• Pre-Shave : Shower
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
• Soap : Ginger’s Garden British Empire
• Razor : Tatara Masamune Baseplate + Nodachi Top Cap + Rockwell 6S Handle w/Treet Black Beauty Blade
• Post Shave : Ginger’s Garden British Empire Aftershave Lotion and Balm
• Others : Ginger’s Garden British Empire Cologne

The Earliest of my purchases from Ginger’s Garden but probably one that I use the least.
Scent is straight up citrus white musk, really heavy on the musk.
Would have preferred if the listed scents of oud, amber and sandalwood were more prominent but they are ran roughshod by the musk.
If you are a musk person, this is the one to get.

Forgotten how much of a musk bomb this was until I sprayed the Cologne.
😁

The Tatara was as comfortable as always though the blade didn’t performed so well this time.
I was left with a RDFS and left it as is. I’ll get it later in the evening.

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• 

• Pre-Shave : Shower
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger by Frank Shaving
• Soap : Ginger’s Garden Heller Highwater
• Razor : Feather Kamisori Style Shavette w/Feather Pro Guard Blade, Occam’s Razor Oren Nano Enhanced w/Feather Pro Super Blade
• Post Shave : Ginger’s Garden Heller Highwater Aftershave Balm, Nivea Men Deep Comforting Post Shave Lotion

Scent for this soap is Birch, Gun Smoke and Wet Woods.
Very gritty and reminds me of my army days at the range in the freaking jungle.
You don’t see me using this often as my wife HATES it.
Yeah.
Which is why I usually pairs it with something like Nivea’s AS or Clubman’s Whiskey Woods.

Since I’m home on sick leave, might as well polish up on my Kamisori skills.
Still careful, gentle, deliberate and with extreme care taken for the ATG, WTG and XTG passes.
Technique is still horrible but I got the job done.
Surprisingly it didn’t take me too long, and I had hardly anything left for the Oren to clean up. Just an odd micro stubble or two in my usual trouble areas.

Cleaned up with the Oren which took off whatever little was left behind and it was a bloodless, very close glass BBS shave.

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• 

Dragon Spice is a Dragon’s Blood + Spice Bomb custom blend done by Irena for me.
“IT’S A SPICY MEATBALL!”
Soap is her Tallow base which is thirsty and fantastically slick, dense, has great residual slickness and really good post shave. Most times you probably don’t need aftershaves, but how else are you going to layer on the scent?
Her Aftershave lotion carries the scent for a long time and is a on the thick side.

Using the Model T at R2-2.5 seems to give me the best balance of comfort and efficiency.
It’s still blade forward, I still need to check blade alignment (you really should not need to for a razor that cost $150) but at least it’s usable.

Perfect BBS shave this time.

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• Pre Shave : Shower
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger by Frank Shaving
• Soap : Ginger’s Garden Dragon Spice
• Razor : Rockwell Model T-R2.5 w/Treet Black Beauty Blade
• Post Shave : Ginger’s Garden Dragon Spice Aftershave Lotion and Balm

• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Brush : PAA Peregrino
• Soap : WTF FB1K (Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue)
• Razor : Tatara Masamune Baseplate + Nodachi Top Cap + Rockwell 6S Handle w/Treet Black Beauty Blade
• Post Shave : WTF FB1K Aftershave Splash, Thayers Gentlemen Aftershave Balm
• Others : Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Intense Pour Homme EDP

Aquatic scents run the gamut of sweet and fresh like Channel Bleu, the fresh aquatic spice like Davidoff’s Cool Water or on the more extreme end, Marine aquatics like Bvlgari Aqva (very notable salt, seaweed and plankton note)
Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue walks that fine line and tries to keep its aquatic scent in balance.

I don’t think the soap is available anymore as it was a limited run but it matches D&G’s scent to a T. Just that perfect balance of citrus, salt, amber, woods and marine (clean sea breeze) scents that makes this one fanfrackingtastic.
Oh and the soap’s performance is the usual WTF balance of slick, residual and post shave.

Back to my favorite gal, and I don’t think she has issue with any blade other than Rapira Swedish Super Steel ( bad, bad blades).
Results in the predictable extremely comfortable, no cuts, no weepers, no irritation, true glass BBS shave.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger by Frank Shaving
• Soap : WTF Vintage Barbershop
• Razor : Rockwell 6S-R4 w/Treet Black Beauty Blade
• Post Shave : WTF Vintage Barbershop Aftershave, Thayers Gentlemen Aftershave Balm
• Others : Dior Eau Sauvage (2012) EDP

WTF Vintage Barbershop is not the usual powdery type barbershop scent.
Instead its notes are myrrh, lavender, clove leaf, patchouli, sweet musk.
With Myrrh and Patchouli being forward giving it more depth, this is a very masculine take on the barbershop scent.
And oh yeah, it’s mentholated.
Feels and smells fantastic!

Tried to froth lather, in a separate container, and it sort of worked out but I wasn’t happy with the results.
In the end I had to just empty the contents into my Van Yulay Resin bowl and after a few mins of whisking, working the lather, I got my usual thick creamy layer of slick.
I think that method works better for containers with a hard puck or at least harder / firm soaps and not soft creams / croaps.

Rockwell 6S did its thing.
Comfortable, reliable and perfect BBS shave.

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Not sure if its only me, but I actually think Don’s Tallow Pucks are much more creamier, has more body, with a denser lather than his regular croaps, or perhaps I have been using less soap from the regular croaps and need to scoop in more.

Regardless, I do enjoy the Tallow Puck more. Kind of a bummer that I got the first batch with a weaker scent strength (1-2/10) but I intend to get some of the other Tallow Puck Offerings in the near future.

PAA’s Copper Ascension Double Open Comb though is touted as an adjustable, to be honest, I have never bothered much about opening her up for a more aggressive shave.
It’s default is already a mid-mild shave which I prefer and given that it is designed to be a buffing razor keeping it mild lowers the irritation factor when you buff away.

You do however need to get used to “riding the cap” coupled with a good smooth and sharp blade to take full advantage of it.
Once you get the hang of using this razor, it’s just too easy to get a really clean true glass BBS with it.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
• Soap : WTF Grey’s Vetiver Tallow Puck
• Razor : PAA Copper Ascension DOC w/Zaza Blade (3)
• Post Shave : WTF Grey’s Vetiver Aftershave Splash, Thayers Gentlemen Aftershave Balm
• Others : Tom Form Grey Vetiver EDP (not pictured)

It’s pretty hard to describe Valyrian Steel’s scent, as it is pretty complex, though I think the closest I can come up with is fresh sweet woods with a hint of steel.
Was thinking of using the froth method to lather up but decided to wait till I can find a separate container to do so.

Treet blades aren’t the sharpest out there but it does the job.
I’d recommend them as a one time or at most a one day blade unless you can dry them and store them in an airtight container after use. They seem to form rust quite fast in my tropic enviroment.

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Pre-Shave : Shower
Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap : WTF Valyrian Steel
Razor : Tatara Masamune Base Plate + Nodachi Top Cap w/Treet Black Beauty Blade
Post Shave : WTF Valyrian Steel, Thayers Gentlemen Aftershave Balm
Others : Bvlgari Alatiqve EDT (not pictured)

• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger by Frank Shaving
• Soap : WTF Vanilla Tobacco
• Razor : Rockwell Model T w/Treet Black Beauty
• Post Shave : WTF Vanilla Tobacco Aftershave Splash, Thayers Gentlemen Aftershave Balm

Tobacco, spice, vanilla cocoa, florals and woods makes this a fantastically freakingly good smelling soap.

As with most artisan’s soaps, performance is good with the usual slickness, residual and post shave feel you come to expect, and while some are slightly better than others, I’d say that most aren’t that far off from each other. Especially when you factor in the price per tub.

What counts after, is the scent.
And WTF Vanilla Tobacco knocks it out of the park.
It is “Wife Hug and Snuffle” approved and she usually do not like tobacco scents, so that was a surprise.

The Model T bit me today.
Very minor, but that happens sometimes with blade forward razors.
Bit me just down at the neck as I was setting the razor to skin for the ATG pass and the blade decided that it wanted a taste of blood.
Luckily, it was just a tiny skin split and it was sorted out with alum.

Almost perfect BBS shave.

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Off day shave, so that means Kamisori time!
Also keeping it to my “flip shift” timing since yeah, that’s going to be my operating hours for the next few weeks.
Himitsu is as gorgeous smelling as I remembered it to be. Beautiful sweet lemon and rose, calming, relaxing and putting me in that Zen zone while I handle the Kamisori.

Full WTG, XTG and ATG with the Kamisori this time, including under the nose. Slow, deliberate, delicate and with care.
The Kamisori shave was a RDFS, bloodless thanks to the Pro Guard Blade, still pretty sure I would had a few minor nicks if not for the guarded blade.
The blades are still really damn sharp but at least they are forgiving as long as you give it a chance and not bulldog the shave.

I could have stopped there since feeling around I could only find a few micro-stubble around my usual trouble areas.

Used the Oren for clean up for that final true glass BBS shave.
Gotta chase that BBS.

And FYI, if you can, do try Thayer’s Post shave Balm.
Its Freaking fantastic.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Manchurian Badger by Frank Shaving
• Soap : WTF Himitsu
• Razor : Kamisori Sytle Shavette w/Feather Pro Guard Blade, Occam’s Razor Oren Nano Enhanced w/Feather Professional Super Blade
• Post Shave : WTF Himitsu Aftershave Splash, Thayer’s Gentlemen Post Shave Balm

It’s way past sundown around 2000hrs and its freaking 30°c /86°f … Yeah, its going to be a really, really warm the coming next few months.
Had to reach for Mr Warlock.
Even after multiple cold showers, nothing beats a menthol shave when you are feeling the heat.

Went back to my Assassin for today, the Tatara Masamune base and Nodachi cap combination being my most comfortable, and yet still the most efficient of all my razors.
Easy clean, no irritation, no cuts, nicks, or weepers perfect BBS shave.

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• Pre-shave : Shower
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
• Soap : WTF Mr Warlock
• Razor : Tatara Masamune Base Plate + Nodachi Top Cap w/Zaza Blade (2)
• Post Shave : WTF Mr Warlock Aftershave, Thayer’s Gentlemen Aftershave Balm