Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Rocket Soap and Post Shave : Phoenix Accouterments’s Cold Spice, Mysterium Serum (Mentholated) Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Feather Blade Other : Original Shulton Old Spice EDT (decades past shelf life but still good)
Was going to be a long work day so I trying to decide between going with the tweed or spice. Spice won out in the end just because in all honesty, I love this scent and that I really should use up that vintage bottle of the Shulton.
Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Preshave, Soap and Post Shave : Proraso White Razor : Rockwell 6S-R3 w/Croma Blade
Proraso white is Proraso’s answer for people with sensitive skin, it is also very soothing on the skin for those who may have had razor burn. I cannot stress how much I would recommend having this in your den “just in case” for times when you had a bad blade or may have been out in the sun a little too long and you just have to shave that day.
Been using Croma blades recently, giving them an extended use to get a true measure of how they perform for me. Made in Germany but they are a mixed bag for me. Generally sharp but inconsistent in quality as well as giving that smooth shave. Blades dull after the 2nd or 3rd use and can leave problem spots with tough stubble uncut or not cut as close as you would like. Worse, it also looses its smoothness going from relatively smooth, to giving you micro razor burn. There’s no real discomfort when applying Alum, but if you used an alcohol based aftershave, you will know that a layer of skin was taken off. This makes Croma blades for me, a 1 day blade. Morning shave, evening shave, CHUCK! Though as they say in the shaving community, your millage may vary. If you have softer less stubborn growth these blades might keep their edge and stay smoother longer.
So, yeah, I am damn glad I have Proraso white on hand. Made with Oatmeal and green tea extracts it feels really great on a skin that had it rough from a bad blade.
Bowl : Van Yulay Silicone Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Rocket Soap : Van Yulay Soap of the Gods Royal Oud Post Shave : Thayer’s Witch Hazel, Van Yulay’s Royal Oud Aftershave Lotion Razor : Razorock SLOC w/Croma Blade Other : Paranakan Oud EDT (Oud, Tonka bean, Praline and Green Tobacco) buffered with Safran Oud Attar (Iris, Corcus, safron, Arabian oud – this is a locally made attar by an old-school perfumery artisan)
Package finally arrived while I was at work and the wife picked it up, probably with raised eyebrows and a sigh going “More soaps?!” 😂
The bowl is floppier then I expected, and yes , it performs better on the counter then as a hand bowl (though I already have a “fix” for that) but it does whip up lather in a matter of seconds.
LATHER PORN Brush loaded by swirling a damp brush straight from the soap dish and then whipping the lather up with a little water in the bowl.
And yes, Monica’s soap is as good as it looks. I am not sure if its just the soap or a combination of soap and bowl but … LOOK AT THAT LATHER! The honeycomb walls really agitated the soap and made the lather smooth yogurt in a hurry. Even so, I just whipped the stuff around for a bit more. It just felt odd to get that kind of lather in about 30 seconds or so.
So, just for good measure, even though my eyeballs told me that it was already epic, I worked the lather for about half a minute or so more just to get that “lathering time” in. End result is a lather that’s slick, buffering, really good residual slickness and really good post shave feel.
Scent was good too, 4/10 off the puck and stayed 4/10 lather lathering up. Inspired by Creed’s Royal Oud, its a darker, smookier oud.
Needless to say, it was a glass smooth “I can’t help touching myself” BBS shave. Completing the shave with Thayers Witch Hazel and Royal Oud Aftershave lotion, then, layering on a combination of Paranakan Oud EDT and Safran Oud Attar, and I gotta say, it smelt and felt awesome!
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Soap : Taylor of Old Bond Street Cedarwood Post Shave : Majestic Pure Sandalwood Balm, Proraso Red (Sandalwood) Aftershave Splash Razor Rockwell 6S-R2 w/Croma Blade Other : Vikings Blade Grand Chairman bowl, Dior’s Vintage Eau Savauge EDP (Myrrh Bomb)
Software’s mixed bag today. Still waiting for stuff to come in, mail from the UK / EU can be annoyingly slow.
Anyways, wanted to use TOBS irregardless and while I did have TOBS Sandalwood, I wanted to use TOBS’s Cedar. Like most of TOBS soaps, it smells awesome, lather explodes with just a little soap used, slick as heck, great residual slickness and post shave feels great! Glass BBS shave easy.
Bowl : Vikings Blade Grand Chairman Brush : Percy Nobleman’s Boar Preshave, Soap and Post shave : Proraso Professional Cypress & Vetyver Others : Peranakan Oud EDT buffered by a touch of White Musk attar
Was Clearing up and rearranging my shaving stuff when I saw my bundle of old brushes and thought, lets use one of these today. So a soak, a little (actually, a lot of 😂 ) hair conditioner the night before and my old Percy Nobleman Boar brush is ready to go!
I was actually had intended to use my Parker SR1 today but being a work day and I didn’t want to risk an accident, decided to use the SLOC instead. Say what you will of Proraso but they do make excellent soaps. I wish their normal line could be as slick as their Professional line but it is what it is.
Gotta love the Pro line’s scents though. They smell great!
Bowl : Vikings Blade Grand Chairman Preshave : Proraso Green Soap and Post Shave : Proraso Blue Razor : Vikings Blade The Emperor Augustus w/Croma Blade
To be honest, when I first started using Proraso Blue its scent is one that didn’t quite grabbed me, it is ok but not something I’d say wowed me, and it stills is kind of underwhelming. I think I first described its amber and musk scent as something that was pleasant but unidentifiable. And to be honest, if I didn’t read up on it, I’d still think that it had maybe a little green tea, ginger and something else.
Proraso Blue has been more or less been in my evening rotation mostly because of what it was supposed to bring to the shave, namely moisturizing and healing for the skin but after purchasing so many other products and having used them, Proraso Blue is one that I probably will not replace. Well, maybe the balm but I’ll skip on the soap.
Also you’ll notice that they didn’t have their own line of Preshave so I used Proraso Green’s.
And using the adjustable today, I went the gentle-mild setting 3 with straight bar WTG, setting 4 scalloped bar XTG and setting of 5 with scalloped bar for ATG. Going in up in “aggression” as I complete the shave instead of going down. I have been doing this for several weeks now when I use the adjustable. The thing that got me thinking of doing this was remembering someone saying that shaving is hair reduction during the passes, not hair elimination.
Shaving that first pass with an aggressive setting or razor will definitely be efficient and will take most of not all your hair off, but from my POV, it will also have a higher chance of catching on your growth and nicking you.
Instead, I let the passes work for me.
Setting 3 with straight bar WTG: First pass is reduction, it doesn’t have to take everything or even most off, setting it milder so that the first pass will take most of your growth off, giving you a mostly smoother, reduced growth areas to work with on the next pass.
Setting 4 with scallop bar XTG: 2nd pass is clean-up removing any remaining growth getting your shaved areas almost smooth, and to be honest I could have stopped at this point. With the higher aggression setting, the pass took almost everything off with most areas already glass smooth.
Setting 5 with scallop bar ATG: Last pass was mainly around “trouble” areas under the chin, and jaw line where its almost smooth but not quite as you run your fingers over the skin. Without thick growth to hinder the blade, and at a higher setting, that last pass ATG just took whatever is left without the blade catching or tugging.
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Preshave : Prep Soap Bluebeard’s Revenge Post Shave : Gabels Bay Rum, Bluebeard’s Revenge Balm Razor : Rockwell -R4 w/Croma Blade
One of the older stuff I have in the rotation other then Proraso and Body Shop, Bluebeard can be bought locally, though from the more upscale stores. It is a product of the UK, but when stacked against stuff like Taylor of Old Bond Street, it is over-priced and mediocre. To be fair its not a bad performer, but anyone who has used any of TOBS’s soaps will compare any other made in the UK soap against TOBS. And this one was found lacking.
Still, that is not to say that this was a bad shave, on the contrary, but once I use this up, I’m not buying it again.
Bowl : Vikings Blade Grand Chairman Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Preshave, Soap and Post Shave : Proraso Green Razor : Razorock SLOC w/Croma blade
Back to basics and back to some of my older soaps in the rotation. Proraso green is and will remain one of my favorites, a staple even as I buy and own other “better” artisan soaps. When I don’t know what I want, or feel undecided on which soap to use, reaching for Proraso green, is something that will never feel wrong.
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Soap : Wet The Face’s Grey’s Vetiver (Tallow puck in Frank Shaving apothecary mug) Post Shave : Wet The Face’s Grey Vetiver Aftershave Splash, Prep, Tom Ford’s Grey Vetiver EDP Razor : Rockwell 6S w/Feather Blade (3rd use)
Another work day, another morning shave. Love the smell of Tom Ford’s Grey Vetiver, when I smell vetiver, I think James Bond, and Tom Ford’s Vetiver is Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond. Smart, debonair, a little roguish, but is old school classy and has the competence to do the job needed.
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Soap : G & A Artisan Shaving’s Japanese Dream Post Shave : Prep, Thayers Lemon Witch Hazel Razor : Razorock SLOC w/Feather Blade
From the artisan’s description : A fresh, spicy, fragrance with top notes of cherry , pine needles supported by a middle note of clove, cinnamon and pimento resting on a base of fir balsam and precious woods
Strength of scent off from the cream : 6 – 7/10 Strength of scent after lathering : 5/10
This is a very aromatic soap. Sniffing directly from the container, you get cherry bombed, along with a secondary note that is a melding of cloves, cinnamon and pimento to form a scent profile that reminded me of those salty sweet and sour plum (Umeboshi) snacks you find in Japan.
Once lathered, the scent opens up and you’ll get hints of fir and woods (cedar and cypress?) with Cherry, pimento and spices taking front stage. Lather itself is very good, with good cushioning, glide, residual slickness and post shave feel. I do suggest bowl lathering with this soap, as you want to add less water then more to start and slowly adding more water as you work the lather into that wonderful shiny thick yogurt or sour cream texture we all want.
If you match this soap with its matching Aftershave (Only reason why I am not using the AS, is that I had a batch with some issues and Gismo is sending a replacement, good customer service there), you will smell of cherry with a hint of pimento on a stable pine and fir base fragrance for some time.
All in all, this is a gourmand scent to me. I can’t help but think of mouth watering cherries and sweet and sour plum throughout the shave, that or an Ume spritzer (plum wine, usually Umeshu with cherry soda and garnish).
Now excuse me while I go raid the fridge, I should have some umeboshi somewhere… 🙂
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 