O.k. So Max posted this in one of the SOTD threads.
Curious.. The bay rum step. Does it need to be bay rum or just any splash?
What is the purpose of the bay rum?
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...have_Guide.png
Printable View
O.k. So Max posted this in one of the SOTD threads.
Curious.. The bay rum step. Does it need to be bay rum or just any splash?
What is the purpose of the bay rum?
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...have_Guide.png
As long as the water is hot enough to expand the teeth of your razor, you should be just fine :p
This is what your vintage razor should look like once the teeth have fully expanded. It takes really hot water to get such a wonderful opening-up, but it's worth it - trust me
http://www.blogaholics.ca/wp/uploads...n-skeleton.jpg
...and be sure to floss between those teeth before you strop. This is actually the origin of the hanging hair test (HHT). Since there was no dental floss 100+ years ago, hair was used. :D
(If you believe that, then I have a lovely bridge in Brooklyn for sale that you may be interested in.)
I can't wait to try this out tonight as I was quite interested when Max mentioned the process.
I think they suggest using bay rum as a preshave if you have sensitive skin (which I do). To answer your question of if it needs to be bay rum, I'd say yes only because it is written that way (and that guy looks serious). Not sure what other aftershaves were available at that time. They mention witch hazel after the shave but not before it. I also thought it a bit interesting that it says to use a brush for the first lather and your fingers for the second one. Any thoughts on that bit?
I usually apply jojoba before a shave so I'm going to try the bay rum (Royall brand) tonight and see how it goes.
sometimes it is difficult being technically retarded
I've now done this prep thing for 3 shaves and each time I had the exact same result. 'It does a skin good'. Wonderful, smooth and irritation free shaves. I used bay-rum as mentioned, Dominica and Ogallala. If you look at the original bay-rum from Ogallala is also mentions it can be used as a pre-shave.
I know Don and several other chaps have tried it with excellent success.
And when Don approves anything in the products/shaving department you can be damn sure it's spot on.
Doesnt bay rum do the same thing as witch hazel and other aftershaves?
Tone skin, tighten pores, etc...?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Maximilian;524344
Ben,
from what I know there's many applications as to using bay-rum. I wouldn't try using it as a mouthwash or rum drink but as a pre-shave, A/S, body splash, bath water, foot massage lotion, antiseptic and skin toner it works wonders. It is more versatile to use as a product compared to witch hazel or a regular A/S. You gotta love the scent, that's all.
So... Picked up some Masters Bay Rum. Did not realize how clove smelling it was.
After looking at the ingredient list(water,bay oil, alcohol, glycerin), i'm wondering if the secret ingredient is the glycerin.
If so you could probably get away just using rubbing a little glycerin in if you didnt like bay rum?
Going to try the bay rum experiment tonight or tommorrow. then just glycerin the shave after.
Masters was my first bay rum until I got the Ogallala and Dominica.
It's the bay oil.
"Bay rum is a distillation of the leaves of Pimenta racemosa or the West Indian Bay Tree. Traditionally, the leaves have been steeped in rum to pull out their essential oils, although modern bay rum is made by blending distilled oils with a variety of tropical fragrances
The scent of bay rum is very distinctive. It is used in aftershave, cologne, soaps, and moisturizers, and in addition to bay, the product may include things like citrus, lavender, rosemary, juniper, and other fragrances. Most blends have a slightly woody, sweet, earthy scent, which will slowly dissipate throughout the day, especially when the wearer is in warm weather.
This scent originates in the West Indies, where sailors have been using the leaves of the bay tree for centuries. With the establishment of formal colonies in the West Indies, people came up with all sorts of creative ways to use local products, and bay rum was one of them. Thanks to sugar cultivation, rum would have been readily available in the area, making it convenient as a medium for steeping bay leaves and other plant products from the region, such as vanilla, which originated in Mexico.
To make modern bay rum, producers press the leaves and subject them to a steam distillation process to extract the fragrant oils. Once extracted, the pure oils can be blended with carrier oils, water, and other fragrance oils to make bay rum products. Several West Indian companies continue to produce bay rum, relying on formulas which they have been using for decades to create a familiar product. Producers outside the West Indies also make their own bay rum blends, which may use ingredients from outside the tropics for a distinctive scent.
Now go shave!
Splash is not a noun.
I read on another website discussing bay rum and its medicinal uses that the essential oils are "an excellent anti-inflammatory." Perhaps that is part of the reason for Max's splendiforous shaves when he uses it as a pre-shave. It helps reduce or eliminate razor burn.
IDK, but I've tried it twice now and as Max said 'it does the skin good', I'm another convert. :)
Well I did this, this morning..
Prep:
Jump out of bed and grab cup of coffee
Lather
Put hot water in scuttle and strop.
Rinse off lather and do the bay rum manuever.
Re-lather, massage in with fingers.
Do the shave locomotion
Cold water rinse
Bay Rum
I did add my Nivea ASB to the end. I have had bad luck with alcohol based toners in teh past drying out my skin....
But no shower or hot towels and was a nice shave. Skipped my normal alum block, in order to try to follow the instructions
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4745/splashi.png
I followed the Robeson instructions for lathering and found it to be pretty comfortable. It's hard to say after one shave whether using bay rum is any better for my skin than jojoba so I'm going to try this for my next few shaves with some other razors. Thanks again for the scan, Max!
And now for something completely different...
I splashed my splash on my splashboard to see if the splash would splash any attempts to splash my splashing. The splash didn't splash as it should have splashed, so I splashed the splash.
Moral of the story: Don't splash your splash if it's not quality splash worth splashing.
The bay rum pre shave is interesting. I will have to try it. I've read in the past that lathering with a brush and then rubbing it in well with the fingers and re-lathering is very helpful but I've never tried it. I do wash my face vigorously rinse and wash it again with hot tap water before I lather vigorously with my brush. Seems to me to be the same difference. I will try the bay rum.
How about the guy suggesting that you shave with a diagonal stroke from point to heel. I know what he means but if I didn't I might slice my face. Also the admonition to only shave with the grain. What is that about ?
I thought the same thing then noticed on the front page that it says Ground and Honed for Wiry Beard, Very Tender Skin. I'm guessing that the ShurEdge was marketed towards people with sensitive skin and in that regards it makes sense to suggest a bay rum preshave and no ATG.
OK, curiosity just killed my cat. I'm gonna give it a go using some Master's.
True, I have a very normal beard type and the EPBD shaves me wonderfully. It always made wonder the 'for tough beards' etching on those Filis.
The booklet has like a dozen of razors listed and what you are seeing was just the last razor. Here's the full booklet.
Just finished.
Honestly, I can't say that I really noticed much of a difference. My lather was a bit thinner than usual after lathering on top of the bay rum, but it didn't seem to effect the shave. Had a great shave, nonetheless, but that's par for the course.
For guys that are using it successfully: How much bay rum are you using? I think I may have used too much; around a quarter sized amount in my cupped hand. It didn't take away from the shave at all from what I noticed, but it didn't really seem to help anything, either.
My skin does feel awesome, though, so I did reap some benefits from it. I'll keep doing this for a few shaves to see if I missed anything.
I just use a nice 'splash of bay-rum but let it sit a while and make sure it's dry. It also makes my face tingle a bit. Then I re-lather with no thinning as you mentioned. It definitely adds a nice layer of smoothness when shaving. But it's not the holy grail either. It's just fun to experiment. That's what makes it so entertaining and keeps it all excitng.
See item number 12:
Splash Definition | Definition of Splash at Dictionary.com
It also says in this definition that splash can be a noun.
Day of of the great bay rum splash experiment went well again.
Although i did cut myself when my pager went off....
I tried this on last night's shave ..... the bay rum pre-shave thing. It was really very nice and did seem to make a difference. My face felt tight and smooth after the shave. Quite refreshed. I'll do it again tonight.
The results were much better this time. I think I used too much during the last shave, so that effected, err...effectiveness.
I think I like it. Lather wasn't effected any, so that proves, IMO, that I did something wrong the last time. A splash of Master's was all it took. In fact, I used only a splash of Master's on the second pass without any lather.
Result: BBS with no irritation and my face felt great after the shave. No reason for aftershave since, well, I already used it.
Interesting thread. Seen it before but didn't think of trying it.
After some careful thought though, I want in. Where's the best Bay Rum in London or the UK? Any ideas?
I am puzzled by the part of the instructions that says to lay the blade of the razor flat against the skin to shave...