• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Friendship Shaving Macy Dual Band Manchurian
• Soap : Pinnacle Shaving The One
• Razor : PAA Copper Ascension w/Personna Platinum Blade
• Post Shave : Pinnacle Shaving The One Aftershave
• Ohers : Dolce and Gabbana The One EDP

I do wish that I could get my hands of Artisanal Shave Soaps the world over, from the UK, EU, Eastern Euro, Africa, US, Australia … anywhere where they make good, great selling shaving soaps.

Though, finding them is one thing, getting them to ship to Singapore, that’s a challenge.

I have to give it to UK’s Pinnacle Grooming, they have some of the most kickass labels found.
That and the scents are pretty awesome as well.
Soaps are mid-mid high in scent strength but their Aftershaves are the real deal.
Non-Alcoholic skin food splashes with a really long lasting scent.
Strength is mid-high to strong.
Good stuff.

As for “The One”, this one has notes of :

Birch, Leather, Musk, Nutmeg, Oak moss, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Bergamot, Lemon, Jasmine, Rose, Ylang-Ylang, Oud and Ambrette.

Nice list of notes, and for me at least, it comes across as an Oud and woods blend.
Floral, spice and citruses notes are blended well and in the background, and they comes across very lightly, though you can pick up that vanilla on top of Oud note.
This is not a sweet scent.
Instead it comes across as a deep, dark and blended Oud scent.

For those who like Oud, this is something you might want to look at, and if you are new to Oud, this might give you an idea of how a tamed oud scent would smell like, as its not funky nor animalic but is clean and aromatic.
Scents are very YMMV, what I smell might not be what you smell though.

Of course, with that name, I had thought of Dolce and Gabbana’s The One.
They are however, not even anything alike but, they do pair up and do compliment each other quite well.

Went with the CATA-DOC and Personna combo again, (morning and now for the evening shaves) and while I did get a BBS, its just barely.

Personna Platinums aren’t my favorites but they get the job done.
Probably this time, its not a perfect pairing of blade and razor for me (YMMV!), which, with the CATA-DOC, sharper blades such as Feathers / Bic Chrome Platinums / Gillette Nacets / Corco Primes are preferred.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Soap : JS Sloane Shave Cream
• Razor : PAA Copper Ascension w/Personna Platinum
• Post Shave : JS Sloane Aftershave Lotion

Another Brushless, latherless shave cream, this time JS Sloane’s Shave Cream.
This is also available locally here in Singapore, via Amazon and boutique barbers.

Scent is a mild but very refreshing with notes of lavender, eucalyptus/mint, a dash of rose and the barest hint of lime (YMMV, no notes are given, this is just off my nose) and its mentholated!

Seriously though, while they did say you could use a brush, to apply the cream, I found that using my hands to massage the cream into the face and skin feels and seems to spread the cream much better.
It doesn’t lather up regardless.

FYI, the menthol is mid to mid-high strength and you will feel it well after the shave.

I am finding these non lathering creams to be really interesting as even though it’s a little weird visually, because you just don’t see that heavy cushioning / lather that you are used to, but the layer on the face is very slick as well as having enough cushioning that for this shave, I was buffing away without any issue.
I did have to reapply a little moisture with a wet hand as a part of my face kinda dried off a little, due to the tropical heat but, a little moisture and its slick as butter on glass.

Went with the CATA-DOC this time.
No issues riding on that layer, and buffed away to an easy, glass smooth BBS.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Soap : Thayer’s Gentlemen Shave Cream
• Razor : Blackland Vector w/Feather Pro Guard
• Post shave : Thayer’s Lavender Witch Hazel, Thayer’s Gentlemen Aftershave Balm

This was a rather quick and easy shave.
Face washed with the Cube, used about a fingernail sized amount of the brushless, latherless cream and just worked it on the prepped and wet face, leaving a thin layer of slickness to shave with.
My guess is that if you have more growth you’ll need a little more cream but since I only have the night’s stubble, a fingernail’s dollop was more than enough.

The Vector just made it even easier. One application, WTG, XTG, ATG and clean up all done without any rinsing out. Just a wet hand to keep areas you want to go over rehydrated and slick.

Finished up with witch hazel toning and balm, thought that balm is really more lotion and went on easy, absorbed fast leaving the skin feeling very refreshed and hydrated.

Quickest, easiest BBS shave ever.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Brush : Oumo 24mm ACE SHD Dual Band Manchurian Badger
• Soap : Van Yulay Bay of Roses
• Razor : Rockwell 6S-R4 w/Personna Platinum Blade
• Post Shave : Van Yulay Bay of Roses Aftershave Splash (mentholated)

From Van Yulay’s website, scent notes are :
Allspice, cloves, nutmeg, pine needles, bay rum and roses.

This soap took me a little by surprise with its scent. The spices and rose notes sits on a dark bay rum scent. (less bay, more rum) that while definitely floral, is by no means feminine, firmy unisex.
FYI, this scent pairs really well with Geurlain’s Heritage.

I am really loving the hard pucks, its easy to load, I hold the puck and load with a lightly wet (lightly shaken dry) brush bristles up.
Face lathered and as you can see, the soap produces the kind of thick and slick lather that doesn’t dissipates after painting it on.

Went of the old girl, the Rockwell 6S-R4 to reset what I know of how the razor feels and to regain a “Standard” to judge others by.
It’s still one of my best razors, even with its less nimble head compared to the Tatara, it still gave a very smooth, comfortable and efficient shave.

Perfect, true glass BBS shave.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Oumo 24mm ACE SHD Dual Band Manchurian Badger
• Soap : WTF True Lavender
• Razor : Tatara Nodachi w/Stropped Rockwell Blade
• Post Shave : WTF True Lavender Aftershave

Off day shave, so its time to chill, relax, take it slow and enjoy the day.
And you can’t go wrong starting the day with a fantastic shave. WTF True Lavender is as it’s name implies, just simply Lavender. Relaxing, soothing, just the thing to start the day with.
Scent is mid-mid high, so you do get a good whiff of that herbal goodness. And Don’s lather is as always, Lather Porn worthy. 😁

Went with the default Nodachi this morning as with last night, and remembering something Cale mentioned, I stropped the Rockwell blade against a wash cloth 5 times on each side, both edges.
Results was a really smooth shave.
Was it smoother than the night before?
Maybe a tad but that might be my confirmation bias speaking.

Still, in both occasions, last night’s and this morning shave in the Nodachi had the Rockwell Blade performing far better then I expected.

I’ll need to try the stropped blade in the Model T to see if there is an improvement there.
I am pretty sure that in this case, it’s the blade geometry in the Tatara as well as the stropping that is making the blade perform at its best, so if stropping a blade makes a slight improvement in another razor where the blade felt “less sharp / less smooth” than, that’s what I will be doing in the future.

I did get a perfect, true glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Oumo 24mm ACE SHD Dual Band Manchurian Badger
• Soap : G&A Japanese Dream
• Razor : Tatara Nodachi Base + Masamune Cap w/Rockwell Blade
• Post Shave : Thayers Lavender Witch Hazel + Alum Block

G&A Japanese Dream is a beautifully scented with Japanese Plum, cherry and light woods notes.
If you like strong, in your face scented shaving soaps, this is one of them.
Lather from bowl lathering is more foamy then cream however the lather’s slickness, residual and post shave are more than decent and was painted on easily a good layer for DE shaving.
I might try to do a face lather on my night shave to see if I’ll get a thicker layer going.

The Rockwell blade is behaving quite differently in the Tataras.
In both the Zero Zero Masamune and the Gentle Nodachi, I am not getting as much drag / pull / resistance as I am with the Rockwell Model T. (I’ll need to try the blades in all my other razors) Which is kinda weird as you would think they’d perform better in the Model T.
YMMV as they say.

I’ll go with the Default Nodachi tonight and the day after to see how the blade feels with the Blade Positive configuration.
I’d suspect it’s Tatara’s blade geometry that’s giving the Rrockwell blade a second chance and I can definitely use them with far more comfort.
While it’s not my best blade, so far in the Tataras, they are performing quite well and I’d hate to waste blades and throw them away if I don’t have to.

Easily got my BBS shave, and finished with the old school application of Witch Hazel and Alum.
Feeling good!

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Brush : Oumo 24mm ACE SHD Dual Band Manchurian Badger
• Soap : Suavecito Whiskey Bar
• Razor : Tatara Nodachi Base + Masamune Cap w/Rockwell Blade
• Post Shave : Suavecito Whiskey Bar Aftershave

Now these software are one of the few that is locally available here in Singapore. Sold by a barbershop called The Panic Room, great place to go if you are a wet shaver as they have a number of stuff that would be worth picking up.

Scent for the soap is Whiskey and Eucalyptus. Simple but damn, it does smell quite good. Scent strength is mid-mid low so its not very intrusive. I’d prefer if its stronger but, it is what it is. They have a cream version but I chose to get the puck version. Its a soft puck so you can just press it into a container like I did and store it that way.

Went with the gentler Nodachi today. If the Zero Zero Masamune is Mild Efficiency, this the velvet gloved gauntlet. Very comfortable due to the negative -0.03mm blade exposure and its blade angle geometry, but with that 0.90mm gap, make no mistake, it is aggressive.
And oddly enough, the Rockwell blade had no tugging at all.

I might need to skip a night shave to let my whiskers grow out more and shave with the blade it was was extremely smooth in the Nodachi-Masamune.

Easy, comfortable BBS Shave.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
• Brush : Oumo 24mm ACE SHD Dual Band Manchurian Badger
• Razor : Blackland Vector w/Feather Proguard Blade
• Post Shave : Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue, Alum Block

Godrej is probably my cheapest and yet most underappreciated shaving cream. It does contain Lanolin which I understand for some, this is a no no. But at roughly RM12.00 (Malaysian Ringit) for three tubes, that works out to about US$0.50 a tube this is ridiculously cheap.
Problem is, with the Covid shut downs and lockdown on travel, its not feasible to make my way across the border to get some. (Local Mustafa ran out)

Made in India, it’s scent is also an exotic mix of eucalyptus, mint, lime and ginger and is the equivalent of Proraso in terms of lather and glide.

Went with the vector today for a quick precision shave. Blade feels like its about to go, though it still takes growth off, it is starting to feel less smooth.
Still, it was a very easy and clean BBS shave but will be recycling the blade, its 24th use or more, I lost count.
Decided to finish with alum and Aqua velva and it felt great!
Yeah, it was a “I keep touching myself” BBS shave.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Brush : Oumo 24mm ACE SHD Dual Band Manchurian Badger
• Soap : The Village Soapsmith Old Spice Shaving Soap
• Razor : Tatara Masamune Base + Nodachi Cap w/Rockwell Blade
• Post Shave : P&G Old Spice Original Aftershave
• Others : Shulton Old Spice EDT

Still on my Budget / Obsure shaves.
Not everyone has access to the Old Original Shulton Old Spice to compare and some prefer the new P&G ones as it is a more “modern”, more powdery scent as well as toning down the natural oils heavy hitting notes of cinnamon, anise, nutmeg and aged orange peels in the old Shulton.

TVS’ Old Spice is spot on with the P&G scent profile.
And it’s mid-mid high in scent strength in the puck and lather.
You will smell the soap’s scent permeating from the mail call box even before you open it, and likewise, the moment I uncapped the tub, the New Old Spice scent wafted up to greet me.

I have to admit, even if its a shadow of the Old Shulton (yeah, I’m biased), its still very good.

Lather is as you can see in the Lather Porn pic, good, as is performance. Thick, creamy, not airy bubbly, with good ability to hold water, along with fairly good residual slickness, its definitely a good choice for those looking for an entry level or budget artisan shave soap.

Though as with all her other shaving soap products, post shave is only decent. Not complaining as you can only do so much at it’s price point.
You don’t get that dry stretched skin feel, but your face do feel squeaky clean. For those who want more moisturizing skin food, use a balm with your AS / non alcohol AS.

For me though, it great as the last two months or so I have had issues with my face getting very oily due to heat and sweat and I don’t really need too much additional oils to the face.

Again the Zero Zero Masamune with the Rockwell blade gave quite a comfortable shave and surprisingly lacking that “almost tugging” feel when I used the blade with the Rockwell. While there is still some resistance, it feels markedly less.

I did however had to go with a 2 pass shave + pick up shave, the first lather application going WTG, XTG, ATG, the second lather application pass XTG, ATG and pickup lather pass with skin stretching and buffing to get that perfect clean glass BBS shave. I did get a small weeper from a pimpled spot but didn’t even feel the blade take off that bit of skin. Goes to show, “not as sharp” is relative.

Sort of funny as I was just talking with Mike about the nature of Tatara razors.
Just because you don’t feel the blade (it is very deceptive with how smooth, how little of the blade you feel) does not mean there isn’t a sharp blade riding that slick lather sliding across your skin.

Easily sorted out with alum.

Finished off with P&G’s “Original” Old Spice and the actual Old Shulton for the body.
Smelling fantastic and ready to head off to work.

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• Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA Cube
• Brush : Oumo 24mm ACE SHD Dual Band Manchurian Badger
• Soap : The Village Soapsmith Eucalyptus and Mint Shaving Soap
• Razor : Tatara Masamune Base + Nodachi Cap w/Rockwell Blade
• Post Shave : Osage Rub
• Others : Menthol in Salt Grinder

Eucalyptus and Mint.
While this soap is true to its name, with a fresh green scent, it is not mentholated.
So for those who want the Eucalyptus and mint scent but not that cold feel on your skin, this might be a good one for you.
It is a Glycerin puck so its easy to lather up into that thick creamy slick stuff we all like.

I, of course, added in menthol. Just can’t have Eucalyptus and Mint with no menthol.

The Rockwell Blade actually performed better in the Zero Zero Tatara, felt a little less tugging compared to the Model T. Weird.
The Zero Zero Tatara performed as expected, though it took a little buffing to get that BBS.

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