Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #180 - Holy Crap




Around Nice.




Around Nice.


Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (10/2)
Aveda Men AS Balm + Galimard 1747 Cologne

I'm quite surprised by the quality of the shaves. This was another 2.5 pass shave and I'm basically BBS, except under the nose and a little spot under my lower lip. I'm not sure what's going on, not that I wasn't getting good results before, but things have really stepped themselves up a notch. I can't see that I'm doing anything much differently - the shave gods seem to have randomly decided to bump me up a notch.

Shave #181 - Merde

We spent the weekend in Marseilles.




Vieux Port, Marseille.




I enjoyed Marseille a lot, especially after making two key discoveries. Cuban cigars are relatively cheap here, as compared to Taiwan and Canada, and the regional drink is Pastis, an anis based concoction similar to Ouzo. I love Licorice.


So Marseille was fun, but the train ride back to Nice was in a train car with little to no air-con. I was dying by the time we got back to the apartment. I so needed a cold shower and a refreshing shave.

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
ERN 5/8" (2/3)
Baxter of California AS Balm

That was a very refreshing 2.5 pass shave. Again I'm very close to a total BBS, but there are a few small spots that let the side down. BBS/DFS combo.

It seems in my travels, the ERN has picked up a quite a few water spots. Next time I hone the ERN, I was planning to take it down to the 4K, because I honed with tape and i don't like the way tape feels while honing. I think no tape feels smoother, so I plan to reset the edge for no tape. So, polishing out the watermarks at the same time should be no problem.

Shave #181.1 - An Extraneous Shave




Chateau d'If, the site of the Count of Monte-Cristo's fictional imprisonment, and the man in the iron mask's real imprisonment. (Marseille).




A church at the port of Marseilles dating back to at least 1156 AD.


Well, I think maybe yesterday's shave was more BBS than I gave it credit for since today there really wasn't much to shave. But, I shaved anyways, otherwise my shave siesta would just be a siesta - a notion that my Saskatchewan upbringing rebels against.

Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather (3)
Aveda Men AS Balm

BBS.

Shave #182 - Happy Bastille Day




Part of the Bastille Day celebrations. Apparently the American army left a lot of stuff behind after WWII. Today there was a USN tow truck, a Deuce-and-a-Half, a Sherman tank and several Willys jeeps driven around by men in vintage US military uniforms.




This WWII era British motorcycle was left behind by the British forces.


Apparently of the three countries that landed in France on D-Day, only the Canadians cleaned up after themselves. ;-)


Klar Seifen Shave Soap + Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (10/3)
Baxter of California AS Balm

This was not such a great shave. I whipped up a wonderful über lather, but my old nemesis the flop sweats caused the lather to hover above my skin on a layer of sweat. No matter how rich, creamy and slick the lather, if it doesn't touch the skin, it's not helping. So my 2.5 passer was mildly irritating and rendered a below par result. I'm about DFS.

Today i was wandering around Grasse, went into a grocery store, and there were tubes of Palmolive Shave Cream for like 1€50. (How can you go wrong?)

Shave #182.1 - Hmmmph




Grasse.




Marseille.


Well, yesterday's shave was, as the French would say, like "...zee California Champagne,...total merde!" My skin is still a bit sensitive and I have an annoying degree of whiskery blotches. So, today I went in for a corrective shave.

Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather (1)
Aveda Men AS Balm
Galimard 1747 Cologne

For me, there is just something very smooth and gentle about a fresh Feather in the Edwin Jagger head. The combination of an aggressive blade in a mild head really works for me. I'm a smooth and comfortable BBS. No extra skin irritation.

Shave #183 - A Classic




Nice's oceanside promenade.




Nice's oceanside promenade.


Palmolive Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
ERN 5/8" (2/4)
Aveda Men AS Balm

As soon as I started lathering up the Palmolive the smell sent me on a journey back in time. Someone in my family used this shave cream when I was very young, probably my grandfather, or possibly an uncle who was still at home at that time. Anyway, I love these little unexpected olfactory flashbacks.

In truth the scent is not that great. It is a bit industrial, though pleasant enough, kind of like Irish Spring soap. The lather was good. Today the post shave was a bit drying, but I'm not sure if that was a touch of sunburn or the shave cream. Either way, for less than 2€ it is a great deal.

I performed my normal 2.5-passer, achieving my normal BBS/DFS combo. In the last month or so, however, the DFS portion has shrunk. Now I'm usually getting total BBS results except maybe for a spot near my Adam's Apple or just under the chin. I don't really count the mustache as I don't do a Fool's Pass. Today there's a little spot under the chin that is not quite BBS.

Shave #184 - Less Passes




Musee National Marc Chagall.




Musee National Marc Chagall.


Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (10/4)
Aveda Men AS Balm
Galimard Aventure Cologne

I did a 2-passer today, not my normal 2.5-passer. My skin was feeling sensitive and burning so I pulled up short today. I think that a bit of over exposure to the sun and sea has left my skin a bit sensitive. My skin is generally not so sensitive, but I do have some issues with preservatives in shave soaps. Under normal circumstances most shave soaps won't bother me, but if I allow my skin to become sensitive, through overexposure to the sun for example, then I begin reacting to the soaps. I think that is what happened today. Unfortunately all the soaps that I have with me are mass produced, hence have some preservatives. I didn't think to bring an artisanal soap with a cleaner ingredient list in case of this eventuality...I should have thought of it.... Anyway, the shave result was not bad, at least an overall DFS. We'll see how I feel tomorrow, I might have to give my skin a rest.

Shave #184.1 - Skin Seems Better


Attachment 207174

The North Bath in the Roman ruins of Cemenelum in modern day Nice.


Attachment 207175

The Amphitheatre at Cemenelum built during the 1st century A.D.


My skin seems to be feeling a bit better despite my continued sun and sea exposure, so I decided to try a shave today.

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather (2)
Aveda Men AS Balm + Galimard Double Zero Cologne

I guess those couple of days off from shaving helped my skin. Today was a nice irritation free shave with a BBS finish.

I finished today's shave off with some Galimard Double Zero which my wife bought me. She totally loves the scent. The first time I smelled I hated it - I mean really hated it! The initial smell is of dirt with undertones of the barnyard, the mid tones are of body odor, and it dries down into North African spices. It's masculine and unique, I'll give it that. I'm trying to learn to like it to make her happy, but I keep smelling dog poop everywhere I go, and it's me.

Shave #185 - Minding the Skin




Some Wanker double parked his yacht next to mine. Now I can't get my door open. (Antibes).


Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
ERN 5/8" (2/5)
Baxter of California AS Balm

I've been a touch lazy about shaving lately. But, laziness or not, I needed to get 'er done today.

So I did a simple 2-passer with no extra touch up in an effort to be gentle on my skin. It worked fine. My skin feels good and the results are adequate (BBS - face, CCS/DFS - neck).

Shave #185.1 - Bring the Neck Up to Scratch




The path from the modern town of Eze, on the seaside, to the medieval town of Eze, on a mountaintop. It was on his daily climbs up this path that Nietzche wrote Zarathustra.


After yesterday's shave, my neck was scrubbier than I like, so I did another shave today before heading out.

Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather (3)
Aveda Men AS balm
Galimard Double Zero Cologne

A very lovely BBS. The shave did not add to my natural sun and sea skin irritation, so all is good.

I think we'll head to Menton when my wife gets out of her class. Have a nice day all.