Lather Porn: Strike Gold Shave/Mason Boutique:

It's unreal how much lather that this soap produced earlier today. I'm totally surprised & stunned. I don't know exactly how much I used but I can tell you that it was less than 1 teaspoon probably not even that and once I added water and kept adding more and more, it simply exploded and literally ran out of the scuttle. This shave sample will be lasting a while for sure:

Ike & The Doc:

Today's shave was excellent. After a nice, hot & relaxing shower, I went with Strike Gold Shave and their fabulous Ike scent which is their take on the classic Skin Bracer aftershave only a touch stronger. And to finish off today's shave, I went a sample of the matching aftershave:

The Doc was perfect. I was squeaky clean after 3 passes which is perfect. After my shave I decided to do a lather test and I started with a very small amount of the generous sample and man that was more than enough. It produced a Lather Volcano literally. It was running over the shave scuttle. The first photo is of the amount I used:

Did I mention that it was a lather volcano & that it was literally & figuratively running over the scuttle? Man what a shave soap. The lather also felt really good & slick and it is a touch on the thirsty side but that's a good thing because that means it can handle extra water:

This lather was also slick as black ice too. Wow what a shave. I'm now going to be a regular customer of Strike Gold Shave's soaps & aftershaves.

Mail Call: Strike Gold Shave's "Ike":

Today's mail call is from Strike Gold Shave over on Etsy. Thank you very much Frank Misa it's an awesome mail call. I've been meaning to try their soaps along with Jennifer Mason Marting's Mason's Boutique but I never got around to it. Jennifer only makes shave soaps exclusively for Frank's Strike Gold Shave now. So this was a very special treat for me:

Frank messaged me on either Friday or Saturday one over on Instagram asking me if I wanted a sample and I said yes and here it is Monday and I have a sample of his "Ike" scented soap & aftershave splash which is also incredible. Named after former president Dwight D. Eisenhower who's nickname was affectionately known as Ike & got one of the biggest infrastructure projects in U.S. history passed known as the Interstate Highway System. He was also one of the last known 5 star generals of World War 2:

The scent is some where between these 2 specific aftershaves but not an exact match:

The scent is extremely close to Skin Bracer only it's a touch stronger:

I'm tickled with this mail call and the speed at which it got here. Thanks again Frank Misa. It's an awesome scent & soap. The aftershave is also awesome.

My New "Go To" DE Blade Choices:

After getting an incredible shave today, I made a decision to stick with these 2 blades on a permanent basis. While I love the shaves I've been getting with cartridges, they're still expensive. And unlike a straight razor, I can really only strop a cartridge once. The strops pretty much destroy the lubrication strips and after you do strop them, they seem to lose a lot of their performance. I've also decided to stick with just 2 razors for now:

They are the Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's doc razor & the Edwin Jagger DE 89. Those 2 razors seem to be the best for my senstive skin. Both don't leave any weepers behind unless I hit a bump or something & both seem to give me the closest shaves possible. I simply can't afford to keep switching out the cartridges left and right no sooner than I get 3 or 4 shaves on one. The Gillette Fusion Proglides are $18 dollars for 4 while the new Proshield chill cartridges are nearly $25 dollars just for 4 cartridges. So based on economics, DE safety razors win. My Gillette Track 2 razor is about the same price as the Proglides for 10 cartridges.

Atmotic & The DE 89:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and a sample of their Atomic shave soap. The scent is epic. Before blooming the scent, there was some sweetness to it but not a lot. After blooming you still get a Lime , Ginger & Vetiver scent that's extremely rich. The semi sweetness is just about gone after you bloom it. At least that's what my nose picks up. And to finish off today's shave, I paired it with a double dose of Old Spice :

The DE 89 with a Gillette Silver Blue blade was magical. It was extremely comfortable & I was squeaky clean after just 2.5 passes. I only got a couple of weepers and that was it. Plus a couple of bumps did get mowed off around my neck area. But other than that, no irritation or blood. I may have to switch to BOTH Gillette Silver Blue & Perma-Sharp DE blades. I'm also looking at 2 specific DE razors. The first one is the Leaf razor which uses 3 DE blades that's been split in half. The other razor is Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's Alpha Ecliptic slant. Unlike other slant razors, this one is a true slant that does NOT twist or torque the blade. Another thing I like about it is the fact that it's been designed to get the perfect & correct angle every single time you use it. Some of the reviews that I read say that it's extremely comfortable & extremely efficient which is similar to their Doc razor. I think my problem has been my blade choices & razor combinations. So when I get the chance, I will be buying 2 more razors and I will be switching to my monster handle on the slant if it fits. it didn't fit my DE 89 and I've not tried it on my doc razor.

Gillette Rubie Plus Review:

Since I decided to go with my Edwin Jagger DE 89 today, I thought I was in for a treat considering that the DE 89 is pretty good on sensitive skin. Unfortunately I was wrong. Normally I wouldn't jump to conclusions until I tried a new blade in another razor but these were so uncomfortable that I couldn't hardly use them. Thank goodness I had some styptic gel left to stop the bleeding:

The Perma-Sharp blade I had in there had way too many shaves on it and was starting to pull & tug pretty bad. Bad enough to where I knew that stropping wouldn't help at all and that a new blade was needed. So I switched it out for a new Gillette Rubie after just 1 pass with the grain. I went from bad to worse. The pulling & tugging made my eyes water & it drew blood in my moustache area. My neck area wasn't irritated as bad but in order to get a decent shave, I ended up making 4 passes counting the the one with the grain that I made with the Perma-Sharp earlier:

I don't get too many bad blades that don't work for me in the Edwin Jagger DE 89. I really don't but these Gillette Rubie blades were down right awful for me. They were extremely uncomfortable right out of the package and no I did NOT strop them either. I also seriously doubt that stropping would help these blades as well. The pulling & tugging was worse than the used blade that I took out of it. It pretty much ripped my moustache out rather than cut through it cleanly. These are definitely going on my don't buy list along with the Voskhod blades which pretty much gave me the same results. I'm really disappointed in these blades.

Fortitude & The DE 89:

Today's shave ended up with great results but was extremely uncomfortable. More details in a moment. Today I went with my go to brand Soap Commander and their classic Fortitude scent which is a very rich & deep. The scent is an aged hay & tobacco with rum scent. My late grandfather on my mom's side who would be 100 years old today if he was still living use to raise tobacco & cattle and I can tell you that they nailed the scent. It's like you just walked into an old barn that's been aging both hay & tobacco with a tiny bit of a aged dark rum scent added to it. And to finish off this shave I went with a healthy dose of Old Spice aftershave splash to give it some spice to the scent & then I went with a nice healthy dose of Soap Commander's Purpose scented aftershave balm which has a really rich bay rum scent and adds a touch of menthol to the post shave feel:

Here's some lather porn for you guys. I've just about got the shave scuttle dialed in. It won't be long before I will be back to where I was before my sensitive skin started acting up on me:

The Perma-Sharp blade I had in there was decent but you can definitely tell that I had too many shaves on that blade. So I grabbed a new Gillette Rubie blade and that's where things went down hill with my DE 89 rather quickly. I went from bad to worse:

Normally I would try a new blade in another razor before making a decision but in this case, I will not be. I will be doing another detailed blog post about my experience with these blades.

C.O. Bigelow & The Fusion:

This morning's shave was great. Today I decided to try C.O. Bigelow in my new scuttle and as I suspected it was a lather monster. The menthol & eucalyptus chill was excellent and to finish off the shave, I went with a nice healthy dose of Pinaud's Osage Rub which puts the post shave feel over the top. It was a very refreshing experience:

The Gillette Fusion was perfect. I was as slick as black ice in 2.5 passes. This has got to be one of the best shaves that I've ever had with the Gillette Fusion razor. I also found the sweet spot for the Crown King shave scuttle. Today I put it in the microwave for exactly 1 minute and the lather was perfectly warm & moist and the scuttle wasn't too hot to pick up. You can go longer but there's a 90% chance that it will be too hot and pretty much ruins your shave soap/cream.

C.a.D. & The Doc:

Today's shave was great & very refreshing. Today I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their modern day classic, C.a.D. which is a way better & very rich 1970's & 1980's canned shave foam scent that's on steroids. And to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave splash which is the icing on the cake. This is my all time favorite scent from Phoenix Shaving:

The doc was great. I'm slick as black ice in some spots & squeaky clean in others. The only place that gave me some issues was my neck area. I only had a couple of weepers and that was it. I was not planning on shaving today until I got up & looked in the mirror and saw that I looked like I had not shaved in 2 days even though I shaved yesterday. The cartridges are doing great but that leaf razor is looking pretty good to me right now. So when I get a chance, I will be getting it. I'm told that it's perfect for those with extremely sensitive skin.

Renewal & The Fusion:

Today's shave was great. It's also Sunday which means that Soap Commander Sunday is in full effect. And today I went with their classic "Renewal" scented soap which is a floral fougere' scent. And to finish off today's shave, I went with Brut aftershave splash followed by Soap Commander's Renewal aftershave balm which adds a touch of menthol to the post shave feel:

The Gillette Shield was great. I was cleaned up in just 2.5 passes. I did 2 passes with the grain and a half pass against the grain on my neck area. I wasn't slick or squeaky clean but it's more than socially acceptable & above all else, it's comfortable. Soap Commander was great in the scuttle & I got zero burn from the Brut aftershave which is awesome.

The Crown King Travel Scuttle:

Earlier today, I used Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's Crown King Travel Scuttle for the very first time and let me tell you, I'm hooked on it. I had to heat it up in the microwave a couple of times to find that "sweet spot" because this one functions totally different than my old one does. So lets get started on this fabulous & must have piece of travel gear:

Building a lather is stupid easy in this scuttle. All you do is load the brush up & bowl lather after filling it up with water & heating in the microwave. If you have a kettle you can heat the scuttle with boiling water that way if you want but that would be too intense & it could ruin the properties of the soap if you are not careful. My recommendation is to fill up the scuttle with water in both cavities and microwave without the stopper for a maximum of 2 minutes. I went with 3 minutes and left the stopper in there and pressure built up and blew the stopper out along with my water all over the microwave. After that I tried it without the stopper and it worked perfectly. This photo was taken right after I built the lather but before I started shaving:

The lather was moist & very warm and had no problem softening my beard. I do tend to favor it to be a touch warmer though. The next photo is after I had finished my 2 pass shave and had cleaned out my brush. The lather didn't dissipate and stayed warm through out the entire shave:

Clean up was also easy. This took less time to clean up than my old coffee cup does when I used it for face lathering. I only had to rinse the scuttle once and that was it:

How does it compare to my old scuttle? I like the Crown King scuttle way better than my old one but both have advantages. My old one is very heavy & by the time I get my lather built and heated for a hot lather shave, it has lost half of its heat. The only advantage my old scuttle has over the Crown King scuttle is the fact that I can heat it for much longer times in the microwave but I wouldn't really call that an advantage though. The Crown King scuttle held its heat through out the entire shave. It's also light weight and really takes no time to heat up and unlike my old scuttle, I can build a lather in the travel scuttle. My old one is strictly for face lathering:

All in all, this travel scuttle is epic & wins hands down and I really can't wait to try it with my other soaps & my shave creams that I have. I really can't wait to try it with both Soap Commander & Phoenix Shaving's soaps. Man oh man I'll be getting some epic shaves better than I've ever have in the past which says quite a bit.

WTF Cuban Tobacco & The Fusion:

Man oh man what a great shave I had today. After a nice, hot & relaxing shower, I went with Wet The Face and their Cuban Tobacco scented soap which has a rich, deep, moist sweet tobacco scent to it. I also finished off the shave with a nice double dose of the matching aftershave which is alcohol based and has a really nice burn to it:

And some lather porn for you guys. This soap is a beast in the Crown King travel scuttle. I just loaded the brush like I normally do and bowl lathered and it didn't take long at all:

The Gillette Fusion was perfect. I was slick as black ice after 2 passes. Between that & the hot lather, my 3 day old beard which was beginning to itch, practically melted off. Hot lather rules hands down. No wonder you guys love this scuttle & I can't wait to try it with my other soaps & creams. I'm also looking at getting & trying the leaf razor as well. I was told that it's a must have if you suffer from sensitive skin like I do.

Mail Call: WTF's Cuban Tobacco Set:

My last mail call for now comes from Wet The Face and is one of my favorite scents that Don Youngner makes. About a year or 2 ago, I bought a sample kit from Wet The Face which went really fast because the soaps were extremely good & the scents were & still are off the page and this was one of those scents that really got me hooked. Cuban Tobacco is an amazing if not epic fresh, moist & sweet tobacco scent that is very warm & inviting. It does remind me of a fresh hand rolled Havana cigar which I experienced first hand in Miami, FL in 2003 when I was driving for a living. That was one killer cigar back in the day, specifically the Cuban rum & brandy soaked cigars:

The aftershave is also equally amazing. It's not quite as strong as the soap but you can still smell it very well. This one is going to be one of my all time favorites and it will also be the first one I use in my newly acquired shave scuttle. So the scent will more than likely have an extra pop to it. Now I wish I didn't shave yesterday.

Mail Call: Crown King Travel Scuttle:

Today's Mail call is from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements. If anyone has ever experienced a hot lather shave then you will agree with me when I say hot lather is where it's at in terms of wet shaving. I do have a face lathering scuttle but there's some serious drawbacks to it. The first is the fact that I have to build my lather first by face lathering & then allow my old scuttle to heat up my lather. By the time my lather is warm or hot, my scuttle has already lost more than half of its heat. So technically, I'm not getting the full effect of a hot lather shave with my old scuttle. Not unless I get that old scuttle so hot that it melts the soap which is no good because it destroys the soap. This travel scuttle will have the opposite effect & I will have the full benefits of a hot lather shave:

Lots of goodies came with this scuttle. I really love the microfiber drawstring bag that it comes in. It really added some extra spice & sweetness to this mail call:

Very cool how it came packaged:

It also came with this Velcro scuttle scarf which can help insulate it even further or make easier to handle after heating it up which is really cool:

I think I like it better without the scuttle scarf. It's also very light weight which is way better than my old scuttle. My old one weighs a ton and is often hard to handle after heating while this one isn't. I can't wait to use it for the first time:

This Atomic Shave Soap stole the show and then some. It's got a warm, sweet perfume & spice scent to it and it's a huge hit with me. So the first chance I get, I will be getting the new Atomic soap & aftershave. Wow what a scent:

This kit also came with a very cool travel tooth brush & toothpaste sample which is also really cool. Every year I travel to Northern Virginia specifically UVA for an annual medical check up and traveling is a bit of a hassle when it comes to gear so this really helps:

Just simply reverse the tooth brush head from the way it came packaged & you have a full sized tooth brush which should help with airport security who really get on people's nerves these days:

All in all, I couldn't be happier with this mail call and really can't wait to use it. It may be Friday before I use it in a shave of the day post because I just shaved yesterday & if you read my post, you would know that I got a touch too close in some spots which resulted in razor burn. So I want to go an extra day or 2 between shaves to give my face & skin a break.

Grapelicious & The Shield:

Today's shave was excellent. After a nice, hot & relaxing shower, I went with KShave Worx and their phenomenal Grapelicious scented soap which is a very strong & delicious grape soda scent. And I finished off today's shave with the matching aftershave which was very soothing:

I love the ingredients in the matching aftershave which is a witch hazel based aftershave. I tend to favor those over the alcohol based aftershaves because they don't dry my skin out:

The Gillette Shield was great but I did get a tiny bit too close and got a slight touch of razor burn. I believe I've just about got it where I want it in terms of getting a close shave because I only made 1.5 passes today and was pretty dang close with the exception to my goatee & neck areas which is where I got too close for comfort. But other than that, I'm happy with my results.

Mail Call: KShave Worx Grape Soda:

Today's mail call is from KShave Worx and let me tell you, the scent is EPIC! I've been wanting to try Kelly & Kevin Daughtery's Grapelicious shave soap & aftershave for a while now but never really got around to it. My mom has got me hooked on anything that's grape scented and this one is extremely good. This is a really deep & rich grape soda scent and the aftershave is the exact same way so you will be getting a double dose of the grape soda scent:

I ordered this Friday and here it is Monday & I have product in hand which is awesome:

I love how well the aftershave was packaged. Wrapped in bubble wrap & inserted into a tube pretty much insures that the glass bottle doesn't break. I can't tell you how many glass bottles I've lost when receiving mail calls. That's also 1 of the 2 reasons why people don't use glass bottles & containers when it comes to shipping anymore. These mail carriers are too rough in handling packages & plastic PET bottles are much more affordable which is why a lot of people use plastic over glass:

And a hand written personal note is always a good thing which is often my favorite part of receiving a mail call:

I couldn't be more pleased with this mail call.

C.a.D. & The Shield:

Today's shave was excellent. Today I was craving an old school style barbershop scented soap, so I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their modern day classic, C.a.D. scented soap. The scent on this is a much stronger & richer version of a certain canned shave foam scent from the 1970's & 1980's. I won't name that sorry excuse for a company because of the way they treat artisans & other people. And to finish off today's shave I went with the matching aftershave which is one of my longest lasting aftershaves:

The Gillette Shield was perfect. I was squeaky clean & slick as black ice after 2.5 passes. The post shave is so comfortable, that I got zero burn from the aftershave which is a really good thing. This was also the last time that I will be face lathering. I ordered their new shatter proof scuttle which I can't wait to use. I'm also betting that the scents of these soaps will really pop even more when I start to use that scuttle for each & every shave. I'm going to hold off from shaving until my new soaps & gear arrives which I hope will be soon. Right now I'm waiting on shipping confirmation & tracking numbers. Hot lather makes a world of a difference when it comes to shaving.

Mail Calls Coming:

Now that I'm sticking with my Gillette Fusion & Shield razors on a permanent basis and not buying new DE safety razors and/or blades, I can now invest into my shaving soap arsenal once more. Last night, I ordered a soap & matching aftershave from Wet The Face & KShave Worx. I went with Don Yougner's Cuban Tobacco scented soap & matching aftershave which is a deep & rich fresh cut Cuban tobacco scent with a little hint of sweetness to it. The first time I tried it was in a sample pack that I ordered before & I've been wanting it ever since. The 2nd soap & matching aftershave I ordered was Grapelicious which is supposed to be a really strong grape soda scent. I was told that it's stronger than Catie's Bubbles Knee High To A Grape which was pretty dang strong when I first go it and ran out of it. Catie's Bubbles version was so strong, that I could smell it through out the entire house when I bloomed when at that time I was not suppose to. I could even smell it through the Priority Mail envelope that it arrived it so I'm really looking forward to this one. Plus there's a matching aftershave to go along with it:

I also invested into some hardware last night. As much as I enjoy using my face lathering shave scuttle, it is a bit of a pain to use & I don't really get the full effect of a hot lather shave. I have to build the lather first then allow the scuttle to heat up my lather on my shaving brush which takes a few minutes and my scuttle has already cooled off significantly. Now I don't have to worry about that anymore because I purchased Crown King's shatter proof scuttle from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements. I can build a hot lather with it & apply it before it cools off. So my next shave will probably be my last face lather before my scuttle arrives. The only thing I'm waiting on now is shipping confirmation from all 3 artisans which are pretty quick to ship.

TTFC Mixed & The Shield:

This morning's shave was great. Today I went with Through The Fire Fine Craft by Maria Arman. This is my mixed soap container & since she has changed the names, I can't remember which one was the dominating scent nor can I remember what all scents are in it. And to finish off this morning's shave, I went Aqua Velva aftershave balm:

The Gillette Shield was great. I was squeaky clean in just 2 passes. I'm considering adding the chilled version of the shield razor back into my collection. I haven't really decided just yet but I will continue to think about it though. That's if I don't get Phoenix Shaving's new scuttle first.

Turkish Bath & The Fusion:

This morning's shave was great. Sorry for the delay guys, I had some things to take care of today and didn't have time to post this up earlier. This morning I was craving a tobacco scented soap so I grabbed Jeeves of Hudson Street and their fantastic Turkish Bath now renamed barbershop scent. The top note is a deep rich pipe tobacco scent which I really enjoy. And to finish off this shave, I went with a really nice healthy dose of Old Spice followed by a nice dose of Soap Commander's Endurance which is the 1938 Shulton version of Old Spice:

The Gillette Fusion with a fresh blade is the cat's meow. I was slick as black ice in just 2 passes and I had almost no burn from the aftershave splash either. My skin has also cleared up as a result of switching back to the cartridges as well. This pretty much tells me that I made the right decision for my skin. I will miss using the DE safety razors & straight razors.

Vision & The Shield:

Today's shave was epic. Today I went with my all time favorite brand Soap Commander and my personal favorite scent "Vision" which has an Aqua, Amber & Mint scent to it. I also put this shave over the top by using Cremo's mint shave cream as a preshave which made this already epic shave even better. And to finish off today's shave I went a nice healthy dose of Aqua Velva ice blue splash followed by a nice healthy dose of Soap Commander's matching aftershave balm:

The Gillette Shield was phenomenal. Starting with a fresh blade on turned out to be an excellent decision. Between that & using an excellent preshave, I got one of my best shaves I've ever gotten. I was slick as black ice after just 2 passes which is perfect. More than enough to get rid of the old barbed wire stubble but not enough to set my sensitive skin issues off.

Proraso Styptic Gel Review:

Earlier today, I got laid wide open with my Gillette slim. Blood was literally squirting from my ear lobe after my Gillette slim slipped and sliced it open during my across the grain pass. My clubman styptic pencil was completely useless and I couldn't quit bleeding. So I grabbed my Proraso Styptic gel and what do you know I quit bleeding after applying it in 10 seconds & folks I bleed very badly. This styptic gel should be in every ones shave arsenal along with a styptic pencil. I get the Jumbo Clubman styptic pencil at Walmart for around $3 dollars but this Proraso styptic gel is awesome and a much better product especially on extremely deep cuts:

This gel pretty much kept me from going to the ER today & after this incident along with a few stinging moments with the styptic pencil, I've decided to call it quits with DE safety razors & straight razors. I can't afford to keep getting cut like I did today especially with all of this sickness going around. So to minimize my risks, I will be returning to cartridge razors permanently.

Gillette Nacet Blade Review:

This will be my last DE blade review. I bought these some time back in late 2017 & I'm glad that I did. They're excellent blades but I personally only have one issue with them and this is just me & my humble opinion. My issue is longevity. For me, these aren't too good in that area. 3 shaves at the most in a standard style safety razor such as a Merkur 34C or an Edwin Jagger DE 89 safety razor and if I was to put these into a slant or an open comb style razor, it's even less. In my German 37 these are only good for 1 shave for me. Others will more than likely get more but if you have a really tough beard like I do, don't look to get more than 2 shaves at the most :

In adjustable razors these are really comfortable & pretty smooth until you get to the 3rd or 4th shave. Then they start to tug & pull a tiny bit which you can fix by stropping but please replace this blade right after you finish that specific shave because if you strop it again like I did, you will not get a comfortable shave at all just like I did today in my Gillette Slim:

In terms of ratings, I would give these blades a 4 out of 5 star rating mainly due to the longevity issue that I have with them but other than that, they're good blades. I've got one more product review coming then that will be it in terms of reviews.

Mountain Man & The Slim:

Today's shave was okay at best and this will be my last use of a DE safety razor. More on that in a bit. Today I went with Stirling Soaps and one of my personal favorite scents, Mountain Man which is their take on & much more affordable than Creed's Silver Mountain Water cologne. Since the shave was a bit rough & the fact that I have alligator skin that resembles mummy dust, I finished off today's shave with Aqua Velva aftershave balm which was very soothing:

As I mentioned before, this will be my last shave with a DE safety razor & a straight razor. The slim tugged & pulled awful and it got me pretty good when it slipped and got my ear on my 3rd pass. The first 2 passes were okay at best. I would love to keep using DE's & straight razors but when you keep getting cut no matter what you try and/or do, you have to do something about it. The soap & brush will never go away from my shave routine. I have to do what's best for my skin.