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Item of the Week Calendar and Discussion - 2014

Have a safe and pleasant trip! I hear there's snow up in them thar hills, so I'm sure all the cities are completely shut down. :001_tongu
 
thanks jessy, actually the western rockies have not had exceptional amounts of snow this season and they are normally well equipped for it.

maybe I should just go to Hotlanta?
 
This brush is very very special. From the inner trade mark, to this amazing new knot! Jim! Good taste, man!
For this morning's shave I went with my most recent restoration, an Art Deco stylePro•Phy•Lac•Tic. I acquired the handle as a participant in duderubble's pass-around brush PIF. As received:

(apologies for my poor photography). After opening up the socket to accept a larger knot and polishing it up, I fitted the handle with an 18mm flat top Shavemac 2-band D01 badger knot, set at approximately 40mm loft. After photos:


For anyone who are inclined, I found a bit of interesting (to me, anyway) history on this brush that I included in my posts here in the Brush Making and Restorations subforum.

It's a nice little brush-- I think the knot complements the handle shape really well. As for performance, this morning was only my second time using it, and I'm not yet entirely convinced that flat top knots are for me. The feel is significantly different from a bulb or fan and probably requires getting used to that difference. This morning's was a very comfortable, nice shave.

Ah, my friend. I would kill someone for this brush, ha ha! I love it! Fortunate man! (Excuse my poor english. Really I will not kill anybody. Just a way to say I'm felt in love immediately, instantly, with this brush!) By the way, what a pic! You are killing me softly with this pic!
and here is a Rubberset M100 restored by Nick with a new badger knot.
Shave from Monday, Jan 27th; photo from the prior afternoon along Biscayne Bay.
nice winter day in south Florida.

View attachment 407871

Friend, what a nice brush with casein ferrule! Nice, nice, and rare. Enjoy it!
Here's my only current restoration. I've got a few still in the works.

This is an Opal 200 French Bristle that was still in pretty good shape, but the bristles had sorta lost all their oomph and couldn't make good lather. Most of the work on this went into cleaning all the plaster out of the inside and filling it back in with epoxy. The knot is a 22mm TGN Super Silvertip set about 52mm.
View attachment 407838View attachment 407837

And this is a nice barber brush! I like it! What a nice ferrule!
SOTD and IOTW, restored brushes, Wed., Jan 29th, 2014

Another nice job by Nick to restore what was a beat-up, wooden-handled auction brush, with synthetic knot.
Brush markings are 'Rexall UDC' and ' Bristles Set in Rubber Guaranteed 993'; my guess is 1930-40's vintage.
Prep with shower and Musgo Glyce face scrub.
C&S O&C travel soap puck (made in Italy) in the Colonel's mug (sorry, no fancy C&S dish!)
Two easy passes using the Kai shavette holding a Kai Mild blade.
Cool washcloth rinse and spritz of T&H Spanish Leather.
Excellent, tallow-cushioned shave and nice scents.
Thanks for viewing.

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Oh Jim, this is a very very lovely brush!. After your magnificient work, is has become a cute thing. Bravo! I love it! And I think it is rare too, not much seen.
This morning's shave featured a Klenzo B-1019 I restored late last year. Here are before and after shots:

View attachment 408385 View attachment 408386

To replace the old boar knot I opted for a 24mm TGN Super 2-Band Finest Badger that I set at 46mm loft. A bit more information on the restoration can be found here in the Brush Making and Restorations subforum.
 
This brush is very very special. From the inner trade mark, to this amazing new knot! Jim! Good taste, man!

. . . .

Oh Jim, this is a very very lovely brush!. After your magnificient work, is has become a cute thing. Bravo! I love it! And I think it is rare too, not much seen.

Thank you very much, friend! Although I must say, Juan, I've seen several of your brushes and your exceptional craftsmanship, and I'm always wowed. I've also appropriated some of your techniques and employed them to improve my restorations. So, again, I thank you!
way
 
For my Friday shave I went with another restored Rubberset brush, this time a 600N. The N, do doubt, designated a Nylon knot, in this instance a poorly clipped one. As received, it was in fairly rough condition:

$RS600N Before.jpg

Particulars on the restoration can be found here in the Brush Making and Restorations sub-forum. For the replacement knot I went with a 20mm TGN 2-band Finest Badger set at 51mm loft, a little higher than I usually go, but for me it's near perfection for this brush.

$RS600N After.jpg $RS600N After Bottom.jpg
 
The restored brushes were impressive. It will be hard to top that as the Item of the Week. This week, chocolate and rose soaps or creams is up next. I've tried a couple of rose scented items, but haven't tried (or even know of any) chocolate ones. I use soaps almost exclusively, but was inspired to break out TOBS rose shave cream this morning. It yielded a dense lather with a great, fairly potent rose scent. It paired well with George F. Trumper Coral Skin Food and Domenico Caraceni 1913 for a Rose trifecta. My wife's response this morning is likely to have me pull out the 1913 again next week when the Item of the Week is scents that make her say "rawr".

I still have Mike's Rose and Cedarwood SS for later this week. I have quite a few rose fragrances to pair it with. I have to choose between Montale Black Aoud, Creed Windsor, Amouage Tribute Attar and Amouage Homage. I never wore rose fragrances prior to B&B under the mistaken impression that it was too feminine. Like it many other areas, the members here have directed me in the right direction and now a handful of my favorites are rose based.
 
I went with my only other rose based soap/cream today, Mike's Rose and Cedarwood shave soap. While I prefer the pure rose scent of the TOBS Rose, the lather that Mike's generates is more dense and slicker. In fact, of the more than thirty soaps and creams in my cupboard, Mike's is near the very top. It contains lanolin, which gives it the same great post-shave that is the best feature of MWF. I actually prefer it to the fat as it is easier to lather and much more forgiving of soap/water ratio. While I like MWF, it is rather fickle.

Yesterday, I listed some of my favorite rose fragrances. I tried to do the same with chocolate scents, but had a hard time thinking of ones I actually enjoy. Years ago, I bought a bottle of Amen, but found it cloyingly sweet. Dior Homme and Homme Intense are pleasant fragrances. I've sampled decants but never bought a full bottle. One of these days, I'll have to revisit them. The only chocolate scent on my must have list is Parfumerie Generale Coze 02. It combines chocolate with cannabis, coffee and spices, and is one of the best cold weather fragrances I've ever tried.
 
Hm.... not many chocolatey/rosey soaps being discussed this week. I had hoped to have my RR SV already, but it's only just been shipped. Probably won't arrive before the end of the week.
 
The rose and chocolate soaps/creams hasn't generated much discussion. I think the upcoming week, scents that make her say "rawr", should generate a lot more interest. While I dislike the moniker, "panty droppers", fragrances that attract the opposite sex ( or same sex if that is preferred) is probably the most discussed topic on the fragrance boards. It really isn't seen much around here, but I'm sure there are May members who would be interested in what has worked for others around here. There are quite a few members here are as knowledgable or more so than on those other boards. I'm hoping they benefit us with their knowledge.

The new "Item of the Week" starts first thing Monday. I know which ones my wife loves, and also those that garner compliments from other women. I'll tell you Monday what my "go to"s are. Let us know which work for you, as well.
 
This week the IOTW is "Scents that make her say 'Rawr'". For me, I separate it into two categories. Those that draw unsolicited compliments from women I don't know, and those that I know my wife enjoys, and I reach for on those occasions that I'm feeling amorous.

Today I chose one that fits both categories. I wore Creed Aventus, which is one of my wife's favorites. On the fragrance boards, it is probably the most recommended fragrance for attracting the opposite sex. It, along with Montale's Patchouli Leaves, gets random compliments more than any of my other fragrances. I once was wearing it during breakfast, and the waitress pulled me aside as I was leaving and had all of her co-workers smelling me. If I were single, I'd be sure to have a bottle, despite its prohibitive cost.
 
Guys, we're gonna perform a little reformat of the Item of the Week thread. Look for a new thread in the next little while. I'll link to it from here.
 
The upcoming Item of the Week is the "Fattest Knot" The theme is your chance to use those fat knotted brushes for a week. Let's see those fat knotted brushes from your collection.
 
I had no idea this thread existed.....Now I can plan my shaves a week in advance!!! Im very happy there is a nice table to show all the upcoming weeks.
 
I really enjoy participating in the SOTD sub-forum, who knew I'd get such a kick out of taking and posting pictures of my shave gear? Not me, certainly! :001_huh:
But there it is: You don't know what you don't know...
To whit: I just discovered this calendar/discussion thread, and I'm already planning shaving strategy for the next few weeks!
Thanks for being here!
And the journey continues...:lol:
 
This week's Item of the Week is "Scary Soaps". I've already seen some great SOTD posts, and it seems the Williams users are outpacing the Arko lovers, with a few other "scary" soaps included. I'd love to be convinced why I should give the soaps that intimidate so many here a serious try. I admit, I've been afraid to try modern Williams, despite the fact that it is practically oven away. This, despite the fact that Arko way the soap that converted me from a long time cream user.
 
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