Official B&B 2007 Luxury Shave Day - 04/14/2007 - Participation Thread

Greetings!

I am creating the post a bit early to allow those outside of the US to be able to post their Luxury SOTD in a timely manner!

I must admit that my curiosity as to what people will pick to use is quite high and I'm interested to see if there are any common items that folks choose!

Thank you in advance for participating!!

-- Seth

This is my first post in SOTD. And since I'll be away for the weekend (to work) Im glad I get to post early for this momentous occassion....

I used some cheap williams or colgate shave "soap" everyday for 30 years, I found the B&B and I now have to say that EVERY shave is a luxury shave day since then.

Thanks Seth, for putting this special SOTD together!
And thanks to all the members whom make the B&B such a great place to participate.

As always, your photography is beautiful, Jim. If this was an advertisement, I would buy everything in the photo (and I might anyway ).

Well, there you go. I didn't choose the most expensive of all the things I have, I went for those producs that give me the best of results and that fit together scent-wise. The most special product used was the Musgo Real, I only have a tiny sample of it and that's the original formula.
The shave itself was smooth, 99%BBS and I really enjoyed it.
Sorry, no pic due to some sample-jars/tubes I used, they wouldn't look nice...

Merkur HD
fresh Feather
Kent BK4
Trumpers Coral Skinfood / PRE
Musgo Real (original formula) SC
Alum
Dominica Bay Rum
L'Occitane Cade ASB
B&B Cologne

Sorry for no pic. I decided to go for feeling of luxury over cost, so today:

Merkur 1904 w/ IP
AOS "starter" best badger
T&H Grafton SC (which just exudes luxury for me)
Witch Hazel splash
QED Lavender ASB
T&H Grafton Cologne (ditto)

Great thread idea and awesome photos, guys. Thanks!

Omega 6215
'49 super speed w/Swede
Penhaligon's Castile cream
QED DaVinci water
Musgo Real splash


One of many possible dream shaves, but this one was simple, close, smooth, and pretty darn good.

Merkur Gold Slant w/Derby
Rooney 1.2 Finest Horn
Trumpers Rose Hard Soap
D R Harris Sandalwood Splash
D R Harris Milk (Old)
Floris Sandalwood

After having a long & warm bath, spiced with some of Molton Brown's Black Pepper bodywash, I proceeded to shaving. I prepared my face with glycerol followed by Taylor Of Old Bond Street Avocado. I used twice the normal time to lather shaving cream and the result was outstanding. Cream was then painted on my face with Mühle-Pinsel pure badger brush. With slow and steady sliding of Merkur Slant with second day Feather on it, my stubble was cut off sharply yet gently. With the grain, across the grain, across the grain to another direction and finally against the grain with incredible ease. This was followed by touch-ups that perfected my shave to 101% BBS with no irritation or nicks. Then I had cold water rinse on my face, followed by Floris JF aftershave balm that I got as sample from nice people of Floris some months ago.

This shave took me 35 minutes, almost double the time I usually spend on shaving each morning. And it truly was worth it, a luxury shave of life.

Hot shower
Proraso Pre-Post in shower
SMF 1 brush
'63 Fatboy w/ Feather blade (Day 1)
ToOBS St. James cream
Warm water rinse
Cold water rinse
Skin Bracer A/S splash
Cold water rinse
QED Lemon Verbena Hydrosol
Anherb A/S milk
Ungaro Ungaro III EdT

Maybe not the most expensive items one can get, but for me the St. James and Anherb milk are a combination that always leaves me feeling like a million bucks.

HOT shower
Sweet Almond Oil Preshave

C&E Sweet Almond SC
MB Toasted Coconut SS +
--------------------------
SUPERLATHER


EJ Super Medium
50's English Superspeed
Feather (day 2, de-clawed)
5 passes
C&E Nomad ASB
C&E Nomad EdT

Luxury, to me, is about doing what you want to do when you want to do it and today this is what I want to do

An understated luxurious shave:

Harris Arlington soap
Simpson Polo 8 best
Merkur HD
Derby Extra blade
Harris Arlington AS milk
Trumper coral skin food

I own only one razor and one brush - so every day is like a luxury shave day for me:

• Hot shower (with MB Rosemary/Mint Shampoo)
• Hot Towel
• Merkur HD with Swedish Gillette
• Superlater with Honeybee's Coconut and Body Shop Shaving Cream
• KOS pre-shave oil for the 3. and 4. pass (all WTG)
• Alum Bar
• WH (non-alcohol)
• Nivea ASB

...and the true luxury:
30 minutes of peace and alone time - priceless!

Shavemac Silver Tip 30mm soaking in the Moss Hot Tub getting Hot while I shower.
Castle Forbes Pre Shave
Castle Forbes Lavender Shave Cream
Maestro Livi 7/8 with Abalone Scales 1st & 2nd Pass
Gillette Adjustable Toggle with Swedish Gillette 3rd Pass
Warm Water Rinse
Cold Water Splash
QED Alum Stick
Thayers Lavender Toner
Lucky Tiger 3 Roses Hair Tonic
Castle Forbes Lavender After Shave Balm
Finished with Czech & Speake No. 88

View attachment 7145

1921 silver-plated Gillette "Bostonian" w/Israeli Personna blade
Andreas custom silvertip badger brush
Salter's Almond shaving cream (hat-tip to Charles and his "Easter Special")
No styptic pencil
Publix witch-hazel

I received two large tubs of Cyril R. Salter's Luxury Shaving Cream (Almond) this past week, and decided to put-off the "opening ceremonies" until today's "Luxury SOTD" festivities. The first thing which struck me, after unscrewing the top and gingerly lifting-up the clear plastic 'sealing lid', was the incredible thickness of the shaving cream. Then I was floored by an overwhelming smell of sweet almonds!

I wiped the underside of the sealing-lid off, into the tub, then used my shaving brush to get that last little bit I'd missed. I dipped the ends of a very small portion of the brush into the jar, added some tap water, and began lathering my face. As a B&B reviewer wrote about a different vendor's almond shaving cream, it was like marzipan for the face. I couldn't add too much water! The more water I added, the thicker the lather became.

Finally, I realized that I'd come here to shave, so I picked up my recently-acquired, silver-plated 1921 Gillette "Bostonian" and began to shave my face. Friends, this is another one of Gillette's hefty razors -- lighter than the legendary "Big Fellow", but noticeably heavier than the "New Standard". More and more, I've come to let the razor's weight do the work, while using my hand to guide it; this was no exception... and the "Bostonian" made it exceptionally easy.

Today was another in a series of simple-but-elegant shaves, which I've come to expect (and gratefully accept) from classic Gillette double-edged razors, used together with a nice variety of vendors' high-quality shaving creams/soaps.

The usual three passes: WTG, ATG, and XTG... and I'm in BBS-shave heaven.

Smooth shaving!

Not just luxury shave day but 1st shave day. this is what i'm starting with, more to follow.
Merkur Futur
Classic Shaving Lavender Soap
Vufix #849
Neutragena Face Scrub
Neutragena Post Shave Balm
Styptic Pencil
D & G Masculine A/S

Thank you to all who participated and to those who participate on B&B every day!

Slant w/ IP (Super Platinum)
B&B 2006 Finest Horn Brush
Omaga-Level Super Lather:
- Castle Forbes Limes SC
- QED Rose Soap
- MB Rose Sandalwood Soap
- SCS Savory Rose SC
Speick A/S
Mixture: SCS Savory Rose ASM w/ MB 2006 Summer ASB (Lavender/Rose)

A phenomenal shave utilizing many of my favorite creams and soaps that blend so well together! The rose, lime and sandalwood were most excellent indeed! I also added a splash of Pinaud's Eau du Portugal to my hair!