Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Atomic Rocket Pre Shave : Prep Soap : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Agharta Post Shave : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Aftershave slash and Cologne Agharta, Mysterium Serum Mentholated Weapon of Choice : The Razorine w/Rockwell Blades
Slow and easy shave with PAA’s Agharta and the scent profile for this is Talc, Ambergris, Amyris, French Vanilla Bean, Japanese Sandalwood, Cedar and Oak Moss.
The impression with the soap itself was strangely enough was “chocolate and vanilla cookie!” because of the vanilla. But once you put on the aftershave splash, the woods scents comes out and gives you (and your face) that garden in the woods feel. Vanilla still strong but the sandalwood, cedar and oak moss coming into play. Almost gourmand …but not quite.
This is also the second time I am using PAA’s Mysterium Serum and I am really digging it. The one I am using is the mentholated version so it goes on cool, and its like your face’s skin goes “aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!” in pleasure as you massage the lotion in. It gets absorbed fast and the skin feels soft and supple after, not stretchy, dry or greasy. Loving that feel. I’ll need to clear out my other lotions though before getting more of this. 🙂
Brush : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Atomic Rocket Pre Shave : Bath and Proraso Green Pre Shave Soap : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Cold Spices Post Shave : Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Cold Spices Splash after shave and Colonge, Mysterium Serum (Mentholated) and an original Shulton Old Spice EDT (33 – 34 years old) Weapon of Choice : Vikings Blade The Emperor Augustus with Rockwell Blades
To say that I was excited to get home to shave today was an understatement. Saw the USPS email, looked at the tracking number and I was like FUCK YEAH ITS HERE!! Old Spice. The original Shulton scent that doesn’t exist anymore because Proctor and Gamble decided to change the formula (probably to gain more profit by lessening cost) except that I can say that PAA’s homage to it, Cold Spices because its mentholated, is as close to the real thing as it gets.
And I fortunately have the real thing to compare it with.
And yes, whether due to luck or just fate, having bought a bottle as a teen but the “I like the way you smell, reminds me of my dad…” remarks had me shoving this to the back of my cupboard and apparently forgotten with slightly more then a third, maybe half, of the bottle used. Strangely enough, even though I never used it since, it did follow me from teen to courtship and into marriage and three kids after, having moved along with my personal stuff to our present residence, where some years ago I found it and dabbed a little on, bringing me back to when stuff like this was cheap and smelled great.
Today’s Old Spice (Yes, I have bought those) is a shadow of this older, true scent.
Mind you, PAA’s Cold Spice is not a perfect match, but I don’t know if its because my Old Spice is way old or if the profile is that much different, PAA’s being just a tad lighter. The scent from my bottle is slightly sharper, spicier, headier, I want to say heavier on the cinnamon but after a few seconds, I can’t tell the difference.
The true test though, was the wife. And PAA’s scent passed with flying colors. She came home, sniffed around and went straight into hug and huff mode.
Thanks Douglas. If you are reading this, please don’t let this line die. 🙂
Brush : Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Pre Shave : Proraso White Soap : Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood and Herbs Post Shave : Thayers Lavender Weapon of choice : The Razorine w/Personna Platinum
Gotta love TOBS’ Sandalwood, still one of my favorites when it comes to sandalwood scented soaps. Off day shave so taking it slow and easy with a shavette.
Brush: Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Pre Shave : Prep Soap : Taylor of Old Bond Street Cedar Wood Shaving Cream Post Shave : Thayers Lavender Weapon of Choice : Rockwell 6S w/Rapira Swedish SuperSteel
Going to run a woodsy shave for a few days till I feel like something else. Trying out new blades, and so far, they are “ok”, not great, but not bad. Feels a little on the mild side kinda like Derbys but not as smooth as Derbys. Considering that they cost more then Derbys though, I’ll probably not buy any more of these and give some of the 5 blade boxes to friends here in Singapore who wants them.
Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Brush Proraso Cypress and Vetyver Pre shave, Cream and Balm The Razorine w/Personna Platinum blade
Off day shave! So it’s shavette day! I probably should get a true straight razor but considering that where I live, there is absolutely no support for, nor artisans to help hone a dull blade, I guess the shavette is the closest I’ll get to a true straight edge. Still, best BBS shave of the week! Got to love the Proraso Pro line in this regard, pre shave and cream really puts on that ultra slick layer of glide. Oh, and that they smell great is just a bonus. 🙂
Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger Brush Proraso Green Pre Shave, Cream and Aftershave Vikings Blade The Emperor Augustus w/Personna Platinum blade
Been awhile since I woke myself up with a menthol face bomb. Proraso was my gateway into better shaving products, the green line has been my first love and something I’ll always come back to.
Off day shave so I can take my time and enjoy every single moment and breathe in that scent from the nectar of the gods!
Frank Shaving Silvertip Brush Proraso Green Pre Shave Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Atomic Age Bay Rum Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Bay Rum Aftershave and Cologne The Razorine with Personna Platinums
And yeah, the cap of my aftershave was damaged during shipping, Douglas however is going to throw in some spare caps along with my next shipment, so for the moment, it’s plugged by that peg we all love and hate from P&G’s “New” Old Spice, your sacrifice is appreciated. 🙂 Have to admit though, it does look rather awesome in an “Aaaarrrrrhhh me hearties!!” Piratety sort of way.
I actually still have a half bottle of the old Shulton Old spice EDT (the one with the old white peg, I think it’s almost 30 years old now) which I will break out again for a special shave in the near future.
Proraso Green Pre Shave Rockwell Shave Cream Thayers and Nivea Post Shave Frank Shaving Silvertip badger brush Rockwell 6S with Feather Blade
Going to try to clear up / use some of my older soaps to make way for newer Artisan soaps that will be incoming in the mail in the next few weeks. Sticking with Rockwell cream for the next few days or week as its one that I kinda like but don’t mind clearing out of the rotation. And shaving with the 6S on R4 with Feathers, yeah, I just want that glass BBS.
Proraso White Pre Shave Phoenix Artisan Accouterments’s Al Fin Soap and Aftershave Viking’s Blade The Emperor Augustus Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger brush Personna Blue Blades
Was going to go Body Shop’s Maca Root and Aloe for a few days but a new Razor came in the mail and I had to break out the really good stuff to welcome it properly.
I was looking for an adjustable and of course the usual suspects were considered till this caught my eye. It looked awesome! But if you go on youtube, search around online on forums and such, its presence is mostly overshadowed by Merkur and Parker. Almost no one is talking about this shaver or the company. The first and only one at the time, on Youtube :
Mark Szorady
and the other stuff is more or less the company’s run in and controversy with the Chinese company Baili which I will not get into. Intrigued, and really attracted to the the features of this shaver I pulled the trigger.
Vikings Blade : The Emperor, Augustus Edition
The packaging is on par with something I’d expect when spending a pretty penny on (Looking at you Merkur…everything you sell comes in a goddamn throw away paper packet), functional and looks good and at least they try to give the buyer a sense of having something of value. But what about the shaver itself?
The Emperor Augustus
The Emperor is a Twist to open adjustable. Knob is at the bottom and you use it just like any other butterfly razor. It was actually because it is a TTO adjustable, that I was leaning towards this over the Merkur Progress, Futur and Parker Variant (closest 3 contenders).
The first thing you notice when handling it is that its heavy and has a good balanced heft in your hands. Handle is fat and with great texture, I probably could handle this with soapy hands.
Being a TTO razor, this means use is simplified. You don’t have to align top cap with base indicator, no pulling or snapping to assemble parts before or after a shave. Just pop in a blade, set the blade aggression you want and boom! Shave!
To say that the razor itself looks really good is kinda obvious. They do have your standard chrome version but this one, well part of the reason why we buy razors we don’t really need is because they look sexy right?
Hey baby, see something you like? I can feel your eyes on me.
What is often glossed over by others and even on the Official website is how the head has two different safety bars. A regular straight bar and a scalloped bar. This is an interesting concept since it is meant to give the razor a little flexibility when shaving more sensitive areas or if you want the blade to be a little closer to the skin to chase that BBS. This mean that you will most likely favor one side over the other throughout the shave and only utilize on side of the the blade. This however can be looked as a plus if you mark which side of the blade you use and swap sides per shave extending the blade’s use life if that is important to you. Me, blades are cheap.
Adjustments
The other interesting thing is that this adjustable doesn’t “click” to a number. It’s aggressiveness is precision based so you can set it at 3.5, 4.8 …whatever. Essentially you can set it at a level to shave test to find a baseline and then dial it to something you prefer with precision, based on your own experience with the razor and blade feedback. Dialing down from 5.5 to 3.8 when using a Feather Blade for example. Or of course, you use the numbers and treat it like it had other adjustable with a click dial.
Most Mild
Mid
Most Aggressive
And of the blade alignment is spot on. I did read that they had some issues with their earlier models but have long since been addressed at the factory and QC. The only thing you might want to take note of is the slight overhang at the sides. No more then other razors so caution is needed when shaving near the nose.
CONCLUSION All in all, I really enjoyed this razor and it will definitely compete with my Rockwell 6S for face time. Shaves were smooth, more so then I expected with a TTO, having used Parkers and Gillettes. Clearing and going over problem areas and getting a BBS is easy. The razor itself looks and feels like its very well constructed so with TLC, I don’t expect to call on the one year warranty it comes with.
Proraso Green Pre Shave Body Shop’s Maca and Aloe Cream and Post Shave Rockwell 6S
Face finally not feeling as raw, going to give it some skin food to help it recover some more. Proraso Pre Shave and Body Shop’s line is actually pretty good in this regards and skin feels moisturized after use so going to stick with this for the next few days.
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 