I thought that that the USTA was about the same as the Derby Premiums but might be a tad smoother. Again, I’ll need to shave with the Premiums in on a planned off day so that I allow my whiskers to grow a little.
As is, the USTA in the Model T that in the past was never comfortable, was suddenly not too bad. It wasn’t as comfortable as say my 6S / Copper DOC / Masamune, but it was near enough that I actually kinda enjoyed the shave. There was still a definite blade feel but with the smoother shave from the USTA, it wasn’t a harsh shave.
BBS, irritation free, no nicks, no weepers, no feedback from the alum. It would have been perfect, if it felt as good as the shave results. But credit where due, it did the job and did it well. I have a suspicion but I’ll need to verify a few things first after using other blades.
Of course it could have been Irena’s soap which from one look at that lather porn, yeah, was as slick as it could get. I’ll need to use Festivus as the control soap.
All in all it was a rather surprisingly enjoyable evening (2nd of the day shave) shave with the Model T.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap : Ginger’s Garden Festivus Tallow Soap
Razor : Rockwell Model T – Setting 3 w/Derby Usta blade (2)
TLDR : Oud and Spice! Usta is mid high on the sharpness scale, maybe just a tad below Feathers and Bics.
Scent of Stirling’s Agar is rather interesting. Its essentially oud woods (birch and cedar I think) and heavy on the peppers.
It straddles the line between tamed oud (oud and florals usually rose with amber and spice) and the more base animalistic oud (can be really funky if they throw in the more raw leather notes and other woods) and Stirling went with the woods and peppers route to tame the agar.
Pairing the shave with the beautiful oud and rose that is Santal Royal.
Derby Usta is to me very similar to Derby Premium, maybe a tad sharper and smoother but I’ll need to use it more over the week, with Derby Premium blades later used to give me a sense of where this blade falls into. At the moment I am just using the blades as a one shave blade. Fresh for each shave. Not going to play the longevity game.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger by Frank Shaving
Soap : Stirling Soap Agar
Razor : Tatara Masamune-Plate+Nodachi-Top Cap w/Derby Usta Blade (1)
Post Shave : Stirling Soap Agar Aftershave Splash and Balm
Beautiful scent tobacco, vanilla and spice scent. Face lathered, though in hind sight, I should have bowl lathered. Don’s soaps are really best if you bowl lathered them. That is not to say that it didn’t lather well, its just that I would have gotten fantastic lather instead of just great lather.
Lord Blades are not performing as well in this configuration as it did in the Masamune-Nodachi cap combo.
Regardless, blade is not as good as others I have used being around mid-range sharpness. Its fine going WTG, XTG as it is relatively smooth but when you go ATG, you can tell it’s not cutting as well and there’s that slight tugging when the blade should guillotine growth off. Will probably be good in the Model T and shaving with it as a “safety shavette”. Will try that later for tonight’s shave. I’ll relegate these to one shave blades.
Off to the Hospital with the wife for her follow up checks.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band by Frank Shaving
Soap : WTF Vanilla Tobacco
Razor : Tatara Nodachi w/Masamune Cap w/Lord Platinum Blade (1)
Love this scent, Tobacco and cherry prominent, chased by vanilla, patchouli, cloves and spices. Its definitely one of my favorite tobacco forward scents.
The Aftershave though, like all WSP Aftershaves, is something else. Epic. (some might have a “Home Alone” episode if you had a REALLY close shave) Then you layer more of that epicness with the balm. God it feels good to be a man. Smelling fantastic is just icing on top.
Pre-shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
A word about this Tatara configuration. Shave Geometry is : 0.90mm blade gap, negative -0.03mm blade exposure, and though the blade is just a tad away from the neutral plane, because of the gap, there is blade contact on your skin and you can just barely feel the blade kissing the skin as you shave.
Feathers and the like blades are still the goto. 2nd use and still good, very little resistance, just that little tiny pull and “ping!” its gone. Sharp blades will give that really buttery smooth strokes that you will die for. Temptation to press down will be there. Don’t. If you do, I suspect the razor will bite given the blade gap.
This is where the other configuration, the Masamune-plate + Nodachi-Cap has the advantage of that slightly more blade feel against the skin and with a smaller gap less likely to bite if you mishandle it. In the end, either configuration works really well. Just a matter of preference.
Pre-shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap : Soap Commander Endurance
Razor : Tatara Nodachi w/Masamune Top Cap w/Feather Blade (2)
Post Shave : Soap Commander Endurance Aftershave Splash and Balm
TLDR : Creed Silver Mountain Water fantastically done, Al Haramain’s “Clone” is better than the Original (YMMV), Tatara and Feathers are made for each other. Shave Orgasm.
Another one of my favourite Creed Scents, Silver Mountain Water, is one of those scents that is kind of Polarizing.
Creed silver Mountain Water notes : Bergamot, Mandarin Orange, Green Tea, Black Currant, Galbanum, musk, sandalwood, petigrain
I know some hate this scent, which is best described as citrus bitter sweet fresh with the blackcurrant and green tea notes being dominant. While others like myself loved it because it has that contrasting complex notes. I however did not like the original Creed’s performance which had poor longevity issues (for the price you pay).
WSP’s Soap and aftershaves are an almost spot on take on the original scent. It has that heart of black currant and green tea along with that bit of citrus to give it that fresh ozonic cool water vibe. WSP has an EDP which faithfully reproduced the original scent, but I chose to use an inspired scent that to my nose has one upped on that original Creed’s scent.
Enter Al Haramain’s take on Creed’s Silver Mountain Water, L’Aventure Blanche (they really need to hire someone with a sense of naming things)
Al Haramain L’Aventure Blanche Notes : Lavender, Bergamot, Lemon, Rose, Black Currant, Orris, Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Amber and Sandalwood
Right off the bat you can tell that Blanche is a more floral take and not an exact clone and truth to be told, I actually liked this one better than the original Creed. Blackcurrant, Jasmine and rose are the dominant notes drying down with that beautiful amber and sandalwood as base.
If you had asked me which of the two between Creed’s offering and Al Haramain’s offering was the “real thing” in a blind test, and if I have never smelt it before, I would have very likely chosen Al Haramain’s as it smelt richer, more full, and definitely much less jarring than the original scent.
This is one of those times when I thought the “Clone” actually did a better job than the Original. Not to mention that the scent last quite a long time, about 2 to 3 hours projection, 3-5 hours silage and up to 8 to 10 hours as a skin scent. Not bad for something that cost about 1/5th in price compared to Creed. I know some people hate clones. Claiming they can’t ever be as good as the Original scents. I say buy both (you can find decants of the original) and make your own mind.
Oh yeah, true glass BBS.
Pre-shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Back to work shave, still feeling a little under but gotta earn them moolas to feed my addiction. Deciding to smell a little (or alot!) spicy today. Dragon Spice will do the trick! Ginger’s Garden tallow soaps are just a joy to use, helps that Irena can usually make most custom scents that you want too.
Weeper, irritation free true glass BBS shave. Feeling and smelling fantastic is a great way to start the day. Hope your day and shave are the same.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
TLDR : Original Masamune is a gentle razor, Nodachi takes the blade to the face but when you mix and match, FACETURBATION ENSUES! (Blog has more details)
Had several things come over the weekend from Tatara, along with some pomades from Suavecito but was kinda sick so kinda skipped the evening shaves or just did “clean up” shaves (I’ll touch on that in another post as I used something that would horrify most of you.)
But my Tatara Razor system is finally complete! (well missing the open comb plate but…) Yeah, that’s a bit of money down there, 257€ or about US$287
Top left to right : Nodachi Top Cap, Masamune Top Cap (has longer blade posts) Bottom Left to Right : Masamune Base Plate, Nodachi Base Plate Tatara Masamune Handle. (I don’t care for the Nodachi handle)
Here’s the break down, so you guys don’t have to buy the whole thing assuming you want to / willing to spend 149€ or US$167 for a “standard” complete razor or more to get extra plates / top caps / accessories.
Make sure you choose the “customize” option, unlike us early adopters who had to buy the “defaults” and other parts piecemeal you now can choose to configure the complete razor from the get go.
I would not recommend the default Masamune setup. (0.63mm closed comb blade gap, neg -0.13mm blade exposure geometry)
Now I love mild or gentle razors but these razors have to be able to do the job. There is no point in getting a razor that feels great going over your face but leaves stubble in passing.
The Default Masamune is almost that. You need, and I emphasize on that “NEED” with caps, very sharp blades for the Default Masamune to perform. Feathers, Bics, Nacets blades or the equivalent or you will leave micro stubble in passing.
In their original design to make the razor extremely comfortable, they took it a little too far and made gave the blade a negative -0.13mm exposure. You really, do not feel the blade as you shave with the Closed comb. (I didn’t opt to get the open comb plate and will not be doing so)
The original Masamune was perhaps the most comfortable razor I have used that even the Rockwell 6C/S could not match but I found out quickly when switching around with different blades that unless you use really good sharp blades, you will never achieve that perfect glass BBS. Somewhere, somehow, there will be a microstubble left behind, even if its just one, that will mar that near perfect shave.
So Tatara came out of with the Nodachi.
The Nodachi with a 0.90mm blade gap and a positive blade exposure of 0.13mm, is a very very efficient razor. You will feel the blade on your skin but thankfully, the design has the blade angle so that it is relatively smooth.
I however do not like this setup as you REALLY do feel the blade on your skin. If you have any bumps, non even skin or a pimple, it can nick or cut that skin bump. To me, it just isn’t as comfortable as I thought it should be.
Thankfully, you CAN mix and match Top Caps and Base Plates. As such :
I have been using mostly a configuration of the Masamune base plate and Nodachi top cap, and more recently Nodachi Base plate and Masamune top cap.
To be clear : 1: Masamune Base Plate Closed Comb + Nodachi Top Cap = (0.63mm blade gap, True Neutral (+/-0.02mm due blade variance) 0.00mm Blade exposure)
2: Nodachi Base Plate Closed Comb + Masamune Top Cap = (0.90mm blade gap (+/- 0.002mm due blade variance) neg -0.03mm blade exposure)
Conclusions.
The Masamune-Nodachi cap was already extremely comfortable but holy crap the combination of the Nodachi-Masamune cap with its wider gap but just barely negative blade exposure made this combination the most comfortable, most efficient Razor I have used.
Results from the shave was that the first WTG pass quickly turned into a XTG pass and I probably could stop there with a little clean up. Since I didn’t want to waste the lather, and lets face it, I need more time to properly faceturbate, I went and did the ATG and clean up passes. Almost zero blade feel (you do have to resist pressing the head in), and skin so smooth, when rinsing the face off, it actually squeaked when fingers rubbed along that glass smooth surface.
Finished off the shave with Monica’s fantastic aftershave and balm and this was one epic, fantastic shave. Orgasmic.
Pre-shave : Shower
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap : Van Yulay Gentle Sauvage
Razor : Tatara Nodachi w/Masamune Top Cap w/Astra Blue Blade (1)
Post Shave : Van Yulay Gentle Sauvage Aftershave and Balm
I really need to give other artisan’s version of GIT a chance, but for now, WSP’s Gaelic Tweed is a really awesome reproduction of the classic Creed’s Green Irish Tweed and can say that it is spot on. Back to my favorite girl, the Masamune. Chasing that true glass BBS shave has never been easier or more comfortable.
While I do have WSP’s EDP, I decided to pair the shave with one of the many clones made, Al Haramain’s L’Aventure Knight is also almost (99.99% for L’Aventure Knight, HATE that Armarf stuff) spot on that GIT scent, that people who knew me when I was using the original GIT, have gone “Oh you are wearing that Cary Grant one…” Sadly I don’t get as many compliments now, as the scent has aged but it is still good.
Fantastic shave, smelling good. Time to go to the doctors. (goddamn flu!)
Pre-Shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 