SOTD THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

My mug shave this morning featured the second go round with my new razor, the Katsumi 14/13, from the very talented razorsmith, Andrey Shpakopskiy (@Gipson), of Gipson Razors in Kiev, Ukraine. It is easily the widest razor I own, and after the last couple of shaves with petite little Swedish 4/8 razors, took a bit to get used to again.

I do love smiling razors and the Katsumi, Andrey’s homage to the Japanese Saito SK series of smiling blades, is a fantastic shaver. A half hollow grind, while a bit heavier than the full hollowed Saito SK models, to which it pays tribute, nevertheless delivered an extremely close and comfortable shave in three very slow, luxurious passes, leaving me with a velveteen smooth mug.

RAZOR: Gipson Katsumi 14/13 (Mug), Leresche 51 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
CREAM: Castle Forbes Lime
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Royall Lyme AS/Cologne.