November 20, 2024

• Brush: Wald Stratos Goldvein 29mm A1 Fan

• Blade Holder: Gillette Slim Aristocrat H4 (setting: 7)

• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (6)

• Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Soap

• Aftershave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Eau de Toilette

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

Great Black Watchday shave today!

Nov 20, 2024 - BVWSC: Oro Valley

• Brush: Brochas El Druida/House of Mammoth Tobacconist Chisel & Hound v8 Fanchurian Badger Knot
• Razor: Mühle Rocca R94
• Blade: Perma-Sharp Super [4]
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Oro Valley - Soap
• Post Shave: Ariana & Evans - Lavender Noir - Splash
• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Ombré Leather - Eau de Parfum

I love the interplay between the jasmine sambac and the leather notes in both Oro Valley and Tom Ford's Ombré Leather. Stirling's homage, which is the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club selection for today, is spot on to the original.

20.11.2024 - BVWSC: Travel Edition

• Brush: Omega Roma Colosseo 31 mm
• Razor: Headblade S2 Lunar Eclipse
• Blade: HB 2 cartridge
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Oro Valley sample
• Post-Shave: Capanova Natural aftershave repair balm
• Fragrance: Tom Ford Ombré Leather EdP

2 pass head shave with the Headblade. A very luxurious shave to end a great day for me.

For today's edition of Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club, we use Oro Valley by Stirling - a very faithful dupe of Tom Ford Ombré Leather . I was really looking forward to this, as the original TF fragrance is one of my absolute favourites (together with its sibling Tuscan Leather ). OL is more unisex than TL though: it's the smell of luxurious new car seats made from the finest italian leather. It's the new leather jacket fresh out of its packaging. In general, it's a scent of fresh, new luxury items made from leather.

Stirling's dupe is very faithful and that's very great. Of course, the base is one of the most often recommended starting points in the hobby and it works fantastic. My only gripe is that Oro Valley is one of the few Stirling Soaps who aren't available in the EU. Otherwise, it would be totally great to combine with the little travel decant I have of the original TF.

Very busy vacation day for me, first a visit at the Kyffhäuser-Denkmal and then the Panorama museum with a huge 360° painting. This shave topped off a very successful time. Hope you're all well, happy Hump Day and all that jazz... I'm off to the hotel bar now ✌🏻

Muchos thanks for the oro vaLley.

Warm and comfortable scent but not something that wows me... I'm not the biggest leather fan so no surprises there.

November 20, 2024 -- BVWSC

• Brush: Muninn Woodworks w/AP Shave Co 24mm Titanium Synthetic

• Blade Holder: Haircut & Shave Co P076 Ti

• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (5)

• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Oro Valley - Soap

• Aftershave: Stirling Soap Co. - Mountain Man - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Creed - Silver Mountain Water

2 passes. Bowl lather. Excellent shave.

This is a Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club shave, and wow(!), what a good one. Oro Valley is a dupe of Tom Ford Ombre Leather. With my penchant for placing non-Creed scents in the Stirling Soap "Man" category, I would definitely call this one Leather Man. I was sent a smush of this (thank you @walden@sub.wetshaving.social), but I previously purchased a 1 oz. sample from Stirling and waited to use it today. The scent combines well with Creed's Silver Mountain Water, but I think a full trifecta of this is warranted.

I almost never use this Haircut & Shave razor. It's expensive (because Ti), and made in Maryland where I live. Today everything about it was perfect, however. I need to use this one more. I definitely will fit in another use of it within my next 20 shaves this month.

November 20, 2024: Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club

• Brush: Maggard 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Chiseled Face - Legacy Raw Titanium (#69)
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (2)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Oro Valley - Soap
• Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman Special Reserve - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Face Lotion - Kelp & Sea Mineral
• Fragrance: Jōvan Musk - EdT

$Discord

Oro Valley is named after a place north of Tuscon, Arizona, which presumably smells amazing. It's a really great leather scent, both bright and dark, complex yet simple. I like it a lot.

Smushes for next months BVWSC will be mailed out today. I have 8 envelopes ready to go to @DaveWave94@sub.wetshaving.social , @gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social , @sahenders@sub.wetshaving.social , @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social , @whosgotthepudding@sub.wetshaving.social , @PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social , @snooting@sub.wetshaving.social, and @enndeegee@sub.wetshaving.social.

Wednesday, November 20, 2024: SLS

• Brush: Zenith/Stirling - 510SE-XL 31mm boar brush
• Razor: RazoRock - Game Changer .68
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (4)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Latha Taiga
• Post: Barrister and Mann - Latha Taiga Aftershave splash
• Post: Stirling - Glacial Unscented Aftershave balm
• Frag: Chiseled Face - Summer Storm EdP

I like the scent of Taiga a lot; it might be my favorite pine-forward soap so far. However, I don't love the Latha base compared with others from BaM that I've tried. It seems to dry out faster than others. Perhaps I'm just not hydrating properly.

🍳 Created with Neovim & sotd.nvim 🍳

Wednesday, November 20, 2024: FLS - Oro Valley BVWSC

• Brush: Omega - 10048 boar
• Razor: Rockwell - 6C
• Blade: Bic - Chrome Platinum (2)
• Lather: Stirling - Oro Valley
• Post: Stirling - Oro Valley Aftershave splash
• Post: Stirling - Glacial Unscented Aftershave balm
• Frag: Stirling - Oro Valley EdT

A great shave for today's meeting of the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club. Today we're shaving with Stirling's Oro Valley, which is a recent addition to my collection that's quickly become a favorite.

There is definitely a strong leather note, but I also get a touch of citrus and smoke. Not a thick, overpowering smoke. Think the smell the morning after a juniper brushfire. Mild, but quite lovely.

Drama free lather with the Omega, this thing always delivers with Stirling's base.

Have a great day y'all!

🍳 Created with Neovim & sotd.nvim 🍳

Wednesday, November 20, 2024: Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club

• Preshave: Proraso Green Preshave
• Brush: Semogue C3 Galahad Horse 🐎
• Razor: Ertan Süer L'Ours Russe (7/8th)
• Lather: Stirling Oro Valley
• Postshave: Naissance 702 Witch Hazel
• Postshave: Epsilon Blue Mediterranean
• Postshave: Nivea After Shave Balm

It is the 3rd Wednesday of the month, and it is BVWSC! Unfortunately, I have been struggling with a long cold, which leaves my olfactory capacities strongly diminished. I could identify some faint leather scent, but other than this, I'm not in the best shape to pronounce myself on odors. I'll have to revisit this soap once I'm better.

Otherwise, the Stirling base was good as always, easy to lather, and providing a good shave.

Have a good day!

~Shared via emacs & sotd.el~

GEM Days 4b/14: first generation GEM Micromatic Open Comb - Wed 20 Nov 2024

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - Papa Eld with Declaration Grooming B3
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb (first generation)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Declaration Grooming – Scrooge
• Post Shave: Ariana and Evans Peach & Cognac

Lovely second luxury shave with spicy Scrooge, boozy Peach & Cognac, and the goat MMOC.

This was shave 8 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors:

1. ~~1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
2. ~~1914-1927: 1914~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
3. ~~1924-1933: 1924 Shovelhead~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
4. 1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate) ← We are here
   • FLS
5. 1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)
6. 1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf
7. 1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless
8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year
9. 1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO)
10. 1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to "Slim-V Flat Top" in 1953, British version sold as "Natural Angle" by Ever-Ready
11. 1955-1958: GEM V-Slim "Heavy Flat Top" (G-Bar, shiny chrome), New V Natural Angle Heavy Flat Top (E-Bar, less shiny nickel)
12. 1958-1965: Push Button
13. 1965-1973: Contour
14. 1973-1979: Countour II (The last GEM razor)

GEM Days 4a/14: first generation GEM Micromatic Open Comb - Wed 20 Nov 2024

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - Papa Eld with Declaration Grooming B3
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb (first generation)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Oro Valley
• Post Shave: D.R. Harris – Marlborough

This is shave 7 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-stile razors, and I have reached the first generation MMOC, a.k.a. where GEM razors made the jump from good to great.

The Micromatic Open Comb

Fair warning, I love the Micromatic mechanism and will bore you if you're not interested in design details.

To recap the story of GEM razors so far: The 1912 is a great shaver and already has half of what makes GEMs great: perfect blade alignment by pressing the edge against blade stops. The two later models of 1914 and 1924 tried to improve upon the design by 1) making loading the blade easier by having a top cap that fully opens, and 2) decoupling the actions of aligning the blade with the stops and clamping the blade by using two separate spring instead of one. So what could GEM improve further if their product already shaves well and loads easily? Make it safer and even easier! The Micromatic twist-to-open mechanism has your fingers safely a few cm away from the edge when the top cap opens. In addition, the top cap opens smoothly, unlike the predecessors', which is held by buckling springs and opens with a snap motion.

As a second addition, they also modified the blade format to make loading even more easy. Micromatic is the brand name for this razor and also for the new blade format with the three cutouts, see this figure.

The centre cut-out engages with the little post in the centre of the base plate to centre the blade. Previously, the 1914 and 1924 Shovelhead had annoying lateral hooks on their base plates that made inserting the blade fiddly, and the 1912's blade stops grabbed the corners of the blade which also made inserting the blade into the small opening tricky. The Micromatic's centre cut-out makes inserting the blade child's play. You literally just place it on the base plate in you're done. The second set of cut-outs on the sides is where the top cap engages with the blade and pushes it against the stops. We will talk about these lateral cutouts a bit more with tomorrow's second generation MMOC.

It is clear that the company's decision here was to produce a high-tech razor (for the 1930ies), with many machined parts and a clever, but robust twist-to-open mechanism. This represents GEM/ASR Ever-Ready's third attempt at replacing the cheap 1912 (which is still chugging along successfully) and it's a bullseye in terms of robustness and ergonomics. Now this first Micromatic has a reputation for being aggressive, but that's a question of preference and GEM will address it thoroughly over the next four generations of Micromatics.

The shave

Today is already the third Wednesday of the month, which means that it's Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club meeting day. This month, see have chosen Stirling Oro Valley. Rod one told us that it was his favourite dupe (or was it the most successful? Not sure anymore), and I can see why. A rich warm leather scent. There is a bright note that feels a bit like citrus to me, but I think that's my nose playing tricks.

This particular MMOC is the one I used for two consecutive AAs in the GEMs of Wisdom: Finding Serenity in Austerity challenge, and I also took a blade to 100 shaves in it. In other words, it's my favourite safety razor and I get the smoothest, most efficient shaves from it. It has an unmistakeable pronounced blade feel (great haptic feedback). The angle of the head promotes a flat shave angle (great ergonomics). The crunchy toast buttering audio feedback is legendary.

The timeline

1. ~~1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
2. ~~1914-1927: 1914~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
3. ~~1924-1933: 1924 Shovelhead~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
4. 1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate) ← We are here
5. 1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)
6. 1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf
7. 1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless
8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year
9. 1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO)
10. 1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to "Slim-V Flat Top" in 1953, British version sold as "Natural Angle" by Ever-Ready
11. 1955-1958: GEM V-Slim "Heavy Flat Top" (G-Bar, shiny chrome), New V Natural Angle Heavy Flat Top (E-Bar, less shiny nickel)
12. 1958-1965: Push Button
13. 1965-1973: Contour
14. 1973-1979: Countour II (The last GEM razor)