C.a.D. & The Double X:

This morning's shave was nothing short of perfect. This morning after a nice and hot shower, I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and one of if not my all time favorite scents, C.a.D. which has an incredible 1970's and 80's canned Barbersol shave foam scent to it. And to finish off this morning's shave, I went with their brand new matching aftershave jelly. It starts off with a burn like the aftershave but disappears almost immediately and has an epic menthol chill to it. And unlike the balm, this has no greasy feel to it. I love the aftershave jellies:

The Griffon Double X was perfect in every way possible. I am now more than certain that I made the right call of going back to the ILR and doing a full version of Dr. Matt's under running water technique instead of half and followed up by stropping on smooth leather. I had one bump to bleed on me because I had pretty much removed it surgically but my styptic pencil took care of that instantly. Three passes and I was slick as black ice.

Huge News From Soap Commander!

Normally I get upset when I hear of a scent from Soap Commander gets discontinued especially from their core line up. I just now finished watching their facebook live announcement and Soap Commander has just announced that Confidence is gone as of October, 2018. I have it so I'm not too upset about it but say goodbye to Confidence line up:

Soap Commander named this as it's permanent replacement:

It gets even better. As of this coming Thursday  morning at 7 AM CST, Soap Commander will be launching aftershave splashes in a 4 ounce shatterproof glass jar for $25 U.S. Dollars. The splashes are alcohol based and they did demonstrate that you can't break the glass bottles. This is the ONLY sandalwood scented soap that I can use with no reaction.

Foritutde & The 207:

This morning's shave felt great. Today is also Tuesday so that means Tobacco Tuesday is in effect. So I grabbed Soap Commander and their Fortitude scented soap which has a beautiful aged hay, aged tobacco and dark rum scent to it. Speaking of rum, I finished off this morning's shave with a nice healthy double dose of Clubman Virgin Island bay rum scented aftershave:

The 207 was great. I was really slick after just 3 passes. I did mow off a few bumps but the styptic pencil took care of that. I didn't get too much burn from the aftershave splash but that's okay because it does have alcohol contained in the aftershave and is going to burn when applied. My Joby gorilla pod has not shipped just yet but it's projected to arrive this coming Friday. My razorine shavette also has not shipped yet either. Shave Nation is still waiting on the next batch to arrive from Italy and they are the only ones that carry it.

American Blend & The Doc:

Tonight's shave was Nirvana. Tonight I went with Fine Accoutrements and their American Blend scented matching set which is their take on Rive Gauche Per Homme (2003) which has a little hint of Gaiac Wood added to the scent and putting on the aftershave was like putting the icing on a cake. I got very little stinging due to the alcohol contained in the aftershave:

The Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's doc razor was perfect and blissful to use as well. I was perfect after just three passes and I had an awesome feeling post shave afterward. I definitely made the right choice in switching back to the Gillette Silver Blue DE blades. No irritation and it was extremely comfortable during the shave. The next shave will be even better because these Gillette Silver Blue blades really start to shine in the comfort department after the first shave and they fall by the wayside around the fourth or fifth shave which is usually when I switch out the blades.

Bye Bye Perma-Sharps:

Every now and then, I have to make a decision to give something up or quit using something all together that I like and this is one of those times. As much as I love these blades and how effective they are when it comes to removing my barbed wire like stubble, I am saying good bye to these blades on a permanent basis. These are simply too harsh for my sensitive skin. So I am going back to Gillette Silver Blue blades which are more comfortable for me:

I will still recommend these blades to anyone who doesn't have as sensitive skin as I do and doesn't want to use Feather blades. The only difference between these and Feather blades is comfort. These are far more comfortable then the Feather blades are and just as sharp. My beard grows in way that I can't do just one pass. I have to have more to effectively remove my beard and two passes with these blade, my skin starts getting irritated. I don't go for perfect shaves, just close and comfortable is all and two passes aren't enough with my go to razors which are Merkur 42C (the 1904 Closed Comb) and Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's double open comb. Three passes with those razors using a Gillette Silver Blue equals a near perfect shave with no irritation.

New SOTD Photo Set Up:

Today is a good day. After spending some time thinking and observing, I have decided to improve my photo set up. This specific set up is only temporary until I can get some better photography equipment. As many of you know, I was using the cabinet that my old home stereo system was contained in and using a Scottish styled flannel cloth that my old flannel sheets came in for a background. When we hauled it off, I lost my solid base for photos which I got back in the form of a nightstand which you see below. I used two cameras and memory cards to take these photos so I can put this specific blog post together. I also changed the size of my photos from 16 mm to the VGA setting on my Nikon Cool Pix B500 camera for several reasons. The first reason was because the photos took a really long time to upload and I don't have a lot of time these days. The second reason I decided to go to a smaller size is the fact that I can take more photos. I went from 6831 photos to 9,999 photos just switching to the VGA setting in my digital camera:

I loved using the top of my laundry hamper as a background and base. The natural wood color worked extremely well and really dressed up the photo. Unfortunately the base isn't too solid and it was hard to get my bottles of aftershave to stand up straight. The lighting was good there as well too. I just wish the base was more solid. These photos are still going to be used in my shave videos. I'm pleased to announce that I have purchased a Joby mini magnetic Gorilla pod for making shave videos. Now I will not be doing reviews. What I will be doing is basic video journalism instead:

While my nightstand is a more solid base, the lighting sucks over in that part of my room. So I have temporarily installed an old desk lamp until I can find something that will help with the lighting. I will have to find a solution to this after I get paid though because photography lighting can get very expensive rather quickly and I want to get a piece of equipment for sharpening my kitchen and personal knives. I'm not worried at all about the lighting in the bathroom for making videos because I've gotten some excellent photo results in my bathroom and my YouTube videos come out great when I film in there:

In addition to the old desk lamp, I put down a white bath towel down to help out with the lighting which is also only temporary. One piece of LED photography lighting should be plenty and easy to get. I will get it dialed in eventually. The new Joby Magnetic Mini Gorilla Pod will be a huge help. I also might switch out the white towel for a black towel. I will do some test photos of both to see which one works best for photos. Right now the biggest problem is the lighting. Florescent lighting seems to be the best. My bathroom mirror has one florescent light on each side of the mirror which does make shaving a lot easier. My blog will still be utilized in some way but not as much as it is today and when I started doing mail call and straight razor honing videos, I have slowed way down blogging. I'm doing no where near what I use to do which was at least triple of what I'm doing today in terms of producing content. I have sneaking suspicion that removing the bath towel might be a good thing and stick with what I have been using by itself.

Proraso Green & The Double X:

Today's shave was phenomenal! Today is Proraso Friday over in the How To Grow A Moustache Google+ community and I decided to participate. So I grabbed Proraso Green which has a menthol and eucalyptus scent to it and I finished it off with a healthy dose of good old Osage Rub which adds even more menthol feel to the ultra slick post shave:

I can confirm that I do NOT need to buy another stone and here is why. My Double X straight razor shaved the exact same way that my ZY razor did the other night. Two completely different razors with completely different types of steel and they BOTH ended up producing a perfect shave. No burn from the styptic pencil which I have been using after each shave whether I need it or not, and no burn from alcohol based aftershaves and colognes either and they usually burn no matter how my razors shave. I should have a mail call arriving today so I might produce a YouTube video later today. It will depend on what I time I get done with yard work today which should not take too long today. My last trimming job really knocked things down in terms of using the weed eater and there's only one or two spots that really need the weed eater. I also noticed that the leaves have started to change color and that can mean only one thing. Fall is right around the corner. That's when my new mower and yard sweeper will really get tested because I almost get buried in leaves.