Top products from r/shaveoftheday

Prep: Hot shower

Razor: LA Shaving Co. BBS-1

Blade: Kai Stainless

Brush: Edwin Jagger STFv2 XL

Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat

Scuttle: Moonstar Pottery

Aftershave: L'Occitane Cade ASB (not pictured)


The New Stuff: I placed an order for some EU-made products from Connaught Shaving right before the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, Connaught was closed during the time I placed my order, so it wasn't shipped until they re-opened after the New Year. I'll include some more info about the products I picked up in the next Monday Mail Call post on /r/wet_shavers, but briefly, I picked up the EJ XL brush, MWF, a jar of Tabac, and a refill puck of I Coloniali mango oil soap.

• Mitchell's Wool Fat: This is my first time using MWF. MWF gets a lot of love on other shaving forums like B&B, but not as much on w_s or w_e. Connaught is definitely one of the best places to buy MWF. It comes out to about $22 compared to $35 with most US-based vendors. Here's an MWF unboxing album. The packaging is top notch! It really feels special receiving and opening this soap for the first time. I like the ceramic jar. The sides can be pretty slippery, so I'll have to be careful not to drop it! The scent is mild. A lot of people say it smells like soap--so it's pretty inoffensive. This soap is known for using lanolin; some people complain of lanolin sensitivity, but as the linked Wikipedia article says, lanolin sensitivity is probably not as high as commonly reported. Many B&M soaps use lanolin as well, and it's rare to hear of sensitivity after using those--so my theory is that people tend to parrot the "lanolin sensitivity" needlessly every time MWF gets mentioned.
  
  
• EJ XL Synthetic Brush: I've heard lots of great things about this brush. I love my L'Occitane Plisson synthetic, but decided to add another synthetic brush to my collection. I was originally planning on getting a Muhle STF, but a number of people have reported that the EJ brush is more dense and a better brush overall. I was wanting to get the 23mm (L), but there's a number of reports that the XL is a very different (and much better brush). So while I'd prefer a 23mm for size, the XL seems to be the clear winner for one of the best synthetics available today. The combination of knot size and loft really changes the behavior of the brush. They come in resin black, resin ivory, and resin horn (the one I chose). Here's the EJ synthetic unboxing pictures. It's interesting to note that my EJ brush is missing the EJ logo.
  
  The handle is fantastic. The EJ brushes come in two handle shapes (EJ28 and EJ87). I picked the EJ28 style. The handle is beefy and pretty heavy for a resin handle. Definitely feels much heavier than the light wood handle of the L'Occitane brush. The EJ28 brush handle fits the hand beautifully. It really works well for those with bigger hands. The fibers feel great. They are almost as soft as the L'O brush. The EJ definitely has a lot more backbone; a lot of people complain about the lack of backbone in the L'O brush, but it's never been an issue for me.
  
  The Shave: I've been using the BBS-1 for about a month now. It's a great razor and has filled the role of "close-shaver" for me. Whenever I want a close shave, I'll reach it. Still doing a little blade exploration, so I'm using a Kai stainless blade. Kai's are super expensive (about $0.60 a blade) and I've never been really impressed with them. They provide a decent shave, but certainly not worth double the price compared to other premium blades. I love the clean look of Kai blades though, there's something super elegant about them. I also like that they don't use any wax when wrapping the blade. I've noticed a lot of really large wax spots on other blades that extend all the way to the blade edge!
  
  I've had the scuttle for almost two years now. I use it year round, but it really is wonderful in the winter time. I start the lather building process in the scuttle and then finish on the face. It's a little small, but since I don't have a lot of counter space in my bathroom, that was on purpose.
  
  Some people have reported that MWF is hard to lather--but I didn't experience anything of the sort. The EJ brush loaded quickly and produced a thick lather within seconds. I did leave a little bit of water on top of the soap puck while I showered, as recommended by some people. The lather was great: slick, comfortable, stable. Some people report that WMF lather is thin--again, not in my experience today. The lather thickness was better than average when compared to other highly regarded soaps. The post-shave face feel is excellent. A lot of people use MWF specifically for the face-feel and the protection that it provides.
  
  The EJ XL synth also performed very well. Lathered extremely quickly. If anything, it produced too much lather (was overflowing by the end). Very comfortable on the face although has significantly more backbone than the Plisson, so it takes some getting used to and requires more pressure to splay the fibers.

• Pre - Imperial Barber Glycerin Soap/T&H Pre-Shave Oil
  
• Razor - Hoffritz Slant
  
• Blade - IP Red
  
• Brush - Bullgoose Beehive Horse
  
• Soap - Arkoooooo
  
• AS - Razorock + Booster Lilac
  
  The combination of the IB Glycerin soap and the T&H Pre-Shave oil is just awesome. The IB Glycerin breaks down REALLY fast. I've used it maybe three times and I've taken a good half centimeter off it. I'm running out of my samples of both, either going to have to bite the bullet and buy some or get budget and try some new things.
  
  First time with Arko. Traded for it, came pre-smushed so just formed it into one of my handy and lonely tins. Scent descriptions have ranged from floor cleaner to "barbershop fresh" but the most flowery one I've heard is "lemon urinal cake."
  
  It's accurate.
  
  The thing is, it's not a horrible scent, and could bring back some great memories like the time with that one chick from Spring Break Lauderdale '92.
  
  Once you get past the scent it's a great product. Took a while for me to face lather. I started fairly dry, and the oil probably didn't help, but this soap seems to love water. Took about 5 tip dips to get it to the right consistency.
  
  Very smooth shave. Got some IP Reds in a trade (like almost everything I use). These were my first blades when I started, so I didn't know what to expect. You look back on your first products either with fondness or fear and wonder what your new techniques will get out of them.
  
  First pass was so good...it was one of those that you consider maybe stopping so you don't ruin it. Went for a cleanup XTG, then minor buffing, turned out great.
  
  So the next time you can get some Arko in a trade, throw it in with an order, or you see that ridiculous $12 deal for 15 sticks, grab it.
  
  Where to find the products I'm using for (what I think) is the best deal. Just because.
  
  
• Imperial Barber Glycerin Soap - $12+ a bar onine. Not worth it.
  
• T&H Pre-Shave Oil - $30. I'm going to buy it direct from T&H just because they usually send samples. I actually do think it's worth it. Can also try it out as part of a sample pack.
  
• Razor - Hoffritz Slant - Vintage. They pop up on eBay quite a bit, usually overpriced.
  
• Blade - IP Red - Get the UK packaging from WCS.
  
• Brush - Bullgoose Beehive Horse - Only one place.
  
• Soap - Arkoooooo - $20 for 15 or $1.95 for 1 from Turkey or $2.39 from shoebox. If buying one, add more items so you don't get rocked on shipping.
  
• Razorock Alum - $5.99 from ItalianBarber.com, bullgoose, WCS, etc.
  
• Booster Lilac - Discontinued, sorry, I've looked.
  

Finished restoring this Northfield, put it through a shave test before heading out tonight.

I love blades with old folk art handles. When they enter my shop, I push for preserving the character as much as possible.

I started by removing the active rust, leaving a bit of pitting and staining behind. Took it to a high polish, and then forced a patina on the blade giving it an aged gunmetal look.

The edge was in rough shape, so I had to hone at 1K for a long while, giving the edge a "rough" look - which fits the style of the blade nicely.

In the end, it looks no newer than when I started, and I'm very happy about that.

Some pics of the process here.

A great shave, 2 pass BBS. A testimony to old steel.

_

Prep: shower, shea

Razor: Northfield Cutlery SR

Strop: Vintage Russian Shell

Brush: An old imitation badger that belonged to my grandfather

Soap: Sea Salt Shave Soap

Post: Shea

Aftershave: 4711

Scent: Rocky Mountain Wood

_

I think the Red Pack Personnas are similar to the Astra SP, but more expensive, the Personna Lab Blues are good as well, Feathers shread my face, but Polsilve Super Iridiums are sharp and much smoother, Rapiras are sharp, smooth and $6.45 for 100.

It's my favorite right now. I smell like a fancy Frenchman when I'm done and it really soothes.

Amazon has some good reviews on it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YZ5G46?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links

Razor: Parker SRW with Shark Blades

Brush: Frank Shaving Badger Brush

Cream: Taylor of Old Bond Street: Eton College

Aftershave: Old Spice Classic

First ever straight razor shave! Damn was I nervous... played some classical music to ease my mind. It turned out really well I think, only a couple nicks that weren't bad at all and very little irritation that subsided in an hour.

Incredibly close shave like nothing I've had before. The cream dried halfway through so I had to reapply it, I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong or just took too long.

Will definitely be making this routine maybe a couple times a week due to how long it takes. I'll stick with my electric shaver most mornings because I really wouldn't want to do this while rushing to class :)

I've just checked my tube and it doesn't seem to say lavender on it..... but it definitely has a good lavender-like scent.

It's this one I have.

I got them in this sampler pack from amazon. I didn't even realize it but i was supposed to receive lord blades, pointed out by a customer review. The Treets are my favorite so far and I found them here when searching for bulk.

The greatest lavender soliflore of all time.

Thanks! I was just looking on Amazon and it seems they have a whole line of aftershaves, equally scary looking. I wonder what Checker Flag smells like?

I see this in stock at amazon. You think it's worth the $25 to try it out?

If you like lime try the Ogalalla Lime and Peppercorns. http://www.amazon.com/Ogallala-Bay-Rum-Peppercorns-Old-time/dp/B003ZGH4VO

• Art of Shaving Sandalwood kit
  
• 16 Blade Sampler from Amazon
  
• Edwin Jagger 86bl
  
• Cutting Edge Razors - Shave Stand

I believe it's Pinaud Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum aftershave. Here's what commenters at basenotes have to say.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FA35K02/ref=redir_mdp_mobile