Resolution & The 209:

This morning's shave was just great. Soap Commander always delivers top notch performance. And this was their 2014 Holiday edition if I remember correctly and it's no longer available. This resolution soap has a scent of Frasier Fir, Mistletoe, and Semi Sweet Cranberries. And to give this shave a crisp and cool post shave feel, I paired it with Barbasol brisk aftershave:

The 209 did great but I do need to get a finishing stone here before long. 2 to 3 sessions on the Norton 8K isn't enough to remove my beard now despite that this morning's shave was only 3 passes. I'm looking at a small 6 by 2 inch Suehiro 1/3 combo stone and Shapton's line stones. I'm also looking at a natural slate from Jonathan Coe of Coe Whetstone over on FB.

Dremel's Carbon Steel Brushes:

Picked these up at Lowe's today for about $5 dollars. They're suppose to be specifically made for cleaning and polishing. We will soon see how they do here pretty soon, after I get some rest. I'm too tired to fool with it today that and I am looking at some other attachments for my Dremel which I highly recommend that you get one. They're priceless in my opinion:

They also have a polishing kit that I want to get and I found a variety pack of compounds at Lowe's today as well which is really cool. So far I am having a blast cleaning up these straight razors.

11235 & The Doc:

This morning has been a total cluster freak. Sorry for the late posting ladies and gentlemen, but this morning's shave around 11:30 AM eastern daylight time was good. Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's 11235 scented soap was great and Barbasol brisk goes perfectly with it. The doc didn't do to good this morning because of too many shaves on this specific blade. More on that in a bit, possibly a new razor in the works:

It's looking like this razor will be used when I have irritation or a bad cut if and/or when this happens. Even after 3 passes, I didn't get smooth. After this airport fiasco which started last night, I have driven over 700 miles in the last 24 hours with only 6 hours worth of sleep. The airport in Charlotte, NC is terrible and has no brain. 2 flights cancelled and my uncle's was one them and people were cussing according to my uncle. Basically what happened was that lightning had hit the radar at the local airport where we was suppose to pick him up and it takes 1 hour to get there and Charlotte didn't help matters at all. So we get down there and we have wait over 2 hours for flight that's showing delayed on the boards, but the flight wasn't updated to cancelled. So I drove back home which makes 2 hours of driving and I'm not done yet. No sooner than I get home, I get a PM from my cousin about all of this. They gave my uncle another ticket to Knoxville, TN's airport which is 3 hours away one way and I had been awake for over 13 hours at that point. So to make a long story short, I ended up driving another 6.5 hours on top of what I had driver earlier and I didn't get home and go to bed until 6 AM eastern daylight time. So over the last 24 hours I have driven 8.5 hours at 75 MPH.

Integrity, The Beach & The 209:

This morning's shave was great. Soap Commander delivers yet another incredible shave. I went with their Integrity soap which is truly "unscented" and goes with ANY aftershave. So if you have a new aftershave and want to experience the top, middle and bottom notes during the dry down process, then this is your soap. And I decided to pair it with PAA's The Beach which has an incredible scent of Coppertone sun screen lotion. You get more scents as it dries down:

In terms of post shave feel, the touch up I did before my shave this morning proved to be fruitful. The 209 left me smooth as glass after performing 3 passes and I got very little sting from the alum block and aftershave. So far the meet up is looking great. If my dad's hip replacement goes well the day before with no issues, I will be attending the meet up in Nashville, TN. That's why there won't be much if anything shave related bought over the next 2 months. I'm wanting to save some money up for the meet up. There will be quite a few people I want to meet in person.

A Quick Touch Up:

This morning before my shave, I decided to do a quick touch up on my 209 and I'm glad that I did because it was definitely needed. I only did 40 round trips total on the 8K side of my Norton. First I did 15 round trips on the Norton and then I did 10 round trips on the nylon webbing of my strop before going back to the Norton for 25 more round trips which totals 40:

After that I did my full stropping routine of 10 round trips on the nylon webbing. 20 round trips on the scrub leather, and 40 round trips on the smooth leather. Then I went ahead and shaved with it. The result was a nice and smooth buttery edge and I got a smooth as glass post shave after 3 passes. My shave of the day post is up next.

Razor Clean Up Part 2:

Today I decided to work on my straight razors some more and I am now finished with the grinding. They still look extremely rough but there's no chips or nicks in the blades and I took out some of the excessive spine wear that these straight razors had. My next step will involve some cleaning with a wire brush attachment and then I'll begin the sanding process which will take a little while. The polishing and honing will be my last steps:

I have to wait a couple of days before I can continue on because I have to buy the wire brush attachment and I don't get paid until Wednesday. I also want to look and see what polishing attachments they have available as well. So it's going to be a little while before I'm finished.

Le Petit Chypre & The 209:

Today's shave was very satisfying and excellent. Barrister & Mann makes an incredible soap and aftershave. I went with their Le Petit Chypre matching set which has a very rich cypress wood scent. And the aftershave is very nice and soothing:

The Gold Dollar 209 is incredible and is still performing on it's original edge that my friend Anthony Esposito put on it when I ordered it from him. All I've been doing is maintaining the edge. I'm also looking at getting rid of my Gold Monkey and my Gold Dollar 208 razors and getting new ones from Anthony later on down the road and that's if I don't pay EBay a visit first and do a slight heel and toe trim on the razors. That's what I love about the Gold Dollar, Gold Monkey and ZY branded razors. They're dirt cheap and they hone up really nice in almost no time. And all you need to do is trim the heel and the toe of the razors just enough to clear the stabilizer out of the way so they can be honed. I trim the toe because I don't want that point digging into my skin. The meet up is looking really good for now, but the day before my dad goes in for another hip replacement surgery. It's already been put off due to his lungs being in rough shape and it has to be done so he can walk. So if all goes well, I'll be attending the Nashville, TN meet up.