24.11.2024 - It smells like smoked Worscht

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Snakeskin handle w/ 26 mm Silksmoke Flattop/Fan hybrid knot
• Razor: Greencult GC 2.0 (IV plate)
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: Meißner Tremonia - Strong & Scottish
• Post-Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Valley of Ashes AS; Alterra men natural ASB

-> 2 passes on the dome, 1 around the beard lines. A very good shave, but a bit too much blade feel for my taste.

This MT soap arrived shortly before I left for my vacation trip. It's a hard soap in a violet glass jar, according to Meißner Tremonia it was infused with real scottish whisky. However, it smells very dank - not boozy as I hoped. My mind immediately went to my grandparents' "Worschtkammer", meaning sausage room in local thuringian dialect. It was a dedicated room for storing meat and sausages, mostly Knackwurst , especially the smoked/cured ones (basically, those were put over a small fire to use the smoke to make them last longer). Everything else that was also left in this room (and there were a few things also there) sooner or later had this smell of the smoked Knackwurst. So yeah, this soap unearthed a memory but not one I am too fond of. I now regret that I haven't chosen Himalayan Heights by MT... since the soap base performs really great when you load a lot of soap into the brush and even with this heavy scent, no signs of skin irritation.

The GC 2.0 with plate No. 4 is really efficient. Probably the highest blade gap of any razor I own. After my last shave was Wednesday, still at the hotel, I kinda was up for something really efficient. The first pass worked great, but as soon as the second one started, it felt a bit rough. I probably could change back to the II plate for consecutive passes, but ain't nobody got time for that!
Nevertheless, impressive that I didn't cut myself or got weepers. Neither was there aby noticeable redness. I guess this razor & RPLs are a great match!

Going into the early shift tomorrow. I already hate it, as I am an owl type. But well, it is what it is. Fair enough. Hope everyone had a good weekend & have a nice start into the new week!

GEM Days 8b/14: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing – Stunning Beauty Now In Gold – Sun 24 Nov 2024

• Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing (gold plated)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Klar – Lemongrass
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Seville

Klar Lemongrass is a simple scent I enjoy a lot. I used to use it frequently but sort of forgot about it. It's nice to rediscover forgotten little treasures.

This was shave 16 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)~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
5. ~~1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
6. ~~1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
7. ~~1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless~~
   • FLS
   • SLS
8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year ← We are here
   • FLS
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: Contour II (The last GEM razor)

Sunday, November 24, 2024: FLS - Away At Sea

• Brush: Zenith - B21 boar
• Razor: Gillette - Super Speed Black Tip
• Blade: Gilette - 'The Spoiler' Super Stainless (1)
• Lather: WestMan - Adamastor
• Post: Stirling - Deep Blue Sea Aftershave splash (+ menthol)
• Post: Ginger's Garden - Unscented AS balm (+ menthol)
• Frag: Stirling - Deep Blue Sea EdT

I'm glad to be here for post #1000! Here’s to a thousand more! 🍻

This morning, I had a quick two-pass shave to get me out the door.

This was my first shave with WestMan's base, and I was quite impressed. It has great slickness and is easy to lather.

The scent of Adamastor was lovely for a sunny Sunday morning. The briny salty sea air comes through in a surprisingly convincing way. This is a scent I could see myself wearing in the summer. Perhaps I'll look into a set once summer rolls around.

Have a good day y'all.

🍳 Created with Neovim & sotd.nvim 🍳

November 24, 2024

• Brush: Zenith 508A XL/Bristle (B35) (MOAR BOAR) 31mm
• Razor: GEM Flying Wing
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: London Razors/Summer Break Soaps - Mountain Laurel - Soap
• Post Shave: London Razors - Mountain Laurel - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Face Lotion - Kelp & Sea Mineral
• Fragrance: London Razos - Mountain Laurel - EdP

In honor of @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social using one of my favorite GEMs today as part of his "GEM Days" celebration, I too used my Flying Wing.

Great shave.

This SOTD thread is the 1,000th post made to this Lemmy instance. A big milestone! With 10,200+ comments, the average comments per post is about 10.2.

Nov 24, 2024 - Mousse de Saxe Sunday

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Fu Dao Flare 26mm v20 Fanchurian Badger Knot
• Razor: Gillette Red Tip Super Speed (1957)
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) [1]
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - The Full Measure of Man - Soap (Excelsior)
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Lavanille - Splash

Warm and comforting MdS combined with vanilla, tobacco, and lavender. A Sunday treat!

GEM Days 8a/14: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing – Stunning Beauty – Sun 24 Nov 2024

• Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing (NOS, chrome plated)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. – AG 1889
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Teacher's Pet
• Fragrance: The Scottish Fine Soaps Company – Vetiver & Sandalwood

This is shave 15 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the prettiest vintage safety razor of all times, the GEM Micromatic Flying Wing. The American Safety Razor seems to have hired a designer or two because this and the next razor (the legendary Streamline/Jewel/Ambassador to come out of the factory are absolutely stunning.

The Flying Wing/Bullet Tip

The Flying Wing is an update to the Micromatics with the same exact same twist-to-open mechanism as the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but with a redesigned head, a true safety bar and a reduced bullet tip-shaped knob. The top cap is now flat, and the modern safety bar and its geometry have roughly settled for the remainder of ASR razor history with the exception of the Jewel (more on this tomorrow).

For the first year, the Flying Wing came with the so-called "Guiding Eye", a gimmick that's supposed to encourage the right shaving angle like the "HOLD FLAT AGAINST FACE" engraving on some MMOCs.

The original version with the Guiding Eye came in the chrome-plated version I'm using today which shipped in cardboard packaging, and a gold-plated version in a see-through display case visible in the background of the SOTD pic.

A later version replaced the brass twist knob by a plastic knob.

The Flying Wing is the mildest of the Micromatics, and because of the flat top cap feels significantly different than the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but it is still an efficient razor, and had seen significant use on the sub, particularly during a brief phase when Micromatic Mammoth Monday Formation Flights (MMMMFFs) where a regular thing.

The shave

I love the scent of 1889, but get a tingling from the frag, so I use it rarely. I limited myself to two passes today, and I managed to get a great shave before the tingling reached unpleasant levels. Success. The Flying Wing consistently gives great shaves, and today was no exception.