This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social.
Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.
All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
Nov. 1, 2023
Ok shave. Looking at it now I seem to have some irritation. Shave felt smooth not really sure where my redness is coming from.
Nov 1, 2023 - Witchcrafts Wednesday: Carmilla
I couldn't pass up #witchcraftswednesday the day after Halloween. What better scent than Carmilla, in honor of the vampire legend.
I don't think the Nacet works well for me when paired with aggressive razors. I have some irritation from the shave. Ironically, no blood was let.
Rating: 4/5
Great picture
Thank you!
Love the brush. I have Haunter with the A1 fan and Stratos handle. Amazing knot and workmanship.
Absolutely!
November 1, 2023
I have a Personna BBS-0 on its way to me, so in honor of that I whipped out a Personna blade. Great shave.
November 1, 2023
Not really feeling the Jagger this week. It's either that the blade doesn't go well with it, or it's just taking me some time to readjust.
My original plan was to lean a bit more into the black theme here and use my Böker S.S. Paris Wins with the black scales but then I decided to tighten the pin a bit and did the tap-tap-klack splitting one scale 🤬. At least this seems to resolve the question whether this is a modern or a vintage: that's too brittle for a recent plastic scale. Oh well, replacement scales are ordered.
The Heljestrand is a great little shaver, too, and Black Watch is just as great as I remember it. It has this note that reminds me a bit of Cerberus, and I bet they'd work great together.
Bummer!
Yeah... Feels a bit stupid to break something that survived that long. I'm the other hand: new scales! 😅
SOTD 01.11.2023
Two pass head and face shave since lo and behold, I was able to score an appointment for a job interview tomorrow. I want to look as good as possible, even if it's after nursing school.
Adjustable razors are great for changing the aggressiveness between passes - that is, if they're evenly aligned. This Pearl Flexi is like a differential razor, one side is always milder than the other. I always end up using the more "efficient" side, especially on the lower settings.
That aside, this was a good comfortable shave. Haven't shaved my head in ages, so it feels really good. Still used the Samhain AS since it was standing around and it's just such a great scent 🎃
Wow, just the other day you mentioned you started looking for other opportunities. Hopefully it's a good fit.
I actually started looking a bit earlier, but just sent out some e-mails last week and made some calls yesterday. Nursing is a field were you can find a new job quickly due to the staff shortage. Thank you, I'll see how it goes 😃
Good luck with your interview!
Thanks!
Good luck for your interview tomorrow!
Thank you very much 👍🏻
November 1, 2023
I'm joining in Witchcraft Wednesday. Today's shave was stupidly simple with the Star razor.
I'm supposed to travel tomorrow, but with Ciarán going strong, it's not sure I'll be able to.
Have a good night!
Autumn Ash ++;
Star 1912 ++;
November 1, 2023
Brush: Wald Stratos Goldvein 29mm A1 Fan
Razor: C.V. Heljestrand MK 10 13/16 Half Hollow Square Point (Straight Shave 364)
Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Soap
Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Aftershave
Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner
Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Eau de Toilette
Of course I'm recognizing Black Watchday. Going with a black theme as suggested by @[email protected] . You can't fault this setup.
Later today, I'll be shave testing my Friodur 472 on which I did an edge refresh. I made a video on honing it, but it is my first sharpening video, so it is pretty bad; long and probably boring. I learned a lot, though [mostly, the lesson is "don't make videos"]. This was done as practice for a video I've been asked to make on sharpening my Iwasaki razor. I want to be comfortable with the process before I do that one.
Black Watch++;
MK N°10++;
Happy Black Watchday to you too! 😊
I can't watch the video yet, but I was impatient and already fast forwarded through without sound to get the gist and noted that you don't do the trailing edge strikes anymore. Looking forward to watching it with sound later to hear your comments!
My own 472 is currently out on loan or I would be tempted join in a 472 second luxury shave 😅
Great composition on that picture BTW! 😊
I have never honed razors with just trailing edge strokes, but I added a trailing edge component to my half strokes. Traditional Japanese knives are normally sharpened with trailing edge pressure, and some heavily recurved knife blades require it too. So I have done it; just not with razors.
Great composition on that picture BTW! 😊
Yeah, the idea just presented itself as I was looking through SOTDs earlier today ;-)
I have never honed razors with just trailing edge strokes, but I added a trailing edge component to my half strokes.
I'm half convinced my edges are better since I've switched to trailing edge strokes only, followed by deburring on loaded canvas. At the same time, I'm so new to honing that this doesn't mean much 😄
I’m half convinced my edges are better since I’ve switched to trailing edge strokes only, followed by deburring on loaded canvas
As you know, Todd at Science of Sharp makes a very good case for using your method.
November 1, 2023
Brush: Zenith B15 (506 U/L) 27.5mm Boar
Razor: J.A. Henckels Friodur 472 13/16" Full Hollow Square Point (Straight Shave 365)
Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Wood Shop - Soap
Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Wood Shop - Aftershave
Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner
This was a shave test of a refreshed edge on this razor. For the honing, I used some stones that I normally would not use for razors. While I did not particularly like the look of the scratch pattern on the bevel after the honing was done, the apex looked fine, and the edge tested smooth and very sharp. Performance was excellent. This made for a wonderful Wood Shop Wednesday.
What stones did you use?
This razor came back to me from being on loan. It had a tiny ding on the toe that required fixing so I did a slight reprofile of the edge to fix it. The progression was 1K Shapton Glass, 5K Nubatama, 10K Imanishi, 25 laps on firehose linen, 30 laps 750nm diamond emulsion on nanocloth, 30 laps 250nm diamond emulsion on nanocloth, 25 laps firehose linen, 50 laps on Tony Miller steerhide leather.
If you're thinking that the diamond emulsion was unnecessary I wouldn't argue. I have all this stuff from 15 years of sharpening so I feel compelled to use it.
Does your 472 have the decorated spine like the worn one I picked up early in my exploration of straights and still keep with the edge it came with as one of my references? https://imgur.com/a/QJX47Yg
Yes. Here's a photo that shows the spine on mine. The edge mine came with was "shave-ready" which I've learned really means "needs sharpening".
I don't have a Valet Autostrop razor (yet, but there's one in the mail to me), so I can't do u/Marquis90's No(ir et vanille)V(alet Autostrop)ember, but Thé Noir et Vanille is the first scent in wetshaving that really swept me off my feet (the second was Haverford, I'm a sucker for sweet gourmands) and I haven't used it in too long.
Wonderful second luxury shave, now off to bed smelling all fancy.
I just realized what you really mean by "luxury".
Yeah, it's a reference to the "second luxury shave", a term coined by u/EldrormR
