Soap Commander Week:

Day 5: Today's shave was phenomenal and very refreshing to say the least. This "Refreshment" scented soap has a sweet tea and lemon scent and it jumps out at you especially after blooming it. The slickness was exceptional and the cushioning ability was also phenomenal. I also love the smaller tub as well which is easier to handle:

In terms of lathering, it's a typical Soap Commander lather:

It also has plenty of staying power as well. This was taken after I set a timer for 10 minutes and let count down to zero and it didn't dissipate too much at all:

It also rinses cleanly as well with zero residue which is a good thing:

This soap gets 6 out of 5 stars in my book wow.

I'm Ambidextrous Now:

As most of you guys know, I've been using straight razors almost daily for several months now and here over the last month, I've been catching myself using my left hand for a number of this that I'd normally use with my right and I'm right handed. So naturally my right hand and arm is the dominate side but since I've made this incredible journey into straight razor shaving, my left arm and hand is getting used more often and thing that gets me the most is that I didn't even think about using my left hand or arm in those situations. So that tells me my initial learning curve is not only over, but my muscle memory has more than kicked in to say the least which is pretty cool. The statement about becoming ambidextrous after using straight razors for while is true:

I can't even remember how long my hiatus was or how many full blown straight razor shaves I've had at this point in the hobby. I was told that muscle memory usually kicks in after about maybe 50 to 70 shaves in give or take a little. I guess it depends on your commitment to the hobby. To get to this level where you don't even think about using your left hand in certain situations, you must stay committed to straight razor shaving. A very special thanks goes out to those that encouraged me to stick with it and not give up (you know who you all are).

SRD Strop Arrival:

Today's mail call is from Straight Razor Designs. Even though I love my starter strop and have used it even today before shaving, it did take me a while to strop my ALL of my straight razors because I could only do half of the razor at one time so I had to either stick with what I've been doing, or get a new strop. So I went ahead and looked around and Straight Razor Designs has this one for the lowest price on the web at $66.38 shipped. It's a 3 inch black Latigo strop with matching webbing and stainless steel D rings. Their logo is stamped into the strop itself at the top near the hook. It also has screws instead of rivets that allow you to replace the materials if need be. But since my starter strop is NOT nicked or scuffed up, I can definitely say that this one will last a while. Only time will tell:

Here's how it came shipped there's a funny story that occurred when I picked this monster up. Basically the postal clerk was wanting to know if my strop had come in and he was very cool about it. I said yes that's what I'm here to pick up. So I gave him the infamous "yellow slip" and told him which box it was and he comes out with this long box and says "this is from Straight Razor Designs" and the female postal clerk turned with her jaw hitting the floor and said "That's a straight razor" I said no that's the strop used to maintain a straight razor with. No one can use a razor that big and we all just busted out laughing. She said she was having a "blond moment" today:

You've got to be care full when opening these strops because if you're not, you can take a chance on digging into your strop which would be a bad thing to do:

I was blown away at how nice this strop looks and the quality it has:

I got the matching nylon webbing with my strop:

Here's the size difference between what I've been using versus the new strop. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to get a new strop and make the starter strop my traveling strop because this new one is too big to put into a suit case with all of my shaving gear. Even if I drove, it will still be problematic to travel with the new strop. I really can't wait to use it and see how it performs:

So far this is a really fine strop.

Soap Commander Arrival:

Today's mail call comes from Soap Commander and I love it! The crown jewel is the "Refreshment" scented soap. It's a sweet tea with lemon scent that is truly considered the wine of the south. It quenches your thirst on a really hot summer day and has a lot of flavor. I really can't wait to try that tomorrow. Another scent I decided to get is "confidence". It's a really sweet honey scent with a hint of musk to calm the sweetness down and it balances the scent perfectly. The last scent I got was "integrity" which is their unscented product line and I do have the matching aftershave balm to go with it. That will be the soap I use when I go deer hunting, or if I have a new aftershave that I'm not familiar with and want to see what it smells like as it fades without interference from the soap itself. And last but certainly NOT LEAST, I got another "Vision" scented bath bar. The one I've currently been using is just about gone and it performs so well, that I decided to get another one:

I love how the packaging looks when it arrives. There's NO MISTAKING when your next order from Soap Commander arrives:

This also one of the best parts of ordering from Soap Commander. A hand written note adds a very nice personal touch to your order which I love getting:

Now to those who are wondering how many of Soap Commander's products I have, here's my entire Soap Commander collection and yes I'll be adding even more here in the future:

Can't go wrong with ANY of Soap Commander's products and if you have sensitive skin, then you need these products in your arsenal.

Soap Commander Week:

Day 4: Today's shave was a "UFS" or what I like to call an Ultra Fine Shave. It was also a true BBS yet again. It's also time to perform a full stropping session instead of ONLY the smooth leather. That last trouble spot that I had to touch up after 2 full passes had a little bit of tugging going on so that tells me it's time for the balsa wood strop to be used as well. Every time I use this "Gusto" soap, I get thirsty. It's a seasonal soap that has the best scent you'll ever smell. It's raspberry pink lemonade scent and I crave raspberry pink lemonade every time that I use it. The only reason this one is not my top soap from Soap Commander is because it's seasonal and not available all year like "Vision" is which is my all time top soap:

Next Stone Purchase Revealed:

Well I have finally decided on what stones to purchase next to make all of my straight razors truly worthy of the term "shave ready" which has been abused in my humble opinion. Just about every person that I have talked to or chatted with via Face Book had one thing to say and that is set the bevel so I'll be getting the Imperia La Roccia 1K stone to set bevels with which is the next stone I'll be buying:

Once that bevel set is, I'll be going to my Norton 4/8K combo stone and I start with the 4K side first. I do plan on getting a separate version of these stones in the near future: 

Next up is the 8K side which has been my finishing stone for a while now but once I get my other stones, it'll be my mid tier stone. As it stands now, I would normally flip this stone back over to the 4K side and repeat the previous process again which does seem to work with this particular stone. I will NOT be doing that once I get my bevel setting stone and then my finishing stone. This is what I'm currently doing now, but won't be for too much longer:

The next step will be this monster below:

I was told that they didn't post it up correctly and it was between 10 and 12K which is perfect for me. I've been getting true BBS shaves with my Gold Dollar straight razors off the Norton 4/8K combo stone for a while now and I know what kind of an edge that a good finishing stone can do so I pretty much know that I'm in for a real treat once I get this finishing stone dialed in which will be sweet.

Soap Commander Week:

Day 3: Today's shave was epic and a true B.B.S. This scent is called "Purpose" which is their bay rum scent and it's also one of their best scents. Gusto which is a raspberry lemonade scent and Renewal which was a Fougere' type of scent were and are epic, but those scents are seasonal and only available during certain times of the year. As far as the Seasonal Scent Crew goes, it won't be available until Thanksgiving and they've not had a moment to sit down and discuss the prices yet as they've been extremely busy moving. I don't know which package I'll be getting yet either: