Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Thanks Harold, I'm very happy to hear that this thread is occasionally helpful. I sometimes feel that I should end it and just keep track of my shave related things in an off line journal. But, as long as some people are finding it entertaining or helpful, I'm happy to keep posting. So, I'm glad to get your encouragement, it should keep me happily posting for another 20-30 shaves before I start to feel blah about my posts again.

Shave #103 - Accidental 3-Passer

As the university year winds down here, the fun part of living picks up. I'm heading out to meet with some former colleagues from my previous university for lunch this afternoon before everyone is blown to the four corners of the globe over the summer. So, I did a rare morning shave.

Castle Forbes Pre-Shave Lotion
QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (42)
Alum
Osage Rub
Baxter of California AS Balm

I meant to do a 2-passer, but before I knew what was happening, I had inserted a XTG pass into the shave. I'm DFS++, feelin' great and ready for the day!

Shave #103.5 - Drunk Shaving

16 year old Bruichladdich and shaving do mix. SWMBO is on a business trip to Toronto, so I spent the day watching season 3 of Justified, while enjoying some Scotch and cigars (a Cuban Montecristo Petite Edmundo). I may be dumb enough to shave while mildly squiffy, but I wasn't silly enough to reach for a straight.

C&E West Indian Lime Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather Blade (7)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum + C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I did a cold towel shave, basically mimicking how I might do a hot towel shave, only with cold water. I held a towel full of cold water to my face for a couple minutes, lathered a little, scrubbed the lather in with my fingers, let it sit on my face for around a minute, then put another cold towel on my face over the lather, held it there for a minute (or whatever), and then face lathered. I think I'm going to be able to get the C&E working for me, just having some minor hiccups with the water ratio. (I've got it worked out good enough for DE shaving, pretty sure I can find the slickness I want for straights. Today's lather was better).

3 passes and I'm BBS, except a dime size spot on my jawline in front of my right ear, one of my trouble spots - blame the booze.

Post shave I squirted about 3 squirts of C&E AS balm in my palm, added a couple shakes of Captain's Choice to my palm, rubbed my hands together and applied the mixture to my face. Nice! C&E is a heavy balm, this diluted it nicely for summer. It went on real well. I think I smell great, though there is no one here to confirm or deny my beliefs.

Now I'm off to choose another cigar and see what happens next in Harlan County.

Hahahahahaha!
Thats why I chose the moniker McBladescar!
Drunk shaving. Scar still shows
Mike

Yep. Drunk shaving, like drunk everything, always seems like such a good idea at the time.

Shave #104 - Flop-Sweat-A-Polooza

We're having the type of weather I just hate, around 30C to 35C and overcast. I would far rather it were clear skies even if the temperature went up another 10 degrees. That overcast just jacks the humidity right up and out of control. I've been doing 8 hour flop sweats at work, just can't stop the sweat from flowing. In the mornings, after my shower, I take a dry shaving towel, put a few shakes of Clubman Talcum on it and rub that under my arms, on my chest and around my neck. Smells really nice, not how I think of baby powder smelling. Then some St. Luke's Prickly Heat talcum in the underwear, a medicated and unattractive smelling, though great feeling, talc I picked up in Thailand. Knock on wood, thus far I've been able to keep the various fungi and barnacles that grow on me during the summer at bay.

So, with the wife gone and me sweating my daily bucket, I've been a bit lazy on the shave front. I usually just get home and lay down under the air-con and watch a show. So, I had a good bit of stubble to wipe away today.

Synergy Lime Shave Soap + Proraso (Green Tubed) Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (43)
Alum
Osage Rub
Baxter of California AS Balm

Whipped up a nice summertime über lather with the smell of limes and the cooling of Proraso. I did a full 4-pass shave. I'm all over BBS. The alum and Osage gave me some feedback, though not as much as I expected.

Now I'm going to snuggle up on the sofa, have a scotch (Glenfiddich) and a cigar (Cuban Romeo y Julieta) and watch the next season of "Justified" that I rented. The wife returns soon, so letting the good times roll will take on a different character soon.

Shave #105 - Straight to the Point

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
QCS Vostok Shave Cream
WISS 9/16" Ugly Duckling (24)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum + C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

A quick 2-passer, DFS face and DFS-- neck.

Gotta run - need to clean this craphole before the wife gets back. Any tips on how to get the smell of cigar smoke out of her dry cleaning?

Shave #105.5 - Tuggy First Shave?

Grabbed a quick morning DE shave. The wife arrived around 4am from Toronto, now zonked out from the travel and jet lag, so thought I'd head out for a scooter ride. Saw a bottle of Old Spice in Northern Taipei (last time I was there), about an hours ride away, and thought I'd go buy it.

C&E West Indian Lime Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Platinum Blade (1)
Styptic
Captain's Choice Bay Rum + C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

3-passes to BBS, for quick and efficient, it is hard to beat the DE. I put in a brand new Astra, but after having exclusively used Feathers in the DE for awhile, I found it tuggy. Not painful or anything, just not as efficient as I've grown used to. Dinged the right corner of my mustache going XTG. I kept going over the spot trying to get this patch of hairs that just would not cut. I knew I was doing wrong, but couldn't stop myself. Pretty minor, but took a bit of styptic.

I face lathered the C&E, leaving my badger brush really wet when I loaded and began lathering. I got nice thick yoghurty lather, but I still think it lacked slickness. (I couldn't tell so clearly with the DE). I think this scent will have a permanent place on my shave shelf, even if I just use it with the DE - love the scent and the post shave. Maybe I should try their soap in this scent, I think soaps are often slicker than creams.

As the heat begins to hit I'm enjoying mixing balms with splashes to dilute the balm, making it less likely to cause oily skin problems. I guess as we get well and truly into summer I might just use splashes and drop the balms completely. Problem is, I only really have one splash.

Shave #106 - Dedicated to Grandpa Podoleski

I did make a trip all the way across Taipei yesterday in search of the lone bottle of Old Spice in Taipei. I bought it, Old Spice Original Cologne, and slapped a bit on. My God! Suddenly I was sitting on my grandfather's knee in the old farmhouse outside Keniston - totally transported to a different time and place. That is one powerful bottle of cologne. So, today I decided to do an Old Spice shave in memory of my grandfather.

Castle Forbes Pre-Shave Lotion
Synergy Cavendish Shave Soap
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (44)
Alum
L'Occitane Cedre & Oranger AS Balm + Old Spice Original Cologne

A morning 2-passer that provided me with an all over DFS, including the neck. Possibly my best 2-pass result so far. Then I mixed the L'Occitane and Old Spice in my palm and rubbed it into my face - and once again I'm under the wide open Saskatchewan skies with grandpa, what a powerful memory trigger.

Shave #106.5 - Post-Workout Shower Shave (PWSS)

Had a workout and was sphitzing everywhere, so during my post-workout cool down shower I had a shave.

Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Baxter of California AS Balm + Osage Rub

Good cool down, nice BBS shave.

PWSS - it's gonna be a thing.

Shave #106.75 - A DE PWSS

If I could learn to DE shave in the shower, I might never leave the bathroom. So, this was a little experiment to see if it could be done.

Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Platinum (2)
Alum
Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave + Osage Rub

The answer is yes - with a bit more practice. I hauled a small mirror into the shower with me to help in the process. (When I do this with a Mach III, I just shave blind). The mirror wasn't super helpful, as I'm blind as a bat without my glasses, but it gave me some hints as to what was going on. I did a 3-passer and got excellent results, in terms of destubblage, BBS, but I did get some irritation. That is pretty unusual for me. What I believe happened is that I wasn't getting much feedback from the razor; the sound of the water drowned out any auditory feedback, and the extremely wet slick nature of the lather meant I couldn't feel the razor cutting. So, I compensated for the sensory deprivation with too much pressure. Amazingly, I didn't cut myself. With a bit of practice this would be a viable shaving method for me.