08.10.2024 - Full Measurements

• Prep: warm water
• Brush: RazoRock 400 Noir SE 24 mm
• Razor: Ever-Ready 1912 SE
• Blade: GEM PTFE
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - The Full Measure of Man
• Post-Shave: OAM Oli del benessere sensitive skin toner; Phytorelax Aftershave scalp cream

-> 1-pass head and neck shave. Comfortable and nice scents all around.

Ever get the urge to use something after recommending it to someone? That was the case with me and the OAM aftershave toner today. I chose FMoM as my soap since I expected it to go nicely with it - and I wasn’t disappointed. The dark and dry tobacco of FMoM goes well with the herbal sweet notes of Oli del benessere.

2 of 5 early shifts done and I already feel like a wreck. The new station is not bad, colleagues are rather friendly and interested in showing me things.The residents are way more demanding and unthankful than on my old station though. There are some nice ones among them though and that’s the only thing that matters to me.

Yves Rocher (and AFAIK, that’s exclusively for women)

Actually not only for women, they have a small pour homme section … But IMHO, Yves Rocher is not as eco-friendly as they try to market themself as. They often use cheap ingredients like dimethicone and propylene glycol, their peelings also used to contain microplastics (I know since their presence in Germany is huge too and my mom used to be a fan, until we found out about their questionable ingredients).

DM has stated clearly in a message that they don’t consider expanding to the french market as they fear it’d be too risky financially. At least that’s what I found out in my quick research of german-speaking resources. Weird, since Aldi & Lidl are doing pretty well in FRA and I’d definitely see a market for them there.

I hope that I can keep my promise of finishing it in time. Will do my best ✌🏻

Hmm, perhaps Barberwood would be a good HAGS choice then? I find barbershop scents pretty much go with anything. The emulsion balms by WestMan might be the best choice for you then, however I only have MazaGran and that’s somehow a sweet & spicy coffee note - not sure how well it’d go with citrus/fresh shaving soap…

Unfortunate. I got a lot of their (E&S) stuff at AboutBodyCare, but I’m not certain that they ship to France at an acceptable price.

I may have a way better recommendation then: OAM Oli del benessere toner - it’s an alcohol denat. free aftershave toner with OAMs “wellness oils” scent. It pretty much goes well with most other scents, doesn’t break the bank, Rasoi Goodfellas even mentions that the scent of the toner is “less persistent than the alcohol version” so it doesn’t linger around too long to interfere with any perfume you might want to use.

The Goodfellas Smile has alcohol-free aftershave fluids in their scents, beware of added menthol in some scents though. HAGS has some pretty nice variations of their scents as witch hazel toners. Speaking of it, both TGS as well as Thayer’s offer a Witch Hazel + Cucumber toner (the cucumber extract is said to help moisturise your skin).

Apart from those already mentioned:

• SW Incorporeal = good unscented alcohol free AS
• E&S Rasage Alpha = artisan from your country with great products, also available in their soap scents for 21.90€
• WestMan ASBs

I also really support the idea of Stirling Soap Co. ASBs that someone already mentioned; these are great for dried out skin 👍🏻

thanks Dave, btw!

No problem! 👍🏻
ADHD hyperfocus can be quite useful sometimes and this is one of my current favourite topics. If I can help a fellow wetshaver with my acquired knowledge, even better! I now plan to write a little skincare essay for our instance which I hope to finish around the end of this month, as I want to consult with some experts too.

You’re welcome. As someone with combination skin and atopic skin inflammation myself, I had to educate myself way more on skincare than I originally planned - turns out it’s a rabbit hole equally as deep as wetshaving. Stay tuned, as I plan to write a little essay on skincare that should be out around the end of October 😉

Yeah, I wasn’t even aware that stores like Müller, Rossmann or DM aren’t existing in France since so many big brands in the cosmetic business hail from there. There’s always something new to learn. However, I hope you’ll find products that are a good fit for your skin somewhere - as I said, I’m happy to help since it’s something I became really passionate about. ✌🏻

[…] I guess that I should be more regular.

Your guess is correct. I’m glad you’ve provided so much info, as unfortunately skincare is still something that has the stigma of being “unmanly” and just for females while actually anyone can profit from it.

Since you have very dry skin which probably ranks high on sensitivity (reasons being: past troubles with dermatitis, possible contact allergy with menthol judging from one of our past conversations), you’re doing really good with the moisturising soap. For cleaning, I’d recommend something mild with moisturising ingredients like glycerine, squalane and urea, but it sounds like you already got that in check 👍🏻
As for moisturizer: dry skin can really benefit from it the most. I’d suggest a product with little to no alcohol as it further dries out your skin (the further down any alcohol is in the INCI, the better for your skin type). Avoid menthol and essential oils too due to your past history of dermatitis. I’d recommend something with jojoba oil, glycerine, hyaluronic acid, ceramides. These ingredients work well with dry skin. Unfortunately, since your skin is very dry, this also means that you should avoid aftershaves with alcohol in the dry months (autumn and winter). I’d recommend a witch hazel toner, perhaps with aloe vera too if you can find one.

Due to my research, I found out that the concept of a drugstore is completely foreign to France and you basically have to rely on supermarkets for cheaper creams or apothecaries/pharmacies for the €xpensive+ stuff (Avené, La Roche-Posay, etc.). Since your skin seems to be very prone to irritation, I’d also recommend a repair balm for patches that struggle with redness and itching. Comptoirs et Compagnies has balms with manuka honey, which helps with inflammation due to its antibacterial and regenerative abilities. Of course, any product with low or no alcohol and perfume would work well. I’d also recommend a broad-spectrum SPF product for skin cancer prevention and anti-aging, due to your dry skin you can actually take one of the “richer” products (not in price, but those rich in skin food oils like jojoba, argan, castor or almond oil).

I hope I can help you with these tips in any way; don’t be afraid to ask further questions! 😉
I personally still test different products for the needs of my skin, but I already have made some sizable progress. You’ve inspired me to write more about skincare, as I personally feel it goes well with traditional wetshaving and its self-care aspect.

06.10.2024 - Sunday Shaman

• Prep: warm water
• Brush: Omega Roma Colosseo 31 mm
• Razor: Stando Perun
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: E&S Rasage - Shaman
• Post-Shave: Thayer’s Original toner; Phytorelax Aftershave scalp cream
• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Ombre Leather EdP

-> 2 pass head shave; 1 pass neck cleanup. A rather comfortable shave.

Like a weirdo, I’m listing the fragrance I’ve worn all day too. I really like it, so I wanted a soap that comes close to it. Shaman does it, somehow. This E&S soap mandates a really heavy loading, seriously - you gotta load like the devil taught you to play the fiddle! The proto-lather is rather dry, but once you add enough water to it, it’ll really foam up like a marshmallow. Glide and skin feeling are good enough.

My Perun has, for some weird reason, caught some specks of rust. I didn’t even know this was possible for stainless steel razors. Oh well…

Tomorrow it’s back to my usual work place after 5 weeks of external internships. Thankfully, I finally have all required internships behind me and now it’s just periodically alternating between working at my nursing home and visiting nursing school. During my absence, I was put into a new station - very clever. I’ll see how everything will turn out tomorrow…

the fact that my skin is just generally very irritated and dry these days

May I ask about your skincare routine? If it’s not just weather related, I might be able to recommend some products depending on your skin type.

Aye.

Oro Valley is based on Tom Ford Ombré Leather AFAIK, which is perfect for the colder months 👍🏻

53 is a very respectable number. I guess 30 from a sample puck could be very frugal loaders. Personally, I prefer heavy loading and if I recall correctly, you’re in the same boat… While frugal feats sound impressive, there’s no shame in loading like it’s going out of style. After all, if there’s one thing we all have enough of it is shaving soap.

Congrats on the kill! Especially since it’s a huge Stirling tub.

I know of Haslinger, but Austria is it’s own little cosmos - they mostly dislike us germans, except for Bavaria. I also don’t really would call them an artisan, at least not in the traditional sense. There’s also Klar Seifen and Mäurer & Wirtz in Germany, but like Haslinger they’re traditional brands with a very old hard soap formula. Out of the Haslinger soaps I had so far, Honig was my favourite due to the nice honey scent, but in terms of slickness and skincare their formula is… lacking.
Once upon a time, there used to be a german woman who made soft shaving soap akin to american and italian soaps, but unfortunately she had to close up shop before I truly got into wetshaving as a hobby.

And yeah, the growing power of far-right/alt-right and normalised racism is quite worrying. 😕

It’s unfortunate, but like always: something really positive also comes with a few negatives. As far as the political situation is considered, East Germany always had a problem with being right-leaning and in the last few years, some assholes really capitalized on that. At least we’re still better off than the US with its two-party system.

03.10.2024 - Transition

• Prep: warm water
• Brush: RazoRock 400 Noir SE 24 mm
• Razor: Stando Perun
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - Transition
• Post-Shave: Tüff sensitive AS; Phytorelax Aftershave scalp cream

-> 2-pass head shave. Originally I wanted to do a neck lineup as well, but didn’t have enough soap left in my brush.

Transition is a WK soap I hadn’t tried yet. It has a beautiful autumn landscape for its tub art, so it fits seasonally. The scent is on the lighter side of the spectrum but goes rather well with my Phytorelax balm. I’d say it’s good for everyday wear based upon my first impression. Unfortunately I don’t even own a single german soap - the only active german artisan I know of is Meißner Tremonia from Dortmund, but a lot of their products that’d interest me are currently unavailable. Mühle is from the former GDR and their stuff is solid. Of course there’s still Tabac, but I am not sure if their soap is even made here anymore. Most german razor blade manufacturers were bought either by Gillette or Harry’s, so they only produce cartridge BS these days. I still had an aftershave from East Germany around though, even one that’s around since GDR times! Tüff used to be quite popular, mine is the green version without any fragrance/perfume added.

So today is German Reunification Day, but as @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social has already mentioned, we’re still not fully united. I live in East Germany, and while not everything sucks over here (e.g. our part of the Autobahn is better than most of it near Hamburg or Bochum) we are still at a economical and cultural disadvantage. From big corporations to little start-ups, most will settle in a big metropolis in West Germany. Bands rarely play in the East either, and so forth. Our last regional elections were all huge successes for the far right-wing party I despise deeply & refuse to name here, but one factor contributing to this is the sheer incompetence of our government. Many people here fear for their economic safety due to high unemployment and rising bankruptcies, so my hope is that a lot of voters are in fact not right-wing arseholes but generally unsatisfied with everything. Despite different opinions in the public, I’m still a firm believer in continuous dialogue and searching for compromises. It’ll never do us any good to prohibit certain parties and dictate opinions - as we saw, this only strengthens right-wing extremists and their propaganda.

Now this turned out to be much more of a tirade than I anticipated, sorry for this wall of text… I’m currently in a bit of a transition period as well, as my RN retraining draws to a close and the exams are next year. Let’s hope the best for the future.

Immanuel tried to say something to disapprove of this message too - but he Kant…

Bentley for Men Intense ++ 👍🏻

Even as a younger german, I definitely need to agree. We have this strange fixation on punctuality and efficiency (except for the Deutsche Bahn, the laughing stock of german public transport). If other schools of thought postulated that “form follows function”, the german way is definitely “Function over Form!”
Made in Germany is still seen as a promise of good quality, but often at the expense of weird/ugly/boring design 😅

Nevertheless, congratulations on the new razor! Hope it’ll give you many comfortable shaves.

Thanks, it fits even better than I expected 👌🏻