Item of the Week 8/19 - Art of Shaving

Hello to all.

This will be the twenty-sixth in a series of "item of the week" threads that I am promoting in the general shave discussion forum.
The rules:

1. It is very simple. Use the item of the week for the week that it is scheduled and post your thoughts on that item in its thread.
2. Everything else in your shave line-up may be rotated at will, but keep the featured item of the week as part of each shave.
3. The weeks will start on Monday and end on Saturday. Sunday could be a free day, or an overlap day for the next week or whatever.

The twenty-sixth featured item of the week will be Art of Shaving.

Oh good, this one will be easy since I'm currently 3017'ing a tub of AoS Sandalwood cream.
Used it this morning for a great shave, in conjunction with the matching pre-shave oil and aftershave balm.

Woot! I skipped Saturday and shaved yesterday in anticipation of AoS week. I used both the AoS Sandalwood Pre-Shave Oil and the Sandalwood Cream. This has got to be one of the most potent/concentrated creams out there. Only an extremely small amount of product is needed to create volumes of slick, protective lather. This quality definitely helps justify the high initial cost of entry. Needless to say, BBS was a foregone conclusion to the shave.

Weapons of choice:
Pre-War Gillette Fat Handle Tech w/ Astra SP (2)
Liojuny 24mm Silvertip
AoS Sandalwood Pre-Shave Oil
AoS Sandalwood Cream

I didn't see this until today, so I'll start tomorrow. I have a puck of AOS Lavender soap (old formula). Looking forward to it.

In anticipation of AOS week...Monday morning, Aug 19th
Prep with shower and AOS preshave oil
AOS Rose Absolute croap (it may have dried a little over time)
AOS travel badger brush + Yoresh's scuttle bowl + Brandt straight
Two passes, altho despite stropping the Brandt tugged a little, might have to hone it later.
And I had to be sure to keep the tallowy rose lather hydrated.
Little touchup with the T&H DE
AOS alum swipe + cool washcloth infused with a little Murray & Lanman Rose (whoa! what a bite!)
After, AOS Sandalwood EDT

Cant believe i JUST saw this and I shaved last night with CO Bbigelow... Well, Tomorrow it will be AOS Sandalwood Soap with preshave oil and ASB. now.... what razor....

I'm in for this one.

AOS Sandalwood pre-shave oil, cream and aftershave balm.

These are actually my favorites, so this AOTW is no problemo.

Ww

Perhaps this thread will convince me to buy AoS shave creme. I found out Ulta carries the AoS brand and there is a store 8 miles from my door.

The price has kept me away all this time, but maybe, just maybe a whole week worth of shaves from ya'll will convince me.

You've got one week folks!

Here was this morning's shave:

Pacific Shave Oil
AOS Lavender Soap (tallow formula)
Muhle Synthetic v2 Brush - 21 mm
Matador Toro Mastiff Corto w/ Gillette 7 O'Clock Black blade
Thayer's Witch Hazel
GFT Coral Skin Food

I was really looking forward to this shave, as I had not used the AOS soap in a long time. I also wanted to try it with my Muhle synthetic brush. I've used the brush mostly with sticks and creams, and not with a hard soap. Well, the shave did not disappoint and neither did my Muhle. I face lathered and it exploded immediately. Lots of slick, creamy lather. More than enough for 2 passes and a touch up along the jaw line. Smooth, comfortable shave.

As far as the scent of the soap goes, it's not the best lavender scent I've ever experienced. There's a heavy scent of clay (or something), but certainly not unpleasant. The performance of the soap is outstanding! Not sure if it's the lavender, the tallow, the Trumper's Skin Food or all of the above, but my skin feels especially good today! It's going to be a good week of IoTW!

Toothpick said:

Perhaps this thread will convince me to buy AoS shave creme. I found out Ulta carries the AoS brand and there is a store 8 miles from my door.

The price has kept me away all this time, but maybe, just maybe a whole week worth of shaves from ya'll will convince me.

You've got one week folks!

Click to expand...

Yeah - upfront costs are high but it is still lower than T&H/CF and only a minimal amount of product is needed for a high-quality shave. The IotW could not have come at a better time since they are having a 20% F&F sale during the upcoming weekend. I will probably break down and purchase some Ocean Kelp cream - I really wished they still carried the Rose Otto scent.

You can only get AOS @ Sephora in Canada and tubs of AOS shaving cream are 30 bucks!
Anyone want to make a statement that AOS shaving cream is twice as good as tubs of shaving creams like TOBS or Proraso that cost half the money? Anyone?

BRITD said:

You can only get AOS @ Sephora in Canada and tubs of AOS shaving cream are 30 bucks!
Anyone want to make a statement that AOS shaving cream is twice as good as tubs of shaving creams like TOBS or Proraso that cost half the money? Anyone?

Click to expand...

I dont understand the price complaint... a tub is $25... and it lasts forever http://www.theartofshaving.com/Shav...ng-cream&navid=shaving-products-shaving-cream

DirtDiver said:

I dont understand the price complaint... a tub is $25... and it lasts forever http://www.theartofshaving.com/Shav...ng-cream&navid=shaving-products-shaving-cream

Click to expand...

150g tub of AOS, $30 in Canada. http://www.sephora.com/shaving-crea...EN_SHAVING_Bestsellers_CAROUSEL_P225342_image
150g tub of Tobs, $16 in Canada. http://www.italianbarber.com/taylor-of-old-bond-street-shaving-cream-bowl-sandalwood-150g
150g tub of Proraso, $7 in Canada. http://www.italianbarber.com/proraso-shave-cream-150g-tub-menthol-and-eucalyptus-new-formula
Now if it lasts, as you say, "forever" then its unquestionably worth the $30 since it will be the last tub of shaving cream you ever need to buy.
Otherwise, comparatively shopping, since I have never tried AOS shaving cream, help me out, is it worth it?

BRITD said:

150g tub of AOS, $30 in Canada. http://www.sephora.com/shaving-crea...EN_SHAVING_Bestsellers_CAROUSEL_P225342_image
150g tub of Tobs, $16 in Canada. http://www.italianbarber.com/taylor-of-old-bond-street-shaving-cream-bowl-sandalwood-150g
150g tub of Proraso, $7 in Canada. http://www.italianbarber.com/proraso-shave-cream-150g-tub-menthol-and-eucalyptus-new-formula
Now if it lasts, as you say, "forever" then its unquestionably worth the $30 since it will be the last tub of shaving cream you ever need to buy.
Otherwise, comparatively shopping, since I have never tried AOS shaving cream, help me out, is it worth it?

Click to expand...

Well, considering there are other more expensive creams than AoS, and that it out performs them... IMO it is worth it. I get a great lather, I have heard of the tubs lasting 6 months on a daily use... so what is that, 16 cents a shave? and it has a very unique scent (sandalwood) which is the best sandalwood I have smelled yet. I like it so much I am considering spending the $70 for the sandalwood EDT.

Determining value is one of the ultimate YMMV decisions. I never purchased AoS from Sephora but I do recall reading somewhere on here that they are more than willing to give out free samples. Check it out and hopefully you will be able to give it a try, free-of-charge.

On a related note but slightly off-topic nonetheless, I will admit that I find it hard to justify the cost of their pre-shave oil. Yes - the performance is great and it works as intended, but I have been reading up on making my own pre-shave oil for a few dollars.

Where are the shaves at?

(I like my AOS store) Here goes:

AOS fine badger, full-size
AOS pure badger, travel-size
AOS sandalwood cream
AOS sandalwood balm
AOS unscented balm
AOS alum block
AOS unscented pre-shave oil

Hope that helps...!

BTW - Merkur Progress and 34C came from the same place.

Toothpick said:

Perhaps this thread will convince me to buy AoS shave creme. I found out Ulta carries the AoS brand and there is a store 8 miles from my door.

The price has kept me away all this time, but maybe, just maybe a whole week worth of shaves from ya'll will convince me.

You've got one week folks!

Click to expand...

It's been a while since I tried the cream. It was certainly a good cream, but I'm a soap guy and preferred the old tallow formula soap that was made for AOS by Valobra. I do recall the cream seeming fairly concentrated. The Sandalwood scent in both the soap and cream is pretty outta sight if you're into that sort of thing.

Toothpick said:

Where are the shaves at?

Click to expand...

I managed to score a puck of Unscented AOS soap made in Italy off of the ol' electronic bay. I used it for the first time Monday. I've got three pucks of the old formula in Sandalwood as well, but I'm unable to use it anymore due to my wife's sensitivity to all products with fragrance of any kind. It works very well, just as I remembered. It has a wide tolerance for waterroduct ratios, and produces great lather with minimal loading - all without any tetrasodium EDTA, pentasodium pentate, or other similar chelating agents on the ingredients list.

Monday's shave: '65 Slim, fresh Israeli UK Personna, AOS Unscented soap (tallow), Omega Pro 49, witch hazel.
I did 9-6-3 on the Slim for WTG, XTG, and ATG respectively. This took care of 72 hours of growth quite well and I was left with a DFS and irritation-free skin. I had forgotten how little product it actually takes to get a lather from this soap and wound up with way too much in my brush. It did make for a fun, luxurious shave - which I guess is often the point of a premium product.

Today's shave: '65 Slim, Israeli UK Personna (2), AOS Unscented soap (tallow), Ever Ready 100T, witch hazel.
I had forgotten that I left the Slim on 3 from the last shave and and didn't realize it until I started my ATG pass. It was a perfectly good shave, since I didn't have to mow down a lot of growth. I had another DFS and no irritation. There was plenty of really stable lather that shaved well, even when it was a little on the thin side at the end. This stuff has plenty of slickness and protection for some buffing and j-hooking during the ATG pass. The really impressive thing is the short amount of time I spent loading the brush, while still being able to produce enough lather for the shave. I hope Valobra comes out with an unscented version of their own soap so I can use it!

AOS lavender tallow with a 40s style SS whippeddog 20mm black badger and a Red IP. Finished off with some Floid Blue.

Pre: 25 Laps Cloth / 25 Leather
Prep: Hot Shower / Neutrogena Razor Defense Face Scrub
Cream: AOS Sandalwood
Brush: Ever Ready C40 Restore with TGN 22mm Finest XH Knot
Razor: Wagner 5/8
A/S: Proraso Green Splash
Post A/S: 25 Laps Cloth / 50 Leather

I mixed up some AOS Sandalwood cream, with my newly restored Ever Ready C40 brush with a TGN 22mm Finest XH knot. I haven't used this cream since I first started DE shaving. I didn't want to waste the expensive cream learning how to lather, so I started using TOBS as it was cheaper. I forgot how much I really like the Sandalwood smell. I actually can still smell it, almost an hour after shaving. Having used MDC for the last couple of weeks, I am really starting to like soaps. I am very glad to hear that the Sandalwood AOS soap is as good as the cream.

I scored an AOS Lavendar soap, off the bay, a couple of months ago, so I will be trying that some time this week - if I can break myself away from the Sandalwood .