Still feeling under the weather, this viral flu is still kicking my butt.
Good news is one more day of work and I have a week’s vacation to sleep it off. Also thought I’d use Solstice, as sage is known to chase off evil spirits causing sickness with it’s scent. (Fun fact, sage does have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antioxidant effects) Can’t hurt and besides, it smells great.
Best buffing razor equals perfect true glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave, and with the Cube and PAA’s Base, little or no irritation.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Dual Band Manchurian by Frank Shaving
One look at the picture and you know what I did wrong here. Those who have used the cream or have read about it before are probably facepalming. 🤣 I should have Read The (insert F word of choice) Manual, or at least the instructions on the back of the tube.
To be clear, Thayers’ shave cream is a non “sudsy”, non brush type. So after failing to get a lather, and the brush wasn’t applying the cream to the face with any good results, I finally read the back of the tube.
“Apply liberally to face…” Okies, no brush, no muss just use your hands and apply. Depending on how much growth you have, about a nickel sized dollop would be more then enough, though I think those who have more growth will want to use more.
Scent is something that you’ll need to get used to. Its plain Witch Hazel. Think wet wood soaked in water smell. Slick enough to buff, but watch the evaporation, if it starts to dry out, just wet your hands and go over the areas you need to shave again, it should reintroduce slickness back. Add more cream if needed.
Where it counts though, is post shave. Balm is good, with the same light witch hazel scent (wet wood) and both balm and cream left the face feeling soft and hydrated. I mean really soft like “I just went to the spa” soft.
I kinda like it but the lack of scent and suds, we boys with brushes need to play with our suds, make this a night or “I’m in a rush” shave cream.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-shave : Shower
Soap : Thayers Gentlemen Shave Cream
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Nodachi Top Cap w/Feather Blade (3)
Future Fiction day! Love that fresh citrus, pine – musk!
Should have corked these blades from the start. They no longer feels harsh now, even with a slightly more positive blade exposure change with the Nodachi cap. Previous use with original Masamune cap even with its -0.13mm negative exposure still had my face feeling a little raw but this time round they felt quite comfortable.
2nd use on the blade as I actually used it the night before. Which previously was a no no, again with the morning shave usually leaving my face a little on the peeled side. This time round, zero feedback from the alum. But, I may have overdid with the corking (corked it twice) as the blade didn’t give me a true BBS.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : PAA’s Future Fiction
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Nodachi Top Cap w/Dorco Prime Platinum -Corked (2)
Post Shave : PAA’s Future Fiction Star Jelly Aftershave, Aftershave Cologne
Others : PAA’s Future Fiction Deodorant and Solid Cologne
Brought out my old Old spice for this shave, guestimate about 70ml left of the old Shulton. Thanks to a forwarder and FedEx, I got me some Soap Commander Splashes and had to refresh my scent imagery’s memory. Wife did raise her eyebrows at me though 😁.
For those who are still using P&G’s “Old Spice”, do yourself a favor and try to get a sniff of “real thing” and you’ll understand why men and women loved that scent for an age and a half.
Another extremely comfortable shave resulting in a true glass “I keep touching myself” BBS skin removed of any growth. You’ll know a fellow wet-shaver if you see a man who keeps feeling the underside of his neck and chin to see when that pesky micro bristle pops out. 🤣 Zero feedback from the alum.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Dual Band Badger by Frank Shaving
Pre-shave : Shower
Soap : Soap Commander’s Endurance (Shulton Old Spice)
Razor : Tatara Masamune with Nodachi Top cap w/Feather Blade (3)
Post Shave : Soap Commander’s Endurance Aftershave Splash, Aftershave Balm
As always the “Prima Rasito” is with no other products other then the title’s Name-Bearer to ensure it is “experience as is”. First off, Don, LOVE this scent. The balance of mild peppermint, eucalyptus, camphor and menthol is very soothing. No to mention the mild freeze on the skin. But the Aftershave, man ohhh man the aftershave! My eyes teared a little and I LOVE IT! Immediate mild burn followed by the freeze is when you go from “Home Alone face” the first few seconds right to “aheago” (don’t google this at work. NSFW!!) the moment the freeze kicks in.
The Masamune with the Nodachi Top Cap with a Feather Blade. Yeah, the title says it all. How does it feel? Like you are shaving with a Rockwell on R2 … with a blade gap of 0.63mm. (Rockwell R5 equivalent)
I still don’t feel the much of the blade, well you do, just a slight kiss but as you glide the razor down, with the Feather, you only feel very, very slight resistance from your growth and as the blade does it’s thing, it’ll just mow your growth off with hardly any effort. And for the most part, you will have that urge to press harder (don’t!) simply because there’s hardly any blade feel, especially if you are using good soap with excellent glide. This shave for the most part was done by audio feedback. You’ll hear the blade sing, and fall silent when there is nothing left for it to take off.
Chased true glass BBS (but of course), already did that in the morning at o200hrs and now again at 1530hrs. I normally settle for a DFS or a BBS with maybe a micro stubble here or there on trouble spots. So I expect some feedback from alum application. Zero. Nada. So not only was the shave a true BBS, the kind you can tell that it’s truly glass smooth even before you apply alum, there was zero irritation. Pretty sure corking the Feather Blade helped a bunch with the smoothness as well but damn this razor freaking rocks now that it has a slightly better blade geometry. (YMMV!)
I am impressed and pissed. Tatara should have made the Nodachi Top Cap as the default. Luckily you can now purchase a “customized” Razor with the parts you want as a set.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
With the Nodachi top cap the Masamune’s blade Geometry is now true neutral from negative 0.13mm. Its still feels very smooth and very little blade feel but it does clean up my trouble areas with less trouble now. True glass BBS with zero feedback from alum application.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower, PAA’s Cube
Soap : PAA’s Al Fin
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Nodachi Top Cap w/Lord Platinum Blade (3)
Post Shave : PAA’s Al Fin Star Jelly Aftershave, Aftershave Cologne
Bowl is just there for size scaling. Items dropped : Wet The Face’s Tobacco Vanille Croap and Aftershave, Valerian Steel Croap and Aftershave, Mr Warlock Croap and Aftershave, Vintage Barbershop Aftershave (wasn’t available when I bought the croap), Himitsu Bath Soap Bar.
Soap Commander’s Endurance and Vision Aftershave splash. I think I’m the only mad mofo who brought it over the pond to Asia. Going to really enjoy using these.
Stetson’s Cooling Moisture Aftershave
Clubman Pinnaud’s Gent’s Gin Aftershave
Whole bunch of Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements samples. Going to see what I don’t like. God help me if I like them all.
And another 100 of Shark’s Stainless Steel blades. My son uses these as well, I use them as a 2 evening shave blades and recycle. Not even going to try to stretch the blade when they cost 6 cents each.
So the Nodachi Top Cap also arrived. they looked Identical. No way to tell them apart really. So my advice is to mark one of them (I just used a marker and left a dot) so that you know which is which.
Its kind of funny that one of the most successful fragrance scent today is inspired by a man who almost made France an Empire. Love or hate the original Creed scent, this particular scent DNA is now everywhere and you can’t really escape from it.
The Ascension is the best buffing and because of it, the most consistent razor for true BBS chasers. Double open combs might look intimidating but if the razor has good blade geometry, they’d give some of the best shaves, you’ll experience. Never nicked myself on the Ascension since I have bought it. Love this thing.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Off day shave but I had a whole lot of running around to do and might as well do it looking good and smelling fantastic.
The Masamune when paired with a sharp blade is a joy to use. smooth, with almost no blade feel, you have to resist pressing down on it, just let it glide and mow growth off. True Glass BBS, no irritation nor feedback from alum application. Fanfrackingtastic shave.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy Dual Band Manchurian badger, by Frank Shaving
Pre-shave : Shower
Soap : PAA’s Copalli
Razor : Tatara Masamune w/Lord Platinum Blade (2)
Post Shave : PAA’s Copalli Star Jelly Aftershave, Aftershave Cologne
Others : PAA’s Copalli Deodorant and Solid Cologne
Wife caught something and passed it on to me. Feeling like a whipped dog with a Russian commander’s throat, raspy and hoarse after decades of vodka and smokes.
Decided to go with something simple and a throwback to the when I restarted wet shaving, before heading to the doctors.
Yeah, I reached for the old Merkur. 2nd razor that I bought, is still kept in good condition, and as always, a joy to use. If not for the Rockwell 2C / 6C, I would still be recommending this as anyone’s first razor but the Rockwells are better value.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave : Shower
Soap : Taylor of Old Bond Street Platinum (Barbershop)
Razor : Merkur 34C HD w/Rockwell Blade (2)
Post Shave : Nivea Men Deep Comfort Aftershave splash, Prep
Others : Taylor of Old Bond Street Platinum Cologne
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 