The Devil's Cut:

Today's shave was great. The injector performed perfectly for my beard once I switched the blade that came with it out for a fresh one and it's perfect for trouble spots. It's also great for head shavers because its size makes it perfect for curved surfaces. This soap is another grand slam from TTFFC's product line. It's extremely smooth with the top notes of oak, and vanilla and there was one note that I couldn't quite figure out what it was until I spoke to Maria and she told me that there's a slight hint of sandalwood in there and that was what I was detecting. This one is definitely going in my shave cave along with power hammer (root beer, chocolate, espresso) and extinguish (raspberry gelato):

Mail Call:

Today's mail call is from Amazon and has been 26 years in the making. The very first time I ever shaved in my life was with what you see below and I got an epic shave with it in 1989 when I was 12. However my grandfather wasn't too pleased about that and basically hid it from me and gave me an old TTO Gillette speed glide which is what my Weishi 9306G was modeled after. Ever since I returned to wet shaving in March of 2014, I've been after this razor. Unfortunately I couldn't afford the Vintage version so I went with the replica that you see below:

The packaging wasn't fancy at all and it came in a small envelope and the speed of the arrival was decent at best. Took a little time to get here but it was worth it:

The costs is what sold me on this razor and since I got free shipping due to Christmas coming here pretty soon, that made it even sweeter than before. The blades cost me $5 U.S. Dollars at a local supermarket and I got 7 blades so that puts my costs at $.71 cents per shave which is still cheaper than a Gillette Fusion is which is beyond belief at the moment:

And as always, every new razor I buy gets a 10 minute soak in Barbicide to kill any germs and clean up the razor a tad before use which was great:

Now the blade that comes with the razor is a dud because once I switched it out, I got a really close shave. So far I'm loving this razor and it's definitely worth the costs to me because the Vintage version ranges between $50 to $90 U.S. Dollars and usually your local antique store will be just about the only place you can get one other than a shaving shop that restores and sells them. So the only way to get one is to either go Vintage and you have a choice between this one and an adjustable is also available or buy this replica version. It's got a true medium level of aggressiveness and not mild with someone claiming it to be medium like I saw a lot with the DE 89. This has replaced my Gillette Fusion and since it's an injector style razor, there should not be any travel issues at all.

TTFFC's Power Hammer:

Today's shave was phenomenal and very delicious. How can you go wrong with this soap which is called Power Hammer which is a Chocolate, Root Beer and espresso scent and the only chocolate scented aftershave I have that goes with it is PAA's Chocolate Bourbon which is a perfect match for this soap. The shave itself was fast and clean but not quite an "ice rink" type of shave which is fine because I have got a new toy coming in that should arrive any day now:

If you don't have this soap in your den, correct this mistake A.S.A.P.

The Old Method Wins:

As most of you know who read and follow my blog in G+, the HTGAM community along with the Face Book groups that I'm a member of, I tried a different method of honing that I'm not use to or very familiar with at all and it was an epic failure. So I went ahead and killed the edge and started completely over from scratch and reset the bevel using my old method that I've been using for several months. In fact the "HHT" or hanging hair test yielded very comfortable results and my forearms have even less hair now:

The results will be extremely good because I was able to go over a couple of bumps and only the hair was removed and in the past I couldn't do that with other edges. So I'm confident the razor will be good but only time and the shave itself will tell for sure. My Gold Dollar 208 is up next in the rotation. If my new toy has arrived, it will be used instead of my Gold Dollar 208. They were not precise as to when it will arrive. It's showing and I quote: "On Time" and the dates are marked for between December 15th and 18th for delivery and we all know how that goes from time to time.

Honing Experiment Failed:

Well I can officially report that my honing experiment from last night has failed. The first and only pass I made earlier for today's shave was awful. It tugged and pulled something fierce and it actually made my eyes water. So I switched out the straight razor for my Gillette Fusion Pro glide to finish the shave with which turned out to be an ultra fine shave. So later on tonight, I will be doing some honing and going back to my old routine which was a combination of 2 techniques:

Once I get my stone collection situated, I'll probably use a friend's technique which does work and gets results. As for the Norton water stones go, the 8K side will be the only one in the equation if you will. I also plan on getting a 12 inch by 12 inch granite floor tile to go with my SIC powder for flattening my stones later on.

TTFFC's Extinguish:

Today's shave didn't start off to well at all until I switched out the razor and the soap more than made up for it. In fact it kindly made me hungry due to its raspberry gelato scent which is epic. This is day 1 of 8 of a TTFFC binge. Another thing that is awesome about this soap is the fact that it's got menthol in it that does NOT effect the scent at all and yet it's as cold if not colder than Proraso Green is which is phenomenal. Once you start getting into levels of menthol that Proraso green and a few others have, it starts to effect the scent in a bad way. But not with this soap PERIOD:

This soap is a must have for any shave cave and I do plan on getting another full size version of this puck along with the matching aftershave. I don't know how she gets it as cold as Proraso green without it effecting the scent like she does.

Mail Call:

Today's mail call is from Through The Fire Fine Craft and is made by a lovely lady named Maria Arman who happens to be celebrating her birthday today, so happy birthday Mrs. Arman. It's her birthday and yet I'm the one opening the presents, wow. I've used her soaps before in the past and they are killer. She's also responsible for Maggard Razor's brand of soaps which are also amazing:

This right here is what I'm really looking forward to trying, her bath bars. So far I'm loving the toasted marsh mellow with the lilac in a close 2nd followed by wisp. Guys if you've not gotten around to trying the artisan's bath bars, shame on you because you are missing out on some of the greatest soaps on the planet. Get a few soap nets from Soap Commander and start trying these artisan made bath bars because they perform way better than what you can get commercially:

TTFFC is ultra fast when it comes to shipping. I placed my order on December 9th and it arrived 2 days later according to the time stamp and my post office didn't put it out until today. So you can imagine my frustration when you know that your order had arrived and they don't put it in your box until Monday. USPS should take notes from Maria in my opinion:

Overall I am tickled pink with this mail call and couldn't be more happier with the ultra fast service and product quality than I am today. Maria thank you very much and Happy Birthday my friend. Please eat epic amounts of birthday cake for us.