steve

YouTube videos

I’m not finding much to blog about these days and seem mentally zapped by the COVID-19 situation at the moment and I’ve settled into using the stuff I’ve bought with the realisation that it will last me years.

I rarely by new stuff these days and when I have tried the latest must have thing I’ve not been blown away with performance.

Anyway the point of this post was in lockdown boredom a while back I made a few lathering videos and started a YouTube channel. You can see the videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHjI02q9pb2uWzDnjl51i0gand hope you find them interesting and of some help if you are starting out.

As they say leave me a like and subscribe and I’ll try to put more videos up as I get time.

steve

Stirling Soap Co Executive Man

I got my delivery of Stirling Soap Company Executive Man today. I’ve got quite a few Stirling soaps but for some reason I’d never picked this one up before. I saw that Shaving Time in the UK was offering free delivery and as I had an Aventus inspired splash and no soap after selling my Murphy & McNeil Trinity soap I thought I’d give this a go.

From the tub the scent is strong and a good Aventus clone to my nose.

If you’re looking to pick up a Stirling Soap, or most of the rest of their range you can follow this referral link where we both get £5 off here

Happy spending 😂 I’m looking forward to trying this out later on.

steve

Soap Review – Wickham 1912 Frankincense

Wickham 1912 Frankincense is a vegetal soap produced in the United Kingdom by a small artisan soap maker.

This is a fairly hard soap that I imagine will last quite some time. The scent is nice and very fitting for autumn and winter use.

Below are my thoughts and as ever in the wet shaving world, your mileage may vary.

Shave 1

Yaqi Badger Brush

Blackland Sabre level 1

Gem Blade (3)

I loaded up for about 50 seconds in total, 30 with a damp brush, dipped the tips in water and loaded for another 20 seconds. This was more than enough to adequately load the knot with a decent amount of soap. That may sound a lot but I have hrs water and there is no point scrimping on soap.

I face lathered and as I added water as I went along it absolutely exploded into lather. The volume was good and the slickness was also very good, but I found not much residual slickness remained after a stroke of the blade across the skin.

I proceeded to take three passes and towards the end of the shave I began to feel like I was getting a bit of a rough shave with a hint of irritation. I had two previous shaves with this razor and blade combo with Stirling soaps prior to this and had no problems with irritation.

I thought perhaps the Wickham wasn’t all that protective but decided to try it again in my next shave. Post shave my face felt a little sore and a touch dry.

Shave 2

Yaqi Synthetic

Haircut and Shave razor

Gillette Black (1)

So after the previous shave this was going to be a quick two pass shave to keep me looking tidy for work. I loaded the synthetic knot up for about 30 seconds on total, 20 with a fairly damp brush and 10 after dipping the tips.

I face lathered again and had the same lather explosion after adding a bit of water and good slick lather with lots of volume.

Again I found that the blade feel was more prominent than previous shaves with this razor and I even picked up two weepers along the way.

Therefore I feel that a lack of protection is the only thing letting this soap down.

Overall

An easy to lather soap that produces a good slick lather, but lacks residual slickness and the level of protection from the blade is quite poor. I also found the post shave feel quite drying, but I do find this to be the case with coconut oil rich soaps.

steve

Last few shaves…

…that I actually took photos of.

Restored Rubberset 49-3

Stirling Margaritas in the Artic

Gillette #58 Aristocrat

Gillette Yellow 7 o’clock

Alcolado Glacial

A face numbing shave when the heat was too much last week. I think this was the first use of the Aristocrat that I bought recently. I’ve been after one for a few years now and I’m quite impressed at how it shaves. Well worth the wait to find one for a good price.

Stirling Finest Badger

Chiselled Face Summer Storm soap and splash

Gillette Slim Twist

Another nice shave and the scent on this combo is very nice. As expected it’s a missy wet earth smell like fresh rain after a long summer dry spell. Something we are in need of in this heatwave, I’ve not seen it rain here in a few weeks.

Wiborg Anchor

Cobra Classic

Soapy Science Citrus Lolly

Luxury shave with the Wiborg and Cobra. Still liking the smell of this soap. Smells just like the little fizzy lollies you used to get years ago before the world got scared of sugar. We used to get lollies like these after going on a merry go round that the guy who ran it turned by a handle. Not seen one of those in a good few years.

I can’t remember what splash I used after this one.

Rooney Stubby 1

Phoenix & Beau Obsidian

CJB Kamisori

Gillette #58

Figaro Splash

I used the Kamisori for three passes on Saturday which went well but left me a little irritated. I thought I’d just have the one WTG pass with the Kamisori on Sunday and finish up with the Gillette for the two other passes. Really nice shave and lather from the Obsidian. The only criticism I have is that the scent is very light. I was hoping for something stronger, darker and more mysterious.

That was all for last week and I clearly didn’t get much of a chance to blog these individually with some deeper thoughts on each shave.

It looks like another hot week ahead with no end in sight. I hope you all have a good week and I’m off the think about what to use in my next shave.

steve

SOTD 03.07.18

The Big Shave Silvertip LE

Soapy Science Hanalei

Blackland Sabre

Gem Blade

Myrsol Plastic Shave

I got some of the Soapy Science soaps as part of the ATG shaving forum group buy last week. I tried the Citrus Lolly one last week which smelt really nice, but this Hanalei one is even better.

I put a little water on top of the soap and went to the next room while my brush soaked and I could smell the scent from the next room! It’s a really nice floral scent which is inspired by Hanalei Bay.

The soaps were part of a young girls school project and as her dad is a keen wet shavers they decided to make a shaving soap for the science project.

The soap is quite hard compared to most artisan soaps so you need to make sure you load up well compared to softer soaps.

You’re rewarded with a really nice slick protective lather and good post shave feel.

The Blackland Sabre is a fairly new addition and I’ve enjoyed the shaves I’ve had with it so far. I’m still working on the angle a bit compared to older Gem razors. It’s a really smooth shave and you can barely feel the blade.

Myrsol was the closest match I had to the soap and the menthol was just nice on a hot day.

I didn’t get time to write this up yesterday but it’s given me a chance to post today’s arrival in the post. Some shaving soaps from South Africa from River Valley Trading. I’m looking forward to trying these out.

steve

SOTD 30.06.18

Well it’s been a while since I last posted. I’ve been really busy and also lost a little bit of interest in chasing the latest, must have shaving stuff. I’ve definitely got a lot more cynical of the latest, greatest soap, which gets hyped by the same old people and then suddenly you never see them mentioned anymore.

I’ve been spending my time using up the stuff I have and quite a few samples I have accumulated along the way. I’ve come to realise that the new hyped soaps really don’t offer much over the old staples like Proraso and TOBS, other than a bigger variety of scents. Still it can be pretty fun along the way trying stuff, but you tend to hit a point where you have too much stuff and a pile of soaps you haven’t even tried yet.

Anyway, enough moaning, on to today’s shave.

3P preshave

SV Silvertip

Arianna & Evans Monte Carlo

Colonial Brass General with Feather Pro

Myrsol Plastic Shave

Dior Sauvage

It’s been a while since I used a preshave but I used 3P today as I didn’t have much time for a good prep and it was so warm I wanted some menthol to cool me down. I left it on for a while and did some other things, letting my brush soak at the same time.

When I started to wet my face and lather up I decided it was so warm that I’d use some cooler than usual water for today’s shave.

The soap loaded up fairly easily into the brush and seemed to be forming a good lather whilst it was loading. The scent is quite similar to Sauvage but the scent strength isn’t all that strong. About a 4 or 5 to my nose, a little disappointing. It’s a vegan soap and the first pass wasn’t all that impressive, I thought, oh no, another over hyped soap.

The next two passes seemed much better with nice slickness and glide and good protection. The brass General is a really great razor and I’m glad I managed to pick one up a while ago after trying out a friends.

I washed off the soap and noticed that I seemed to have got a really close shave. I used the Myrsol because I don’t really have an aftershave that smells much like Sauvage and I know the Myrsol scent doesn’t last all that long. Great face feel and menthol cooling from their splashes though. Choose your favourite scent and get one if you’ve never tried one, you won’t be disappointed.

Finished off with a few sprays and Dior Sauvage and set about a busy day in the garden. I was already a fragrance addict when I started the blog but it seems to have got worse recently.

Hopefully I’ll blog more often if life doesn’t get in the way. Most days I get my evening shave done and go to bed.

steve

Shave of the Day 27-01-18

3P preshave

Brad Sears 2 band Polo

Stirling Blu soap

Wolfman 0.67 gap with Gillette Super Platinum

Stirling Blu aftershave

Ralph Lauren Polo Blue EDT

Nice blue themed shave today on what started out a nice looking day, which has turned rainy.

No issues loading up this soap with the Sears Polo brush and a quick face lather whipped up some lovely lather.

The Wolfman is a smooth and efficient shaver which doesn’t seem too fussy about what blade you throw in it. I seem to be taking blades to their limits of late and I reckon this was shave 5 or 6 on this blade and it was still going strong.

The Stirling splash finished things off nicely and is a good match to the soap, which in turn is a good match to the original Polo Blue EDT which I finished off with. I’ve got a solid 5-6 hours from the EDT which is enough for me on a Saturday afternoon.

I’ve become obsessed with fragrances again but have luckily found a few Facebook groups where I can get decants to try out some harder to find, less mainstream scents.

steve

Christmas Shaves 2017

Boxing Day Shave

Yaqi Tuxedo

Wolfman with Gillette Wilkinson (1)

Maggard Razors Limes & Bergamot

Trumpers Lime Cologne

First try of the soap and brush which I got for Christmas. I’m a bit of a badger snob these days but actually enjoyed the Yaqi Tuxedo, which was quite a surprise. I tend to only really use my Stirling Kong brush these days if I’m in a bit of a hurry and don’t have time to soak a badger brush or I’m using a soap that might stain the tips.

The Yaqi seemed to have a bit more backbone than the Plisson type knots but without the horrible springiness of the STF type knots I’ve used in the past.

I’m impressed with the Maggard soap too which is made by the same artisan as Through the Fire Fine Crafts. I also got the Orange Menthol for Christmas which I’m still yet to use. They come in really nice tubs now like the new Barrister & Mann soaps. This soap had a nice strong lime scent throughout the shave.

The Wolfman as ever did a good job and I finished up with a splash of the Trumpers Lime cologne. I need another lime splash so I’ve got some Pinauld Lime Sec on the way.

Yaqi Tuxedo

Band of Brothers soap

Gillette Flair Tip Rocket with Gillette Wilkinson (2)

Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme

Another good shave with the Yaqi brush and another new soap. This soap was made as a limited edition soap for the British Based Shavers Facebook group. It has a nice lavender scent and is quite a soft soap.

The Rocket delivered a nice mild but efficient shave and the Lavender splash finished things off nicely.

New Forest 1901

Mickey Lee Soapworks Cape Verde

Gillette Tech on Mongoose handle with Gillette Wilkinson (3)

Mennen Skin Bracer

Back to a bit of badger to use another soap I got for Christmas, the Mickey Lee Soapworks Cape Verde. This is a really nice fougere type scent with a bright orange note, which makes for a nice twist on the usual fougere scent. Excellent performance from this soap.

I fancied trying out one of my old Tech razors so gave that a try and was surprised by the result with the heavier Mongoose handle. Pretty close after three passes.

I finished up with a splash of Skin Bracer, which I don’t think I’ve used in some time.

All in all three good shaves over the Christmas period with some newly acquired items. It’s nice being off work as I’ve actually had chance to write a blog post. I mainly stick to posting on the Shaving with Style Facebook group these days. If you frequent the Facebook groups join up.