After all said and done, PAA’s Ascension’s ability to buff really well makes it still, my favourite in my Razor Harem. She cuts it close, smooth and since purchasing it and getting BBS every single time, not once did she bite. Highly recommend anyone building a harem of his own to own one.
While today’s software is no stranger to most, Zingari Man might be under the radar for some. Subtle scent, really good base and post shave is where the soap and balm shines. I do like to use an Aftershave before balm application though, to settle the skin first, which they don’t make. But Zingari Man’s feel is one of luxury.
One of my favourite Van Yulay scents, based on Creed’s Royal Oud which is oud done right. For those who are into fragrances, if you have messed with oud, you’ll find out quite fast that oud can smell really funky, think wet rotting mushrooms, if not processed well or used too heavily. Love this aromatic. spicy, peppery scent though.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-shave : Shower
Soap : Van Yulay’s Royal Oudh
Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Shark Super Stainless Steel blade (2)
Post Shave : Van Yulay’s Royal Oudh Aftershave Splash and Balm
WSP’s Blackbeard is one of the best Tobacco Cherry scent you can get. Deep, rich, very aromatic and manly as frack.
The rustic base as usual explodes with lather, 5 swirls and I knew my brush was already loaded but it just feels wrong to stop at 5 so I went ahead and did my usual dozen before going to the bowl to whip it up. Results are as you can see, thick, creamy, and extremely satisfying to paint onto the face. I wonder if anyone had come up with a “satisfaction rating” for lather painting?
Finishing up with WSP’s aftershaves and balms are a joy. Yes you get that “Home Alone” face especially if you had a really close shave, but do they smell fanfrackingtastically good! And the balm just layers on top of the tonic leaving you with that “Holy crap! That was a great shave!” feel.
Shark Blades Other day commented on these Shark Stainless steel blades. And I see many say that they don’t last very much more then 2 to 3 shaves at best.
And I’ll say it here again, I think this need to see and have longevity in a blade is something we brought over from Cartridge shaving. If your blades cost around $30 for 8 cartridges, I understand why you want each cartridge to last at least a week.
But the Shark Super Stainless blades cost $7 for 100s, Super Chromes 100s for $8, and Super Platinums 100s for $10. You are looking at blades, that even if you use them as “1 day” blades, are going to give you at least 100 days of, and this is the key thing, consistent shave quality since you are changing new blades frequently.
Taking this cost vs quality factor into consideration, and based on a Gillette Fusion 8 pack of 8 cartridges’ price, if I bought 300 (3x boxes of 100s) Shark Super Stainless Steel blades, and just use them for one shave, and shave once a day, that’s almost a year’s worth of blades with spare change to buy a bottle of Clubman Pinaud’s Aftershave.
Think about that for a minute. I see no reason to push for longevity with DE razor blades.
BTW, I get 2 good shaves, 3 if I am willing to risk a bad blade (I see no reason to) with the Shark’s SSS blades, 3 to 4 with the Chromes and Platinum blades. I recycle my shark blades after 2 uses with the SSS and 3 with the Chrome / Platinums and they give fantastically smooth BBS shaves each time.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Old school mentholated myrrh with a touch of lavender, clove leaf, and patchouli, sweet musk. LOVE this scent! Where modern day barbershop is more metrosexual with its slightly more powdery, talcum and fougere notes , Vintage Barbershop is more masculine, more a throwback to an older age.
If Barbershop scents were “James Bonds” Modern Barbershop would be Pierce Brosnan’s Bond, Vintage Barbershop would be Sean Connery’s Bond. Nothing wrong with preferring one or the other of course.
Soap is more cream than croap, it is “sticky wet” in the tub, and common sense would mean that you’ll scoop some out into a bowl. Just a little more than what you see on my finger, about a fingernail sized dollop, makes more than enough for 3 passes and as usual, is an extremely creamy, yogurt thick lather that goes on well onto a wet face for one hell of a shave.
With a Feather in the Masamune, there is almost no resistance and with very little blade feel, so it will tempt you to press harder, dont. Just allow the razor to glide, and shave by audio feedback, especially when you go ATG. Likewise when you buff, though this is not the ideal buffing razor, that goes to the Ascension. Still, the Masamune and feather gave an extremely comfortable shave resulting in true glass BBS even around my trouble areas without irritation.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : WTF’s Vintage Barbershop
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Nodachi Top Cap w/Feather Blade (3)
Post Shave : WTF’s Vintage Barbershop Aftershave splash, Prep Balm
It’s 0400hrs, getting up to get ready and make breakfast for the rest of the family when they get up at 0500hrs. And yes, I am used to being up early since I am normally up at 0200hrs. And yes, today is a Dress Blue day so to speak. Going to my eldest Basic Military Passing Out Parade.
Love the scent. Love Van Yulay’s soaps. Corked Feather and the Masanume to ensure a very comfortable and smooth True Glass “I keep touching” myself” BBS shave. Looking good, smelling great. Can’t ask for more.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger
Pre-shave : Shower
Soap : Van Yulay’s Dress Bleu (Channel Bleu)
Post Shave : Van Yulay’s Dress Bleu’s Aftershave Splash and Balm
Others : Van Yulay’s Dress Bleu’s Deodorant and Cologne
Vanilla Tobacco is a beautiful, gourmand scent. It reminds me of ginger bread cookies (minus the huge bottle of brandy my aunt loves to add into the batter) that my mom and aunt used to bake during Christmas week. And that is my first thought when I opened the tub and took a whiff. Good stuff.
And as per the norm with Don’s Soaps, about 10-12 swirls of a damp brush in the tub to load will generate you a full bowl of beautiful very creamy lather. More than you can use unless you are doing a head and face face.
Am reminded why I had those Croma blades sitting in the box unused for a while. They are not as sharp as I like them to be. Didn’t get a true BBS with a micro stubble or two left around “trouble areas” that you only find after alum or Aftershave application as the skin tightens and the follicle gets “flagpoled”. As I had gone over these areas more than a few times, chasing BBS, I decided not to push.
Going to use them in the Ascension and use them there as they are very smooth and buffing with that razor will get me that perfect glass BBS skin at the cost of very minor irritation if the blade isn’t good.
And this is why a man needs more then one razor. Sometimes, a blade just won’t work in one, but will work in another.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : Wet The Face’s Vanilla Tobacco
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Nodachi Top Cap w/Croma Blade (1)
Post Shave : Wet The Face’s Vanilla Tobacco Aftershave splash
Beautiful scent. Need to get me another bottle of the AS soon. Tub of soap looks barely touched since it just takes about 10 swirls with a damp brush when loading the soap to pick up enough make a full bowl of lather. If nothing else PAA’s soaps are great value. Throw in epic level scents and its not wonder I have more of their soaps then most others.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-shave : Shower, PAA’s Cube
Soap : PAA’s Agharta
Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Croma Blade (1)
Post Shave : PAA’s Agharta Aftershave Cologne, Mysterium Serum
I usually don’t post my evening shaves, as they aren’t as elaborate as my “Morning Get ready to go to work, you need to look and smell good” shaves. But because of that some of the soaps I have and use don’t get shown as often as I usually use them mostly for the evening shave.
The exception is Grey’s Vetiver as lets face it, Tom Ford’s Grey Vetiver do smell fracking awesome, and I do use the EDP on occasion for my morning shaves.
But for tonight, just sit back and admire that creamy yogurt lather porn. You are welcome. 😄
ps: G4 knots, man. Freaking Lather Monsters.
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap / Bowl : WTF’s Grey’s Vetiver (Tallow) in Frank Shaving’s Apothecary Mug
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Nodachi Top Cap w/Croma Blade (2)
Still feeling under the weather, this viral flu is still kicking my butt.
Good news is one more day of work and I have a week’s vacation to sleep it off. Also thought I’d use Solstice, as sage is known to chase off evil spirits causing sickness with it’s scent. (Fun fact, sage does have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antioxidant effects) Can’t hurt and besides, it smells great.
Best buffing razor equals perfect true glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave, and with the Cube and PAA’s Base, little or no irritation.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Dual Band Manchurian by Frank Shaving
One look at the picture and you know what I did wrong here. Those who have used the cream or have read about it before are probably facepalming. 🤣 I should have Read The (insert F word of choice) Manual, or at least the instructions on the back of the tube.
To be clear, Thayers’ shave cream is a non “sudsy”, non brush type. So after failing to get a lather, and the brush wasn’t applying the cream to the face with any good results, I finally read the back of the tube.
“Apply liberally to face…” Okies, no brush, no muss just use your hands and apply. Depending on how much growth you have, about a nickel sized dollop would be more then enough, though I think those who have more growth will want to use more.
Scent is something that you’ll need to get used to. Its plain Witch Hazel. Think wet wood soaked in water smell. Slick enough to buff, but watch the evaporation, if it starts to dry out, just wet your hands and go over the areas you need to shave again, it should reintroduce slickness back. Add more cream if needed.
Where it counts though, is post shave. Balm is good, with the same light witch hazel scent (wet wood) and both balm and cream left the face feeling soft and hydrated. I mean really soft like “I just went to the spa” soft.
I kinda like it but the lack of scent and suds, we boys with brushes need to play with our suds, make this a night or “I’m in a rush” shave cream.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-shave : Shower
Soap : Thayers Gentlemen Shave Cream
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Nodachi Top Cap w/Feather Blade (3)
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 