Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #117.6 - Report from Boracay, Station 1

Well, I'm on a short beach vacation to Boracay. My favorite beach spot in Asia. Unfortunately, it's monsoon season, so it's not all it could be.

I haven't really worked out my vacation shave mojo, this time I just brought my DE. I don't really know what I want to have with me and what I don't. Likely it is different for different types of travel/vacations.

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Stainless (1)
Captain's Choice AS Balm

Something about this shave just really hit the spot! I don't know what it was: The cold water on my skin; the menthol on my slightly burned face; the Astra blade;.... I don't know, but something about it felt great. I did 3 passes with a little extra on the neck and I'm BBS.

Shave #117.7 - No Soak - No Lather

Came in from the beach, had a shower, and the room didn't have a convenient way to soak my brush. So, I just ran it under the tap for a minute, or so. It had an effect, my lather was not nearly as good as I'd expect when face lathering Proraso. Maybe all these little rituals do have meaning. ;-)

Proraso Green Pre/Post Shave
Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Stainless (2)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

Normal 3-pass shave plus a bit on the neck finds me BBS. The Proraso products are nice on my slightly sun/wind burned face. Feeling good.

Shave #117.8 - All Good Things Must Come to an End

Despite the weather being less than perfect, Boracay was charming.


My wife sitting on the beach.

So I'm back in Taipei, and I was heading out to a Scotch bar with a friend this evening, so I needed a shave, and I was still feeling the DE.

L'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Stainless (1)
Hulk's Smash

My normal 3 passes on the face and 4 passes on the neck. BBS.

But, shaving was not my only shave related activity today. Some of you might recall that I picked up 3 antique straight razors last time I was in Canada. Today I cleared up a small work space so I can begin cleaning them up.

Also, I spent some time lapping my water stones. That was more of a struggle than I expected. My Kingstone 1000/6000 lapped up nicely. When I moved to the Norton, the 4000 side lapped up well, but the 8000 side was a nightmare. I lapped and lapped until I thought my arms would fall off. I finally got it lapped and am now ready to make my first baby steps into another aspect of the hobby.

Sometimes lapping can be a lot of fun if ya know what I mean. Just keep up the good work & it will pay off. Sounds like you're making progress! Good luck!

Shave #117.9 - Shower Shave

Sometimes I just love the shower and shave combo.

Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III

3 passes on the face, 4 on the neck, and I'm DFS+. I think the blade was getting a bit dull, leaving me a bit less than BBS. Still, the shower and shave together was a nice way to wash away the cares of the day.

Shave #118 - Ooops

I ended up aborting this shave at around the midpoint.

L'Occitaine Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Don Jae Chopper + Astra Platinum (1)
Alum/Styptic
Hulk's Smash

I was planning to do 3 passes on the face and 4 on the neck, much like I do with a DE, and see what kind of results I got. But, things went a bit sideways right from the start. I gave myself quite a few weepers on pass #1. On pass #2, I gave myself a bit of a slice under the nose, while going from ear to nose. I decided to finish the pass and pack it in.

So, it ended up being a slightly bloody 2 pass shave, WTG and XTG. I'm in the CCS range, just slightly below my threshold for DFS. If it wasn't for the blood, I'd think the result pretty good for a 2-passer without any ATG.

Oh well, better luck next time.

You'll get it, just keep on trying!

Shave #118.5 - That's a Nice a Shave ah

Performed a post-shower evening shave in an effort to beat the heat.

QCS Vostok Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Stainless (2)
Hulk's Smash

Now that felt good! The Vostok cream is really refreshing. I think that I will use it more or less exclusively for the next month or two, until the weather cools down. So, I'll do a review of this shave cream as well, following the same format as before. I'll do 4-5 shaves, with different set ups, and give some initial impressions after each shave, followed by a full review.

Today I face lathered the Vostok and did 3 passes on my face and 4 on the neck, for a very pleasing BBS.

General Impression of the Vostok: The Vostok shave cream is not really a cream, more of a soft soap, or croap. Despite being a soft soap, it is surprisingly difficult to load. It requires a bit of elbow grease. I found myself running out of soap in the middle of lathering for the third pass. I needed to reload a bit. The lather itself was lovely - creamy, sheeny and slick - plus, very refreshing. Make that REFRESHING!!!

Sounds good. I may have to try that cream one day! Sounds like you are happy with the shave!

Yeah, it is a pretty nice summer cream, (review to follow).