Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #114.5 - Wedding Shave

One of my colleagues got married today, and I was rushing to get ready so I wanted to grab a pretty quick shave.

Synergy Lime Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather Blade (4)
Thayers Extra Cool Witchhazel

3 Passes plus a smidge of touch up and I was BBS. Now, about 11 hours after my shave, I'm still a very nice DFS.

I'm going to begin reviewing the Synergy How To Grow A Mustache shave soap. My plan is to do my next 4-5 shaves using this soap exclusively. At the end of each shave, I'll give some general qualitative impressions, and then at the end of the series of shaves I'll give my review on the soap, for whatever it is worth. For each shave I'll try to alter my method of using the soap and my shave equipment as much as possible.

For today's shave I did a shower prep and face lathered the soap. The scent is a little weird, not pure lemon, but kinda like lemon meringue pie. It is acceptable, but not my favorite. Lathering this soap is almost idiot proof. The large 5" disk makes it extremely easy to load. Face lathering without a preshave, it was child's play to create lots of thick cushiony lather that was plenty peaky. The lather is not prone to breaking down. The lather has excellent slickness. (Even during my last shave, where I was sweating the lather off, there was plenty of residual slickness for me to shave). This lather worked very well with the DE, lots of glide and thick cushiony pillows of lather, which I like for DE shaving. Nice.

Shave #115 - Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Lazy, oh so lazy.

Synergy Lime Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 9/16" Ugly Duckling (27)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

I did a quick 2-pass shave, in keeping with my general lassitude. Considering that it had been 4 or so days since my last shave, the results were pretty good. I'm very smooth on the face, nearly BBS, the left side of my neck is similar in smoothness to my face, but the right side is more in the DFS- range.

General impressions on the Synergy soap: First let me say, I think I referred to it as a lemon soap last time. It is a lime soap, but again not a pure lime scent, more like a key lime pie, to me. Today I did a shower prep, cold water bowl lather (last time was cold water too), applied some of the Synergy soap and let it stand for a minute or two before wiping it off, relathering and shaving. The soap whipped up beautifully in the bowl, yielding lots of lather. The soap seems to have a wide latitude in the amount of water it can accept, allowing you to adjust to your needs. The post shave properties were good, my skin was left feeling smooth and hydrated. This is just a really easy to use soap.

Shave #115.5 - Hulk's Smash Debuts

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Synergy Lime Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather Blade (5)
Hulk's Smash

Today I did a hot towel shave. 3 passes with a bit of touch up on the neck and I'm at my standards for a BBS, I can't feel any stubble in any direction when rubbing the back of my fingers over my face.

Those of you who are observant may have noticed that I've stopped using AS balm. That is a seasonal thing. I'm so hot, sweaty and oily much of the day that I don't need it, or want it. I've been using various alcohol and witchhazel based splashes solely. They seem to do the job nicely in this weather. Today I used one that I created myself, which I'm calling Hulk's Smash, for its green color. (I got the basic idea from another forum though this formula is my own. I'm not too sure if the name is my own or if I borrowed it. I can't remember what that person called his creation). My mixture is 1/3 Osage Rub, 1/3 Thayers Extra Cool Witchhazel and 1/3 Aqua Velva Ice Sport. It is a nice summer splash, a good deal of cooling with a light refreshing scent and the skin benefits of witchhazel.

Impressions of the Synergy soap: Today I did a hot water shave and bowl lathered. I accidentally dumped too much water in the bowl while I was whipping the lather, but the Synergy just created more lather. It did not get bubbly and begin to breakdown as might have been expected. This soap is quite forgiving. The packaging recommends using this soap with water between 95F and 140F (whatever that is in real temperatures) for best results. Mostly I've used it with cold water and it works fine for me, but it did seem to lather better at a higher temperature.

Shave #115.6 - Typhoon Day Shave

In the interests of using the Synergy soap with as many various set ups as possible:

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Synergy Lime Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Hulk's Smash

3 passes and a bit of clean up and I'm BBS.

Impressions of the Synergy soap: I continue to be impressed by how easy this soap is to work with. Easy to load and easy to lather. Today I loaded up and face lathered, no issues at all. I used the Mach III on some fairly substantial stubble. If I were going to have irritation, this would cause it. But, the glide and cushion of the soap was enough to prevent problems. The post shave is quite hydrating, and I'm irritation free.

After my next shave I'll give my review of the Synergy soap.

Shave #116 - Review Time

Synergy Lime Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (47)
Hulk's Smash

I did a 3 pass cold towel shave. My face is BBS and my neck is DFS. Good enough. Now on to the Synergy soap review.

How to Grow a Mustache Synergy Lime Shaving Soap Review

The Basics: The soap is a handmade vegan product with a nice ingredient list, without a bunch of preservatives. I appreciate this, as occasionally skin sensitivity becomes an issue for me. The soap is primarily kokum butter based, which is hydrating, along with mango and cocoa butter. The ingredient list is rounded out by various oils, soy bean extract, aloe, maca root, yellow dock root. The only chemically ingredients are sodium and potassium hydroxide. I'm assuming these are used for saponification of the soap.

(Ingredients: Kokum Butter, Organic Mango Butter, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Pumpkin Oil, Organic Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Organic Neem Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerine, Purified Water, Sodium & Potassium Hydroxide,Soy bean protein, Chaulmoogra Oil, Aloe Extract, Maca Root, Yellow Dock Root, Essential Oil [Unless Scent Free]).

Lathering: This is a great soap to work with. The large 5" disks make loading the brush easy. Using a dry puck, all it takes is to swirl a wet brush on the puck for maybe 20 seconds to get the brush fully loaded. I never had to soak the puck. It is easy to both bowl and face lather with this soap. The soap has pretty good latitude for how much water it can accept. You have to be a real lathering klutz to add so much water that you cause this soap to break down. (5/5)

Lather Quality: This soap produces a very good quality lather. It is easy to create a dense lather with nice peaks. The lather has a nice lustrous sheen, indicating that it is accomplishing its job of holding moisture to the face. One thing I have noticed is that the lather tends to be so voluminous that when shaving with a straight razor, I sometimes have a hard time controlling where the lather goes. I get it between the scales, on the tail, and even on the pivot pin. Trying to keep the blade wiped clean can become a real task. (4/5)

Shavability: It gets the job done very well. The soap has good glide and slickness. It leaves me with enough residual slickness that I could go back over a spot without worrying about irritation or the blade getting hung up. I have not had any problems with skin irritation from this soap, as I sometimes do with other soaps. The soap does its job well enough that I have never been irritated by the shave itself while using this soap. (4/5)

Post Shave: I like the post shave qualities of this soap. My skin feels slick, smooth and hydrated after shaving with this soap. It is probably the best vegan soap I have in this regard. (3.5-4/5)

Scent: Well, this is highly subjective, but I'm personally not really that taken with this lime scent. It is not a pure lime smell, but kind of a sweet lime, key lime, smell. (3/5)

Total Score: 19.5-20/25

General Thoughts: This soap makes an excellent daily use shave soap. It is easy to use, no muss, no fuss. You can count on it to get the job done without a bunch of hassles or the need to be very careful over your lathering method. Frankly it is a joy to use. It is not the greatest soap - but it is a good workhorse. The price comes in at a bit under $2US/ounce, so it is moderately priced.

I have some tallow based soaps that make a nicer lather or have better post shave properties. They're a little more luxurious. But, I'm not really comparing this soap to those. In my mind I'm kinda comparing this soap to my other workhorse, Proraso shave cream, and this soap is a little better in all categories.

welcome, I find that I shave better with my non dominate hand. i think it's because i concentrate more same with my shooting tighter groups, more focus.

It is more difficult, especially if you're right handed. Like Ryan said, you probably had your angle wrong because I ran into the same problem when I first started straight shaving. It took some practice but meanwhile I had to use my right hand whig worked until I got used to using my left hand. It won't take long & you will get used to it. It wasn't as difficult for me as I thought. It's just because when you are used to using a certain hand doing things, it may become difficult but with a little practice, You'll get it down. Too bad you don't have a practice razor. I have one I bought off eBay that came from a barber college & it is dull for that reason so that students can practice. If you have a cheap razor or can buy one from eBay & dull it by bread knifing it, you can practice that way & became more efficient with it. Good luck & happy shaving!

Shave #116.5 - Drunk Shaving Again

Had a colleague over for a drunken chess match (I got stomped), afterwards I wanted a shave.

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather Blade (6)
Hulk's Smash

I did a 3 pass cold towel shave. I'm pretty much BBS, but I did manage to nick myself twice. I really don't know how as I didn't feel either nick and didn't notice until later. The Hulk's Smash burned a bit. Overall, I guess I must have been rough on myself - blame the wine.

Shave #117 - A Shave on the Rocks

I do "cold" water shaves almost every time during the summer. But, as you might imagine, the water that comes out of my tap is not so cold. Today I added ice cubes to the water I used in my towel and brush. I don't know why I've never thought of this before. It was very refreshing, and I think maybe improved my shave, but I altered some other things so it is a bit hard to tell.

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (28)
Alum
Hulk's Smash
Baxter of California AS Balm

So, I did a fairly ridiculous 5-pass shave today. The end result is lovely. BBS almost everywhere. Even with all that shaving there is a very small strip to the right of my Adam's apple that is only DFS++, but everything else is perfect.

I don't know what possessed me to do such a shave. Silly really. But, here is what I did:

First I soaked my towel in ice water, put a little of my shave soap on the towel, washed my face and then hydrated the beard with ice water.

Pass 1 - Straight N-S on face, more careful than I usually am on pass 1. For the neck I guillotined from left to right, approximating a WTG pass.

Cold towel rinse.

Pass 2 - N-S on face again, this time guillotining from my ears towards the nose. On the neck, I just went straight N-S, a bit XTG-ish.

Cold towel rinse.

Pass 3 - Nose-to-ears on face, with a scything motion. On the neck, N-S guillotining from right to left.

Cold towel rinse.

Pass 4 - Ears-to-nose on face, scything again. Straight S-N on neck, XTG/ATG-ish.

Cold towel rinse.

Pass 5 - S-N on the neck, guillotining from right to left, ATG-ish. S-N on face, guillotining from ears-to-nose.

Cold towel rinse.

Neck clean up - S-N on right side of neck, scything towards the jaw. On the left side of the neck, I went chin-to-ear with the blade perpendicular to the floor and a slight downward scything motion.

Cold towel rinse, and apply post shave products.

Anyone care to guess if the alum burned?

I don't really know why I did this. I guess it has been so long since I gave myself a BBS shave with a straight razor, I wanted to see if I could still do it. Still, I went way overboard. Surprisingly, my skin doesn't feel so bad, but that is just thanks to genetics, not the shave.

Shave #117.5 - Hung

Had company last night, a bit hungover and shakey this morning.

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
C&E West Indian Lime Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather Blade (7)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

My normal 3-pass DE shave, with a bit of touch up. I'm BBS, but I gave myself a cluster of weepers on my upper lip during the ATG pass. Not sure if that was a result of the blade being at the end of its cycle, or just my hungover state. But, after a touch of Jo Malone Lime Basil & Mandarin cologne, I'm ready to face the day - warts and all.