High Jump 47 & The Hawk:

Today's shave was great. After a nice hot & relaxing shower, I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their High Jump 47 scented soap. To my nose, I get a nice fresh citrus cologne, with a little hint of both talcum powder & musk. Clubman would go very well with if you don't have the matching aftershave, I chose to pair it with my usual mainly because I like the refreshing feel that Aqua Velva classic ice blue aftershave has:

The hawk did great. I got a squeaky clean post shave feel in 2.5 passes. I could have done a full 3rd pass but since I'm not going anywhere today and not doing much, I decided to just to half pass instead. My hydroponics gardening is going extremely well. I'll have some fresh vegetables before I know it at this rate which is a very good thing.

TTFFC Mixed & The DE 89:

This morning's shave was great. Today I went with Through The Fire Fine Craft made by Maria Arman and this is my mixed sample soap container. And to finish it off, I paired it with Stirling Soaps Barbershop scented aftershave:

The Edwin Jagger DE 89 was simply amazing this morning. It was like an old close friend that you haven't seen in a while show up for a long visit. I got another "ice rink" post shave feel in just 3 passes which is my limit.

Touch Up Completed:

After the last couple of shaves, I decided to go ahead and touch up all 3 of my straight razors. The day before yesterday, my black diamond dug into my chin a tiny bit and this morning, I had to strop the wedge between passes to get a good shave which worked out great. So let's get started:

After I built a slurry on my Shoubandini Type 100 with my diamond plate, I did 50 slight "X" strokes on all 3 razors. I was just going to do 30 but I felt that more was needed which turned out to be the case with each razor:

Next up I did 5 round trips on the suede side of my strop and then 10 round trips on the smooth side of my strop which will leave a pretty nice edge on all of my razors:

I was hoping to get a bit of a financial break this month but it's not looking like it. I've got to get a few things this coming pay day so I won't be buying any shave gear for a while.

Commitment & The Wedge:

This morning's shave was great. I was craving Soap Commander pretty bad this morning, so I went with Commitment which is the only Indian Sandalwood scented soap that I can use without having any allergic reaction to it. And I finished off this shave with their Integrity aftershave balm which is Unscented and goes with any scent:

The wedge did great, but I can definitely tell that it does need a touch up. In fact I'll be doing another blog post here in a few minutes. I got a really good shave in 3.5 passes which I didn't like because that's a little past my limit which is when my skin starts to get irritated. I don't like to do more than 3 passes. I prefer 2 passes, but I know that always won't work for me either.

C.O. Bigelow & The Doc:

This morning's shave was great. C.O. Bigelow was what the doctor ordered this morning and their Menthol & Eucalyptus (Proraso Green) was most excellent this morning. And to finish off this morning's shave, I went with Skin Bracer early this morning. Sorry for the delay, my Internet service has been back on for only 2 hours now and I'm just now getting caught back up:

The doc was perfect this morning. I got another "ice rink" in just 2 passes which is unusual because it normally takes 3 passes, but I'm definitely not complaining about it. I also started with the against the grain pass instead and that may have had a lot to do with the ice rink post shave feel that I got early this morning which I will be doing from now on.

WTF's L'uncio & The Black Diamond:

Yesterday's shave ended up being okay, the soap saved it. More on that in moment. I went with the last of my Wet The Face sample which was great. L'unico is an incredible scent. The description on their website matches the actual scent but I didn't get a lot of the spicy tobacco though. And I finished off yesterday's shave with my usual:

Oh if you are wondering how it lathers, it's a lather monster and the lather was really slick:

The black diamond will be getting sent out to my friend Dr. Matt when I get paid. I had to finish off my shave with another razor after this one got my chin yesterday. And right when I was about to post this shave of the day, my Internet service went down (roughly around 12:30 PM Est.), and didn't come back on till just about an hour ago after a tech showed up and fixed it.

Mountain Man & The 38C:

Today's shave was great. Good old Stirling Soaps has delivered top shelf performance with this new formula of theirs and their Mountain Man scent is no different. The scent is Stirling's take on Creed's Silver Mountain Water cologne which is really nice. And to finish off this shave, I paired it with Barbasol Brisk which goes extremely well with it:

The 38C was great. I got a really nice shave in just 3 passes. It's not quite an ice rink post shave feel, but it's close and comfortable which is all that I'm after. A nice and close comfortable shave with no irritation. That's my goal for every shave.

Le Petit Chypre & The 42C:

Today's shave was great. I was craving Barrister & Mann today so after a nice hot and relaxing shower, I went with their Latha Le Petit Chypre scented soap which has an incredible Oak Moss & Cyprus wood scent to it. And I finished it off with the matching witch hazel based aftershave which also has a slight hint of menthol to it:

The 42C did great but it was definitely time for a new blade to be installed. I got a very nice shave after 3 passes. Today's shave was the 3rd shave on the blade so that sounds about right. I'm also considering changing to Feather blades on a permanent basis. My beard has gotten too tough for these Perma-Sharp blades now. I'm down to 3 comfortable shaves with the 3rd one being a 3 or 4 pass shave easy. So in the last month, I have went from 5 multi pass shaves on a Perma-Sharp blade down to 3 in this very razor along with my other DE razors.

Pipe Smoke & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave was great. I was craving a tobacco scented soap so I went with Uncle Jon's Soaps and my personal favorite scent that he makes which is Pipe Smoke. The scent on this is nothing short of phenomenal which is a Premium Cherry Pipe tobacco, vanilla and spices. And to add a little more freshness to this shave, I went with my usual splash:

The Black Diamond was great. I got another ice rink post shave feel in just 3 passes and 1 touch up pass on the bottom of my chin which is a usual trouble spot for me. I did NOT post yesterday's shave because I was simply too busy and the batteries in my camera were dead and I didn't get back until pretty late which was over 12 hours since I shaved so I decided to not post it.

Confidence & The Steampunk Wedge:

Today's shave was phenomenal. After a nice hot and relaxing shower, I went with Soap Commander and their Confidence scented soap which has an incredible sweet honey, musk and patchouli scent. The musk and patchouli calm the overly sweet honey down but still allow it to come through to balance the scent out. And I finished it off with their Integrity aftershave balm which is unscented :

The wedge was perfect. I got another "ice rink" in just 3 passes. Unfortunately I may have to hit the stones again because I might have killed the edge a bit when I closed it which happens from time to time. But other than that, this has been one of my best straight razor shaves in a long time.

Turkish Bath & The Doc:

Today's shave was great. I was craving a barbershop shave this morning so I went with Jeeves of Hudson Street and their Turkish Bath scented soap which has a tobacco, Merlot, orange zest and spice scent to it. And to finish it off, I paired it with Stirling's Barbershop aftershave:

Today my double open comb razor turned one year old. Face book reminded me earlier this morning with their "on this day" feature which showed a mail call post that I had shared. I also replaced the blade after today's shave. I didn't quite get an ice rink but it's pretty close to it. It usually does that on the last shave of the blade.

Lemon Chill & The 38C:

Today's shave was great. After a nice and relaxing hot shower, I went with Stirling Soaps and their lemon chill scent which has an incredible lemon meringue custard scent to it and the menthol chill it has is off the page which is a good thing especially if you are sick or having sinus and allergy problems. And to finish off this shave, I went with the matching aftershave balm:

The 38C was great. I got a really nice and clean shave after 3 passes. There's still a few spots that I could have went over again but I decided not to. So I am in the market for a little bit more efficient razor and the slants are looking extremely good to me at the moment.

Le Mans & The Jr. Torrey:

Today's shave was great and very refreshing. Deluxe Shaving Company makes a really good soap and their Le Mans is awesome. It has a masculine citrus type of scent to it. It pairs very well with Clubman but today I discovered that it pairs even better with Aqua Velva classic ice blue aftershave even better. It results in a more refreshing post shave feel:

The Jr. Torrey was great. I got a squeaky clean post shave in just 2.5 passes. I'm still looking at the various stones that are available and even though I love my jnat, I'm looking at some synthetics this time around. Shapton glass stones are looking good to me right about now.

BBS Safety Razors:

One of the questions I get asked a lot is and I quote: "are there any DE safety razors that can get a BBS each time you use it?" My answer now is yes you can get as close if not closer than a cartridge razor with a double edge safety razor only without the irritation that you get from a cartridge. In terms of getting that close of a shave each and every time you use it, I've narrowed it down to 3 DE safety razors. I've personally have shaved with 2 out of the 3 razors and I still own one of them. So lets get started. First I'll start with the one I have left and just used today:

#1: Phoenix Double Open Comb Standard version:

Out of all 3 of these razors, this one is the most comfortable you will ever use even with a Feather or Bolzano Super Inox DE blade which are the sharpest DE blades that are on the market which makes it a bit of a "sleeper" type of razor. It looks aggressive and has an incredible audio feedback, yet it's mild enough for beginners especially those who are just switching to DE razors from cartridges. There's more than one version of this razor now, but in my opinion the original was the best:

#2: Merkur 37C Slant:

Up until it broke and the doc was released that I mentioned earlier, this was my go to DE razor. It was a 2 pass BBS just about every time I used it except for when I needed to put a new blade in which is how my razor broke. The lock ring got jammed down inside the handle and I couldn't get it out to put it back where it needed to be. But in terms of close shaves, this beast was unmatched especially with curved surfaces such as the neck area which gives me the most grief. There are now several companies out there that offer a quality slant razor at a much affordable price and there's just too many to list here. So in terms of a slant head razor, you have more choices available now. This one was more aggressive than the doc is now:

#3: Muhle R41 :

I have NOT shaved with this razor, but I've done a ton of research on it and have since ruled it out due to my sensitive skin. You mention a 5 minute BBS or a one pass shave then this razor will indeed get mentioned. I've seen this very razor take off a month old beard in just 2 passes which is not normal. It's also too aggressive for beginners and/or daily use which is also why I ruled it out. But to me, this razor is pretty much a harsh BBS each time you would use it. It's also very expensive. The R41 will set you back around $75 dollars but I had to mention this one:

Now please keep in mind that this is just my humble opinion and your individual results will vary. Plus there's tons of alternative choices out there now that wasn't available when I tried some of these fine razors that are more budget and user friendly.

Gusto & The Doc:

Today's shave was phenomenal. Good old Soap Commander has always delivered top shelf performance in my shaves and their "Gusto" soap always makes me thirsty when I use it due to the phenomenal and refreshing Raspberry Pink Lemonade scent it has. And to finish off this shave, I paired it with Stirling Soap's lemon glacial chill scented aftershave balm. It has lemon meringue pie scent to it which goes extremely well with this soap:

Since I used the doc and the fact that this was the 2nd shave on this blade, I don't have to tell you what kind of shave I got using this razor. It's a guaranteed BBS or as I call it, an "ice rink" post shave every single time you use it which gives me an idea for another blog post. There's quite a few razors out there but very few actually achieve a comfortable BBS shave each time you use it. I will name all of them in another blog post.

Fougere Santal & The Hawk:

Today's shave was great. I went with Reef Point Soaps and their Fougere' Santal scented soap which has an incredible scent. The description says it has notes of geranium, jasmine, ylang ylang, rose and lavender over a base of oakmoss, coumarin, sandalwood and patchouli. To my nose, I get a warm masculine scent that pairs extremely well with Brut which is exactly what I finished this shave off with today. Can't go wrong with Brut:

The hawk did great. I got a really nice post shave in 3 passes. I also took my time and went really slow because this was a new blade. I ended up replacing the last one because I ruined it by stropping it. These specific blades don't do well when they're stropped in my opinion.

C.O. Bigelow & The 38C:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with C.O. Bigelow and their Menthol & Eucalyptus scent (Proraso green) which was needed pretty bad today to help clear up what's left of this nasty and brutal head cold that I had last week. And to finish it off and add little extra "wow factor", I paired it with Skin Bracer which is basically a much stronger version of Barbasol brisk:

The 38C was awesome today. I got a really nice shave with 3 passes. This razor is perfect for beginners in my humble opinion. Not too light and not too heavy and has the perfect blade gap and exposure to be extremely effective but comfortable enough for those who are just starting out and/or has extremely irritated and/or sensitive skin.

Latha Limon & The 42C:

This morning's shave was great. I was craving Barrister & Mann this morning so I went with their Latha Limon scented soap which has a lemon, orange and rose scent to it. The orange and rose really make the lemon pop in the scent. And not pictured is the Stirling's glacial lemon chill aftershave balm which is what I finished off the shave with:

The 42C was great. I got a 3 pass squeaky clean shave. I pretty much have decided to quit showing the blades in my DE safety razor shave of the day photos. Mainly because I've pretty much stuck with one blade all of the time and that is the Perma-Sharp blades.

Dragon's Blood & The Doc:

Man what a great shave I got this morning. Sorry for the delay ladies and gentlemen, I've been a bit busy this morning and forgot to post my shave of the day. Good old Reef Point Soaps always delivers top shelf performance. I went with their Dragon's Blood scented soap which has an incredible scent of vanilla, incense, patchouli, amber and blood orange. To my nose it's a warm masculine type scent. And I went with my usual poison to finish off this shave:

The doc was exceptional this morning. I got another "ice rink" post shave feel this morning in just 2.5 passes. One more shave left on the blade and then I will be switching it out. For those of you wondering about buying the Phoenix Double Open Comb razor, don't hesitate and BUY IT! It's a BBS/ice rink every time you use it even with a tough beard. It's also a bit of a "sleeper" type of razor as well. It looks evil and scary as all get out, yet mild enough to where anyone can use a Feather DE blade with in it with little to no issues. The most I ever gotten in terms of issues was a little hint of razor burn which was gone in about an hour at the most and that was using Feather blades. I don't get any issues using my current blade of choice which is Perma-Sharps.

High Jump 47 & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave was fabulous. Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's soaps are amazing and their High Jump 47 is no exception. To my nose I get a nice clean and fresh masculine scent. And to finish off this shave, I paired it with Barbasol brisk aftershave splash:

The black diamond done great after I fixed the geometry on it and re honed the razor. I got a squeaky clean post shave in just 3 passes. Shapton glass stones are back in the equation as well. I really don't need but 3 stones and a non skid mat and I am ready to go.

Mail Call!

Today's mail call is from Through The Fire Fine Craft by Maria Arman. It was a bit of a surprise to me when I got an email stating that she had shipped me this shampoo bar sample. Thank you Maria, it's awesome. One of the things I've wanted to try is artisan made shampoo bars. This one is called Serenity and to my nose it has an incredible fresh and clean scent to it:

Maria Arman and Douglas Smythe over at PAA are the only ones that I know of that make shampoo bars on a regular basis which is really cool. I was told that these last a really long time which is a good thing because the regular shampoo I've been using doesn't last very long. In fact it's been almost like water at times. So this solid shampoo bar is a welcomed sight. Thank you again Maria.

Al Sapone & The DE 89:

Today's shave was great. You can't go wrong with RazoRock and their products. Today I went with their Al Sapone scented soap which to my nose has a fresh and light citrus cologne scent that pairs extremely well with good old Clubman which is what I finished this shave with:

The Edwin Jagger DE 89 was perfect. I got an "ice rink" post shave feel in just 2.5 passes. It was like an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while return. Here lately I've been getting excellent shaves with the DE if not perfect. Not so much with my straight razors but I do plan on fixing that pretty soon. I'll be looking at synthetic finisher to see what I can find.

Turkish Bath & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave was great. I've been wanting to try Jeeves of Hudson Street for a long time now so I went with their Turkish Bath scent which is their Antique Barbershop scent. I get a heavy note of aromatic tobacco, with a little hint of orange zest and Merlot wine scent. It's a great scent. And for some reason it pairs perfectly with Stirling Soap's Barbershop scent:

Oh it's a lather monster to with great slickness and post shave feel:

The black diamond did great as well. I got a really nice shave in just 2.5 passes. The last honing session fixed the razor for now but it could be better.

Mail Call!

Today's mail call is from Jeeves of Hudson Street out of Buckner, MO. It's been a while since I've ordered a soap and this one was at the top of my list for the last 2 years. It's an incredible scent:

It came in excellent condition:

The scent is not a match to Stirling Soap's Barbershop scented aftershave, but it does pair perfectly with it and really balances out the incredible scent:

I didn't get much of the orange zest but I did get a aromatic tobacco and a little hint of Merlot towards the end of the scent. Can't wait to try this soap. I've heard a lot of good things about it.

Honing Time!

This morning's shave indicated that something had went wrong with my black diamond razor and before I got started honing, it hit me as to what I did which happens from time to time. I hit the scales with the edge of the razor while closing it which in turn killed the edge. So please be careful when you are closing your straight razors after use. So let's get started:

First I started with the 600 grit and set the bevel on it using Anthony Esposito's method. Then I just ran it up the line. Then I finished the razor on my Jnat 3 times diluting the slurry each time before going to my strop. After that, I did 10 round trips on the smooth leather side of my strop. So that should take care of it.

366 & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave ended up being great. K Shave Worx makes a killer soap and this one was to celebrate their first year in business. 366 has an incredible cherry and sweet almond scent. Unfortunately this soap is no longer available from their Etsy page. And to finish off my shave, I went with Soap Commander's Integrity balm which is unscented :

The black diamond didn't do too hot so I grabbed a razor I had on stand by to finish off this shave. That resulted in a great shave. That's the secret to getting a good shave. Don't be afraid to stop and grab another razor or switch out a blade. That prevents you from getting a bad shave.

Le Man's & The Gem SE:

This morning's shave was great. I went with Deluxe Shaving Company and their incredible Le Mans scented soap which has a fresh citrus cologne scent to it. Scent profile on the website says it has a scent of Nerloi, Bergamot, lime and grapefruit and to finish off this shave, I paired it with my usual aftershave splash. I need to get some citrus based aftershave splashes:

The Gem clog proof SE was great. I got an "ice rink" post shave feel in just 2 passes. This made the 2nd shave on this blade so I have a feeling that I will probably get 1 or 2 mores shaves on it before I have to switch it out. Steve Walker (Rocket city shaver) had a really good idea of taking a Sharpie and marking the spine of the blade to keep track of how many shaves you have on a blade. I also thought about doing that with my DE blades as well.

TTFFC Mixed & The 38C:

Today's shave was great. I decided to go with Through The Fire Fine Craft by Maria Arman this morning and this is my mixed soap container. And to finish off this shave, I paired it with good old Pinaud's Clubman aftershave splash:

The 38C was great. I ended up getting a mighty fine shave after 3 passes. I've also decided on which DE safety razor that I will be getting as well which will be very interesting. But I have to wait until next pay day first because I've got to get a few things first.

Kilted Tiki & The Hawk:

This morning's shave was good. Tiki Bar Soap is an awesome soap and I went with my personal favorite scent of that brand which is Kilted Tiki which was made with real Scotch whiskey. Basically they take Scotch whiskey and boil the alcohol off and after it has cooled, they use it in place of the lye water. The scent of this soap is peat moss and Scotch whiskey with no alcohol. And to finish this shave off, I went with my usual splash:

The Hawk did okay but it was the last shave on this blade. So far the maximum amount of shaves I've gotten on one of these blades is 12 multi pass shaves. And I have to correct myself a bit to. Don't strop these blades. Even though it does help in the comfort department, it drastically reduces the blade's longevity by half. So I went ahead and put in a new blade with no stropping this time around. I'm also still checking out other DE razors as well.

#2 of 2017:

Chalk up another soap to being finished off in 2017 and this one kindly hurt because they don't make this one anymore. But I still have the matching aftershave balm which is a good thing. This was one of the best bay rum scented soaps that I have ever smelled:

The scent on this was like someone had just opened a brand new bottle of Bacardi rum and shoved fresh bay leaves down into the bottle and let it sit for about 2 months. It was an awesome scent and this soap will indeed be missed.

Fortitude & The Doc:

This morning's shave was great. Soap Commander Sunday was in full effect which I was craving pretty bad this morning and I decided to go with their Fortitude scented soap which has an aged hay, aged tobacco and dark rum scent. And to finish off this shave, I went with their now discontinued Purpose aftershave balm which has a bay rum scent. People often pair this soap with Derby City Chop Shop's winter reserve which is also a bay rum scent:

The doc was exceptional. For those of you whom are just starting out and want a BBS with each use, get this razor from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements. It's a sleeper type of razor. Mild and comfortable enough to use with Feather blades but guaranteed to have a BBS after 3 passes. I like using the Perma-Sharp blades over the Feathers in this razor due to the fact that they're just as sharp but leave no razor burn like the Feather blades do.

Pipe Smoke & The Wedge:

Today's shave was great. After a much needed hot shower, I went with Uncle Jon's soaps and their pipe smoke scented soap which has an incredible cherry pipe tobacco, vanilla and spice scent. Even while I'm sick, I can still smell it so that should tell you how strong it is. And to finish it off I went with my usual go to splash:

The wedge done great. I managed to get a really close shave in just 3 passes. I'm feeling much better today than I was yesterday now that I got me some rest and took my Alka Seltzer Plus Cold medicine. But I am still clogged up pretty good. I figure a few more days of rest and relaxation will be helpful. It's been a long time since I've been this sick.

C.O. Bigelow & The 42C:

This morning's shave was great. I'm also sick as sick can be this morning, so I went with C.O. Bigelow and their Menthol &Eucalyptus scented cream (Proraso Green). And to finish off this shave, I paired it with Barbasol Brisk splash:

Before I began I also went ahead and switched out the blade so I didn't repeat the same shave I had with the 38C earlier this past week which turned out to be a very wise decision. I got a squeaky clean post shave feel in 2.5 passes.

#1 of 2017:

As many of you know, my last shave on this puck wasn't too good at all which I can chalk up to user error 3 years ago and the fact that this was the last shave on this puck. And a lot of people will also probably say and I quote: "oh no here he goes again" especially after I finished off 25 soaps in 2016 alone. I think I have 20 of them posted up in previous blog posts and I just quit writing about them. But what you see below is why I got a bad shave this morning:

I have no clue as to when I will be finishing off another soap. I've got 2 of Soap Commander's that are getting really low but I'm in no hurry to finish them off because once they're gone, they're gone. This one might be in that category to mainly because it was a seasonal soap. And I'm not sure if they will be bringing it back this summer or not. We'll soon see. Plus this was an older formula and I'm wanting to try their new stuff that they have.

Grape Soda & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave was pretty good. More on that in a moment. After a nice hot shower, I went with Catie's Bubbles and their "Knee High to a Grape" scented soap which has an incredible Welches Grape Soda scent. And I finished off this shave with my usual splash:

3 years ago after I bought this soap, I made the mistake of blooming it. Chris Cullen told me NOT to bloom his soap after I already did which is no big deal because up until today, it has been solid in the performance department. Today it wouldn't hardly perform but you will see why in another post. This was the last shave on this puck of soap and it turned my face "blood red" like Phoenix Shaving's Autumn Factory does when I use it. And my usual go to splash burned just like it. So I can chalk up this to the fact that this was the last shave on the puck.

Le Petit Chypre & The 38C:

This morning's shave was phenomenal. I needed a Barrister & Mann fix pretty bad this morning and I went with their Le Petit Chypre scented soap which has a cypress wood and oakmoss scent to it. And I paired it with the matching aftershave splash which is witch hazel based and it also has a bit of menthol which is very soothing:

The 38C did great but I did have to make 3 passes to get where I wanted to be this morning. So after the shave, I went ahead and switched out the blade for a fresh one. 4 comfortable shaves on a Perma-Sharp blade is pretty much normal for me and it's about the only blade that I've tried that I can get that many shaves out of. All the others I've tried usually ends up being switched out after 2 shaves.