- Thread starter
- #181
I ordered the green. It smelled really nice in the store. If it's half as good as their croap, I'll be a happy man!
Keith's Straight Razor Odyssey
- Thread starter keith4064
- Start date
I ordered the green. It smelled really nice in the store. If it's half as good as their croap, I'll be a happy man!
- Thread starter
- #182
Straight Razor check-in, 07/28/2016
Straight Razor: WB Mono
Soap: Tabac Original
Brush: Parker Pure Badger
AS: Pinaud Clubman
I went back to my first SR love this morning and gave the Mono a spin after stropping 30/60. This really is a different razor to my No. 4 and I'm thinking that my No. 4 might produce consistently better 2-pass shaves than the Mono. It could be me, it could be the bevel, maybe global warming, or paranormal activity, but I think the No. 4 just works better on my mug. That stated, I was able to get a very nice shave with the Mono today and achieved a DFS result. I was able to complete my chin, albeit not perfectly and did reach for my DE for a final chin clean-up.
One thing that I experimented with was to utilize more of the heel of the blade; especially in the slightly hollow areas between my nose and cheek bones. This worked pretty well as opposed to my usual routine of trying to gingerly push the toe into that area. This facial zone isn't particularly hairy for me, but it still is a little troublesome no matter how much stretching, pulling or pushing I do with the skin. This seemed to work and I'm looking forward to some more heel action in my technique.
A little Clubman AS and 30 passes on the leather and my work was done. Have a great day gents!
Straight Razor: WB Mono
Soap: Tabac Original
Brush: Parker Pure Badger
AS: Pinaud Clubman
I went back to my first SR love this morning and gave the Mono a spin after stropping 30/60. This really is a different razor to my No. 4 and I'm thinking that my No. 4 might produce consistently better 2-pass shaves than the Mono. It could be me, it could be the bevel, maybe global warming, or paranormal activity, but I think the No. 4 just works better on my mug. That stated, I was able to get a very nice shave with the Mono today and achieved a DFS result. I was able to complete my chin, albeit not perfectly and did reach for my DE for a final chin clean-up.
One thing that I experimented with was to utilize more of the heel of the blade; especially in the slightly hollow areas between my nose and cheek bones. This worked pretty well as opposed to my usual routine of trying to gingerly push the toe into that area. This facial zone isn't particularly hairy for me, but it still is a little troublesome no matter how much stretching, pulling or pushing I do with the skin. This seemed to work and I'm looking forward to some more heel action in my technique.
A little Clubman AS and 30 passes on the leather and my work was done. Have a great day gents!
Good shave! Have a care with the heel of the blade though, sometimes it's not as well honed as the toe. Depends a lot on the honer. Just the nature of how the blade goes across the stone makes it easy to underhone that part. 
- Thread starter
- #184
Good shave! Have a care with the heel of the blade though, sometimes it's not as well honed as the toe. Depends a lot on the honer. Just the nature of how the blade goes across the stone makes it easy to underhone that part.
Thanks Rich. That's a good point and I'll beware of not going too crazy lest I invite any unscheduled blood donations . . .
Good shaves! I sometimes think that I use the end of the blade a little too much, so sometimes have to focus on using the heel end more. I think that the toe end can get a little duller than the heel end due to more use - so using that back-half of the blade is good I think as it may be a bit sharper - at least for me anyway. When honing I try to also be cognizant of the heel end - as doing 'X' strokes - I think you can quickly forget about the heel end and quickly move away from it and spend more time on the other 3/4 of the blade and really give more film/synthetic/natural hone time to the toe end if not careful.
Just my random thoughts though....maybe DayQuil enhanced....lol
Just my random thoughts though....maybe DayQuil enhanced....lol
Last edited:
Early on I was accused of being a "Toe Shaver" by a friend who offered to hone a razor for me. He was right.
Catching up, and they are good reads. I think I tend to over-toe it as well, except around my goatee. I prefer the heel there, as it does give more control when lining it up.
- Thread starter
- #189
We have 4 boxes out, so it is picking up speed; your turn will be here before you know it! You are doing very well with your shaves and they are fun to read about.
Thanks Dan!
- Thread starter
- #190
Straight Razor check-in, 07/29/2016
Straight Razor: CVH no. 4
Soap: Tabac Original
Brush: Parker Pure Badger
AS: Pinaud Clubman
It was a sleepy morning, too much karate class last night and too little sleep. I woke up with a sore hip and desperately wanted to go back to bed. But alas, it was not to be. OK, if I gotta go to work, at least I'm gonna get a nice shave in . . .
I'm still tweaking my lathering technique with my first bowl of Tabac. I think I'm finally getting it where I want it to be and it involved putting a little warm water on top of the cake and letting it sit for 5-10 minutes. After this softening steep, I poured the soapy tea water into my lathering bowl and then began picking up soap as usual with my brush. Once I was satisfied with the amount of soap on the bristles, I started bowl lathering. I dipped the brush in a little bit more water halfway through lathering and I finally got the bloom of tightly packed, snot-slick suds I've been looking for - WOW! When done right, this is awesome stuff!
The CVH was the hatchet of choice and I stropped 30/50. I wetted my face, got a good face lather going and began what would turn out to be my best SR shave yet. I made 2 WTG passes; using a bit more of the heel in my high cheek region. This was the first time using more of the heel of the CVH, and this thing is super sharp. I worked carefully, not wanting to tempt disaster. No errors were committed on my face, but I did manage to open the tiny weeper on my chin from a couple of days earlier. No big deal and its fair to say that my chin is still a learning zone and I grabbed my DE for a final clean-up pass.
Results - I don't think a third pass could have made the shave any better and it was a BBS+ morning! Admittedly, my chin was just DFS, but it was still the best shave I've had and I'm thrilled. How was this achieved? I think my lathering technique had a lot to do with the great result today. I've been struggling with lathering for a while, and I think that that I've just been going too dry with the mixture. I have swung to the other end of the spectrum and gotten really thin lathers too. I think my default has been to err on the drier side and it's hurt my shaves. Today, I noticed that when rinsing my face after my shave, the Tabac really wanted to hang onto my face even during my final rinse rub down.
What AS to use? I had to go old-school and went for the Clubman to celebrate shaving like an old guy. Hey wait, I am an old guy . . .
Now, can I reproduce these results? It ain't science if you can't reproduce it . . . We'll see.
Have a great Friday gents!
Straight Razor: CVH no. 4
Soap: Tabac Original
Brush: Parker Pure Badger
AS: Pinaud Clubman
It was a sleepy morning, too much karate class last night and too little sleep. I woke up with a sore hip and desperately wanted to go back to bed. But alas, it was not to be. OK, if I gotta go to work, at least I'm gonna get a nice shave in . . .
I'm still tweaking my lathering technique with my first bowl of Tabac. I think I'm finally getting it where I want it to be and it involved putting a little warm water on top of the cake and letting it sit for 5-10 minutes. After this softening steep, I poured the soapy tea water into my lathering bowl and then began picking up soap as usual with my brush. Once I was satisfied with the amount of soap on the bristles, I started bowl lathering. I dipped the brush in a little bit more water halfway through lathering and I finally got the bloom of tightly packed, snot-slick suds I've been looking for - WOW! When done right, this is awesome stuff!
The CVH was the hatchet of choice and I stropped 30/50. I wetted my face, got a good face lather going and began what would turn out to be my best SR shave yet. I made 2 WTG passes; using a bit more of the heel in my high cheek region. This was the first time using more of the heel of the CVH, and this thing is super sharp. I worked carefully, not wanting to tempt disaster. No errors were committed on my face, but I did manage to open the tiny weeper on my chin from a couple of days earlier. No big deal and its fair to say that my chin is still a learning zone and I grabbed my DE for a final clean-up pass.
Results - I don't think a third pass could have made the shave any better and it was a BBS+ morning! Admittedly, my chin was just DFS, but it was still the best shave I've had and I'm thrilled. How was this achieved? I think my lathering technique had a lot to do with the great result today. I've been struggling with lathering for a while, and I think that that I've just been going too dry with the mixture. I have swung to the other end of the spectrum and gotten really thin lathers too. I think my default has been to err on the drier side and it's hurt my shaves. Today, I noticed that when rinsing my face after my shave, the Tabac really wanted to hang onto my face even during my final rinse rub down.
What AS to use? I had to go old-school and went for the Clubman to celebrate shaving like an old guy. Hey wait, I am an old guy . . .
Now, can I reproduce these results? It ain't science if you can't reproduce it . . . We'll see.
Have a great Friday gents!
Excellent result. I always go wetter to the point that sometimes it drips from brush to chest. I just spend more time brushing on the face until I get a good consistency if it is too wet at first. I have gotten so this does not happen much, and it really depends on the soap how close I get it at first. I think it is better to err on the wet side because more time on the face can fix it. At least that is my approach. You will find one that works for you. As far as performance goes, I have not tried a soap that is better than Tabac. Take that with a grain of salt because I have only tried about 7 or 8 manufacturers and probably a dozen different varieties within that mix. I can get excellent shaves with any of the soaps in my den, but I have found that Tabac performs the best.
Great shave, and congratulations on the Tabac lather. Once you get it dialed in, there are few soaps that can compare to it.
- Thread starter
- #194
Thanks Eric. I really am enjoying the Tabac now. It was good at the start, but now that I'm really learning the proper chemistry, it's amazing!
Late to the party, but reads like a great shave! Tabac is like teflon when you get in the sweet spot.
- Thread starter
- #196
Wow, it sure is a nice soap!
And it works good with cold water when it's extra hot outside. That's something I've been experimenting with.
Nice job Keith! The last shave sounds great and the Tabac is fantastic soap.
Sent via Tapatalk from phone
Sent via Tapatalk from phone
- Thread starter
- #199
Straight Razor check-in, 07/31/2016
Straight Razor: Wester Brothers Mono, stropped 25/50 pre, 50 post
Soap: Tabac Original
Brush: Parker Pure Badger
AS: Proraso green
My wife gently woke me up this morning at 7:00am "If we're going to get 50 in today, we had better get going as the storms will be moving in by Noon." Now, I know that 7:00am is late for a lot of my military buddies on this forum, but it's pretty freakin' early on the weekend for the likes of my butt since I typically manage with about 6 hours per night max through the week. The radar did indeed look grim, and we really wanted to get at least a 50 mile bicycle ride in today. I dragged myself out of bed and hurried to get my cycling kit on and make some coffee. I wolfed down a couple of hard boiled eggs, half an avocado on a toasted English muffin and we were off.
I didn't bother shaving yesterday as we had been practicing Karate long and late and I knew that we were planning to go on this Sunday ride if the weather held. The skies didn't look great, but we were ready with our rain jackets if the storms rolled in earlier than expected. We did a rail-trail and one that is a favorite; the Clinton River/West Bloomfield trail. It's mostly compacted ballast, with a little bit of bumpy, paved tarmac sprinkled in. The trail goes from suburban, to rural, to urban (Pontiac, MI), back to suburban. As a former rail bed, it's relatively flat, but dusty and still challenging. This was only the second 50 mile ride for me since having had ankle surgery in February. I wasn't at all worried about my ankle, but rather, my legs. Usually by this point in the riding season, my legs and lungs can handle just about any exercise torture my brain can dish out. Not so this year, and it was going to be a tough go. We finished the ride without rain or incident and it felt terrific. Totally shagged-out, head-pounding, muscle-dead terrific. Not a great showing on the clock, but I made it through.
We got home and I celebrated with a lovely IPA and a nice shower. It took a while to scrub the sweat, sunscreen and layer of trail grime off of my skin, but I was rewarded with a remarkable lack of stench (something that I was dearly looking forward to). I whipped up a bowl of Tabac and grabbed my WB Mono. 2 passes WTG/ATG and my cheeks were smooth. I pushed a little bit more using the heel of the razor and it worked great. I was able to utilize the heel not only next to my nose, but also over the mustache region. I did 3 N-S passes over my chin and had the first complete SR shave in my journey! I didn't have to reach for the DE once!
Results - DFS+ on my cheeks & chin. It wasn't the greatest shave, but I was finally able to get to home plate without my DE. Why? I think that dialing in the Tabac has a great deal to do with my success of late. Perhaps there's a bit of a psychological component, but I think that a good, slick lather increases my confidence. It certainly wasn't the fastest shave (my wife came into the den to make sure that I hadn't had a heart attack in the shower), but it was very rewarding to get all the way through my chin with a straight.
The other notable thing about the shave is that the WB Mono came to the rescue. I was thinking that my CVH was the better razor, I think that the Mono is just different, not inferior.
Maybe I could've slept in; it still hasn't rained today . . .
Straight Razor: Wester Brothers Mono, stropped 25/50 pre, 50 post
Soap: Tabac Original
Brush: Parker Pure Badger
AS: Proraso green
My wife gently woke me up this morning at 7:00am "If we're going to get 50 in today, we had better get going as the storms will be moving in by Noon." Now, I know that 7:00am is late for a lot of my military buddies on this forum, but it's pretty freakin' early on the weekend for the likes of my butt since I typically manage with about 6 hours per night max through the week. The radar did indeed look grim, and we really wanted to get at least a 50 mile bicycle ride in today. I dragged myself out of bed and hurried to get my cycling kit on and make some coffee. I wolfed down a couple of hard boiled eggs, half an avocado on a toasted English muffin and we were off.
I didn't bother shaving yesterday as we had been practicing Karate long and late and I knew that we were planning to go on this Sunday ride if the weather held. The skies didn't look great, but we were ready with our rain jackets if the storms rolled in earlier than expected. We did a rail-trail and one that is a favorite; the Clinton River/West Bloomfield trail. It's mostly compacted ballast, with a little bit of bumpy, paved tarmac sprinkled in. The trail goes from suburban, to rural, to urban (Pontiac, MI), back to suburban. As a former rail bed, it's relatively flat, but dusty and still challenging. This was only the second 50 mile ride for me since having had ankle surgery in February. I wasn't at all worried about my ankle, but rather, my legs. Usually by this point in the riding season, my legs and lungs can handle just about any exercise torture my brain can dish out. Not so this year, and it was going to be a tough go. We finished the ride without rain or incident and it felt terrific. Totally shagged-out, head-pounding, muscle-dead terrific. Not a great showing on the clock, but I made it through.
We got home and I celebrated with a lovely IPA and a nice shower. It took a while to scrub the sweat, sunscreen and layer of trail grime off of my skin, but I was rewarded with a remarkable lack of stench (something that I was dearly looking forward to). I whipped up a bowl of Tabac and grabbed my WB Mono. 2 passes WTG/ATG and my cheeks were smooth. I pushed a little bit more using the heel of the razor and it worked great. I was able to utilize the heel not only next to my nose, but also over the mustache region. I did 3 N-S passes over my chin and had the first complete SR shave in my journey! I didn't have to reach for the DE once!
Results - DFS+ on my cheeks & chin. It wasn't the greatest shave, but I was finally able to get to home plate without my DE. Why? I think that dialing in the Tabac has a great deal to do with my success of late. Perhaps there's a bit of a psychological component, but I think that a good, slick lather increases my confidence. It certainly wasn't the fastest shave (my wife came into the den to make sure that I hadn't had a heart attack in the shower), but it was very rewarding to get all the way through my chin with a straight.
The other notable thing about the shave is that the WB Mono came to the rescue. I was thinking that my CVH was the better razor, I think that the Mono is just different, not inferior.
Maybe I could've slept in; it still hasn't rained today . . .
Similar threads
