SOTD Free Week: May 16 - 22, 2016

Thanks witeq!

witeq said:

Beautiful pictures,everyone!Have a great Wednesday!

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Thank you.

Razor: Gillette 40s style Super Speed
Blade: Gillette Nacet
Brush: Rubberset 400-4 with TGN 26mm Silvertip
Soap: Ingram Lather Shave Cream
Aftershave: Pinaud Special Reserve

-- Sammy

I haven't been around the club for a long while. This is my usual set up, though I have a lot of other soaps, creams, after shaves, razors etc.

Aftershaves- Musgo Real from Portugal, Old Spice (ceramic container Shulton, Inc. I stole from my dad a long while ago haha)

shave soaps- Nomad from Crabtree and Evelyn, (Black container with girl on it) Kiss my Face Peaceful Patchouli

safety razor- Merkur 34C

blades- feather

brush- Simpson Commodore X2

hand made shave bowl friend made with my initials!!!

Prep - Woods Of Windsor Cedar Woods soap / Pre-lather / 3 min steam
Razor - Gillette Rocket HD
Blade - Personna Lab Blue (#2)
Brush - Shavemac Raptor 26/52 DO1 3 Band Bulb
Soap - Truefitt & Hill 1805
After - Frozen towel / Blue Stratos A/S
Result - Dolphin Smooth

Thank You eeZee, Celestino, Dave and WiteQ

Some very excellent shots this week in here!

Thursday morning

Razor: Superspeed
Blade: Astra SS (2)
Cream: TOBS Rose
Brush: SR 3824
A/S: Brut
ASB: Gaia Organic ASB

SOTD

Razor: Gillette NDC 40s Super Speed
Blade: Voskhod (3)
Soap: Mike's Lime
Brush: Omega 10065
AS: Pinaud VIBR/Citrus Musk combo

Nice composition, Celestino.

witeq said:

Beautiful pictures,everyone!Have a great Wednesday!

ronweston
Devonmoonshire
Billy Goatee
skypsyd - awsome razor stand!
ronindug
BobLH
ClaudioBP
UngerWoo - very nice!
Cash_Stronomer - lovely outdoor shot!
eezee
imcndn
celestino -
Bobcat
sarimento1 - nice background!
Roderick
shm
nikonNUT - nice setup!

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Thanks, witeq

CT23 (Chris) - I like that picture. Fine looking brush.

I've shaved with a single artisan's produces a few times before so I figured it was time to do it again. The Stubby whipped up a generous lather that was slick and protective. I'd only used the Maggard Anodized razor in late January and couldn't remember much about it. While not as hefty as some of the Maggards, the 18C does have some weight to it. The shape and knurling made for a comfortable grip. The Astra was sharp and true. After two passes, if I had been in a hurry, I could have called it a day. But I wanted the luxury. Smooth with no irritation: a really great shave today. Even though I don't use after shaves that often the WSP AS was a fitting touch.

Dr. Jon's and Beaver WoodWright recently launched their joint venture special edition "Bandit" Soap and After Shave Collection. Given I'm a sucker for both special/limited editions as well as packaging, this was a no-brainer.

This was the first time I'd ever used Dr. Jon's. First off, for those that don't know, this is a super soft croap. I would say it's just as soft as RazoRock's Santa Maria Del Fiore. You could reasonably scoop a dap from the tin and use it like a cream if you were so inclined. I went ahead and loaded from the puck and added water to the Kent badger knot early in the game as I would expect to do with such a soft croap. Bandit does not produce a dense lather by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it looks poor. It's not watery, but rather it holds the water quite well. This yields a thin, but uber slick lather. I didn't think I'd failed on the build and decided this must be what a Dr. Jon's soap is. So, I cautiously proceeded with the shave. I can't tell you how surprised I was to find that despite the rather anemic appearance, Bandit was quite protective, and the glide was amazing. I did the usual WTG/XTG/ATG passes. A couple clean-up swipes to my parietal region gave me a very nice BBS. (I was able to use my left hand on the left side, for those keeping track. Progress!). The residual slickness allowed me to do the clean-up swipes with just a wet palm. This is probably the slickest soap I've ever used. I would imagine straight shavers in particular would appreciate Dr. Jon's. I will be exploring more of Dr. Jon's soaps as a result of this shave. A caveat is that this may not be the right soap for someone just embarking upon wet shaving as it's actually a terrible example of how a lather is traditionally supposed to look. If any of my other soaps' lathers looked like this, there would be zero protection and slickness. However, I'm gathering this is characteristic of Dr. Jon's, and the result is a performance that would probably stand up to the top 5% of my artisan soaps.

Now on to the scent. Initially, Bandit provided a rather bold magnolia with hints of musk. This is one of the rare cases in which the scent off the puck is pretty close to what you're going to get during the shave. Early into the first pass, I began to notice hay and finally new warm leather. I would imagine this is how Bandit's Trans Am smelled after Carrie spent the day in it. It's quite floral, but has enough leather to keep it masculine if not unisex.

Fortunately, Beaver WoodWright's paired Bandit After Shave duplicates the soap's scent perfectly. Four hours out, the splash has settled down to warm magnolia and leather.

Post shave feel has left my skin feeling soft and nourished. Bandit is a winner!

Beaver WoodWright was responsible for the packaging, and it's reminiscent of their winter limited edition Jolly Roger packaging. The box showcases both Dr. Jon's and Beaver WoodWright's prominent logos, complementary label logos mirroring the actual products, as well as bold lettering in what appears to be close to the "Good Times" font that Pontiac liked to use in it's last generation vehicles. Jason Kincaid's label art on Dr. Jon's soap is as slick as the soap inside the tin. Kincaid did a perfect job reproducing the screamin' chicken in the style and paint scheme of Bandit's '77 Trans Am. If you're familiar with Dr. Jon's soaps, you've seen Kincaid's work as he's designed most of their current labels. Beaver WoodWright's After Shave label was designed by Stacey Kelly of Pixel Initiative. The theme for the labels is shared, but the styles are just different enough to set them apart as unique artisans.

This is another welcomed sharing of talents to bring this community a product that is greater than it's parts. Well done, Beaver WoodWright and Dr. Jon's!

My SOTD!
Prep: Hot Water
Soap: Soap Commander Courage
Razor: 1957 Gillette Ball End Tech
Blade: Voskhod (2)
Brush: Semogue 830
Aftershave Splash: Gillette Cool Wave
Balm: Soap Commander Courage
Nice shave! I think I'm figuring out the correct angle on the Gillette Tech! Got BBS! Very nice blade. Did get some minor irritation but that was it! The post shave I got from Soap Commander Courage shave soap was amazing! Everything performed phenomenal! Have a good day/night!