SOTD SATURDAY 31ST OCT to FRIDAY 6th NOV 2015

Greetings

Sunday 1st November 2015
Prep: Shower
Razor: PAL Injectomatic (USA)
Blade: Gillette Plat. Plus NOS
Brush: Semogue OC SE 2012 Mixed
Cream: La Toja
Aftershave: Astral Cream (soft)
EDT: Aramis Rose Calligraphy

Regards
Dick.

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Bulldog Face Wash
L'Occitane Cade Shaving Soap & Plisson Synthetic
Ever Ready 1914 (Bakelite Handle) & GEM Stainless (4)
Hot Rinse, Cold Rinse & Alum Wash
Pashana Original Aftershave

Face Lathered
One Pass - WTG (Slide)

I've been very happy with my two pass shave but between technique and just the right razor, I really wanted to get it down to a single pass ... and enjoy a daily shave rather than an every other day shave. With this shave, I clicked with just the right razor to achieve that! This is my razor. The one. I've always liked the 1914, but this one seems to be the 1914+ shaving absolutely perfectly, aggressive and effective.

Fun to use the L'Occitane gear at long last and great to finish with the Pashana, an aftershave I think I'd probably say is my favourite. He says holding his hands over the metaphorical ears of his vintage Pinaud Lilac Vegetal bottle.

Champion!
 
Sunday 1 November 2015

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Honing a Mastro Livi RWL34 Straight Razor​

Everything started when some gentlemen told me about their unsuccessful attempts in honing a Mastro Livi RWL34 straight razor. I admit I never honed a Mastro Livi razor because, so far, none of the ones I own needed any edge refresh or honing. As a matter of fact, the very first Mastro Livi straight razor I bought two years and a half ago still shaves like the first day. The same I can say about my first Mastro Livi RWL34 razor and which I bought a little more than two years ago. I however wanted to try this myself and see how hard or difficult was honing a Mastro Livi RWL34 razor. I opted for this razor - the last RWL34 I bought - severely dulled its edge on a glass, then honed it from scratch using a Naniwa 3k/8k combo hone, a Guang Xi stone (Chinese stone), Mastro Livi loom strop, his chromium oxide stick and hand palm. I needed the last and ultimate test in order to assess the quality of my honing and it had to be, of course, shaving. Well, this RWL34 razor has a beautiful edge capable of giving me a super smooth and velvety shave, just like every Mastro Livi razor is capable of giving. As far as I can tell and based on my own experience, honing a Mastro Livi RWL34 straight razor is nothing different than honing any other stainless steel razor and I must tell this RWL34 stainless steel seems to be quite "docile" when you pass it on a hone. Superb Mastro Livi shave, as usual!​

  • Pre-Shave: RazorGuy Pre-Shave Oil
  • Soap: RazorGuy Shaving Soap
  • Brush: Mastro Livi Silvertip Badger, Makassar Ebony Handle, 26 mm knot
  • Bowl: Chinese Cheap Bowl
  • Strop: Mastro Livi Small Loom Strop and Hand Palm
  • Razor: Mastro Livi RWL34, 8/8 Full Hollow, Snake Point
  • Post-Shave: Alum Block
  • Post-Shave: Umbrian Extravirgin Olive Oil
  • After Shave: Vifrex Gelée
 
Prep – Scrub with a brush and Dove soap in the shower
Pre-Shave – Cold rinse, glycerine
Lube – Village Barber shaving oil
Brush – N/A :(
Razor – Standard Razor
Blade – Gillette 7 O'Clock SP [2]*

Both are old hat to forumites but for me the first time using the VB shaving oil and second time of using the Standard. I like the idea of shaving oil since soap leaves an over-washed feeling after the scrub in the shower. Previous experience with oil was not happy: KOS oil with a Gillette Sensor twin-blade back in the '90s. Can still remeber the sharp cut bristle ends scraping across my face because they wouldn't rinse out of the inter-blade gap. The VB is much better: lighter, more soluble and doesn't clog the razor – even when rinsing with cold water. Not as slippery or cushioning as soap of course, but workable, and with a pleasant enough smell.

The Standard seems to strike a good compromise between efficiency and comfort so far and I can understand why so many rate it. Don't appreciate the light weight or the fact that it's aluminium (even if it is aircraft-grade) though. A bit of mass to damp out judder seems a good thing. Perhaps if they do one in titanium or S-S one day. Great as a travel razor though I'd imagine. Only a very slight skinning under the chin due to reckless incompetence after a two-pass shave.

* Is the digit in brackets meant to be the number of uses before today or including this one?
 
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