gcgallant
@gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social
- Comment on Thursday SOTD Thread - December 07, 2023 11 months ago:
December 7, 2023
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Prep: None
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Brush: AP Shave Co Black 26mm G5A
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Razor: Ralf Aust 5/8 Stainless Full Hollow Spanish Point
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Lather: Barrister and Mann - Vespers - Soap
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Post Shave: None
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Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Vespers - Aftershave
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Fragrance: None
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
Always make time for a luxury shave while traveling. It is well worth it!
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- Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - December 06, 2023 11 months ago:
Bandwidth is poor where I’m staying. I might have to wait until I return home for pics.
- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - December 05, 2023 11 months ago:
I like the idea and plan to visit it :)
- Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - December 06, 2023 11 months ago:
This time around, the pièce de résistance is my travel strop. After seeing yours, I got Tony Miller to make one with a piece of premium steerhide and flax linen. He also sent me a 280mm x 75mm piece of steerhide so I could make a bench strop from it.
- Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - December 06, 2023 11 months ago:
I’m in Cleveland visiting my daughter. Doing some hiking and photography.
- Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - December 06, 2023 11 months ago:
December 6, 2023
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Brush: AP Shave Co Black 26mm G5A
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Razor: Ralf Aust 5/8 Stainless Full Hollow Spanish Point
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Lather: Barrister and Mann - Vespers - Soap
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Toner: None
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Aftershave: Barrister and Mann - Vespers - Aftershave
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This is my travel setup through Friday. All the accoutrements for luxury shaves while away from home.
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- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - December 05, 2023 11 months ago:
I’m just envious that I didn’t think of it.
- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - December 05, 2023 11 months ago:
Love the shift in focal plane for the SLS photo! Great idea!
- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - December 05, 2023 11 months ago:
December 5, 2023
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Brush: Thäter Faux Ivory 29mm 2-band Silvertip
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Razor: Filarmonica 13 Novodur 13/16" Para Profesionales Full Hollow
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Lather: Mäurer and Wirtz - Tabac - Soap
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Toner: Thayers - Rose - Toner
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Aftershave: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac - Aftershave
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Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac - Eau de Toilette
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Talc: Yardley Classic
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
The Stank®, a Fili, and a luxurious brush. Need I say more? Okay, I will say that a shave of this caliber deserves a talc finish.
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- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - December 05, 2023 11 months ago:
I’m Moosless, so I’ll have to stick with Tabac which I’ll use just before hitting the road to do some traveling. Love the SLS idea, btw.
maybe by a Chisel&Hound badger knot?
I think the Fanchurian knots are great. If you decide to go that way, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I’m hoping to pick up another C&H brush in today’s handle drop.
- Comment on Monday SOTD Thread - December 04, 2023 11 months ago:
December 4, 2023
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Brush: Oumo Warhammer Iceberg 27mm Meri-2
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Razor: C.V. Heljestrand MK 31 11/16 Söderfors Extra Specialstål Full Hollow
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Lather: Murphy and McNeil - The Great Bear - Soap
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Toner: Thayers - Rose - Toner
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Aftershave: Murphy and McNeil - The Great Bear - Aftershave
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Talc: Yardley Gold
2 passes. Face lather. Good shave.
For my 400th straight razor shave in the last 18 months, I thought I would have a straightforward Murphy & McNeil Monday. Not at all. The soap demons were, once again, against me. I had an almost identical experience today to the one I had yesterday with Declaration Grooming Opulence. This was my fifth use of The Great Bear. I purchased it about a 1¾ years ago. I could not get it to build anything more than a damp, gooey paste.
When I opened the tub, the puck was dry and very hard so I floated a ¼ teaspoon of hot water on top of it while I showered. I brought a damp brush to it to lather, and got almost nothing in the brush. No suds in the tub at all. Like yesterday, I worked to get enough paste on the brush to spread on the face, add water to and shave with, but it would not build into a lather. It is similar to lathers I had when I shaved with bar soap back in the day, but it maintained its moisture longer.
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- Comment on Sunday SOTD Thread - December 03, 2023 11 months ago:
carbon steel can be honed quicker, to a sharper edge, and retains the edge longer. On the other side, it’s more brittle, and rusts if you even think about rain.
First, the article you linked is a nice high-level introduction. To go deep, though, there’s no better place to start than Knife Steel Nerds. (@djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social might find this interesting as well.)
As with most things, the answer is “it depends”. Edge retention and toughness (resistance to fracture) can be dialed in to suit a purpose. And there are different compositions of “stainless” to choose from, and different hardening regimes as well.
Honing is very much related to picking the correct abrasive for the purpose. I’m simplifying, but in addition to coarse, medium and fine abrasive material, you also need to consider the hardness of the abrasive. The closer an abrasive is, in hardness, to the material you want to abrade, the longer it will take to do the work you want to do (again, simplifying). The abrasive in Japanese natural stones (silicate) and coticules (garnet) are about the same hardness (Mohs scale) as stainless steel but are almost twice the (Mohs) hardness of carbon steel. So, these stones are well suited to one steel and not as great for another. However, the aluminum oxide in man-made abrasives can cut most steels well; except for the steels with very high vanadium carbide content. Diamond abrasives cut any steel well.
- Comment on Sunday SOTD Thread - December 03, 2023 11 months ago:
it’s the “tradition” part in “traditional wetshaving
I think so as well.
- Comment on Sunday SOTD Thread - December 03, 2023 11 months ago:
December 3, 2023
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Brush: AP Shave Co Summer 28mm G5C
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Lather: Declaration Grooming - Opulence - Soap
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Toner: Thayers - Rose - Toner
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Aftershave: Declaration Grooming - Opulence - Aftershave
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Talc: Yardley Classic
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This shave was superbe (FR spelling and pronounciation). That is mostly due to the Frio 14 I think. Stainless steel has been around since the early early 20th century. I guess that a combination of cost and heritage have kept straight razor steels as carbon steels (which rust) until the '60s. But, really, when tempered properly, stainless has no drawbacks as a straight razor steel. Note that most DE blades from the mid-20th century onwards are stainless. [ And, yes, I’m not an authority. I’ve had formal training in materials science but that was around the time humans were learning the advantages of the wheel. ]
Today was a revisit of Opulence. During BBS November I used my tub and had the worst lather of the month. I was pretty sure it was user error, but both @walden@sub.wetshaving.social and @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social informed me that there were Opulence tubs out there with a reputation for being very difficult to lather.
My strategy was to give the soap every chance possible to produce a good lather. I bloomed it with hot water for about 15 minutes prior to use, then loaded my dense G5C synthetic knot very heavily from the tub. The soap produced no suds just a paste. I spread this on the face and proceeded to add water to the brush and agitate the lather (i.e. face lather). I added a lot of water, did a lot of brush scrubbing, and finally built a moist dense and slick lather. This worked just fine for the shave and rinsed cleanly from the razor. There was enough lather in the brush to easily build for a second pass, but almost the same amount of water and agitation effort were needed. The lather did lose slickness during each pass but did so slow enough that my shaving was unaffected. Real residual slickness only came when the face was wet post-pass.
So, I know that I don’t have to work this hard to lather any of my other DG soaps. I like the scent of Opulence, and can deal with the tub I have, but it is not a candidate for a quick shave.
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- Comment on Saturday SOTD Thread - December 02, 2023 11 months ago:
TNeV++;
I felt as if i skipped a day with 24 hours of stubble. Can’t imagine 39 :)
- Comment on Saturday SOTD Thread - December 02, 2023 11 months ago:
TNeV++;
Soap buds today!
- Comment on Saturday SOTD Thread - December 02, 2023 11 months ago:
December 2, 2023
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Brush: Chisel & Hound Lost Nativ 26mm Fanchurian V13
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Razor: J.A. Henckels Friodur 472 13/16" Full Hollow Square Point
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Lather: Noble Otter - Thé Noir et Vanille - Soap
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Post Shave: Noble Otter - Thé Noir et Vanille - Aftershave
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Post Shave: Thayers - Rose - Toner
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Talc: Yardley Gold
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
TNeV cannot be denied. A wonderful scent that contributed to a terrific start to my day.
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- Comment on Thursday SOTD Thread - November 30, 2023 11 months ago:
I was lurking on r/Wetshaving in 2021, but don’t recall whether I saw this or not. I certainly noticed in 2022 and thought it would be a great way to get skin irritation. I answered my own question this year. I’d say my skin today is as good, or better, than it was on Nov 1.
- Comment on Friday SOTD Thread - December 01, 2023 11 months ago:
Yes, I normally do 2-pass shaves. Because I’m a daily shaver, I can get away with my first pass as WTG-XTG and my second pass as XTG-ATG and get almost as close a shave as a more traditional 3-pass shave.
- Comment on Friday SOTD Thread - December 01, 2023 11 months ago:
December 1, 2023
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Brush: Brad Sears Arley 26mm Super Badger
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Razor: Dovo Bismarck 6/8" Full Hollow Round Point
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Lather: Noble Otter - Ace - Soap
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Post Shave: Noble Otter - Ace - Aftershave
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Post Shave: Thayers - Lemon - Toner
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Talc: Yardley Classic
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This was my first time using Ace. Wonderful scent. Leather and tobacco is what I get but there’s a woody aspect to it as well. Perfect for this time of year. This one’s a keeper.
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- Comment on Thursday SOTD Thread - November 30, 2023 11 months ago:
November 30, 2023
- Brush: AP Shave Co Lemondrop 28mm SynBad
- Razor: Blutt Rasur BR-1 (setting: 0.86mm Plate)
- Blade: Personna Platinum (2)
- Lather: Wholly Kaw - Hiatus - Soap
- Post Shave: Wholly Kaw - Hiatus - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Thayers - Lemon - Toner
I will be taking an 11 month hiatus from shaving twice-daily. This evening was the last shave of this year’s BBS November. Apparently, this started as a conversation between u/VisceralWatch and @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social. I don’t know if others were involved. If you’re wondering what it’s like, well, if you can shave daily, you can do this. I mean if I can do this, how hard can it be?
Hiatus, the soap, uses the Crème Fraîche base. This is top-tier, and wonderful to use. I very much appreciate how Sri continues to improve his products. Another small business appreciation shave for me.
- Comment on Thursday SOTD Thread - November 30, 2023 11 months ago:
Congrats! It has been a lot of fun to play along this month. I don’t know why more folks don’t do this.
- Comment on Thursday SOTD Thread - November 30, 2023 11 months ago:
November 30, 2023
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Brush: Wald Stratos Haunter 29mm A1
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Lather: Pasteur|Master Soap Creations - Bloom - Soap
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Post Shave: Pasteur|Master Soap Creations - Bloom - Aftershave
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Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner
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Fragrance: Tom Ford - Black Orchid - Eau de Parfum
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Talc: Yardley Classic
Amazing shave. I refreshed the edge on this razor last night. It is the first time that I’ve sharpened it. I put a synthetic edge on it and used my September method; drawing the edge out on the finishing stone and nanocloth, then micro-convexing with stropping on linen and leather. This time around I used more laps and less pressure on the final stropping. The edge was extraordinary. Its feel was so light and soft I was certain that I had dulled the edge, even though I knew that it tested at an ultra sharp level. But, when feeling around after the first pass I confirmed that I’m on to something with this method.
Bloom is a Black Orchid dupe. MSC, Koraat, and Wald are one-man operations. I enjoy supporting these very talented artisans.
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- Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - November 29, 2023 11 months ago:
November 29, 2023
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Brush: Yaqi Cavern Lake 24mm Tuxedo
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Razor: Karve Overlander Brass
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Blade: Personna Platinum (1)
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Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash - Soap
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Post Shave: Unilever - Brut - Aftershave
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Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner
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Talc: Yardley Gold
It is Witchcraft Wednesday and Autumn Ash is the perfect smoky fit. My penultimate evening shave for November was a great one. I’ve upped my talc game for the occasion.
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- Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - November 29, 2023 11 months ago:
November 29, 2023
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Brush: Wald Stratos Haunter 29mm A1
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Lather: WestMan Shaving - Nirvana - Soap
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Post Shave: WestMan Shaving - Nirvana - Aftershave Balm
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Post Shave: Thayers - Lavender - Toner
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Talc: Pinaud Clubman
It is a WestMan Wednesday and my first use of Nirvana. Nirvana is a blend of fig, sandalwood, and other notes. It is subtle, very comforting, and a very pleasing scent to have filling the room. This soap also has the new Nirvana soap base. I did not want to shave it off. It is rich, smooth, very slick, and also very easy to lather. Another top-tier entry for me. A wonderful morning shave that rated a talc finish.
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- Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - November 29, 2023 11 months ago:
now I’m just floored by how pleasant is it to shave with this thing
I feel the same way and always look forward to using this razor. It is extremely comfortable and close. I just remembered that on your razor and on mine, I did do a small amount of geometry correction, but somehow, I think that the big breakthrough is treating the edge with the care I discussed ad nauseum in my video.
- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - November 28, 2023 11 months ago:
November 28, 2023
- Brush: Brad Sears Scotsman XL 28mm Super Badger
- Razor: Gillette Slim Aristocrat H4
- Blade: Gillette Nacet (5)
- Lather: Zingari Man - The Traditionalist - Soap
- Post Shave: Zingari Man - The Traditionalist - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Thayers - Rose - Toner
A very pleasant Zingari Zischtig! Closing it up with The Traditionalist; a very interesting take on a sandalwood scent. Tomorrow we achieve Nirvana.
- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - November 28, 2023 11 months ago:
lol!
- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - November 28, 2023 11 months ago:
Oh, that makes sense. I suspect there’s little demand for talc by wetshavers.
- Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread - November 28, 2023 11 months ago:
I’m guessing they rebranded from someone but don’t know. The companies that make this stuff seem to have sold it forever.
