Still rotating on the old stuff and the next few days will be Proraso. Starting off with Proraso Red.
Love that sandalwood scent. Face lathered and the Masamune made it another very comfortable shave even without pres-have oil or soap.
The Lord Platinum blade performed really well showing off its sharpness and smoothness. Zero Irritation as there was zero feedback from the alum. Great shave to start the day.
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : Proraso Red
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Lord Platinum Blade (2)
Post Shave : Proraso Red Aftershave Splash, Prep Balm
Doing the late afternoon shift so, its more or less a flipped day. Still going with using some of the old stuff I have laying around. Rockwell’s cream is actually surprisingly good. The scent is a liquorice barbershop instead if the more common old school citrus or modern day fougere fresh so that might throw you off but you’ll get used to it. Performance is artisan level.
Feathers and the Masamune is a combo made for each other. Perfect glass BBS shave.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthethic by Frank Shaving
Off day shave, just using some stuff that I really should clear out. Now I understand why people just pile on the soaps and creams. We just have way too much to use up in a lifetime. 🤣 This blade and razor combo isn’t the best. Smooth as frack for sure but post shave, I can feel that its not true glass BBS. Definitely needs sharper blades with the default Masamune razor set up.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Oumo SHD Silvertip Badger
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : Bluebeard’s Revenge shaving cream
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Rockwell Blade (3)
Post Shave : Clubman Pinaud Whiskey Woods, Bluebeard’s revenge post shave balm
Love this scent. Yeah, it’s a very close clone of Channel Bleu, at least from memory and though I didn’t choose to buy the EDT at the time, so I can’t truly compare it against the “real juice” but my impression is that it does smell great and close enough to Channel Bleu that its a good alternative for our fellow frag heads.
I am having a hard time choosing between the hard puck vs the croaps but I might go with the Hard Puck more in the future. There’s just something really satisfying about loading a brush up from a hard puck and using the residual lather to face wash as a pre-shave. Its also all about scent layering.
Performance is as good as Monica’s other soaps and it was a really enjoyable shave. True glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave, smelling great, feeling goddamn awesome! Great start for the day.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Dual Band Mancurian Badger by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower, face wash with residual lather off the puck
Soap : Van Yulay’s Dress Bleus
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Astra Blue (2)
Post Shave : Van Yulay’s Dress Bleus Aftershave Splash and Balm
Ohers : Van Yulay’s Dress Bleus Deodorant and Cologne Spray
Somehow I missed the whole #VanYulayWeek to celebrate Elton’s Retirement and becoming another member of the Van Yulay Family. Going with Gaia today, it’s definitely one of the most unique scents you can use and wear. Arboreal, fresh, and an amazing plethora of notes that will assault your senses from start to finish especially if, like the above, you went The Full Monty.
Go easy on the cologne. 😁 Love the scent imagery on this one! ps: Add Menthol. It **really** changes that imagery to something epic.
And yeah, True glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : Van Yulay’s Gaia
Razor : PAA’s Copper Ascension DOC w/Astra Blue (1)
Post Shave : Van Yulay’s Aftershave Splash and Balm
Others : Menthol Crystals in salt grinder, Van Yulay’s Gaia Deodorant and Cologne
Van Yulay’s Enter The Dragon’s notes as per site description: Top notes of spicy orient fragrances. Green notes of Bamboo, Sweetness of Orange blossoms, Peppery notes of carnation, Gardenia, Nutmeg, Clary Sage Vanilla, Oakmoss, Tonka Bean and Musk
At times though I thought it smelled a little like baby powder, maybe because of the bamboo.
Shave was a set up for Dua’s near perfect and actually (now that its actually aged a little) better performing clone of Creed’s Spice and Wood. This scent opens with : Bergamot, lemon and apples. Middle notes are Angelica root, rose, clove, peppers, patchouli and birch. Base are cedar, iris, oak moss and light musk
Creed’s original Spice and Wood was abysmal in its longevity, about 3-4 hours but Dua seems to have got this “fixed” (4-5hrs, about 6-7hrs as a skinscent) assuming you let the scent age a little (2 weeks in a drawer). Bottles are sold out almost as fast as they are made. My issue with the Creed Original was its price vs Performance. Its fracking US$545 for a 75ml bottle before discounters and about US$340 at discounters. Dua’s is still not cheap though at around US$55 per 30ml.
Its still not as long lasting as I would have wished it to be it does still smell fantastic, though if you don’t like eastern spice scents, you’ll probably hate this. YMMV.
And oh yeah. Smooth, very comfortable, perfect Glass BBS shave. Loving that Masamune. Still 2nd fiddle to the PAA’s Ascension DOC though (price vs performance vs versatility) but if price is not an issue, it is by far the most comfortable shaver I have used.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : Van Yulay’s Enter The Dragon
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Astra Blue (2)
Post Shave : Van Yulay’s Enter The Dragon’s Aftershave Splash and Balm
Others : Dua’s Bois Précieux et Épices (Creed’s Spice and Woods Clone)
Wanted the full monty with Soap Commander so had to substitute what I don’t have and using the old original Shulton Juice. Would I smell like my grandfather? Probably. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger by Frank Shaving
Enjoyable shave with Van Yulay’s software and the Masamune and Astra Blue combo. Smooth as silk, true Glass BBS, ending with the myrrh bomb that is Dior’s Eau Sauvage 2012 EDP.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : Van Yulay’s Gentle Sauvage
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Astra Blue (1)
Post Shave : Van Yulay’s Gentle Sauvage Aftershave and Balm
The Ring of death is getting wider… Really liking Clubman’s Whiskey woods. Whiskey, Bergamot, Tobacco, a hint of birch along with a nice short burn easily made it a quick favourite I need to be sure is kept in stock.
Pre-Shave : Shower, Bloom Water
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 