Share your shave of the day!
December 3, 2023
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Brush: AP Shave Co Summer 28mm G5C
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Lather: Declaration Grooming - Opulence - Soap
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Toner: Thayers - Rose - Toner
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Aftershave: Declaration Grooming - Opulence - Aftershave
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Talc: Yardley Classic
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This shave was superbe (FR spelling and pronounciation). That is mostly due to the stainless steel Frio 14 I think. Stainless steel has been around since the early early 20th century. I guess that a combination of cost and heritage have kept straight razor steels as carbon steels (which rust) until the '60s. But, really, when tempered properly, stainless has no drawbacks as a straight razor steel. Note that most DE blades from the mid-20th century onwards are stainless and I wonder why more modern straight razors aren’t stainless? [ And, yes, I’m not an authority. I’ve had formal training in materials science but that was around the time humans were learning the advantages of the wheel. ]
Today was a revisit of Opulence. During BBS November I used my tub and had the worst lather of the month. I was pretty sure it was user error, but both @walden@sub.wetshaving.social and @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social informed me that there were Opulence tubs out there with a reputation for being very difficult to lather.
My strategy was to give the soap every chance possible to produce a good lather. I bloomed it with hot water for about 15 minutes prior to use, then loaded my dense G5C synthetic knot very heavily from the tub. The soap produced no suds just a paste. I spread this on the face and proceeded to add water to the brush and agitate the lather (i.e. face lather). I added a lot of water, did a lot of brush scrubbing, and finally built a moist dense and slick lather. This worked just fine for the shave and rinsed cleanly from the razor. There was enough lather in the brush to easily build for a second pass, but almost the same amount of water and agitation effort were needed. The lather did lose slickness during each pass but did so slow enough that my shaving was unaffected. Real residual slickness only came when the face was wet post-pass.
So, I know that I don’t have to work this hard to lather any of my other DG soaps. I like the scent of Opulence, and can deal with the tub I have, but it is not a candidate for a quick shave.
Yeah, that’s pretty much my opulence experience, too. Dense, no suds, and you need to load super heavily. But that fragrance ☺️
I wonder why more modern straight razors aren’t stainless?
I speculate it’s the “tradition” part in “traditional wetshaving” at fault.
What I’ve seen several times when discussing carbon vs. Stainless steel as to kitchen knives (for instance here) is that carbon steel can be honed quicker, to a sharper edge, and retains the edge longer. On the other side, it’s more brittle, and rusts if you even think about rain.
I don’t know whether that’s true, though.
carbon steel can be honed quicker, to a sharper edge, and retains the edge longer. On the other side, it’s more brittle, and rusts if you even think about rain.
First, the article you linked is a nice high-level introduction. To go deep, though, there’s no better place to start than Knife Steel Nerds. (@djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social might find this interesting as well.)
As with most things, the answer is “it depends”. Edge retention and toughness (resistance to fracture) can be dialed in to suit a purpose. And there are different compositions of “stainless” to choose from, and different hardening regimes as well.
Honing is very much related to picking the correct abrasive for the purpose. I’m simplifying, but in addition to coarse, medium and fine abrasive material, you also need to consider the hardness of the abrasive. The closer an abrasive is, in hardness, to the material you want to abrade, the longer it will take to do the work you want to do (again, simplifying). The abrasive in Japanese natural stones (silicate) and coticules (garnet) are about the same hardness (Mohs scale) as stainless steel but are almost twice the (Mohs) hardness of carbon steel. So, these stones are well suited to one steel and not as great for another. However, the aluminum oxide in man-made abrasives can cut most steels well; except for the steels with very high vanadium carbide content. Diamond abrasives cut any steel well.
it’s the “tradition” part in “traditional wetshaving
I think so as well.
Can confirm, I have a bad batch Opulence too.
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December 3, 2023
- Brush: Stirling 24mm Synthetic
- Blade: Cien Men 2-Blade Cart (3)
- Lather: Barrister & Mann - Diamond - Soap
- Post Shave: allMan - Fearless - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Bulldog - Original Moisturizer
Nice
Dec. 3, 2023
- Brush: Declaration Grooming B14 “Nebula” Badger
- Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
- Blade: GEM PTFE (3)
- Lather: Barrister & Mann - Vespers
- Aftershave: Barrister & Mann - Vespers
- Aftershave: Stirling Soap Co. - Unscented
- Balm: Stirling Soap Co. - Unscented
- Osma: Osma - Osma
- Scuttle: Georgetown Pottery - G20
Lovely shave. The GUTL and the Nebula worked well with the Omnibus base, and of course Vespers is a top tier scent. Another great Christmas Shave.
I should break out a GEM whenever my current blade runs its course.
Do you have an MM24? Easily my favorite.
I do, but went with a Clog-Pruf today.
Great razor. Also love the name. I don’t know why, but it’s my favorite razor name in all of shaving. Something about the hyphen and the Pruf.
Lol I agree. Plus the kitschy spelling of “Pruf”.
Utilitarian Shave
- Brush: Dogclaration LG 2022 Mystery Brush (B16)
- Razor: Gillette Red Tip Rocket
- Blade: Feather new Hi-Stainless
- Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz Tabac Original Cream
- Aftershave: Mäurer & Wirtz Tabac Original Balm
Busy Sunday today, full of Chistmas market, playground, and mulled wine. A quick Stankening with the cream and Rocket is just what the doctor ordered.
December 3, 2023: Southern Witchcraft Sunday
- Preshave: Proraso Green Preshave
- Brush: Semogue C3 Galahad Horse 🐎
- Razor: Koraat 14.2 Straight Razor
- Lather: Southern Witchcraft Autumn Ash
- Post Shave: Floid The Genuine
- Post Shave: Nivea After Shave Balm
I am getting sloppy: 4 days without shaving. The Koraat got rid of the stubble without any problems, a close and comfortable shave. SW has an excellent base.
Have a good evening!
SOTD 03.12.2023
- Prep: warm water
- Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb
- Blade: GEM PTFE
- Brush: AP Shave Co. 22 mm SynBad w/ vintage yellow bakelite handle
- Lather: Barrister and Mann - Reserve Classic
- Post Shave: Thayer’s Aloe Vera toner; Pacific Shaving Co. Caffeinated ASB
Quick 2-pass face shave. Didn’t feel like shaving my head today…
BM Reserve Classic is just a Tabac dupe, but a tiny bit more smoky. In fact some notes reminded me of how I smelt when I came back from smoking a cigarette (I vape nowadays). Which will be over a year ago on December 27th! Yet still, it’s not a bad scent at all. Just not one of my favourites. First pass was too dry and frothy, so I started over completely for the second pass. Reserve is a nice base, but not as foolproof as Omnibus.
I need to work the early shift again tomorrow, it’s cold af over here and I feel like shit. Happy Sunday!
A Tabac dupe? Is this true, @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social ?
I agree about Reserve. It’s a great base, and it was even specifically designed to be easy to lather… but Omnibus beats it in ease of use.
Congrats on no cigarettes for almost a year! Sounds like a New Year’s resolution that stuck?
A Tabac dupe?!?! And I hear about this only now?!
Damnit, now I’ll have to find a tub and investigate…
If you want, I could send you a small sample tub of it. Just don’t expect it to arrive soon, Christmas has DHL flooded and I have a lot of personal issues to deal with atm…
That would be very kind, thanks! It turns out not to be easy to find a tub 😅
And yes, you have a lot going on right now, and I’m not in any hurry.
Can I send you something in return?
No problem. It’s one of my least used soaps, actually it was a PIF by Semaj3000. I’ll try to ship it by this weekend. And no thanks, you’ve already helped me very much with the DG Unscented soap. I’m fine 😁
In my opinion, it’s a clear dupe of Tabac. I only have the soap stick to compare, but it’s definitely too similar to be a coincidence.
Reserve is easy to lather if you aren’t as nervous and rushed as I am nowadays 😅 I hope things will get better for me soon.
As for the cigarettes: it mostly annoyed me that I resumed smoking due to my work in nursing. Residents also complained about the smell of cold smoke when I was near them. It wasn’t a New year’s resolution, as I generally don’t do these anymore… But in September of last year, when I started my retraining, I met a classmate who was big into vaping. Not that it’s very healthy either, I know - but at least it’s not as deadly and smelly as smoking. I got my first pod kit in late October 2022 and only had to resort to asking a coworker for a cig on the 26th of December when I forgot to charge it at home. Nowadays, vaping has turned into somewhat of a hobby for me too as it’s very comparable to wetshaving - different gadgets, different liquids with individual tastes, lots of individualisation possible. I know I’ll never get off nicotine, but at least now I can reduce it (I typically use 5-11 mg/ml liquids) 👍🏻
