Turkish Bath & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave was epic, wow. Today I went with Jeeves of Hudson Street and their barbershop scented soap, Turkish Bath. The reason I went with them today besides craving it, I don't remember using this soap with a straight razor. I would have to go back and look but I'm certain that I haven't used this soap with a straight razor. And to finish off today's shave, I paired it with Old Spice aftershave splash which goes very well with this soap:

The black diamond was great but only after I took it to the fire hose strop during the first pass. I ended up squeaky clean after 3 passes. It was like riding a bike today and I'm actually faster with a straight than I am with a cartridge razor which says a lot. Once I get this razor dialed in, you will be seeing it more often. Even my clean up was faster today.

Honing Time!

It's been a really long time since I've done a honing post. But I figured why not document the honing session I just did. I started with my Naniwa Professional 600 grit then I followed up with my entire synthetic stone collection before heading over to my natural stones:

After the 600 grit I went with my Suehiro 1/3K combo stone which does a phenomenal job. After that I went with my Norton 8K then my Shapton 12K. It took a while but it was totally worth it:

After I got done with my Shapton 12K, I went with my Apache Strata then using my friend Dr. Matt Robins technique, I went with my ILR water stone after I did "X" strokes. Got the tip of my thumb on the 2nd session with the ILR using Dr. Matt's under running water technique:

Next I finished it off with my Shoubandini Type 100 Japanese natural water stone which should put the black diamond straight razor over the top. I barely got the tip of my thumb and it drew blood so I'm more than certain that it's definitely shave ready:

After that I did 10 round trips on my fire hose strop from Keith Johnson's shop TomoNagura over on Etsy. followed by 5 round trips on the scrub leather & 10 round trips on the smooth leather side of my strop. I also did this between each stone so it should be stupid sharp & extremely comfortable. Or at least I hope it will. Once I get back into honing & straight razors, I'll be looking at the Shapton glass stones. While I do love the Japanese natural water stones along with my Apache Strata, I have no idea what the grit is and in my humble opinion, using the "K grit" system is useless with natural stones period. One little drop of water can completely change the slurry along with the results and natural stones are never the same even if they're mined from the same quarry. My Shoubandini type 100 won't be the same as someone elses. That's just how natural stones are period. So my next shave should be very interesting which is a good thing.

Optimism & The 37:

Today's shave felt really good. Think of having an itch and finally being able to scratch it. For today's brush, I went with my RazoRock Plissoft 24 mm Synthetic. I've grown quite fond of that brush as of late and it has become my go to brush. I also needed a Soap Commander fix today and went with their "Optimism" scent which is a really rich pear, plum & bergamot scent. If they added a little spice to it, you would have an oriental plum scent. And to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave balm which adds a touch menthol to the ultra soft post shave feel:

The German 37 was good but not great today. So I took it to my fire hose strop for 5 round trips on both sides of the blade. Followed by 5 round trips on the scrub leather & 10 round trips on the smooth leather so the next shave with it will be really interesting. I'm also about to do a honing session and get back into my straight razors. But I will only be using my Black diamond because I really want to get some new straight razors now that I've decided to use nothing but "X" strokes to hone from here on out unless I'm doing some repair work or honing a Gold Dollar straight razor for the 1st time. So I am going to get back into straight razors.

C.a.D. & The Shield:

This morning's shave was phenomenal. For today's shave I went with my Omega 10049 Professional boar brush which produces one of the best lathers you will ever have. I also broke out the shave scuttle for a nice & thick hot lather which is perfect for a cold morning. I think it was around 3 degrees Fahrenheit this morning so I don't have to tell you how great that hot lather felt. And the star of today's shave was Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their modern day classic C.a.D. which is a much stronger version of a certain "canned shave foam" scent from the 1970's & 80's. And to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave splash:

The Gillette Shield was outstanding this morning. I got another black ice post shave feel in just 2.5 passes. Between the ultra slick hot lather & the prep I did, you aren't going to beat this kind of shave in my humble opinion. No irritation of any kind which is always a good thing. I'm also down to the very last shave brush that I wanted to soak in fabric softener which is the one I used this morning. My synthetics don't need it.

High Jump 47 & The Doc:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their classic High Jump 47 soap which has an incredible citrus barbershop cologne scent with a few notes of talcum powder & musk. And since I don't have the matching aftershave, I went with a nice double dose of Pinaud's Clubman aftershave which seems to pair with this soap perfectly:

The doc was great. I got almost as close as my cartridge razors in just 3 passes. There was a couple of spots I could have went over again but I decided not to. And the Gillette Nacet blades are epic in the doc razor. It's almost like there was no blade in the razor in terms of comfort. The brush that you see in the photo above is my other New York Shaving Company 26 mm silver tipped badger brush. I still prefer the synthetic brushes mainly because there's no break in period & they don't absorb your lather like the boar & badger brushes do during a shave. I'm also doing the fabric softener trick with this one and my Omega 10049 Boar brush is up next. They're getting a 48 hour soak time to help keep them from absorbing my lather during a shave.

Renewal & The 38C:

This morning's shave was great. After a nice hot shower, I went with my New York Shaving Company 22 mm silver tipped badger brush which I now have soaking in a mild fabric softener solution. Hopefully this will keep it from eating my lather which is why I love synthetic brushes. And I also went with Soap Commander and their fabulous "renewal" scented soap which is a fantastic floral fougere' scent. And to finish off today's shave I went with the matching aftershave balm & Brut aftershave splash:

The Merkur 38C was great but it was time for a new blade. So I put in a new Feather blade and stropped it 3 times on both sides of the blade using the smooth leather side of my strop. This razor is too mild and really needs a much sharper blade for my beard which is extremely tough. I think that was the problem I had last time with the Feather blades, I didn't strop them before the first use. I'm also looking at getting back into straight razors again. I just don't know when that will be.

Turkish Bath & The Fusion:

Today's shave was phenomenal, wow. I was going to use a menthol based product but decided to go with Jeeves of Hudson Street and their Turkish Bath scented soap instead. And to add a little more warmth to this bitter cold day, I finished off today's shave with good ole Old Spice aftershave splash. I figured out that the cheaper one on store shelves is the one you want & it smells exactly like my left over 2004 version. Shame on me for grabbing the spray bottle which I tossed out:

The Gillette Fusion was perfect. I was squeaky clean in just 2 passes which is perfect for me and my sensitive skin. I did have to use my styptic pencil on one tiny spot in my moustache area which is no big deal at all. I couldn't be happier with the results of this shave. And to give people a clue as to how cold it got here last night, here's a photo of the river that runs behind my house:

^You know it's cold when running water freezes. It was 6 degrees Fahrenheit this morning and with the wind chill factored in, -1 degrees Fahrenheit and the only day we're suppose to be above freezing this week is Wednesday which is the high of 33 degrees Fahrenheit.