Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #119 - Load it Like You Hate it, Because You Love it

I've been pretty darn lazy about my shaving during this summer vacation. You never know how that'll go, sometimes you enjoy using the extra time to shave. But, this summer I've been busy with travel, Chinese class, studying, an improved exercise program, etc. so I haven't really felt like I've had all that much extra time on my hands.

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (48)
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

I did 3 passes on my face and 4 passes on my neck. My face is BBS and the neck is DFS+. The alum was quiet. It was a nice shave.

General Impressions of the Vostok: I bowl lathered the Vostok cream today. It was not my first time trying to bowl lather it, but it was the first time that I was even moderately successful. To get any sort of bowl lather from this cream, you have to load the brush like you despise the soap. It takes a massive load in the brush, and a goodly amount of water, plus a huge amount of elbow grease to whip up any kind of lather in the bowl at all. Once you do manage to get a lather, it is a nice, thick, yogurty and weighty lather. The lather is worth the effort, but this soap face lathers much better than it bowl lathers - so, I'll be sticking with face lathering from now on.

Shave #119.5 - Deep Chill

Another cold water shave with the Vostok.

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Platinum (3)
Hulk's Smash

My usual 3 on the face and 4 on the neck has left me with a lovely BBS.

General Impressions of the Vostok: Today after soaking my brush, I left it super wet for the loading process. Normally I'd only leave my brush that wet if I were loading a very hard triple-milled soap. It worked. The cream loaded like a dream. Despite how soggy my brush was initially, I still had to add lots of water as I face lathered. Vostok seems to be an extremely thirsty soap. This cream has a lot of menthol, but the addition of a pre-application of Proraso Green Pre-Shave really added a bit of umpf - brain freeze. It was ultra-refreshing, but would be too much of a good thing if it wasn't ridiculously hot here. Definitely loving the Vostok cream.

On a side note, some of you might remember that I picked up 3 straight razors from an antique store last time I was in Canada.



I finally began working on cleaning up one of the razors. I'm starting with the ERN.



It is in the worst condition of the 3, so if I screw something up during my first restoration attempt I won't be too mad at myself. My goals for this razor are pretty moderate. I just want to clean up the blade to a moderate extent. I don't want to unpin it, so I won't be completely restoring the blade. I'm going to be left with a bit of pitting and maybe a few other random marks, but hopefully it will have a clean overall look. Also, I will clean up the scales, of course, and sharpen it. This will be challenging enough for my first go around, especially since I don't have access to much in the way of tools. Though if it gets too tedious I might be able to phone up one of my former colleagues in the jewelry trade (I used to be a goldsmith) and see if I could borrow his shop. I really miss my workshop sometimes. It had everything you could need for doing complete razor restorations. Alas it all went into storage when I got married - no space. In the end I hope to have a nicer/cleaner version of a Whipped Dog razor. I'm not trying for a masterpiece.

Shave #119.6 - Heat Beater

Did a morning bike ride and decided to cool down with a PWSS (post workout shower shave).

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III

3 on the face, 4 on the neck = BBS.

General Impressions of the Vostok: I don't know if it was because my pores were very open after riding in the heat, but the Vostok was outrageously cooling today. If I wasn't so overheated, it would have been too much, but today it was awesomely refreshing. The post shave on the Vostok cream is terrific, very hydrating. I didn't feel the need for any lotion or aftershave.

Originally Posted by TaipeiJake

Shave #119.6 - Heat Beater

Did a morning bike ride and decided to cool down with a PWSS (post workout shower shave).

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III

3 on the face, 4 on the neck = BBS.

General Impressions of the Vostok: I don't know if it was because my pores were very open after riding in the heat, but the Vostok was outrageously cooling today. If I wasn't so overheated, it would have been too much, but today it was awesomely refreshing. The post shave on the Vostok cream is terrific, very hydrating. I didn't feel the need for any lotion or aftershave.

That's a good thing!!!! Where did you get the Vostok?

I ordered it directly from the Queen Charlotte Soaps website. Personally, I'm really enjoying this cream, actually it is more of a croap. I also ordered their Mystic Forest or Celestial Forest soap (can't quite remember the name) which I'm not enjoying as much. The soap works great, but I have an issue with the scent, or lack of scent.

I should mention that I find the Vostok cream very hydrating, but today I was shaving right after a strenuous workout and my skin was pretty oiled up, so that also contributed to not needing any post shave treatment.

Shave 119.7 - PWSS Part Deux

I enjoyed my last shave so much I decided to do the same thing again.

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Hulk's Smash

Not much to say here, just the same process as my last shave, but I did make a useful addition - I brought a beer into the shower with me this time. Very good!

I did get some pulling on my second and third passes this time, which is why I added the Hulk's Smash post-shave. I'm not really sure what went wrong. My suspicion is that I may not have had a good lather on those subsequent passes. Remember that I'm shaving totally blind and the Vostok is not as foolproof a latherer as the Proraso (my usual shower shave soap). Also, the Vostok is tallow-based and might not be totally appropriate for shower shaves as I cannot easily control how much water is getting added.

I won't give my general impressions of the Vostok this shave. It is largely the same as my last shave. So, I'll do one more shave, likely a hot water shave, as I haven't done that yet, and then give my full review of the cream.

Shave #120 - A Nice 2-Passer

I decided to try the Vostok as part of a hot water shave routine. To me it just seems more natural as part of a cold water shave, but the soap worked well with hot water.

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Don Jae Chopper + Astra Platinum (2)
Hulk's Smash

This was probably my best ever 2 pass shave. I went straight N-S followed by straight S-N. My face is BBS and my neck is DFS. My wife is packing for a business trip to Canada, so I needed to get my shave done quickly while she was out running errands. She is a human tornado while packing and I dare not shave while she is at it, so it had to be a quick 2-passer today. And now on to the soap review.

Queen Charlotte Soaps Vostok Shave Cream Review

The Basics: The QCS Vostok Shave Cream comes in a 5 oz. jar. The cream itself has the density of a very soft soap or croap. It has a clean ingredient list, without excessive chemicals or preservatives. The cream does contain tallow. So be aware of that if you have moral objections. For me personally - nothing beats tallow. The ingredients follow:

Water; saponified stearic acid; glycerin; saponified tallow, palm oil, olive oil, and coconut oil; aloe vera extract; essential oil; kaolin clay; menthol; phenoxyethanol and caprylyl glycol; vitamin E.

Lathering: Overall, this is an easy cream to lather. It is nice to work with, and for a soap that's ingredient list includes tallow, it has a pretty wide latitude for the amount of water it can accept. I experienced a small learning curve getting to know this cream. What I learned is that you need to really load the brush well (almost excessively) for best results. Initially I found loading the brush difficult, until I figured out that you should use a very wet brush for loading. After soaking the brush, shake it out very little if at all. I'm going to mark this cream down on lathering, because I had problems bowl lathering it. (Not a big issue for me as face lathering the menthol was a joy). It is not as easy to work with as say a Synergy soap, but it is not too difficult, and the lather is worth the little extra effort. (4/5)

Lather Quality: Simply great lather! Nothing beats tallow. The lather is thick and dense with a very shiny quality indicating it holds a lot of moisture - good for us wet shavers. The lather is extremely slick, offering great glide and cushion. It is not a bubbly/airy lather but rather a heavy lather that sticks close to the skin. In my view it is the perfect straight razor lather - slick and dense while not being so voluminous that it gets in the way. (5/5)

Shaveability: Stated simply, it is wonderful. The lather does what it is supposed to, it provides great glide and cushion. It is very protective of the skin. The lather has a lot of slickness that remains on the face after your pass. I had no problem going back over spots that I'd already shaved the lather off. I never got any skin issues from the cream, but if your skin has problems with menthol, steer well clear of this one. (5/5)

Post Shave: It was very hydrating to my skin. Often I really didn't feel the need for my normal post shave skin care routine. I usually still did some post shave care, but only because I enjoy it, with this cream, shave-and-go was an option. (5/5)

Scent: Pleasant hints of mint (peppermint, I guess) with menthol. Nice enough, but not special. (3.5/5)

Total Score: (22.5/25)

General Thoughts: A perfect summer time shave cream. The menthol kick is substantial and invigorating. It is really wonderful as part of a cold water shave. This cream comes in at about $3.20US/oz., putting it at the upper end of midrange. For me, it is worth the price.

Shave #120.5 - Multitasking Morning

Rushing this morning, but I needed a shave with little time, so today was a shower shave, accomplishing 2 tasks at once.

Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

Nothing to say, it was decent and quick.

Shave #121 - Undeserved Improvement

I did a quick 2-passer today.

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (29)
Hulk's Smash

One pass N-S and the final pass S-N, that's it, no touch ups. I have a pretty reasonable overall DFS, despite having had to mow down quite a bit of growth today. My 2-passers seem to have gotten better. I'm not sure why, I've really been straight razor shaving very little over the summer. But, this was a quick efficient shave with acceptable results.

Originally Posted by TaipeiJake

Shave #121 - Undeserved Improvement

I did a quick 2-passer today.

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (29)
Hulk's Smash

One pass N-S and the final pass S-N, that's it, no touch ups. I have a pretty reasonable overall DFS, despite having had to mow down quite a bit of growth today. My 2-passers seem to have gotten better. I'm not sure why, I've really been straight razor shaving very little over the summer. But, this was a quick efficient shave with acceptable results.

Sounds like you are doing good!