Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Preshave : Prep Soap : Heath’s Shaving Cream Post Shave : Reuzel Aftershave splash, Heath’s Post Shave Repair Razor : Rockwell 6S-R4 w/Shark Blade
Just revisiting some of my early purchases when I rejoined traditional wet shaving. The Reuzel AS is new though, but I am not impressed with it. There’s barely any scent and in comparison, Thayers Witch Hazel would have done the same thing or better especially Thayers super witch hazel medicated which even with it’s medicinal smell, actually smells better.
Heath’s is actually quite good to be honest, performance wise at least. Right up there with any of the artisan soaps from merry old England. Very slick, good residual slickness, very good post shave. It is too bad that it is scented as a spa treatment soap, that is, very tea tree-ish. Which is fine if you really like tea tree. Me, I couldn’t leave well alone. so, was experimenting around with a little eucalyptus / mint oils to make it smell better and just a drop of each made it less of a spa and more “artisan” shave.
Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Soap : Razorock Son of Zeus Post Shave : Razorock Son of Zeus, Prep Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Treet Black Beauty Blade Other : Hermes Terre D’Hermes
Last work day, so going to end with a bang that is Hermes Terre D’Hermes. Just love a shave that you walk away smelling like a God. Son of Zeus is one of the better scented and distinctive smelling shaving soaps out there.
As for the Treet blades, for me, as YMMV, Treet Black Beauties are “buy if they are on discount”, otherwise I’ll go for Sharks. Same price but Sharks hold their edge longer. I get 1 really good shave, and up to 3 without the blade starting to irritate. While Sharks will give me at least 2 really good shaves and anywhere from 3 to 5 ok shaves, and anything more, I get irritation from Shark blades.
Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Rocket Soap : Pheonix Artisan Accouterments’s Al Fin Post Shave : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Al Fin, Mysterium Serum Razor : Razorock MJ-90A w/Treet Black Beauty Other : Dior Sauvage (2015)
Al Fin’s scent imagery is still one that I really love. I’ll need to get the EDP sometime. Its unique and one that I really enjoy. For the moment, I’ll be pairing it with Dior’s Sauvage which plays nicely to Al Fin’s brighter tones. Tabacco, amber and Spice, all combined to smell really great!
Treet blades are still on track, 3 uses per blade give or take, 4 if I push it. They are not bad, though I am still weighing on how sharp it feels. Fresh blades are good for me, 2nd and 3rd really depends. 4th use seems to feel rough, so best use for me with these days are as “one day” use blades.
Tweed! Green Irish Tweed is a scent that you either love or have no affection for, whatsoever. Me? I Love it. And while I no longer splurge on a Creed bottle for the scent, there are many clones out there that are so close that unless you have a perfumer’s nose, you can hardly tell which is the clone and which is the real thing. WSP’s offering is one of these or at least close enough that there is not that much difference to make a difference. 😉
Trying out new blades too. Treet Black Beauties, that from most accounts, are good blades if somewhat without longevity. But considering that it was 100 blades for less then $8.00, longevity is not really an issue. This blade had conflicting reviews but as they say, your mileage may vary and I have just found that out myself. For me, the blade is sharp. Not feather sharp, nothing is feather sharp but definitely along with say Personnas and as smooth. On a fresh blade, the shave took off stubble from my difficult areas easily and left me with a glass BBS face. At the price I paid for, even if they are “one day” blades, they are a good buy. As with everything shaving, YMMV.
Last nights shave with the Zaza on 2nd use had the edge on one side give out near the end, so I ended up using the good side to finish up for a glass BBS. Which is odd as these blades so far had lasted at least 4 to 6 shaves, though I usually dispose of them after the 4th use. Luckily there was very little irritation, no alum burn but you could almost feel that the skin was about to go raw. So, since I was going to go PAA Solstice in the morning, I used the Serum instead of Prep. Personally I think the Serum is on another level when it comes to healing and relieve of abused skin but Prep for me is at almost 3-4 times cheaper. Quantity has a quality in itself. This time though, the serum will do its magic.
I am sticking with the MJ-90A for a while since it is a joy to use, gives me really good shaves without weepers (so far) and I want to see how it performs with different blades. From my better ones like the Zaza and Feathers to the not so good ones *cough* Rapira *cough* .
But for today’s shave, with a fresh Zaza blade, the combination performed as you would expect it to, with only two pass, WTG and ATG plus cleanup around the usual trouble spots, giving a glass BBS face that you do truly keep touching every now and then because you can’t believe how smooth it feels.†††††††††
Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Rocket Soap : Fine’s Green Vetiver Post Shave : Fine’s Green Vetiver After Shave, Prep and Guerlain’s Vetiver Razor : Razorock MJ-90A (EDT is of the older stock with the darker, dirtier, woody vetiver, with stronger cedar and tobacco notes compared to the later formula which is more “fresh” citrusy)
Lets start with the Razorock MJ-90A.
It’s a three piece razor with a solid 316L stainless steel handle with both base plate and top cap made from anodized 6061 billet aluminum. To be honest if when you first handled the top assembly, you’d be forgiven if you thought that they were made out of plastic given how light they feel. This will unfortunately make the razor feel top light and you might out of instinct want to press down on the head. Don’t.
Using low tech, essentially a line of sewing thread, and since I don’t have a better quality camera (phone) to take the shot, please excuse the poor focus. The shaving plane of the razor is nicely aligned with both top guard and safety bar with neutral blade exposure. Blade angle seems to be slightly more aggressive compared to the Rockwell 6C/S. Without precision tools I can’t be sure, but I’d say the gap is maybe around 0.6+/-mm? Razorock rates this as a 6/10 aggression so it mid mild leaning on the high side.
No exposed tabs! Ear and nostril safe!
And it shaves like a champ. If you liked the feel of the Edwin Jagger DE89, I’d say that this razor this feels smoother, with no risk of getting your nose or ears getting “tab cut” and is made from materials that aren’t as fragile as the DE89.
A minor nick pick considering how well this razor actually handled, is that I feel that it would have been a perfect razor, had the head assembly also been made out of stainless steel and moved the weight balance towards closer towards the head instead of further down towards the center.
As for the shave itself. The Zaza blades continue to perform amazingly like Kai’s, really, really sharp (Gillette Nacet-ish / almost feathers) and smooth. Fine’s soaps are top performers, giving amazing protection and glide and the result was a “I keep touching myself” Glass BBS shave with two pass and a cleanup with no cuts, nicks or weepers.
Finishing off with Fine’s aftershave splash and the Perfume scent this soap’s scent was inspired by, Guerlain’s Vetiver, it was one of the better shaves in a long time.
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Soap : Wet The Face’s Grey’s Vetiver Tallow Puck in a Frank Shaving Apothecary mug Post Shave : Wet The Face’s Grey’s Vetiver Aftershave Splash, Prep Razor : Rockwell 6S-R4 w/Croma Blades Other : Tom Ford’s Grey Vetiver EDP
Took me a while to dial into this soap and finding the water balance for it but once you hit that sweet spot, holy crap its slick as hell, with amazing residual slickness and great post shave feel. Scent strength is there but a little on the low end of the spectrum, though the aftershave kinds of makes up for it. Finally, layering on with the EDP of the scent it’s inspired from, made this a very enjoyable shave.
Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone Brush : Pheonix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Rocket Soap and Post shave : Pheonix Accouterments’s Atomic Age Bay Rum and companion Aftershave splash and cologne, Mysterium Serum (mentholated) Razor : Rockwell 6S w/Shark Blade
Back to work. Yes, its a Sunday. Curse of those who work in aviation. No such thing as public holidays. 🤣
Was thinking of using the SLOC but changed my mind. Going to reset my baseline and use the 6S till the MJ-90A arrives.
As for the shave itself, every time I use this soap and his AS though, how can you not love that scent and how it makes everything, the shave included, as well as waking up for the shave, better? Love that scent. And the coming off Rapiras, these Shark Blades make those feel like 4 day old Derbys. Was pretty much done in 2 pass, with the first pass giving me an almost clean slate that I could go ATG for the 2nd pass even with a R3 base plate on the Rockwell. WTG, ATG, plus cleanup and I got the Glass BBS we all chase for.
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Soap : Colonel Conk’s Bay Rum Preshave : Bloom water Post Shave : Gabbel’s Bay Rum, Prep Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Rapira blade
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 