Novelist's Shave Kit

Gentlemen,

If you were to go away to a quaint chateau in Province or to a rustic cottage in Scotland to write your long awaited novel, what shave kit would you take along?

The products should be reasonably priced and accessible, not some $10,000 straight razor you've always dreamed about. Down-to-earth, realistic products. Straight razors only, please. Here is my choice, which is within my means and simple tastes:

1. Straight razor: Thiers-Issard Flying Tudor Rose 5/8 with snakewood scales (what the hell, I finally ordered this from Classic Shaving).
2. Brush: Medium-sized Edwin Jagger silver tip.
3. Shave cream: Taylor of Bond Street Rose (or you may substitute soap).
4. Coolant: Thayer's super witch hazel.
5. Balm: Trumper coral skin food.
6. Aftershave: Trumper Spanish Leather (or you may substitute cologne).
7. Free choice: Whatever I might have left off.
8. Good medicine: Single malt scotch.

Now I'm ready to begin the novel: "It was a cold and rainy day . . ."

Regards,

Obie

For the zen-like concentration necessary, I'd have to go for the primo stuff:

Razor: Towa Wedge
Lather: Penhaligon's English Fern
Brush: Betty the Beautiful Boar
Aftershave: The Shave Den Mayan Gold AS Milk
Talc: Yardley Sandalwood

"It was the best of shaves, it was the worst of shaves..."

1. Straight razor: My 6/8 double notched Greaves wedge
2. Brush: My Semogue 730 Silvertip
3. Shave cream and matching soap: Tough decision between Oak & Moss or Bay Rum (both from CarrieM)
4. Coolant: Witch Hazel
5. Balm: Nivea ES
6. Aftershave: Either Ogallala Bay Rum or Oak & Mass AS Gel, depending on which uberlather I went with
7. Free choice: My Tony Miller Strop, of course
8. Good medicine: A nice Highland Scotch

1. Razor: My (W)Heatley 1/4 Hollow French Point with original horn scales - can't beat that Sheffield steel!
2. Brush: Semogue 2015 Silvertip (the only one I have experience with other than my Tweezerman)
3. Soap and cream: Body Shop Maca Root Cream and my Col. Conk Bay Rum (I nuked it well when melting it into my bowl so the scent is gone, resulting in uberlathers that smell purely of the Maca Root)
4. Coolant: I don't use one, unless you count cold water
5. Balm: GFT Lime Skin Food
6. AS: Ogallala Bay Rum Aftershave and Toner
7. Free Choice: Nivea for Men exfoliating face scrub
8. Good Medicine: A good anejo Tequila and a caballito glass or cognac snifter to drink it from

The opening sentence: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, is probably getting sick of lonely women trying to marry him"

He stumbled forward and peered, bleary eyed at the face in the mirror which looked back, not with a look of tired bewilderment, but disdainful ugliness. There was an astonishingly dissimilar outward appearance to the inward feeling that morning. Perhaps it was the several glasses of gin he'd poured down last night which brought the dichotomy into focus. Perhaps it was the beginning of the next chapter which was troubling him and which prompted pouring the gin in the first place. Or maybe it was some combination of the two, but whichever it was, he couldn't remember when this difference was as striking. Pulling his eyes from the unsettling creature in the glass which surveyed him threateningly he looked down upon the tools he was about to use on it:

An Omega boar bristle brush which had just broken in nicely so as to provide fantastic lather yet retain solid 'backbone' was soaking in an old coffee mug. Although he was up at his usual time it felt so early that he could scarcely remember putting it there, but there it was nonetheless with piping hot water from the wood stove at the other end of the cottage which had been burning through the night and still hot in the morning. Behind the brush sat a bar of Leatherneck shaving soap in a shallow dish. The soap maker, Colleen has an especially finely tuned nose and the warm, musky scent of the bar calmed him, eased the tension from the prior moment's stare down with the barbarian whom he had named simply Ugly Man although he was fairly sure the beast wasn't quite human really. He'd thought long and hard about whether he should bring this bar of soap or the Gentlemen's Oak and Moss cream and although it is an equally fine product, somewhat more floral with overtones of moss and lavender made by the self same artisan, the final decision was made while thinking about Ugly Man who he would square off with mornings while sequestered. Ultimately the Leatherneck said "I'm ready for you now", and that was reassuring. Especially when he was still groggy in the early dawn glow which drifted through the trees and into the cabin. It was a difficult decision, but the right one for this process. The act of checking the implements and products for the shave had started to bring him to awareness and he could feel Ugly Man's forcefulness begin to falter. "Heh", he voiced aloud victoriously to himself. He was winning already and he knew it. The Ugly Man knew it too.

His razor had begun to pull slightly earlier in the week so he ran it across his Honemaster barber hone to touch it up and it was sure to deliver a superb shave this morning. Ugly Man shuddered slightly as he picked up the razor and gently teased the blade from its resting place within the desert ironwood scales to reveal a hundred and fifty year old, seven eighths inch wide, half hollow ground, sway back, spike tip, Wade & Butcher straight razor. He had never gotten a better shave from anything else. All the other articles could go hang if they had to. As long as the right razor was in place things simply couldn't go too wrongly. Hanging above was a dual red latigo, canvas strop made for him some years ago by his friend Tony. Tony was a generally quiet man in person, but his leather work positively sang with care, attention and quality. As he began stropping the razor he thought absentmindedly about the rest of his arsenal. After splashing his face at the end of the shave with the cold spring water which came through the pipes to the faucet he would use Colleen's first run test menthol after shave to banish sleep from his mind. This stuff was poweful. No stinging on the newly shaved face, just a clear cool sensation which shot straight up the sinuses. Using it was like a religious experience and Ugly Man whimpered at the thought of it. Finally, the Lush brand Celestial facial moisturiser would give his troubled complexion a smooth ride through the day so that any visitor would never suspect the Ugly Man creature ever lived here in this cabin with him. The next chapter didn't seem so daunting to him now as it had last night. He was too tired to see it clearly then, but it felt like it was coming into focus this morning. What a little rest can do.

Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty. That's it, the stropping was done. He closed the blade into its scales, set it down on the counter and strode across the cabin to the stove where a pot of Chinese pu-ehr tea had been steeping since before his morning constitutional. Some discomforts can be born for an extra moment to more swiftly dispel others. The ritual of stoking the fire with a fresh log and scooping tea into the pot had become common routine to him and he hardly noticed his bladder during it any more. Lifting the tea pot to his tea cup he thought, "Now you die", about Ugly Man and imagined its scream of terror. A chapter waited impatiently in the future and this was going to be a good day.

X

Good luck following that post. /thread

Having just come back from a short trip to the Baltic Sea coast, here's what I took with me (and possible alternatives).

1. Straight razor: Mehl, Hermann "Special" 7/8 - Straight Razor Place Wiki.
2. Brush: Heinrich L. Thäter - Rasierpinsel Reiseetui, Silberspitze.
3. Shave cream: Bay Rum, Orange, Lime, Sandalwood (all from CarrieM, for which many thanks). I'd usually bring my CF Lime, though.
4. Balm: Something CF.
5. Strop: Old Traditional" - Streichriemen für Rasiermesser, handgearbeitet
6. Good medicine: Avene Dermo K for Men, 100% ingrown relief within hours.

i would take the one i feel most comfortable with- so as to be able to have the best shave possible, so that I can concentrate on the novel...

If I were to write a novel it would take quite a while so I would have to pack planning to stay there for ever and I am too accustom to a different brush, razor strop and soap/cream that if I could only have one of each I would develop writers block. Hence I would need to pack a suite case just for my shave gear and probably take a week or more selecting 28 - 35 razors, enough for one a day for a month, and I'm not sure that would be enough. It would be easier for me to just stay home! Think I'm kidding? Ask CarrieM. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Obie

Gentlemen,

If you were to go away to a quaint chateau in Province or to a rustic cottage in Scotland to write your long awaited novel, what shave kit would you take along?

The products should be reasonably priced and accessible, not some $10,000 straight razor you've always dreamed about. Down-to-earth, realistic products. Straight razors only, please. Here is my choice, which is within my means and simple tastes:

1. Straight razor: Thiers-Issard Flying Tudor Rose 5/8 with snakewood scales (what the hell, I finally ordered this from Classic Shaving).
2. Brush: Medium-sized Edwin Jagger silver tip.
3. Shave cream: Taylor of Bond Street Rose (or you may substitute soap).
4. Coolant: Thayer's super witch hazel.
5. Balm: Trumper coral skin food.
6. Aftershave: Trumper Spanish Leather (or you may substitute cologne).
7. Free choice: Whatever I might have left off.
8. Good medicine: Single malt scotch.

---

Well, for sure you forgot the strop(s). And unless you plan on writing a novel in less than a week, a barber's hone or pasted paddle strops. Alum block, and styptic pencil, and bandaids.
And a backup razor. If you take it, you won't need it. But if you don't, Murphy says you'll chip your blade on the faucet the first day and end up growing a beard.:rant:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fritz

Well, for sure you forgot the strop(s). And unless you plan on writing a novel in less than a week, a barber's hone or pasted paddle strops. Alum block, and styptic pencil, and bandaids.
And a backup razor. If you take it, you won't need it. But if you don't, Murphy says you'll chip your blade on the faucet the first day and end up growing a beard.:rant:

---

BANDAIDS???

I guess I'm lucky so far, not needed any of those yet!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fritz

Well, for sure you forgot the strop(s). And unless you plan on writing a novel in less than a week, a barber's hone or pasted paddle strops. Alum block, and styptic pencil, and bandaids.
And a backup razor. If you take it, you won't need it. But if you don't, Murphy says you'll chip your blade on the faucet the first day and end up growing a beard.:rant:

---

lots of novelists grew beards. in fact, a short-cropped beard is kind of the "novelist look"

Your brain and you literacy. Honestly, the rest is superfluous. Personally I'd want to shave but if I didn't have the time, I wouldn't.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlanII

Your brain and you literacy. Honestly, the rest is superfluous. Personally I'd want to shave but if I didn't have the time, I wouldn't.

---

this.
anything else, and you may as well get a mac book pro, and hang out at starbucks while you write

I'd quite like a Mac Book Pro. **** Starbucks though, I can make my own coffee.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jehan60188

this. anything else, and you may as well get a mac book pro, and hang out at starbucks while you write

---

Oh, great. You do realise that my entire street is full of young people who "do something with culture", flaunting Macbooks, sipping cappuccino after 11am, and wearing sunglasses last seen on John Holmes? Just thought I'd mention it... :cry:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Oh, great. You do realise that my entire street is full of young people who "do something with culture", flaunting Macbooks, sipping cappuccino after 11am, and wearing sunglasses last seen on John Holmes? Just thought I'd mention it... :cry:

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sounds rough. just keep marching to the beat of your own flute, and you'll be ok

Gentlemen,

What profound thoughts from all of you. I appreciate that.

Some reflections:

One of the greatest joys of my life is the time I spend every morning shaving, especially with a straight razor. I think this is partly because of my experience as a U.S. Army combat correspondent in the jungles of Vietnam, where half the time I felt like a slug sporting sandpaper for my handome mug. No more, I say.

Now, whether in Province or Scotland, the great shave comes first.

Although I admire gentlemen with well trimmed and classy beards, I choose not to have one for myself, because I would find life difficult walking around with my face stuck in a bush. A clean shave for this novelist, if you please, gentlemen.

I drink regular coffee, but no deadly sweet boutiques, and I try to avoid Starbucks, because I find its coffee undrinkable. Of course I blend my own coffees. I also blend my own loose teas, which I prepare in a samovar. Now if I were going to Vienna, sitting in Cafe Mozart and drinking those magnificent coffees and savoring those magnificent pastries, that would, indeed, be a treat. But I'm not in Vienna.

I chose not to mention strop and styptic pencil in my novelist's shave kit, because I consider them as the straight razor's regular entourage. Unless, of course, one has a special strop, which I don't. I do have alum block, but I prefer witch hazel.

Should my Thiers-Issard get damaged, heaven forbid, I would find the opportunity as a great excuse to to make a short pilgrimage to, say, London, where I can go nuts at Taylor of Old Bond Street, Truefitt & Hill and Geo F Trumper.

Should that happen, I would take a notebook along and my beloved Pelikan fountain pen. I would find a good pub and fade away with the novel — if I can be dragged away from thos glorious shaving institutions.

Let me see, "It was a cold and rainy day . . ." I say, perhaps another ale before I continue.

Regards,

Obie
obieyadgar.com

It was a cold and rainy London day, he stayed in bed for a hour longer than usual before getting up and shaving. When all was done, coffee drunk, he sidled down to the nearest pub. At the bar, he bumped into an old friend that he had not seen in years. The now near, though never really stranger said,

"Hello, what are you doing at the moment?"

"I'm working on my novel."

"Ahh, neither am I," his old friend replied.

This joke is copyright, Peter Cook. RIP.

Gentlemen,

That's a good joke, and it rings true. Believe me, I've been there many times.

Regards,

Obie