Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) [5]
Lather: Mike's Natural Soaps - Lime - Soap
Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - West Indies Lime - Aftershave
Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime - Eau de Toilette
Mike's Natural created a great lather, while the simple, refreshing lime note was on display. West Indies Lime has a fantastic bay note, coupled with a bright lime top. I wish the two notes were blended together a little better, but the bay note stayed with me all day. SSL provided that fresh, well-loved finish.
Post Shave: Noble Otter - BarrBarr Aftershave Splash
Fragrance: Noble Otter - BarrBarr EdP
This Wüsthof just showed up the other night, and this is my first go with it. I love Barbershop scents. It was the Barbershop experience that ultimately led me to wetshaving. So when I saw this NOS razor, with "Barber's King" etched and gold washed on the face, I had to have it. With some help, I've been able to narrow down the date on this razor to between 1925 and 1932.
I set the bevel on a 3k Hayate Yoshihiro synthetic, followed by my Shobudani Suita, and finished on my Nakayama Kiita. I stropped on the Kanayama 80k suede/leather. It took a damn fine edge.
The resulting shave was wonderful. The feel was smooth and silky, as that vintage Solingen steel is known to be. The balance was great, and it was overall very comfortable to handle. Even if it was mid, I would've kept it, to be honest. It's just a plus that it's a great shaver.
BarrBarr is one of my favorite barbershop scents. I feel it perfectly nails that western Barbershop vibe. It's a sweet and refreshing scent, the kind that just makes you feel cleaned up.
Awesome photo! A normal person looks at it and says, "how could you use all that!". A shaving nerd looks at it and says, "Oh, I have that one.", "Yes, that's a great scent.", "I love having that brush.", and so on.
But ... look at the etch and gold wash on that razor!! Wow! Great find! Looks as if it was very rarely used. I assume that the geometry, was near perfect.
I'm quite familiar with Yoshihiro knives, but was unaware they had a line of whetstones. Was there a feature of these stones that attracted you, or did you just want to try something different? My coolest synthetics are my Matukusuyama stones. I don't have them in grit sizes fine enough for razors unfortunately, but love using them for knives.
Only had the factory bevel on it by the time I got to it! This morning was it's first use in almost 100 years!
The Yoshihiro's I'd actually picked up quite some years before even getting in to wetshaving. I had originally grabbed them for my woodworking tools and kitchen knives. They had come recommended to me at the time from a gentleman I used to talk with quite a bit. The set came in 1k, 3k, 8k. They've been great stones. Very consistent. I have really enjoyed them.
I like GTB too. It's a little spicy to my skin, but that doesn't stop me. And now that you mention it, I realize I forgot to put that one in the pile 😩
Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Scots Pine Sheep - Soap
Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Incorporeal - Aftershave
Fragrance: Barrister & Mann - Lavanille - EdP
I usually use setting 3 on these adjustable Gillettes. Today I went 3, 5, 9, which is probably the opposite direction most people would go if changing settings each pass. I found that although the higher settings have more blade feel, the shave isn't any closer than yesterdays where I used setting 3 only.
Post Shave: Thayer's Cucumber facial spray; HAGS Apocalypse ASB
2 pass head shave and beard contouring. Great shave!
Tomorrow is the day. Written part of the midterm exams! I wanted to look supreme, so this was a great opportunity for a smooth shave.
The Special Edition HAGS did for the YourShaving Anniversary is actually called "Apocalypse". Not really fitting in the name, since there's nothing abysmal about the performance. The scent is a citrusy masculine aquatic just perfect for the current summer temperatures over here. In fact, I couldn't use the soap stick the usual way since it's a really soft soap. I smeared some on my dome and just spread it on my hands before lathering it up with the brush.
Now, I don't know what of the many bases that HAGS has this one is, but whoa... it was crazy slick and felt damn good to use. In fact I only wanted one pass at first, but then did two plus shaving around the beard to use it to the fullest degree. The balm is impressive too - 2 pumps for the dome, one for the face and it absorbs quickly while leaving my skin nicely moisturized. That set is a winner for me!
Thanks! It went well. Two hours were really rushing by, I'm glad that I was able to write something down for every single question. This should be more than enough to pass. Now it's finally time to relax!