Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger
Soap : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Agharta
Post Shave : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Agharta Aftershave splash and Cologne, Mysterium Serum
Razor : Rockwel 6S-R4 w/Rapira Blade

PAA’s scents are as always, amazing.
They evoke emotions and spark the imagination.

Agharta, the city within.
Center yourself, face the world.
Feel good, smell good, ready to face the world.

Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger
Soap and Post Shave : Gaelic Tweed
Razor : Razorock SLOC w/Rapira SS Blade
Other : WSP Gaelic Tweed EDP

Nothing like Tweed to start off the work day week.
Really starting to dislike these Rapira blades. They don’t seem to have an edge to take off tough micro stubble. Going to use them as “one day” blades.

They don’t seem to have the edge to take off tough micro stubble. Coming off feathers last night, you can tell that they are fine taking of growth but “problem” areas but they don’t give you that glass BBS without extra passes for me. YMMV of course.

Going to treat them as one day disposables and just chuck them after the evening shave.
Actually, I might just treat them as one shave disposables.
We’ll see.

Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone (not pictured)
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger
Preshave : Proraso Professional Wood and Spice
Soap : Proraso Professional Wood and Spice
Post Shave : Thayers Witch Hazel, Proraso Professional Wood and Spice Balm
Razor : Parker SR1 w/Rapira Super Stainless Blade

Off day shave.
Usually I’d be using my Razorine, today though, going back to the SR1.
Love the Razorine but it is annoying to correctly set the blade right.
Been a while though since I have used a true shavette, going to do a few dry runs first to bring back the muscle memory.

It was a slow, deliberate and thankfully, a bloodless shave, if not an interesting one. 🤣
Had some trouble getting my trouble sots especially just under my chin area, because my growth grows in all directions there.
Ended up having to finish with my Rockwell.
Until I get Razorock’s switch or the SEDE, I will probably set down the shavette.

Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone
Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Rocket
Soap and Post Shave : Phoenix Accouterments’s Cold Spice, Mysterium Serum (Mentholated)
Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Feather Blade
Other : Original Shulton Old Spice EDT (decades past shelf life but still good)

Was going to be a long work day so I trying to decide between going with the tweed or spice.
Spice won out in the end just because in all honesty, I love this scent and that I really should use up that vintage bottle of the Shulton.

• 

Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger
Preshave, Soap and Post Shave : Proraso White
Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Croma Blade

Proraso white is Proraso’s answer for people with sensitive skin, it is also very soothing on the skin for those who may have had razor burn. I cannot stress how much I would recommend having this in your den “just in case” for times when you had a bad blade or may have been out in the sun a little too long and you just have to shave that day.

Been using Croma blades recently, giving them an extended use to get a true measure of how they perform for me.
Made in Germany but they are a mixed bag for me. Generally sharp but inconsistent in quality as well as giving that smooth shave. Blades dull after the 2nd or 3rd use and can leave problem spots with tough stubble uncut or not cut as close as you would like. Worse, it also looses its smoothness going from relatively smooth, to giving you micro razor burn. There’s no real discomfort when applying Alum, but if you used an alcohol based aftershave, you will know that a layer of skin was taken off.
This makes Croma blades for me, a 1 day blade. Morning shave, evening shave, CHUCK!
Though as they say in the shaving community, your millage may vary. If you have softer less stubborn growth these blades might keep their edge and stay smoother longer.

So, yeah, I am damn glad I have Proraso white on hand. Made with Oatmeal and green tea extracts it feels really great on a skin that had it rough from a bad blade.

Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone
Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Rocket
Soap : Van Yulay Soap of the Gods Royal Oud
Post Shave : Thayer’s Witch Hazel, Van Yulay’s Royal Oud Aftershave Lotion
Razor : Razorock SLOC w/Croma Blade
Other : Paranakan Oud EDT (Oud, Tonka bean, Praline and Green Tobacco) buffered with Safran Oud Attar (Iris, Corcus, safron, Arabian oud – this is a locally made attar by an old-school perfumery artisan)

Package finally arrived while I was at work and the wife picked it up, probably with raised eyebrows and a sigh going “More soaps?!” 😂

The bowl is floppier then I expected, and yes , it performs better on the counter then as a hand bowl (though I already have a “fix” for that) but it does whip up lather in a matter of seconds.

And yes, Monica’s soap is as good as it looks.
I am not sure if its just the soap or a combination of soap and bowl but … LOOK AT THAT LATHER!
The honeycomb walls really agitated the soap and made the lather smooth yogurt in a hurry.
Even so, I just whipped the stuff around for a bit more. It just felt odd to get that kind of lather in about 30 seconds or so.

So, just for good measure, even though my eyeballs told me that it was already epic, I worked the lather for about half a minute or so more just to get that “lathering time” in.
End result is a lather that’s slick, buffering, really good residual slickness and really good post shave feel.

Scent was good too, 4/10 off the puck and stayed 4/10 lather lathering up. Inspired by Creed’s Royal Oud, its a darker, smookier oud.

Needless to say, it was a glass smooth “I can’t help touching myself” BBS shave.
Completing the shave with Thayers Witch Hazel and Royal Oud Aftershave lotion, then, layering on a combination of Paranakan Oud EDT and Safran Oud Attar, and I gotta say, it smelt and felt awesome!

Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger
Soap : Taylor of Old Bond Street Cedarwood
Post Shave : Majestic Pure Sandalwood Balm, Proraso Red (Sandalwood) Aftershave Splash
Razor Rockwell 6S-R2 w/Croma Blade
Other : Vikings Blade Grand Chairman bowl, Dior’s Vintage Eau Savauge EDP (Myrrh Bomb)

Software’s mixed bag today. Still waiting for stuff to come in, mail from the UK / EU can be annoyingly slow.

Anyways, wanted to use TOBS irregardless and while I did have TOBS Sandalwood, I wanted to use TOBS’s Cedar.
Like most of TOBS soaps, it smells awesome, lather explodes with just a little soap used, slick as heck, great residual slickness and post shave feels great!
Glass BBS shave easy.

Bowl : Vikings Blade Grand Chairman
Brush : Percy Nobleman’s Boar
Preshave, Soap and Post shave : Proraso Professional Cypress & Vetyver
Others : Peranakan Oud EDT buffered by a touch of White Musk attar

Was Clearing up and rearranging my shaving stuff when I saw my bundle of old brushes and thought, lets use one of these today. So a soak, a little (actually, a lot of 😂 ) hair conditioner the night before and my old Percy Nobleman Boar brush is ready to go!

I was actually had intended to use my Parker SR1 today but being a work day and I didn’t want to risk an accident, decided to use the SLOC instead.
Say what you will of Proraso but they do make excellent soaps.
I wish their normal line could be as slick as their Professional line but it is what it is.

Gotta love the Pro line’s scents though.
They smell great!

Bowl : Vikings Blade Grand Chairman
Preshave : Proraso Green
Soap and Post Shave : Proraso Blue
Razor : Vikings Blade The Emperor Augustus w/Croma Blade

To be honest, when I first started using Proraso Blue its scent is one that didn’t quite grabbed me, it is ok but not something I’d say wowed me, and it stills is kind of underwhelming. I think I first described its amber and musk scent as something that was pleasant but unidentifiable.
And to be honest, if I didn’t read up on it, I’d still think that it had maybe a little green tea, ginger and something else.

Proraso Blue has been more or less been in my evening rotation mostly because of what it was supposed to bring to the shave, namely moisturizing and healing for the skin but after purchasing so many other products and having used them, Proraso Blue is one that I probably will not replace.
Well, maybe the balm but I’ll skip on the soap.

Also you’ll notice that they didn’t have their own line of Preshave so I used Proraso Green’s.

And using the adjustable today, I went the gentle-mild setting 3 with straight bar WTG, setting 4 scalloped bar XTG and setting of 5 with scalloped bar for ATG. Going in up in “aggression” as I complete the shave instead of going down. I have been doing this for several weeks now when I use the adjustable.
The thing that got me thinking of doing this was remembering someone saying that shaving is hair reduction during the passes, not hair elimination.

Shaving that first pass with an aggressive setting or razor will definitely be efficient and will take most of not all your hair off, but from my POV, it will also have a higher chance of catching on your growth and nicking you.

Instead, I let the passes work for me.

Setting 3 with straight bar WTG: First pass is reduction, it doesn’t have to take everything or even most off, setting it milder so that the first pass will take most of your growth off, giving you a mostly smoother, reduced growth areas to work with on the next pass.

Setting 4 with scallop bar XTG: 2nd pass is clean-up removing any remaining growth getting your shaved areas almost smooth, and to be honest I could have stopped at this point. With the higher aggression setting, the pass took almost everything off with most areas already glass smooth.

Setting 5 with scallop bar ATG: Last pass was mainly around “trouble” areas under the chin, and jaw line where its almost smooth but not quite as you run your fingers over the skin.
Without thick growth to hinder the blade, and at a higher setting, that last pass ATG just took whatever is left without the blade catching or tugging.

And it gave a glass BBS without nicks or weepers!

Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger
Preshave : Prep
Soap Bluebeard’s Revenge
Post Shave : Gabels Bay Rum, Bluebeard’s Revenge Balm
Razor : Rockwell -R4 w/Croma Blade

One of the older stuff I have in the rotation other then Proraso and Body Shop, Bluebeard can be bought locally, though from the more upscale stores. It is a product of the UK, but when stacked against stuff like Taylor of Old Bond Street, it is over-priced and mediocre.
To be fair its not a bad performer, but anyone who has used any of TOBS’s soaps will compare any other made in the UK soap against TOBS.
And this one was found lacking.

Still, that is not to say that this was a bad shave, on the contrary, but once I use this up, I’m not buying it again.