where did you get your first straight razor? was it shave ready?
First razor was a Geo F Wolstenholm Imperial X I got from Retrogrouch, and yes it was shave ready, I still have it and will keep it’s place in my rotation.


Determination is key with shaving with a straight, how did you push through the Month + of sub par shaves? did you know there was a light at the end of the tunnel?
Talking to lots of folks on the board, reading the forums for tips about technique, and trying different prep, angles, soaps, creams, grips. I really wasn’t sure there was a light at the end till after about the 5th shave, then something just clicked, and it’s been no looking back.


Now my favorite question... if you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose:
Not really favorites, more like flavor of the minute, but for right NOW.

3 razors: Cobra classic injector, Big boy Deluxe, Muhle R89 old Fatip head (Thanks to you)

Straight razors: Schultze full hollow 5/8th, Bill Ellis custom 5/8th, ¾ hollow Le Grelot

2 brushes: Rooney Stubby 1 in finest, Simpsons Sommerset T2

3 soaps: La Toja stick or bowl, they both are very similar, Palmolive stick, Wilkinson Stick

2 creams: Charles Tyrwhitt Lemon and Cedar, Alraz’s ‘The bomb” in Palermo (sage)

Aftershaves!: Speick splash, Proraso Splash and Pitralon Classic & The gentlemans refinery unscented balm, and La Toja would get the nod for AS balms

& 3 colognes: Terre de Hermes, Diptyque Philosykos, Miller Et Bertaux #3 Green Green Green and Green


What is your honing set up for ebay specials?
Disclaimer: I'm pretty much a hack at honing so take my words with a grain of salt.
Depends on how special they are, usually the path I follow is this: DMT 600/Shapton glass 500/DMT1200/Norton 1K then on to regular progression.

how often and what's your method for touching up your straights? favorite finish?
How often? Depends on my mood, sometimes a lot, sometimes I just make do. I usually use the Naniwa 10K chosera, or 12K superstone, mostly because they are quick and give good consistent results, sometimes I will bring out the Nakayama kitta, thuringian, or Coti if I want to do some experimenting.

What do you think of the 10k Chosera VS the 12k Superstone?
Cholera is a pretty new stone to me. One complaint with both the naniwa stones I have is the glaze up pretty fast

Also, what do you think of the shapton VS norton stones for folks just jumping into a hone set?
I have a hodgepogde set of stones, the only full sets I have are the Norton and the Shapton pro up to 15K (I can't afford the 30K pro)

For the shapton glass I only have the 500, 2K and 30K.
Starting out the Norton set is tough to beat. Nortons are cheaper, and do a fine job. They need more lapping and cleaning/refreshing, load up faster with swarf, need to be presoaked, the 1k can release grit that can scratch the blade if not careful. More people have more experience w Norton vs shapton, so advice with them seems to be easier to come by.
The Norton lapping stone sucks though, I would really recommend the dmt 320 to lap all your hones big timesaver, and some of the best money I have spent on all my shaving gear.

Are you currently reading a book? or perhaps even better; what book will you be reading next?
Last words, an biography of George Carlin, what will I read next? I just picked up a book called The Sellout, I usually just browse the library till something catches my eye.


Favorite Movie or two?
Fight Club. No specific reason, I just find it entertaining.

I think I watched this at least 5 times in a row straight, listening to all the various commentary tracks too.


With what fictional/historical character do you most identify?
I have not a clue.

Do you have any motto's, sayings, or quotes to live by?
I have a few depending on the situation, but none should be published in public.

Abe Lincoln has some fantastic quotes if you are looking for some one liners to live by.

What has been the best advice you've gotten from a member at B&B?
There has been so much that has passed my eyes, it’s mostly a blur. Years ago BroJohn PIF’ed me a stick of Palmolive shave stick and said something to the effect of you can thank me by PIF’s something when you can. One of the many things that made me realize how great our little shaving community at B&B is.


If you could give one piece of advice to someone new at this, what would it be?
You can ask all the questions, and read all the posts in the world, but in the end if you are curious about you have to try it for yourself first hand, after all YMMV! Don’t be afraid to experiment.


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Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Great interview...but what the heck is the La Toja thing with the huge cork? Is that a soap container?

That's the shaving soap, not the shaving stick...

I didn't see it very often...
 
Thanks for the opportunity to share some of my thought and experiences Josh.

Chris, that is a big bowl of La Toja soap, it's pretty difficult to get a hold of, you can only order in-line, but they will only ship within Spain. Luckily I had a co-worker who's father placed an order for me and my co-worker brought it back from her trip back home for the holidays. Good thing is I really can't tell a difference between the LT sticks and the soap in the bowl, so you aren't missing out on too much.
 
I always enjoy reading these, but I can't imagine often having anything to contribute to the threads, so don't think that a lack of posts ever indicates a lack of interest. Keep it up. :thumbup1:
 
Great interview, thank you!

How long did you lurk before you signed up here?

Not 100% sure, but I think it was pre '07.
It was before the Badger Decant club store opened, and I remember when John(LetterK) started selling sampler packs on the forum, pre westcoastshave.com
 
Not 100% sure, but I think it was pre '07.
It was before the Badger Decant club store opened, and I remember when John(LetterK) started selling sampler packs on the forum, pre westcoastshave.com

Wow, so you have seen a lot of evolution around here. :thumbup1:
 

Antique Hoosier

“Aircooled”
Everyone should get to know Bong... He is truly an awesome guy with an intelligent sense of humor. It has been my pleasure to have had transactions and personal interactions with him. (Nicely done Josh & Mr. Kim)
 
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