November 23, 2024
Brush: AP Shave Co Summer 28mm G5C
Blade Holder: Karve Overlander Brass
Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)
Lather: Wholly Kaw - Amber Bomba - Soap
Aftershave: Wholly Kaw - Amber Bomba - Toner
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
Saturday, November 23, 2024: SLS
Quick and easy with Ramblin' Man this evening before we go out for dinner with the in-laws. I'm looking forward to some good Italian wine and food!
Still not used to it being so dark so early. I'm already missing summer.
Very nice SLS. Like all of the "Man" series Ramblin' Man is a Creed dupe. This one is a dupe of Creed Himalaya.
Yup! It’s probably my wife’s favorite scent in the den.
I’ve tried a decant of Himalaya and, while nice, I don’t think it’s better enough to warrant the price difference. I’m totally happy sticking with the Stirling EdT. :)
The Fat really agrees with my face. I usually use moisturiser after my shaves, but with The Fat I feel like I don't need it.
This was shave 14 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors:
What's your impression of The Fat vs Stirling's sheep soaps?
They're very different. Mitchell's Wool Fat it an old fashioned hard soap versus Stirling's modern croap. Compared to modern soft artisan shave soap bases, you need to start with a drier brush with The Fat or you'll have a bubbly mess. Think SV.
I really enjoy the post shave feel with this one.
Saturday, November 23, 2024: FLS
A much more comfortable shave with the Clog-Pruf this morning. I heeded advice and used much less pressure, and got away with no irritation and a really close shave.
Leviathan into Oro Valley is a nice combination for sure.
Off to do all the errands, have a great Saturday y'all.
November 23, 2024
Brush: Elite Razor Neo-resinate 26mm Mother Lode
Blade Holder: Gillette Super Adjustable 109 (Black Beauty) Gold O-4
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (11)
Lather: Ethos Grooming Essentials - Dragonsbeard - Soap
Aftershave: Ethos Grooming Essentials - Dragonsbeard Skin Food - Splash
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
I was in a mood for Oud, so I pulled out the Dragonsbeard. A couple of years ago, I was so enchanted by this scent that I found myself alternating between it and BaM Leviathan. I finished my tub of Leviathan and have not purchased another so I could use the rest of my soaps.
Dragonsbeard doesn't show up much around here. These are the scent notes:
Agarwood Oil and Oud Resin with essential oils of East Indian Sandalwood, Amber, Tonka Bean Butter, Madagascar Vanilla Bean Infusion Oil, and White Rose Absolute
Mood for Oud sounds like a band name.
Sounds like a really nice soap!
The Ethos soaps, and Dragonsbeard in particular, are very pricey. The owner claims that the prices reflect the use of very high quality components. Assuming that's true, I don't experience higher quality that is justifies the higher price. However, I do think that the soap and scents are high quality. When I run through this tub of Dragonsbeard, I'll buy another one.
Damn, you're not lying. $55 for 4.5 oz. is quite steep compared with other artisans I'm familiar with.
I'm more likely to pick something like this up second-hand, unless I really feel like treating myself.
It is a luxury. That is certain. There are definitely people who buy this and don't like it. Anything that has Oud in it seems to be polarizing.
November 23, 2024
$Discord
Another great Chiseled Face shave. I tripled up on the post-shaves today, just for fun.
Tridi 3 Frimaire an 233 de la Révolution, jour de la Chicorée
I hadn't shaved since Wednesday, and feeling scrubby. Good shave, but I believe I get a slight reaction to the after shave: initially, hardly any burn, but then increaning burn for a minute or two, followed by a decrease. This is not a normal alcohol-burn. Sigh.
Frag burn--
This is shave 13 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless
The GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless
The Clog-Pruf Peerless is a bit of an elusive beast. It is referenced in the wetshaving blogosphere and forums, and people remember seeing ads for it, but my searches came up with amost nothing. No document by ASR or GEM even mentioning the Peerless, just this catalogue page advertising it, but it is an interesting enough evolution from the first generation to warrant its own day (for certain definitions of "interesting") because it shows the way future GEMs will go. Pinging @merikus@sub.wetshaving.social who expressed an interest in this part.
So, what's the Clog-Pruf Peerless and how does it differ from the first generation Clog-Pruf? If you look close at the SOTD pic, you'll see that the Peerless on the left has a thinner safety bar with 17 nibs in contrast to the heftier safety bar with 12 nibs on the first generation. Seems like a small difference, but it's link in the evolutionary chain from GEM's open comb (Damaskene) to functionally open combs (1912, 1914, 1924†), open combs (MMOC 1 and 2), towards big nubs on a bar with channels‡ (Clog-Pruf 1) to this, which is already very close to a modern safety bar. The writing is on the wall and with the exception of the pretty lapse in djudgement known as the Jewel/Streamline, all future GEM razors will have modern safety bars.
† These look like safety bars with lather channels at first look, however, the sheet is bent down and out of the way so what touches the skin is functionally a comb with teeth. It other words, its just a way to make a structurally sound equivalent of a comb with rigid teeth, but from a thin sheet of brass, too thin to have strong enough individual teeth.
‡ The Mühle R41 has that, and it's usually referred to as an open comb razor.
The shave
The Peerless is a wonderful shaver like all the members of the Micromatic family, and it gave me a smooth Omnibus shave. Nocturne and Autumn Ash clearly go for a similar vibe, but they are surprisingly different, yet combine very nicely. I will smell delicious running errands today.
The timeline
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