Bye Bye Gold Dollar 200:

Well crap. Looks like my first shave video will be with a DE safety razor tomorrow. Earlier tonight while doing some honing on my Shoubandini Type 100, the scales at the very tip broke & flew off. I was NOT using any pressure at all because this was just touching up on a finishing stone. I've owned many Gold Dollar razors & to my knowledge, this has never happened to me until tonight. So after my shave tomorrow, I will be looking at some Vintage Japanese straight razors:

I've already found several very affordable Japanese straight razors on EBay. So I will be going that route from here on out. At least there, I won't have to trim the heel & toe of every razor & I won't have to hone the living crap out of them to get the geometry correct & bevel set if I'm picky enough. So time to do some searching to see what I can find. Dang it I says.

TTFFC Mixed & The 100:

This morning's shave was great. Today I went with my Through The Fire Fine Craft by Maria Arman Mixed Soap container. The scent turned out to be a citrus cologne type scent so I paired it with good old Clubman aftershave splash to finish off the shave:

The 100 was great. I managed to get where I needed to be in 3 passes. From now on I will be doing a north to south pass on my moustache area. The hair there is just too tough & that specific area is just too sensitive for me to do any other type of pass there. So when I start doing shave videos, don't be surprised to see numerous north to south passes on my moustache area. There's also a good chance that I will probably stop blogging about my shaves & just sticking with videos unless I'm sick or something & can't talk then you will see another blog post. But until my equipment arrives, I'm still going to be blogging about my shaves.

Proraso Green & The Doc:

Today's shave felt really good. It's also Proraso Friday over in the How To Grow A Moustache Google plus community which I finally decided to participate in. Usually I don't get to because I either have already shaved & forgot or an event would take place on a day where I didn't need to shave because I had gotten close the day before. Today I went with the green formula which has a Menthol & Eucalyptus scent to it & it's very refreshing. And to finish it off, I went with a nice healthy dose of good old Skin Bracer which was like putting icing on a cake:

The doc razor was perfect. I was squeaky clean & slick as black ice after just 3 passes. It's also just about time to put in a new blade which I probably will do after I get back. I have to pay my grandmother a visit in the hospital. About 2 weeks she fell & broke her upper left arm & she's steadily been going down hill ever since. Her niece has been giving false information & saying things are good when they're clearly not. In fact they have actually been worse. My aunt called me this morning around 10 minutes till 9 in a panic. They had to give my grandmother blood this morning & my aunt has been calling me through out the day from the hospital. My grandmother has a blood clot in one of her legs & they can't dissolve it so surgery may be required which is risky business in of itself since she's 93 years old. She also can't eat either which is really scary. My grandmother has also not been cooperating either when it comes to taking medicine & things like that.

Confidence & The 100:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Soap Commander & their fabulous semi sweet Confidence matching set. This specific scent makes Carrie cringe for some reason or another because she does not like it, but that's okay because there's ton of people who love the overly sweet honey, musk & patchouli scent which works perfectly together. The Musk & Patchouli allow the honey to come through but they calm the sweetness way down to a mild semi sweet type of scent:

The 100 was great. I was clean & slick after 3 passes & a spot touch up. I even used the straight in moustache area which was pretty good today but I'm really loving the Doc on my moustache area. Right now I'm in the process of getting things together for making videos. My tripod can't be fixed so I'm forced to order another one & I do plan on checking Amazon out for that after seeing some people's Vlogging set up & how affordable it actually is. I watched one person set up an entire studio for around $75 dollars & he got lighting and everything. All I need is the smart phone mount, tripod & microphone and I'm good to go because I have LED lights in my home.

C.a.D. & The Black Diamond/Doc:

This morning's shave was pretty good & it wasn't the soap either. Today I wanted a classic Barbersol canned shave foam scent so after a nice & hot shower, I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their modern day classic C.a.D. scent & I finished it off with the matching aftershave which really nice & soothing:

The black diamond is about to get tossed out. It was good but no where near good enough & this thing was fresh off the stones too & I know it's definitely not me in that regard. It's been a problematic razor for me since the 1st day I got it. I'm thinking I got a lemon on this one which does happen from time to time. I've already decided on its replacement but first, a new leather strop & 8K stone which I will be ordering here pretty soon. People are really going to dig my next 2 razor purchases & they were very inexpensive too.

Proraso Green & the 100/Doc:

Tonight's shave felt extremely good & was very refreshing. After doing yard work all day today & taking a nice hot shower, I decided that I needed a little extra refreshment so I went with Proraso green which has an incredible menthol & eucalyptus scent to it. And to finish off tonight's shave, I went with a healthy dose of Pinaud's Osage Rub which puts the menthol chill over the top:

Today I tried something a little different. First I did 2 passes with the 100 which was fantastic but that's where it ended with the straight razor. I can & have gone against the grain with my straight razor on my moustache area but it's extremely uncomfortable for me even with a razor fresh off the stones. So from now on, I will be using my Doc razor on my moustache area. It's too sensitive of an area for me to use any other razor but the Doc & I get perfect results with no blood every time I use the doc in that area. I also went ahead & done a half pass on my neck area with the doc to clean it up more which turned out great. I could not have gotten a better shave than I did tonight.

Lemon Chill & The 42C:

This morning's shave was great. My allergies have kicked into high gear so I went with Stirling Soaps & their lemon chill scent which is loaded with menthol & is great for opening up the sinuses when you are having issues. The scent reminds me of a fresh made lemon meringue pie. You can still tell that it's a lemon tart type scent but it's leaning towards the semi sweet dessert type scent which is fabulous. And to finish off today's shave, I went with Stirling's Glacial Lemon Chill scented aftershave balm which was the icing on the cake so to speak:

The 42C started off decent at best & as I went along during the 1st pass, I could tell that it was definitely a bad blade & needed to be replaced. So I switched it out for a brand new Perma-Sharp blade & man that made a huge difference for the better:

After switching the blade out, I ended up doing 2 passes with the grain & 1 pass against the grain which ended up being a nice clean shave with no irritation. I also did not get any sting from the alum block either which is always a good thing. That's the secret to eliminating bad shaves. Don't be afraid to stop & switch out the blade & if you are using a straight razor, don't be afraid to take a moment or 2 to strop the blade & if that doesn't help switch it out for another straight razor. It's been so long since I've had a bad shave that I can't remember when the last one was.

WTF Cuban Tobacco & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Wet The Face and their phenomenal Cuban Tobacco scented soap which has an incredible deep & rich semi sweet tobacco scent. And to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave splash which is also phenomenal:

The black diamond was great. I was squeaky clean in 3 passes. I'm also waiting for a YouTube video to upload as we speak. I'm not quite set up for shave videos yet but I did do a stropping video specifically for new guys getting into straight razor shaving. I hope it helps answer some questions that they may have in regards to stropping.

Update on Videos:

After visiting one of the 3 Walmarts that I have access to Saturday, I decided to wait & check at the closest one & I'm glad that I did. Tonight, I bought an Omn branded adjustable tripod & I also got some advice & a product suggestion that will definitely work for making shave videos. This specific tripod is for stropping & I'm also looking at a smaller Joby styled gorilla pod. So all I really need now is a universal smart phone bracket that will allow me to use not only this tripod but others & I did find a magnetic suction cup style mount for about $20 U.S. Dollars which is what was suggested:

So I am working on getting videos made. It might be a little bit before I can do an actual shave video but I am set up for other videos such as stropping & things that require more space & this type of equipment. I'll probably do a stropping video tomorrow.

A Quick Honing With The ILR:

After having to take my 100 to my ILR water stone during the shave, I decided to go ahead & take my other straight razor to the ILR. This took longer to photograph, write & post up than it did to hone 2 razors & to strop them. I used Dr. Matt's under running water technique which is extremely fast & effective. I'm sold on the ILR's effectiveness & speed:

Using a light stream of water, you simply do subtle or abbreviated "X" strokes using the weight of the razor only until the razor gets sticky & nearly stops on the stone:

Once the razor starts to get that sticky, you simply turn the water up slightly & repeat the process until you get the same effect:

Now this is where it gets really interesting. Using either vintage linen such as the fire hose strop that you see below or the fabric side of your strop that you currently have, you do 6 round trips & no more than that:

Then you go back to the ILR stone & repeat the process that you did earlier which is abbreviated "X" strokes until the razor gets extremely sticky:

And once again slightly turn up the water & repeat the same process until you get the same effect that you did earlier:

And that's all there is to it. It's easy to do & stupid fast. This technique also works extremely well with the Belgium Coticules which I haven't tried yet.

Honor & The 100:

Today's shave ended up being outstanding. Today is Sunday which means that Soap Commander Sunday was in full effect. After a nice, hot & relaxing shower, I went with their "Honor" scented soap which is their Barbershop scent. It's some where between Phoenix Shaving's C.a.D. & the older version of Fine's American Blend. And to finish off today's shave, I went with a healthy dose of Fine's American blend which isn't pictured because I decided to add it at the last minute & then I followed up with a healthy dose of Soap Commander's Honor scented aftershave balm which adds a touch of menthol to the epic post shave feel:

The 100 ended up being great but not before I took it to my ILR stone during the shave which will be in another post. My first pass with it was decent but uncomfortable & was still tugging. So I took it to my ILR water stone using Dr. Matt's under running water technique & let me tell you, it put that razor's edge exactly where it was when I first got it. I ended up doing 2 more passes at which point I was squeaky clean. I also did NOT get any stinging from the alum block & only minimal stinging from the Fine American Blend aftershave due to the alcohol content. But no cuts or bumps were mowed off & no weepers either. I'm sold on the effectiveness & speed of the ILR.

Honing Time! With Both Razors:

Well this was fun & it was fast too. Both razors needed to be honed especially my Gold Dollar 100. It was starting to pull & tug something fierce. I'm more than certain that both razors are up to snuff so let's get started:

All of my stones were soaked & flattened after wards. These stones got a really good 15 to 20 minute soak at the very least:

I love these bench pads. Not only did they work, they held all of my stones in place & they didn't budge hardly at all while I was doing Japanese style honing. These are the $15 U.S. Dollar Suehiro bench pads from Chef's Knives To Go website:

The first thing I noticed was the fact that this 1K stone had no trouble bring up a slurry at all which tells me that this 1K is a fast cutter:

The slurry is also a grayish color. You really can't see it on the stone very well, but it turned my water a grayish blue type slurry:

As I mentioned, this Suehiro Cerax 1K is a fast cutter but the bonus is the fact that it polishes while it cuts which is a very good thing. This stone also leaves extremely little to no spine wear as well:

The Suehiro 5K Rika was also a fast cutter & also left a nice polished edge behind but it was slightly slower than the 1K which is & was expected. In fact I suspected that it would be slower than it actually was which is also a good thing:

After that, I finished on my Shoubandini Type 100 & the non skid bench pads made a huge difference with this stone. It made using it much easier & there's no doubt that I got better results on this stone today than I have been:

Next up was the fire hose strop which I did 5 round trips on with both razors:

Then I did 5 more round trips with both razors on the scrub leather:

Then I did 10 round trips on the smooth leather with both razors:

All in all, I'm extremely pleased with my new stones & progression. My new progression is 600, 1K, 5K, Japanese natural. That's the progression my friend Anthony Esposito uses & my other friend, Frank Misa also suggested it. Using 4 stones to take any razor to shave ready is pretty cool & I can't wait for tomorrow's shave.

Mail Call! Suehiro Water Stone & Bench Pads:

Today's mail call is from Chef's Knives To Go & a lot of thought, research & experience went into this one. I was planning on ordering from my friend Keith V. Johnson over at TomoNagura's Etsy page, but he decided to take a break & do some spring cleaning & I had a limited budget this time around. So after putting in some thought & doing some research which was also based on experience, I decided to go with Suehiro water stones instead of Shapton. My experience with Shapton in general hasn't been too good & here lately, not too many people have been carrying their products. Plus you don't hear any complaints at all about Suehiro & since no one that I know of has tried any of these specific stones on straight razors, I figured why not give them a try. So we will see what happens with the Suehiro Cerax 1K & Suehiro Rika 5K as my low & mid range stones :

They arrived fairly quickly & intact thank goodness:

Here's a photo of the packing slip which states what I bought:

As much as I love my stone holder that I use my Naniwa Professional 600 grit stone on, it's limited to certain sized stones while these are not. These aren't small & can hold a full size water stone:

All in all, I'm tickled pink with these water stones & non skid bench pads. And if these stones are anything like my Suehiro mini 1/3K water stone, I'm in for a treat. I've shaved off of a razor that was finished on a Suehiro 10K & a Suehiro 20K before & the edges were phenomenal. But it's been a really long time & this was before I started honing & long before Anthony Esposito discovered Japanese Naturals which is all he uses to finish on now. The Suehiro Rika 5K is as smooth as glass. It was totally worth the $55 U.S. Dollars price tag:

The Suehiro Rika 5K did not come with a slurry stone but the factory did bevel the corners on both sides of the stone which is a lot less work that I have to do. So I don't have to spend a lot of time rounding off the corners with this specific stone:

The instructions are clear but they are in Japanese:

The Suehiro Rika 5K requires a 10 to 15 minute soak at the minimum according to these illustrations & the website I purchased them from:

The Suehiro Cerax 1K doesn't have the corners rounded as much as the Rika 5K but it's also smooth as glass & was totally worth the $45.00 U.S. Dollar price tag. It also requires a 10 to 15 minute soak at the minimum. Based on the experience I've had with my mighty mini, there is no quick soak. 10 to 15 minutes is the bare minimum from what I've seen so far:

Unlike the Rika 5K, the Cerax 1K did come with a non skid rubber ring & a slurry stone which is really cool. Not too many stones come with a slurry stone & it's a really rough slurry stone as well which also requires soaking:

And for those wondering, the enclosed non skid rubber ring does fit the Rika 5K along with their other full size stones:

I really can't wait to use these stones later on tonight. My progression will be my Naniwa Professional 600 grit, Suehiro Cerax 1K, Suehiro Rika 5K, Shoubandini type 100 Japanese natural which should produce a really fine & smooth edge that will be more than sharp enough to remove my barbed wire type of beard. Chef's Knives To Go also has a true 8K stone that I'm interested in that I've heard some things about but no details have been given & that is the Naniwa Snow White 8K stone. If I like the edges that I get from tonight's progression, I may not get it & go with Suehiro's 8K stones instead.

Optimism & The 42C:

Tonight's shave was really nice. After a nice hot shower, I went with my go to brand Soap Commander and their amazing "Optimism" scented soap which has a Pear, Plum & Bergamot scent. And to finish off tonight's shave, I went with the matching aftershave balm which adds a tiny bit of menthol to the already incredible post shave feel:

The 42C couldn't be more perfect tonight. I was slick as black ice after just 2 passes. My new toys are scheduled to arrive here on Saturday which will be a really good thing. That's probably when I will shave again. My beard grows really fast when I use a DE or a straight razor so we will see. I'm trying not to go back to daily shaving because it really causes my skin issues to flare up.

Future Plans & Twitter is Out:

Yesterday I was pretty much forced to make a decision regarding the Twitter social media platform & that decision is to leave it far behind & not to look back. Someone once told me that if you look back, you usually end up worse off than you was & end up regretting it even more and they were correct. The first time I went on Twitter was over 10+ years ago now when I was involved in the automotive & alcohol distilling hobbies. I left Twitter the first time when I was diagnosed with cancer & knew I was in for some serious medical procedures so I left for several years. When I returned to Twitter after getting into wet shaving it was good. But these last 24 months have not been & after what I've had to deal with personally & seen others go through similar stuff, it was definitely time to leave. But I do have some good news. I do plan on making shave videos & I've also been talking to some people about getting the additional equipment needed to make these videos:

Right now I'm in perfect standing with YouTube but have been seeing issues with that specific platform involving others. Sadly we have seen the wrath of one of their policy changes which resulted in a woman going into YouTube headquarters & shooting 3 people before taking her own life as a result of her videos being deleted & her channel be demonetized due to their policy changes & it did NOT involve firearms either. Her videos showed violence towards animals while documenting animal cruelty which she was against. YouTube has the right to make these changes because it is their platform & they felt that her videos were too violent for their viewers and she couldn't take it. I have reserved a spot on the Full30 platform for anything firearms & archery related and to make sure that I stay in good standing on YouTube, I deleted a video of my Grim Reaper broad head commercial I recorded one night. The other platform that I'm looking at doing a lot with is Vimeo. But there is a drawback to using that platform. I'm limited to what I can upload to that platform without having to upgrade which costs money. It's looking like I will be splitting things up on all of these video platforms. YouTube will be strictly shaving & honing while the others will be used for different activities. It's getting ridiculous in my humble opinion. I never thought I would see the day that I would have to watch what I say in a blog or in a video & have to "tip toe" like I'm walking in a mine field. So much for the 1st amendment which is freedom of speech. It's long gone now on social media & has been in general for over a decade now.

Ike & The 42C:

Today's shave was great. Today I decided to go with Strike Gold Shave & their fabulous "Ike" scented soap which is their take on the classic Skin Bracer scent. Speaking of Skin Bracer, I went with a huge healthy dose to finish off this shave:

Now that I've got to hone both straight razors, I will be using the 42C for a little bit until my new toys come in. I was clean as a whistle after just 2 passes today. I also have another post coming in regards to Twitter & my future towards that platform. Plus I will be announcing my plans as I look forward to the future with my shaving hobby.

Grapelicious & The 100:

Tonight's shave was outstanding. After getting a hair cut earlier, I decided to shave tonight & I went with KShave Worx and their phenomenal Grapelicious soap which is a grape soda scent. And to polish off today's shave, I went their matching aftershave splash: 

The Gold Dollar 100 was great. I managed to get a really nice close shave with just 2.5 passes but I can definitely tell that it's definitely time to touch the razor up. Even though I did take it to my fire hose strop before the shave, it still felt like it was tugging a little bit. So this one will be getting some time on the stones here pretty soon.

C.a.D. & The 42C:

First let me say Happy Easter to all of my readers out there, he has risen. Today I woke up feeling great but when I looked in the mirror it was clear that I needed to shave very badly. So I took a nice hot shower & used my Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements C.a.D. scented shampoo & conditioner bar which was phenomenal. After that I went with the C.a.D. scented shave soap & finished it off with the matching aftershave which lasts 18+ hours. The scent on C.a.D. is Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's take on a specific brand named canned shave foam from the late 70's & 80's only with a much stronger & defined scent:

The 42C was great & was extremely comfortable but it was time for a fresh blade. So after the shave, I went with another Gillette Silver Blue & I stropped it 2 times on each side of the blade using my smooth leather strop which should take the harshness off the 1st shave:

As I mentioned earlier, the 42C was extremely comfortable. I was slick as black ice & squeaking in some spots. It's shaves like this that make me question as to why I don't use DE safety razors more often as opposed to straight razors. But I had to switch out the blade which pretty much tells you why I love straight razors. If the edge is no good, I simply take it to a water stone & it's good to go for several more shaves. That's the secret to getting a good shave & completely eliminating bad shaves on a permanent basis. If the straight razor does not feel right, then stop & strop it & if that doesn't do it grab another straight razor. If the DE safety razor doesn't feel right switch out the blade. I can say the same thing about single edge razors as well. Don't be afraid to switch out the blades and/or straight razors if you need to. That's why I don't get bad shaves anymore.