What did you use today? +Rate the shave 1-10 (10 best)

[GNR]

ARKO 2, 2021

ARKO Boarko, the sequel!
Razor: GEM Junior
Blade: GEM PTFE
Brush: Omega 20102
Soap:ARKO
Lather: Face
Post: Thayers WH Aloe
Aftershave: Gillette Cool Wave

The Shave: WTG/ATG passes for a DFS. The GEM Junior has a nice combination of efficiency and forgiveness, it makes for an excellent Monday shaver after a busy weekend.
Breaking news, This just in…ARKO made great slick lather! (Okay, maybe that isn’t as newsworthy as I thought. LOL.

The Brush: My Omega 20102 Boar is simply outstanding. The tips split fairly quickly and it got softer, so you think it’s broken in…but it gets so much better with more use. This brush has the perfect backbone because it’s “tunable” based on soaking time and how high up the bristles you soak it. The tips are very soft and each one practically tickles your whiskers. It makes and holds A LOT of lather. It works great as a bowl lathering brush due to its loft, but is spectacular as a face lathering brush. It doesn’t have to splay very much to whip up fantastic lather.

Excellent shave finish led with Cool Wave. I like how ARKO pairs with different aftershaves. 10/10.

 

[Atlantic59]

Sunny & Cooler Monday Shave:

Schone razor with piccolo handle in nickel
Gillette 7 O'clock Yellow (2)
Semogue 620 boar brush
PAA Ice Cube 2.0 pre-shave soap as stick
Klar Seifen shave soap
Dickinson's witch hazel + Pereja Limon Kolonya
Speick splash

Clean, close shave; DFS+

 

[ouchyfoot]

Razor: Wilkinson - Empire Set 1930
Blade: Wilkinson - Empire Wedge Blade (3)
Brush: Yaqi - Purple Mink
Pre-Shave: Innisfree - Green Tea Foam Cleanser
Lather: Saponificio Bignoli -Mora E Muschio
Aftershave: Barrister & Mann Reserve - Lavender

Shave Rating: 10/10
The “Empire” Strikes Back
Fabulous Shave! After trying my best for two weeks (and failing) with my Wilkinson “Pall Mall”, I switched over to one of my Wilkinson “Empire” razors and blade. What a difference. This is the third shave since I honed up the Empire wedge blade, and have only stropped it before each shave since then. Beautiful smooth efficient shave. I might as well of been shaving with a Gillette SuperSpeed.
Pall Mall vs Empire…was it me or the razor?
My first two shaves with this blade were in the newer, and last, model of the Empire razor. This time I’m using the same blade in an older Empire (first time) and it was just as good. This model has a set screw that moves the helical safety bar in or out to adjust the blade gap. It shaved great from the first stroke so I didn’t touch it.
The Helical safety bar is on an axle and spins. It feels really nice rolling across your face rather than dragging like most safety bars and combs.
Mora E Muschio: Excellent soap in every regard. Wonderful smell of dark berries.

 

[BigJ]

Today’s Shave

Razor: Wolfman WR1/WRH2 handle
Blade: Polish Polsilver (day 5)
Brush: Shavemac Beagle 2-band badger (fan)
Soap: Haslinger’s schafmilch
AS: La Toja splash

Rating: 10/10!!

 

[OhioBob]

Pre Shave: Warm Shower, Stirling Unscented Pre Shave Soap
Razor: OneBlade Genesis V2
Blade: GEM PTFE (De-splined only) (6)
Soap: Stirling Executive Man
Bowl: Blue Stirling Bowl
Brush: Simpson's Persian Jar PJ3 Best Badger
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Thayers Unscented Witch Hazel, Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm, Stirling Executive Man EDT
Rating: 10/10 Excellent 2 pass BBS shave with touch ups. No weepers, cuts or irritation. Tried only doing a WTG & ATG shave and the results were okay, but needed touch ups in problem areas. I tried it, not sure it's for me. Touch ups I had to do equaled another XTG pass. Shaving with the GEM blade now equal to using 3 Feather FHS-10 blades for me. Test will continue and I think there are at least 2 more shaves in this blade.

 

[Bglayer]

Blackbird,Astra sp(2),PAA Astra Planeta,Simpsons chubby1 super,Thayers cucumber,Prorasso aftershave,Nivea sensitive,Prorasso green pre/post.A big improvement on my last shave with the Blackbird that was a disaster.This razor has great blade feel hardly any aftershave burn and gives me the closest shave but i'm still getting drag mainly ATG.Someone suggested shorter strokes and steeper angle which did improve the shave but it was still there.Maybe it will get better over time i don't know.Superb end result but for comfort i can't give it more than an 8/10. Take care happy shaves everyone.

 

[Ron R]

View attachment 1305404

Pre	PAA Cube 2.0 USA
Soap	PAA CAD, USA
Brush	BGB Sunset G6 Badger, Australia
Razor	PAA Meta 4, USA
Blade	Wilkinson Sword, China
Post Shave	Alum, Italy , Proraso Balm Italy
Fragrance	PAA Honeysuckle, USA
Rating	9/10

Interesting flare tip handle.

 

[Ron R]

Razor: Wilkinson - Empire Set 1930
Blade: Wilkinson - Empire Wedge Blade (3)
Brush: Yaqi - Purple Mink
Pre-Shave: Innisfree - Green Tea Foam Cleanser
Lather: Saponificio Bignoli -Mora E Muschio
Aftershave: Barrister & Mann Reserve - Lavender
View attachment 1305647Shave Rating: 10/10
The “Empire” Strikes Back
Fabulous Shave! After trying my best for two weeks (and failing) with my Wilkinson “Pall Mall”, I switched over to one of my Wilkinson “Empire” razors and blade. What a difference. This is the third shave since I honed up the Empire wedge blade, and have only stropped it before each shave since then. Beautiful smooth efficient shave. I might as well of been shaving with a Gillette SuperSpeed.
Pall Mall vs Empire…was it me or the razor?
My first two shaves with this blade were in the newer, and last, model of the Empire razor. This time I’m using the same blade in an older Empire (first time) and it was just as good. This model has a set screw that moves the helical safety bar in or out to adjust the blade gap. It shaved great from the first stroke so I didn’t touch it.
The Helical safety bar is on an axle and spins. It feels really nice rolling across your face rather than dragging like most safety bars and combs.
Mora E Muschio: Excellent soap in every regard. Wonderful smell of dark berries.

Could try that blade in your "Pall Mall" Wilkinson to confirm that it could be bad heat treatment ......... from the other Pall Mall blades . It's fun experimenting IMO.

 

[Ron R]

MMMonday, Aug2nd 2021

Razor: ASR Everready British 1912- Mfg 1936-53, excellent mid range, nice handle to grip, easy to work the face area.
Blade: Gem Personna SS PTFE(7) very sharp, great longevity, smooths out nicely + predictable.
Soap: Speick stick- nice spicy scent + excellent lather qualities.
Brush: Yaqi 24mm tuxedo knot there is something about brush that is perfect for my face lathering, excellent lather generator. heavenly cloud like soft tips, nice scrubber, excellent painter.
Pre shave: Brush wash my whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser + a dollop of clear Aloe Vera gel on the cleaned beard area.
Prep: Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave: witch hazel + Lavada + a dollop of Nivea balm with HA.
Results: 9/10 or CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + 1 weeper=excellent shave with my ER 1912 with a coated Gem blade.

Have some great shaves!

 

[ouchyfoot]

Could try that blade in your "Pall Mall" Wilkinson to confirm that it could be bad heat treatment ......... from the other Pall Mall blades . It's fun experimenting IMO.

The Pall Mall and Empire are different sized blades. I’m still going to try a GEM in the Pall Mall for comparison. It just might show me that Pall Mall razors aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Empire blade (above)
Pall Mall blade (below)

 

[Vaporstang]

I'm kinda awed by super fast SR shaves. I've watched it on YouTube.

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

As for the SR shave, the prep and post shave was super fast. I grabbed the nearest brush and soap, no pre-shave cream or oil. When the razor was on the skin, I was careful. I just did not spend as much time lining up the razor, no touch-up, and not worried about missed patches on my single pass.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Razor: Simon Pure Cutlery Co.
Brush: Trafalgar T3
Soap: PdP No.63

Very nice!

 

[RenoRichard]

Gem Monday shave, an okay shave not really special, two-pass with clean up, 8/10, with one weeper:

Pre-shave: shower
Razors: Gem Pushbutton- just okay to me, other ASR holders seem better
Blade: Gem SS (1)
Brush: Simpson Berkeley 46 in Best- 2nd use- ARKO is banishing the funk and this little brush face lathers well
Soap: ARKO for August- nice lather, as always
Post-shave: cold rinse, Master Smokey Oud AS splash- seemed appropriate to pair with a soap from the near east; this splash should get more use from me- I have no idea if it really smells like oud or not, but the scent and feel are nice, plus it is a nice purply color

Have an great day!

 

[Whiterook]

Razor: Gem Micromatic Clog Pruf
Blade: Personna GEM PTFE Stainless Steel Blade
Brush: Rick Montalvo Grade A Silvertip Badger
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Razorock Mudder Focker
Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented
Imperial Leather Talcum Powder
Rating Ten.

 

[MrSpeedy]

Razor: Schick Krona
Blade: Wilkinson Sword - German (+/-10)
Brush: Ever Ready 100T handle with synthetic knot
Soap: Mike's Orange, Cedarwood, & Black Pepper
Aftershave: Speick
Rating: 9.4/10 - Probably should have changed the blade before shaving, but decided to push it for one last shave. That was a mistake - nicked myself a couple of times.

 

[Fawkes007]

Wolfman WR2 1.25 SB
Wizzy SI
M&F Blonde Badger 2xl
C.Lux / DG La Petite Prairie soap and splash
9/10

 

[Niched_edge]

First slant, I really enjoyed it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Peterv1]

Today's shave 3 day's of growth

Merkur progress
Gillette King C blade (1)
Simpson Trafalgar T2
MDC Original
Baxter of california aftershave balm
9/10
(On location shave need to pick up a splash somewhere since I'm still not allowed to travel with alcohol based products)

 

[chuckd]

Razor: Merkur Progress, circa 2013, before the molds were redesigned, set on 3.5
Blade: US Accutec Personna "lab blue" in white plain paper wrapper with laser etching on blade, from 2021 (3)
Brush: Omega "Baby Pro" boar
Soap: Cella, in the red tub
Rating: 9.75

Today's shave on 2 days of growth. BBS after WTG/XTG/ATG passes, and no irritation. Three small nicks on the chin and under lower lip.

This Omega brush still has more backbone than the full size "The Pro" brush, but it is gradually softening up over time and is working well - and it doesn't throw lather all over the room, unlike the full size brush. It sheds a bristle or two during each shave, which I do not like.

 

[GringoBandito]

Razor: Timeless stainless 68
Blade: Kai
Brush: Zenith boar
Soap: Stirling creamy coconut
Rating: 10!