Refinement smells so good, performs even better! Pairs nicely with Brandy Spice with scents from each complimenting the other.
11th shave on the Feather Pro blade and it still has no sign that its edge is going dull yet. The Oren is extremely comfortable making me gyrate towards it more often. I suspect that when I finally get around to shaving the dome, this might be my razor of choice if not, a 2 blade cartridge. But that’s still years ahead.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Soap : Soap Commander Refinement
Razor : Occam’s Razor Oren Nano SE w/Feather Pro Blade (11)
Again, another simple shave. Stayed with yesterday’s WTF Grey’s Vetiver shave again.
Gotta love the Occam, as Don says, you’ll know when there’s nothing left to take off, and if you have seen Don shave, you know it can easily go over an area multiple times without causing irritation.
Heading to the clinic. Down with the flu again. Shouldn’t be the damn virus, don’t have a fever but all the other usual upper respiratory tract infection symptoms are there. Annoying as frack.
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap : WTF Grey’s Vetiver Tallow Puck
Razor : Occam’s Razor Oren Nano SE w/Feather Pro Blade (10)
Old spice Endures. Bought by Proctor and Gamble but still made by Shulton, the 1990 EDT still smells fantastic, but I have decided to use it all up before it goes rancid. The tradition endures.
The Nano SE was fantastic, is actually more comfortable than my Tatara, just not as efficient and you need to do the one thing that you never do with a DE razor. Press down slightly harder so that the blade will have more of a bite.
Still, another great smelling day, another perfect BBS shave.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger
Soap : Soap Commander Endurance
Razor : Occam Razor Oren Nano SE w/Feather Pro Blade (6)
Would to start with saying that the Tube version of this particular Proraso cream seems to be specific to my part of the world and am not sure if it is available in the US / UK. Most will be more familiar with the 9.5oz bag being sold for $20 which is far more cost effective.
Proraso Wood and Spice’s scent is the main reason why most would like the cream. Cumin centric tampered by cedar, sandalwood and rockrose, if you are not into that sharp heavier more earthy gingery note, you might not like this one. But for those who have used this, I think you’ll agree that this is probably Proraso’s best scented cream.
Performance though is a mixed bag. It does have good slickness, but not better than most of the artisan soaps out there. Better than Proraso White, Blue, Red or Green, but not by leaps and bounds. If you are comfortable with the regular Proraso cream and soap performance, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. If you are looking for say CK6 type performance, you will be disappointed.
Residual slickness is minimal. Slightly better then the regular creams and you still feel some glide on the skin but I would not try to go over your face multiple times with a razor with just one lather application. If you buff with a razor designed for buffing (DOCs / SLOCs) you should be fine, and you should be able buff or go over an area a few times with razors like the Occam Oren Nano that are designed to be mild, but I would recommend re-lathering.
Post shave is decent. There is no drying out of the skin or any feeling of tightness. Proraso’s Post shave products though is what I’d describe as “good enough”. It does the job. The beard balm though does feel good on the skin and does feel calming so there is that.
*****
The Tatara and Bic combo is not surprising, extremely comfortable while giving a perfect BBS shave.
Decided to go with Zaharoff’s scent today as it’s lavender centric wood and spice scent fits in perfectly well with the scent of the shave. Feeling great, smelling great. Now, off to work.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
So it has been years since I used Arko. Remembered that I didn’t very much liked it but to be honest, I don’t really remember exactly why, yeah its been that long. So yeah, went and bought a tub just to refresh myself with the soap. Sniffing the soap and I was immediately reminded of Fab laundry detergent. And I should have listened to that quiet voice in the back of my mind, “Steven, this is a VERY BAD idea.”
Lathered up and … Was it slick? Yes. Did it have residual slickness? Sort of. How’s its post shave? WTF did I just used on my face??!!
For those who enjoy the soap, I salute you. It is however not for me.
For my twice a day shave face, I could tell that ; This thing probably has the ph of a drain cleaner. Maybe higher. Seriously though, I didn’t have litmus paper / ph test strips but if I did, I am going to bet its going to come up at around high 10s probably around 10 to 12, sure felt like its 14.
I had to cut the shave short so it was by no means BBS. 1 and a half passes more or less.
Washed off for 10 -15 mins with running water. Face stung Alum application stung. Witch Hazel Medicated stung. Balm application stung. 20 mins after the shave, face is tender and hot to the touch. Had to use several ice cubes to draw heat off the skin. Another 20 mins later after turning my face cold as a dead man’s, my skin finally settled down but is still tender.
Not going to throw this away. Going to keep it around to remind me, why I didn’t buy the soap for almost 2 decades.
Pre-shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Razor : Occam’s Razor Oren Nano SE w/Feather Pro Blade (3)
One of the best smelling shaving soap scent I have come across. Sweet coconut, amber, woods and musk. Very unique, very intoxicating. Love it!
Happy Birthday Irena!
*****
Been a while since I took the old girl out. Rockwell 6S-R3 paired with the Bic, gave a very, very smooth and comfortable shave. ATG? Hardly any resistance, zero irritation. True Glass BBS. Perfect start of the day. Now to get that first liter of coffee…
Pre-shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Soap : Ginger’s Garden Enigma
Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Bic Chome Platinum (2)
Post Shave : Ginger’s Garden Enigma Aftershave Lotion and Balm
Every time I use a WSP product, I am reminded just how awesome they smell. Wife is not too hot on this scent though, she’s not a tobacco fan but she’s not hating it outright. bet she’s more a Black Amber Vanille person, I really should get that sometime.
I love it though, and that spiced tobacco and cherry scent really gets you going, taking the sleep out of you in a hurry. Kinda like flipping a “Man up!” switch inside you. That and a liter of coffee.
*****
The CATA-DOC with The Sword of Achilles was pretty much orgasmic on WSP’s lather, buffing made easy, leaving nothing but glass smooth skin behind. Though I did pick up a single weeper from a raised spot that I wasn’t aware of, didn’t even felt the blade and was quickly sorted with alum application.
Pre-Shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Manchurian Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 