Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #189.2 - Super Typhoon Dujuan

Well, Taipei got nailed by another super typhoon following about a month-and-a-half after Typhoon Soudelar. Today is a Typhoon day, so I'm home from work, and thought I'd try a bunch of my new products.

Catie's Bubbles Le Piment de la Vie (LPV) Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Voskhod (1)
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements (PAA) CaD

In terms of new products, I think I hit a triple. First impressions are very positive for all three. The LPV is Catie's Bubbles "slick" formula, and it was definitely slick. It surpassed anything that I have in the den at the moment in this regard. The smell is very nice too. I'm a bit concerned as my skin was getting a bit of a tingle towards the end of the shave. I hope I'm not going to have allergy issues, because this seems like an awesome straight razor soap. (I don't want to say for sure, because I usually need to live with a soap for a month, but signs look good). The first shave off the Voskhod was likewise impressive, better then my current 2nd favorite blade (the Astra Stainless). We'll have to see how that develops, but maybe there's a new number two in town. Last, but not least, the PAA CaD feels very healing and has a nice (Classic Clubman) scent.



The shave itself? A nice BBS. Considering the number of new products, that really is a good result.

Shave #190 - A Black Tie Affair

I'm going to a formal event tonight, put on by the European Club. It is not really my cup of tea, but my wife has to go for work, so I have to go. So, I needed a shave to match my tux.

Catie's Bubbles LPV Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Geo Wostenholm & Son IXL 5/8" (5)
Clubman Classic

For future reference, I shouldn't have a breakfast of multiple cups of Irish coffee and cigars and then do a straight razor shave. I wasn't so steady. Still I managed a nice DFS without scratching my beautiful mug with the Geo's square tip.

Good enough,...now I have to see if there's any shoe polish in the house.

Shave #190.1 - Another New Soap

RazoRock XXX Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Voskhod (2)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I did my normal 3 and a bit passes. The shave is not as close as I would normally expect, maybe CCS/DFS. I'm surprised actually, because as I was shaving, I felt like I was getting a close shave, but apparently not. And, it is not like I'm mostly BBS, but just missed some spots, I'm universally not so close. Maybe the Voskhods will end up not being my thing. We'll have to see.

Shave #190.2 - Representing Canada

So, this shave actually happened yesterday, but I didn't have time to write about it. So, something about myself - I'm a harmonica geek. There is a large international harmonica festival happening in Taiwan right now. Yesterday was the opening ceremonies with a concert featuring Sirius Harmonica Ensemble, Juko Saito, and Yasuo Watani. My wife works for the Canadian embassy, and got us free tickets, but we had to represent Canada. (Large cultural events usually provide free tickets to various embassies). So I needed a shave, but it had to be quick. So, I just ran home from work and performed a quick 2-passer...

RazoRock XXX Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Voskhod (3)
PAA CaD

It wasn't a great shave, but it was functional enough, and allowed me to honorably represent Canada. ;-)

Mike Stevens, a legend in Bluegrass harmonica, is in town for the event. Actually, we're friends, I've known him for years, and this morning I attended his Bluegrass thematic workshop and then his masterclass. It was fun, though it strenuously outlined how terribly out of practice I am. So, this is the first chance I've had to write. Now I'm heading out the door to see Mike Stevens' concert, followed by Koei Tanaka's concert. I'm not really familiar with Tanaka, but he's a jazzman from Japan.

[If you're the same type of geek as me, these names will mean something to you, if not, then it is all just blah, blah, blah...]

Sounds like a fun night out Jake, wish I was there. Always been a fan of the harmonica, Charlie Musselwhite. Watched a couple of vids of Mike Stevens, very talented.

Shave #190.3 - Back to the Real World

Hi Grazor, yeah it was an awesome 4 days of harmonica. For me the highlight was definitely Mike Stevens. He is one of my all-time favorite players. Getting the chance to hear him in concert and study with him in workshops and masterclasses was great. But, even nicer than that, we managed to carve a couple hours out of his busy schedule to just hang and catch up.

It was 4 days, morning to night of harmonica madness. Most of the things were related to jazz and classical chromatic harmonica, ensemble playing, and tremolo harmonica, so it was a bit outside what I do (10-hole harmonica), but it was all fascinating and very high caliber. (10-hole harmonica is very much on the fringe in Asia). Anyways, it was very tiring, and now I'm heading straight back to my work week.

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
RazoRock XXX Shave Soap
Semogue 2012
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather (1)
PAA CaD

I've had a series of below par shaves of late, and I wanted an (almost) guaranteed BBS today, so I reached for a Feather. They rarely disappoint. 3.5 passes later and I'm a lovely BBS.

Shave #191 - The Ugly Duckling Rides Again

RazoRock XXX Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (10/5)
Classic Clubman
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I haven't shaved with the WISS since France. I was having problems with it in France, and thought it needed to be resharpened, but I decided to strop it up and give it a try before throwing it on the to be sharpened pile. I did my normal 2.5 passes and seem to have a pretty satisfactory DFS, so maybe I'll get a few more shaves before refreshing. Possibly my newspaper strop was letting me down in France - hard to say.

I have shaved four days in a row now, started with my cheeks and took babysteps towards other (harder and more "bumpy") places, like moustache and chin. have not experienced a burn yet, letting the blade do it's business and not "lean" on it.
I have completed my firts full-face shave yesterday and have enjoyed it. Took a little more than my intended 10 minutes. I take a long time to prepare, shower, oil, cream, than shave.
I use olive oil for pre-shaving, as the effect is the same and all the commercial pre-shave stuff smells to much to my taste.
Switching hands is not something I have tried yet, I feel safer using my, dominant, right hand. Eventhough it involves some facial-acrobatics sometimes..
Should I? I had a clean and smooth shave despite the grimassing involved, why should I switch? Are there benefits besides the reachability of illustrious places on my face?

Hi GRjr,

Congratulations! Sounds like you have a great start down the straight razor road. Personally, I do switch hands, and it was kind of awkward at first, but now I can't imagine cross-facing myself. But, really lots of people choose to only use their dominant hand, and they achieve excellent results as well. So, you are free to do what you think works best for you, there isn't really a single "correct" way to straight razor shave. YMMV is more than just an acronym, it's a philosophy.

Shave #192 - Out Comes the Winter Soap

Though I suppose it is mostly my imagination, but there are a couple scents in my cabinet that I equate more to winter than summer. During the last week some of the heat has gone out of the air, so...

Synergy Cavendish Shave Soap
Semogue 2012
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (8)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

I did my normal 2.5 passes and I'm a pretty respectable DFS/BBS combi-pack.