• Pre-shave : Cold Shower, PAA Cube Face Wash
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
• Soap : WTF Face Book 1K
• Razor : PAA Copper Ascension Twist Adjustable Double Open Comb w/Bic Chrome Platinum Blade
• Post Shave : WTF FB1K Aftershave Splash and Balm
• Others : Menthol in Salt Grinder, Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue Intense EDP

Love WTF’s FB1K scent which is based on Dolce and Gabbana’s Light Blue, though I paired it with the Intense version EDP which slants the scent slightly sweeter with amber, slightly less salt in its aqua with a touch of Juniper, with just that little extra touch of citrus that makes it in my opinion the better scent over the original.

And of course, had to grind in some menthol.
Everything is better with Menthol, especially with this heat.

WTF’s lather is top notch and backed by PAA’s Cube pre-shave, it’s just slick city on application.

Went with my beautiful Whirling Dervish, armed with the Sword of Achilles and just went to Buff-Town!
Zero irritation, glass perfect BBS shave.
Yeah, its the kind of BBS that you just can’t help but go into “I keep touching myself” mode.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower
• Brush : Oumo 26mm SHD Silvertip Badger
• Soap : Soap Commander Vision
• Razor : Tatara Nodachi Base + Masamune Cap w/Bic Chrome Platinum
• Post Shave : Soap Commander Vision Aftershave
• Others : John Varvatos Artisan Blu

Another warm muggy day, so decided to not use a balm again.
My Vision still had some menthol in it from the last time I ground in some menthol and perfectly came out as fresh and cool especially with that wonderful scent.

Grabbed the more aggressive Tatara today, though to be honest, it’s still a toss up between this and the Masamune base + Nodachi cap combo. It’s still as smooth, more efficient with that 0.90mm gap but can and has bitten me while the other combination is far more docile.
Easy perfect BBS shave.

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So went on a shopping trip to Mustafa’s to pick up on a few odds and ends and some stuff for shaving.
First and foremost :

• 

• 

And finally those very nifty lock tight containers that I use all the time for soap pucks.
Just cut and stick the box label to the cover with double-sided tape to know what’s inside. Though, with the Palmolive its easy even without doing this due to its unique scent.

Anyways, since the soap is in stick form, I grated two of my Palmolive sticks into it and use it as I would a soap bowl. Allowing of course for the soap to dry out before putting the air tight cover back on.

Cost is about S$2.50 (US$1.80) so I got a few as I also have Mitchel’s Woof Fat coming in later, maybe this week or next … covid delays.

• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Brush : PAA Peregrino
• Soap : PAA Doppelganger Tri-Color (Irish Moos)
• Razor : Tatara Masamune Base + Nodachi Cap + Bulldog Handle w/Bic Chrome Platinum Blade
• Post Shave : PAA Doppelganger Tri-Color Star Jelly Aftershave, Aftershave Cologne
• Others : PAA Doppelganger Tri-Color Deodorant and Epic Solid Cologne

It’s way early in the morning, 06:00 and gotta get ready to go out to get stuff.
(Ain’t 24hr Megastores great?)
Essentially to go pick up another old school aftershave and stuff. And nothing better to set that old school mood with Irish Moos. Such a great scent! CK-6 lather doesn’t hurt either.

The Tatara Masamune base and Nodachi cap combo is of course as always, deceptively gentle and my most comfortable razor while still giving that BBS that you don’t really have to chase for.
Two Lather applications shave and done, essentially WTG, XTG and ATG with the first lather application, followed by a clean up run.

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• Pre-shave : Cold Shower, PAA Cube Face Wash
• Brush : PAA Peregrino
• Soap : PAA Big Shave SW 2020
• Razor : Vikings Blade Emperor Augustus w/ASCO Platinum Blade (3)
• Post Shave : PAA Big Shave SW 2020 Aftershave Cologne

Still feeling a little off, with the cold / flu so not feeling like going the full monty today, so just went with a simple shave.
Scents are funny and very YMMV, I know that for many this soap is supposed to be leather, leather and still more leather but for me, I don’t get that leather note, at least not the note that I remember as a kid working with my father making little leather bags.
I do get a bit of suede with a lot of dark greens, mesquite and resins.
Weird ya?

Anyways, ran the ASCO blade in the Empress and again it gave a smooth and easy shave.

Digging around I think they are from Egypt, made by the same guys that make Lord / Shark blades. Price $8.75 on amazon for 100s.
That is … a damn good buy. Good blades for that price. Even if I use them as a one day blade (2 shaves) that’s less then $0.09 cost per day, even more value if you go 4 to 6 shaves.
Always good to have alternatives.

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• Pre-Shave : Cold Shower, PAA Cube Face wash
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
• Razor : Tatara Masamune Base + Nodachi Cap + Bulldog Handle w/Asco Platinum Blade
• Post Shave : Cold Shower, WTF Vanilla Tobacco Aftershave Splash, Thayers Gentlemen Aftershave Balm
• Others : Menthol in Salt Grinder

Hot, hot tropical day, so its a cold shave starting with a cold shower to take off the heat and perspiration.
If you guys haven’t tried WTF Vanilla Tobacco, you really need to get a sample to try.

With scent notes of Tobacco Leaf, Vanilla Bean, Spices, Tobacco Flower, Cocoa, Dried Fruits (raisin and berries?) and Woods, it’s good take on Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille, which is to say, a fantastic awesome scent.
Helps that it also makes fantastic top grade lather.

Got a freebie Asco Platinum blade that came with the Derby USTAs, so giving that a go with my most comfortable razor the Tatara Masamune with the Nodachi cap for that neutral blade geometry shave.

From the first pass on I knew I was going to like the blade. Extremely smooth, with that “resistance is futile” feel of growth just melting off the blade.
To be fair, with the Tatara, most blades perform very smoothly, but this is pretty close to what I get with a Nacet / Bic / Corked Feather. Perhaps a tad less sharp but feeling extremely smooth.
Just that tiny bit of resistance when growth meets blade, then its just shaving based on audio feedback as its so smooth.

With even my usual trouble areas coming off true glass BBS without too much effort, and with absolutely zero feedback from the alum, I might consider this blade a good alternative to my favorite blades.
YMMV of course.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower w/Old Spice Original Shower Gel, PAA Cube
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
• Soap : PAA Cold Spices
• Razor : Blackland Vector w/Feather Pro Super Blade
• Post Shave : PAA Cold Spices Star Jelly and Aftershave Cologne
• Others : PAA Cold Spices Deodorant, Solid Cologne and EDP

I make no secret that the original Shulton’s Old Spice is one of my favorite scents and PAA’s Cold Spice is one of the best reproductions out there, with a touch of menthol!
And, if you want the “Full Monty” experience from bath to body scented products, PAA delivers, oh do they deliver. I am missing a few stuff like shampoo and bath soap though. 😁

Grabbed the Vector that still has that Feather Blade from a month or so ago that I have used on / off for most of my night shaves. Blade finally gave up the ghost and while I think I could still get a few more shave with it, it took a few more strokes than it should to clean everything up, so decided to toss after this shave.
Gotta Love SE blades.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
• Soap : Van Yulay Black Dragon
• Razor : PAA Copper Ascension Double Open Comb w/Bic Chrome Platinum Blade
• Post shave : Van Yulay Black Dragon Aftershave splash and Balm
• Others : Menthol in salt grinder

Van Yulay’s Black Dragon is a Dragon’s Blood type scent and one that smells fantastic. Soap base while still good and makes creamy lather, is being overshadowed by some of the new bases by other artisans. I do however still enjoy using their offerings.

The CATA-DOC with a Bic is just awesome.
Easy true glass, no irritation BBS.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Oumo 26mm SHD Silvertip Badger
• Soap : Ginger’s Garden Dragon Spice
• Razor : Tatara Nodachi Base + Masamune Cap w/Zaza Blade
• Post Shave : Ginger’s Garden Dragon Spice with Osage Rub

Asking for and creating custom scents can sometimes be great and other times, you get something other than what you originally expected.
Dragon Spice is a custom blend I got Irena to do for me by merging Dragon Blood and Spice Bomb and is one such.
Yes, its a very very spicy and while I had hoped that the resinous wood notes would balance the amount of spice, that didn’t happen.
Still, I liked the scent I got but I do tamper with it now and then to see what I do with it.

Today it’s with menthol and eucalyptus.
Decided to add a very tiny drop of eucalyptus and grind in a bit of menthol.
And actually really like the results.
Yeah, I’m a menth-head but that extremely fresh-spice scent is quite good and very pleasant to shave with.

Went with the more aggressive Tatara that’s balanced with the Masamune Cap to bring a negative blade exposure just shy of neutral (-0.03mm) and paired it with the Zaza blade.
I am lucky I think, that I have little issues with most blades, with the exception of a few, most blades just work for me.
The Zaza is no different and does a great job.
Smooth, easy and zero irritation, BBS is just gravy on top.

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• Pre-shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Oumo 26mm SHD Silvertip Badger
• Soap : WTF Valyrian Steel
• Razor : Blackland Vector w/Feather Pro Super Blade
• Post Shave : WTF Valyrian Steel Aftershave
• Ohers : Menthol in Salt Grinder, Twin Girls Florida Water

Another one of WTF soaps that smells great and pairs well with Florida water.
Added enough menthol that it was short of glacial (15 min after the shave and I still feel the cool) which is kinda needed at the time. Though the Tropics being the Tropics, it looks like we are going to have a huge thunderstorm in a bit.

The Vector as always, is awesome, very nimble, and precise even with that large area blade. Lost count on how many times I have used this particular blade but it is still taking growth off like a champ. Clean true glass no irritation BBS shave.

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