SAFETY Razor Shave of the Day (SOTD) - page 111 -

• #1650 by 120inna55 on 20 Jul, 2016 04:46
• Glad you're enjoying the 42, Mel.
• #1651 by SlyCatCrossing on 20 Jul, 2016 05:40
• Thanks Warhawk! But I have to say that your  tr1 makes my 37c look like child's play haha
• #1652 by 120inna55 on 20 Jul, 2016 05:44
• 

  
  Head & face shower shave. 2 days growth.
  
  Technique:  WTG / XTG / ATG/clean-up.
  Prep: Shower.     
  Soap: Dapper Dragon - 2015 Summer LE - "Festival"
  Brush: Rubberset 200-4 (w/Omega Boar)
  Razor: Above The Tie S1
  Blade: Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum (Black)(1)
  Post: Dapper Dragon Scale Polish - "Festival"
  
  Festival is an intoxicating scent.  I remember when I first used it, I loved it, but I couldn't detect the gunpowder.  I decided it's because I'm noseblind to gunpowder due to my almost constant exposure to it.  However, for the last few times I've used it, I do detect faint gunpowder.  I suspect it's because the soap's had a year to mature and maybe the melon and honeysuckle have faded just enough to let it through.  The balance and vitality haven't been sacrificed, though.  It may have just gotten more complex.  I really, REALLY, like this soap.
  
  An interesting aspect to Dapper Dragon's tallow formula is its cushion.  I don't necessarily need cushion.  Slickness is more my thing.  For many soaps however, you often have to choose one over the other, and tallow seems to dictate it.  Just from my observation, tallow adds a bit of slickness and post-shave, but cushion is often less than that of vegan soaps.  Dapper Dragon's tallow soaps have a robust cushion like a vegan soap (think LASSC) but with all the slickness and post shave of a good tallow-based product.  Additionally, I wouldn't call Dapper Dragon thirsty, but it can handle quite a bit of water without losing anything.
  
  Revisiting my favorite boar knot in my new old brush has been a treat.  In fact, the Dapper Dragon lather sort of got out of hand.  Another advantage of being a shower shaver is that the excess lather can be liberated to the rest of my body as a bonus.  I should take more care, though. I'm starting to see the bottom of my tub, and I'm saddened.  Alas, "Festival" was apparently a one-and-done, truly limited edition, and the proprietor has indicated there are no immediate plans to revisit it.  This is apparently a result of lackluster sales.  So, consider this my campaign to convince Dapper Dragon to bring back this quintessential Summer scent!
• #1653 by warhawk on 22 Jul, 2016 17:47
• Hi Matt:  Great SOTD pic. 
  
  WARHAWK 
• #1654 by warhawk on 22 Jul, 2016 17:54
• Friday,  July 22, 2016 SOTD
  
  Razor:  Barbaros TR-1
  
  Blade:  Feather
  
  Soap:  42 by Barrister & Mann
  
  Brush:  Simpson Chubby 2 Synthetic
  
  Dessert:  Ice cube rub,  refrigerated 42 A/S
  
  Just enjoyed another relaxing face and dome shave . . . It was so good that I didn't want it to end.
  
  
  
  WARHAWK 
  
• #1655 by 120inna55 on 23 Jul, 2016 16:16
• Nuàvia Blu | Rubberset 200-4 w/Omega boar | 1912 Star | Gem PTFE (2) | Barrister and Mann - Adagio Aftershave
  
  

  
  Nuàvia, as advertised, is legitimately good enough to forgo post-shave products.  Nonetheless, it's hot in East Texas, and I wanted a little cooling effect as well as the addictive, albeit fleeting scent of Adagio.  A quick 2+ pass head and face, perfect BBS shave, and we were out the door to a family reunion.  After about 30 minutes in the truck, the Blu overtook the Adagio.  I do understand Adagio's short-lived scent is by design, but I still wish it had a bit more staying power.  That said, Nuàvia is one of the more sustained soaps I've used, and it has a pleasant scent in its own right.  I really couldn't go wrong with this shave.
• #1656 by SlyCatCrossing on 23 Jul, 2016 23:24
• I have been getting consistently the best shaves of my life with the combo of 37c + silver blue + proraso green + omega s brush. So much so that Ive skipped several SOTD posts simply because they would be the same thing.  I'm giving it one more of these delightful shaves and I'm getting 100 GSB's no questions asked.  I've also got a sample of proraso blue and the proraso green AS on the way from maggard so I look forward to trying them. I fear my SOTD's are about to look pretty redundant with the way these have been going!
• #1657 by 120inna55 on 30 Jul, 2016 07:09
• Barrister and Mann - 42 | Rubberset 200-4 w/Omega boar | 1912 Star | Gem PTFE (3)
  
  
• #1658 by 120inna55 on 30 Jul, 2016 16:06
• Tallow + Steel "Dark"
  BSB-Ti w/HMW Extra Dense
  Above The Tie S1 w/ Triad Rolling Hex 316 Stainless | Gillette 7 O'clock Black (1)
  
  

  
  This was my first time using Tallow and Steel products.  Due to the performance I experienced today, they're instantly in my rotation, but first let's discuss the superficial.
  
  The packaging is classy and professional complete with simple yet striking waterproof labels and the company logo imprinted on the puck.  Choosing the scent required very little contemplation.  They essentially had me at, "dark".  The notes are printed directly on the tub, "coffee, cocoa, vetiver, ginger, benzoin, and peppermint". Strait from the puck, there's an unmistakable York Peppermint Pattie scent.  Lathering initially didn't change that.  It's pleasant for sure, but you may not want to smell like a dark chocolate-covered mint candy for very long.  It turns out, that's not an issue because nefore the first pass was even through, it gained more depth and the chocolate was replaced with a light roast coffee.  The peppermint sustained but was more muted.  As I was lathering for the second pass, the entire profile turned on its heel.  Cedar became the foremost scent.  I have no idea where it came from because cedar is not one of the listed notes or oils.  There was a slight sweetness to it.  I imagined a cedar box filled with chocolate-covered coffee beans, and this was the primary scent for the remainder of the shave.  I actually never picked up on vetiver.  Since I'm not a professional, I could be missing the boat here. I can't definitively say I would be able to tell you what benzoin EO smells like, but I am familiar with benzoin tincture.  I did not detect a benzoin scent.  It very well could be the benzoin combined with the vetiver that's giving me the illusion of cedar.  It was pleasant for sure, but just surprising.
  
  I used a slightly damp knot and about 4-5 drops of water directly on the puck.  The loading was quite easy.  This is one of the firmer croaps I have used, but still not in the hard soap category. The lather was quickly forthcoming.  It yielded a dense and very creamy ivory lather that's a little sensitive to additional water (don't drown it).  Slickness was good.  I would say it's about an 8 on a 1-10 slickness scale.
  
  There was no drama with this shave.  BBS and weeper-free.  The post shave feel is also very good, but I probably couldn't get away without some form of post shave product for my scalp at least.  Fortunately, the paired water-based splash has lots of good stuff for your skin.  Cooling wasn't needed due to the peppermint in the soap, but the splash has it as well.  The scent of the splash is still cedar-forward with only hints of peppermint in the background.
  
  While "Dark" may not be the scent for everyone, I absolutely enjoyed it despite its being a surprise.  "Dark" in this case does not equate to dirty or smoky but rather a clean scent.  Tallow + Steel did not disappoint with products that perform as well as they look.
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
• #1659 by SlyCatCrossing on 31 Jul, 2016 05:21
• No pic because my phone isn't fully working right now but here are the details, I decided to change it up a bit mainly to push out some older stuff since I'm starting to dial in on what works for me. Here we go:
  
  37c, crystal super platinum (Israeli), VDH pink puck, omega s brush, proraso green AS
  
  Had a pretty nice shave with this set up, not as great as my recent silver blue and proraso green cream combo but this was the best shave I've gotten from the crystal blades so far.  The cheap little vdh pucks are great btw, they have been a fall back since I started wet shaving a few years ago. Nothing special enough to be in my daily but I will always have some around.  Also found that the crystal blades perform better with the vdh then any other blade I've tried.
• #1660 by 120inna55 on 01 Aug, 2016 21:11
• Van Yulay - Soap of the Gods - "Guilty"
  Rubberset 200-4 w/Omega boar
  Gem Damaskeene w/Gem PTFE
  
  
• #1661 by warhawk on 02 Aug, 2016 07:49
• Hi Matt: I am loving your SOTD pics keep them coming.  Love it. Wow....I am loving your custom SE handle. Can you tell me more about it? Who did it? Do you like it? Balance?
  
  WARHAWK
• #1662 by warhawk on 02 Aug, 2016 07:50
• Hi Matt: I am loving your SOTD pics keep them coming.  Love it. Wow....I am loving your custom SE handle. Can you tell me more about it? Who did it? Do you like it? Balance?
  
  WARHAWK
• #1663 by 120inna55 on 02 Aug, 2016 08:33
• Quote from: warhawk on 02 Aug, 2016 07:49

  Hi Matt: I am loving your SOTD pics keep them coming.  Love it. Wow....I am loving your custom SE handle. Can you tell me more about it? Who did it? Do you like it? Balance?
  
  WARHAWK
  

  I've enjoyed the Star 1912 so much, that I ordered 2 Damaskeenes off eBay.  Both of them were in incredible condition.  This one came with a handle I hadn't seen before.  After some research, I discovered the handle is from one of the older lather catchers.  It's just a mis-match, but I liked it well enough to keep it.  It's resin.  Here's a pic of a lather catcher with the same handle:
  
  

  

  
  I'm going to withhold judgement on the Damaskeene for now since I've only used it once.  I was hearing the Damaskeene was smoother than the 1912s.  That wasn't really my experience.  I can't imagine anything being smoother than my 1912, frankly.  I felt more of the blade on the Damaskeene.  It wasn't uncomfortable, mind you.  It was certainly efficient. I can't say yet that it's superior to my 1912.  Again, I've only used it once.  The handle is light-weight.  It probably offers little, if any, advantage over the stock handle (which I have on the other Damaskeene). It just looks better.
  
  Here are the pics of the Damaskeene in my SOTD pic.  The other one showed up a little late for me to sterilize it, but it appears to be in the same good condition.  Just out of luck, they are both the early closed-tooth comb version from 1914-1915 as evidenced by the heart-shaped cut-out in the spring mechanism.  The sellers on eBay didn't mention that, so I just got lucky.

  
  
  I bought 2 thinking that I would have one of them re-plated, but given their condition, I may reconsider.  However, the Delta Echo work on SEs is beautiful:
  
  

  

  
  I just need to get one of the art deco type handles for that to work.  Down the rabbit hole I go...
• #1664 by SlyCatCrossing on 02 Aug, 2016 17:55
• Wow, those are beautiful