AZCat's Shave Journal
- Thread starter AZCat
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- #102
I'm so ready for the monsoon already. Bring the rain!
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- #103
My Proraso soap and aftershave finally arrived today. I found them for great prices on eBay but the shipping was slower than I'm used to (at least it was free so I can't complain too much). I've been using my Merkur 34C with a Polsilver and the Tabac shave stick Monday and today. I finally understand what all the fuss is about with Tabac. It is a really great soap. Dare I say the best I've used??? I know they say you either love or hate the smell but I find that I don't hate it but it's not my favorite. I think the fragrance is better once it's lathered though. The performance is awesome. I'm very happy with it. I can see the stick lasting a very long time. I face lather and it only takes a little bit rubbed on the face to create loads of lather. Tomorrow will be the Proraso green soap and aftershave splash. Luckily it's not as hot as it was last week but it's still over 100. I'm looking forward to a chilling shave tomorrow. Now I know I just talked up Tabac but I find Proraso is a fine performer as well. I know not everybody agrees but I really enjoy the scent on the Proraso green soap. It's just a nice fresh invigorating scent. It's also the first shave soap I ever used so there's some nostalgia there. I think I'll pop in a Voskhod blade tomorrow and see how that does in the 34C.
I'm with you...I don't hate the scent of Tabac...just not my favorite either. If I want to do something fresh I reach for Proraso every now and then. Anyway...great shaves!
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- #106
I agree. It's a great performer but a bit much for this time of year. I can definitely see it being great in the cooler months. Proraso was great this morning!
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- #107
Thanks!
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- #108
I finished off the week with Proraso green and the Voskhod blade. Proraso is a classic, and I love the chilling effect during the shave, but now that I've tried other soaps I can tell where the performance is lacking a bit. It doesn't really bother me though, I'm still getting great shaves. I'm not sure if the Voskhod works that great for me in the Merkur. I do like them though because they're really smooth but don't seem to cut as close.
I have 2 razors on their way to North Shore Razors to get some work done. I sent in my 40s Super Speed to get coated. The plating on the underside of the head is gone so I was going to get it replated or coated eventually anyway. I'm really excited to see how it turns out. I'm a USAF veteran and worked munitions so I wanted a color scheme that paid homage to my active duty days. It should look something like this:
I'm going with OD green for the silo doors, handle, and baseplate with the center bar in gun metal grey and then the yellow band at the bottom of the handle. I think it's going to be awesome. I also sent in my birth year black beauty for his razor-rite service. I'm hoping he can polish it and make sure everything is adjusted. I'm anxious to see how both razors turn out.
I have 2 razors on their way to North Shore Razors to get some work done. I sent in my 40s Super Speed to get coated. The plating on the underside of the head is gone so I was going to get it replated or coated eventually anyway. I'm really excited to see how it turns out. I'm a USAF veteran and worked munitions so I wanted a color scheme that paid homage to my active duty days. It should look something like this:
I'm going with OD green for the silo doors, handle, and baseplate with the center bar in gun metal grey and then the yellow band at the bottom of the handle. I think it's going to be awesome. I also sent in my birth year black beauty for his razor-rite service. I'm hoping he can polish it and make sure everything is adjusted. I'm anxious to see how both razors turn out.
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- #110
I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I worked this past weekend so it was a regular 5 day work week for me but I'm off today. Not sure what was going on this week but the shaves have not been the best. Wednesday I used my 34C with a Gillette yellow (really liking those blades) and the rest of my Executive Man sample followed up with witch hazle and Nivea ASB. This was a great shave to start the week but it was downhill from there. Thursday was the 34C with a polsilver and RR P160 soap with witch hazel and Nivea ASB. I'm thinking the soap wasn't wet enough so therefore wasn't as slick. I had some razor burn on the side of my throat. It's a trouble spot for me since right at that juncture is where the hair stops going N to S and immediately goes S to N. I haven't had any razor burn in that area the last few weeks. This continued the rest of the week. I think my face just hadn't had enough time to heal and daily shaving made it worse. I switched back to my Slim on 5 with a Voskhod for Saturday and Sunday and got less irritation. I think one of my issues with the 34C (and this could go for any razor I'm sure) is that while it's very intuitive, I find that I get complacent pretty easy if I use it for more than a week. I think I'll be back to my vintage razors this coming week.
Speaking of vintage razors, I'm anxiously awaiting my razors from North Shore Razors. Hopefully I'll have them back by the end of the month. I should also have a Gilllette NEW coming this afternoon. I had been thinking about an open comb and was looking at the Symmetry from PAA. I then started reading all the great things about NEWs on the forums here and starting searching the bay. I found one in great shape (from what I can tell from the photos at least) for $12 shipped. I couldn't pass it up at that price. I'm excited to try my first OC.
Speaking of vintage razors, I'm anxiously awaiting my razors from North Shore Razors. Hopefully I'll have them back by the end of the month. I should also have a Gilllette NEW coming this afternoon. I had been thinking about an open comb and was looking at the Symmetry from PAA. I then started reading all the great things about NEWs on the forums here and starting searching the bay. I found one in great shape (from what I can tell from the photos at least) for $12 shipped. I couldn't pass it up at that price. I'm excited to try my first OC.
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- #112
The NEW is here! It's looks great. I just need to clean it up a little. It has the typical hairline crack in the handle. There is also a small ding in the top cap that I hadn't noticed in the auction photos. Hopefully it doesn't affect the shaves. You can kind of see it in the third picture. I'm excited to try my first open comb!
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- #114
This morning I got back to my Gillette Slim. I used a Gillette yellow and set my Slim on 5. Did my normal morning shower for prep. I'm out of my usual face wash and I'm wondering if that has something to with my shaves lately. I lathered up with VDH soap and did my normal 2 pass shave. No new razor burn especially in my trouble spot so that's good. I think I might still be dealing with some irritation even with a 1 day break. I think I'll dial the slim down to 3 tomorrow and see how that works out.
Finally got some much needed rain yesterday. It rained most of the night and into the morning. It made waking up for work this morning very tough. Perfect sleeping weather. I have really missed the monsoon storms and it's been late getting to us this year. It's one of the things I love about living in Arizona. I have 2 large creosote bushes in my backyard and I've always loved the smell they put off when there's moisture in the air. Hopefully we get some catch-up storms to make up for the late start.
My wife called me at work this afternoon to tell me our A/C was leaking inside the house. She said the water was coming from a PVC pipe. I came home a little early and with a quick google search determined it was a clogged condense line. I hooked up my wet vac and went around the side of the house to where the pipe exits. Hooked up the hose and vacuumed the clog out. Bam! No more water leak. I'm sure glad I didn't have to call someone out just for that. You learn something new everyday.
Finally got some much needed rain yesterday. It rained most of the night and into the morning. It made waking up for work this morning very tough. Perfect sleeping weather. I have really missed the monsoon storms and it's been late getting to us this year. It's one of the things I love about living in Arizona. I have 2 large creosote bushes in my backyard and I've always loved the smell they put off when there's moisture in the air. Hopefully we get some catch-up storms to make up for the late start.
My wife called me at work this afternoon to tell me our A/C was leaking inside the house. She said the water was coming from a PVC pipe. I came home a little early and with a quick google search determined it was a clogged condense line. I hooked up my wet vac and went around the side of the house to where the pipe exits. Hooked up the hose and vacuumed the clog out. Bam! No more water leak. I'm sure glad I didn't have to call someone out just for that. You learn something new everyday.
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- #116
I hope so. I'm ready for more!
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- #117
Alright! So I'm very excited because today I got an email from Scott at northshorerazors.com saying my razors were complete along with some pics! I'm very happy with how they turned out. He killed it with my SS. It looks awesome! My birth year Super Adjustable was sent in for his Razor-Rite service and he made it look like a brand new razor. I cannot wait to have these back and put them to use. I must say he worked fast on these. He quoted me saying that after he gets them it's usually 6-8 before they go into the coating process. Well, I mailed them off July 1st, got an email on the 5th or 6th saying he received them and now today they're completed. Very happy with the turn around time. On to the pictures!
Before:
After:
I think it's cool too that I now have a razor that is totally unique and mine. I'm sure these look great in person also.
Before:
After:
I think it's cool too that I now have a razor that is totally unique and mine. I'm sure these look great in person also.
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- #119
They're back! Got my SS and SA back from Scott today. They look just as good in person! I'm excited to use my SS again and finally try out my SA.
Caught up on a few pages. Those look great.
