Share your shave of the day for Sunday!
Eighth Day of TabOKtoberfest
- Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Tabak Oridjinal
- Razor: Böker S.S. Paris Wins
- Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
- Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
- Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
Great second shave with this pretty straight after some edge refreshment.
I had gotten myself some polystyrene beads which promptly confirmed my feeling from yesterday that there’s a tuggy, duller part of the edge. I feel a bit dumb that I haven’t looked for such a method to debug edges before. Armed with this new knowledge, I fixed this edge, and got carried away and honed two more straights for good measure. It had never made sense to me before to hone multiple straights at once because of the need to test shave afterwards 😅
It’s not that I didn’t get sharp edges before, but the process was a buy stochastic: hone for a bit, shave some hair from the back of my hand, decide I should hone some more, decide it’s time for a test shave, reiterate.
I’m really happy with this particular new edge, and I had as smooth a shave as one can wish for with an uncoated blade. Tomorrow, I’ll be using one of the other razors I’ve honed to confirm that this method of testing leads to consistent results. Fingers crossed.
Now I’m off to prepare the apartment for Djunior’s third birthday party. It’s going to be a loud day with lots of happy screaming children.
Stank++;
October 8, 2023
- Brush: Wald Nimbus Chryselephantine 29mm A1 Fan
- Razor: Gillette Super Adjustable 109 (Black Beauty) Gold O-4 (setting: 5)
- Blade: My-Blades (1)
- Lather: Elysian Soap Shop - Olympus - Soap
- Post Shave: Elysian Soap Shop - Olympus - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Thayers - Lemon - Toner
- Fragrance: Elysian Soap Shop - Olympus - Eau de Parfum
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This is my first use of an Elysian Soap Co product. I came upon it because of the YouTube algorithm which seems to think I watch shaving-related videos ;-). I recall that the company is pretty new (around maybe a year, year and a half). I thought it would be interesting to try their (a woman in PA IIRC) products. Here are the notes:
Top notes of Coriander, Pink Peppercorn, and Green Mandarin. Next are earthy Turmeric and Cardamom, followed by nuances of crisp Clary Sage, Lavender, and hints of Bulgarian Rose. Base notes are dark Papyrus, Patchouli, Tobacco Absolute, Oakmoss Absolute, and sweet Ambergris. These are copied from the website but I removed a lot of PAA-style marketing that (IMHO) degrades the offering.
I don’t know. I enjoyed the fragrance. I hope someone with a better nose than mine tries this.
The soap base is very good and is easy to lather but does not have that top-tier standout character of some other artisan soaps with which I’m familiar. It does its job very well, though.
The main event today was my trial of My-Blades. My first use of a My-Blade was close and comfortable.
My tuck of these blades was kindly gifted to me by u/VisceralWatch. I’ve followed his interest in these blades and also enjoyed @walden’s observations about them. I’m a bit in the “a razor’s a razor, a blade’s a blade” camp when it comes to DEs these days, but thought I could provide a little microscopic detail for anyone interested.
Here is a photo of my setup for using my microscope with DE blades. (I hope this resolves any handling concerns that @sgrdddy might have.) And here is an album that compares unused and used My-Blades with German Wilkinson Sword edges. (My-Blades are supposedly made in Germany.)
I’m only doing my 2-pass shave pattern with these blades so the wear you see is a result of this. I’m getting BBS results, though. I use a very light, low-angle shaving style that suits me and also (I think) minimizes edge wear. The Black Beauty on 5 provides enough exposure that I can feel the edge and adjust angle to get optimal cutting.
OK, enough blathering. I have an F1 race to watch.
My untrained eye would say they are not the same blade.
Cool setup!
I agree. I’d say the Wilkinson Sword has a little sharper feel. Other than marketing, though, I’m having trouble determining what separates My-Blades from any other DE blade.
How is the scent strength for Olympus? I tried Elysian’s Green Fig. It’s a great scent that is barely there.
Scent strength on the soap is medium I’d say, but I’ve just spent two months using Saponificio Varesino 70th which has light scent strength. The scent from the soap and splash doesn’t stay around too long, though. I’m very happy to have the EdP which has provided reminders of it all day.
October 8, 2023
- Brush: AP Shave Co. - 24mm 2Bed Synthetic
- Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3 SB
- Blade: V12 Super Platinum (1)
- Lather: RazoRock - Puros - Soap
- Post Shave: Chatillon Lux - Sni Mato - Aftershave
V12’s are a good smooth blade.
My wife and kid were in the bathroom when it was time for aftershave, so I had them pick from the medicine cabinet. My kid is too young to pick (he’s 1), so the wife grabbed a random bottle. It had a horse on the label, so I think that’s why it won. I know she doesn’t like this one, so I got to say “you picked it!” when she made a funny face.
