Ciao, BI

Well...one of the big ones has said goodbye to the world of wetshaving.

When I first started wetshaving, one of the first purchases I made was a box from Giovanni Abrate at Barbieria Italiana. Giovanni had arguably the widest selection of wetshaving goods on the net, not to mention imported toiletries and custom soaps and creams. He was the North American Flagship vendor for Omega brushes--a great range of stuff there. He also introduced Boreal brushes to the US market, and was a great supplier for the Boar Brotherhood. He had blades other vendors had never HEARD of, and his line of cottage soaps and creams are considered by many to be benchmarks among smaller vendor products. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and recent health problems, it appears that Mr. Abrate has decided to suspend Barbiere Italiana indefinitely.

I'm sorry to hear it, but I can see that life happens and sometimes, important sacrifices must be made. I can say that, in the few interactions I had with Mr. Abrate, he was a true gentleman and an amazing source of information about shaving and shaving products. His service was old school in the best sense--personal, and engaged. It is unfortunate that the net-market doesn't really tolerate that kind of service; people are too impatient, and too distant, to engage at that level. A sad state of affairs.

The message board at BI is still running, and the catalogue of the store is still up so you can poke around and see what you're missing. The good news is that the product hole left by the loss of BI is quickly being filled by a new online vendor, Shoebox Shaveshop. Many of the products which had been BI exclusives are now available there--not surprising, as the owner was an avid customer of Mr. Abrate's, and a constant poster on the message board. So the loss is not total, though it is profound.

Thanks, Giovanni, and be well.

A Fruitful Week

A major haul this week...including one sweet surprise.

I got all this stuff in the last couple of days:


Not too bad! The two Arko creams(Turkish creams, received form America), the Balea (A German cream...) and the Aqua Velva were in a grab box being passed around over at The Shave Den (hop on, there's still time!) and I am really looking forward to trying them...the Arkos are "Sensitive" and "Extra Sensitive"...I like the sound of that.

The Nivea (another German product) was purchased from Turkey (it showed up 4 days after I ordered it...FROM TURKEY. That's impressive!) based on the recommendation of my Man in Tokyo, Aleks. It better be good! ;).

The two Sweet Almond Oil soaps from Crabtree & Evelyn represent serious infringement of my "Avoid Discontinued products" guideline (let's ignore the Florena, ok?) but it was just so cheap...And it's from Australia! We're spanning the globe, here!

And then the surprise...my ever growing HAD (that's "Hone Acquisition Disorder") took hold of me and I bought a barber hone from a member as SMF without really knowing what I was buying. It turns out to be an "Its a peech" barber hone--one of the smoothest and finest barber hones ever! SWEET! I love surprises.

So, there we are. I have yet to use any of these, but it's just so much fun to have new stuff waiting for me...And of course, I'll share as soon as I get to them.

And then, there are the two Torrey straights winging their way across the sea to me, as well.

My credit card's been BUSY!

That Magic Moment...

I've just been loving my shaves lately. Just..LOVING them. I don't want to stop.



I don't know if it's some mystical alignment of stars, or the magic of spring, or what, but the combination of La Toja sensitive and my new Genco "Fluid Steel" straight (pictured above) has been giving me superlative shaves for the last few days. I can't understand it...but I am getting utterly bloodless, comfortable, smooth two-pass shaves in a matter of minutes. I'm almost scared to try anything else for fear of breaking the magic!

There are a lot of people on SRP who say that American razors don't get nearly enough respect--and indeed, Solingen, Germany and Sheffield, England are the two main players in the razor-steel game. But the people who DO use American blades (of which Genco is but one example) swear that they are some of the best steel around...and my experience certainly can't repudiate that.

I have 4 razors, all honed by the same man, and three of those are very VERY similar in size and grind. Of these 4 razors, the Genco is BY FAR the best shaver. In fact it is the best razor I've shaved with. Granted, that's not saying much, but still...I'm in love.

I think I want to go steady!

No Habla Espanol...

But man, do I like their cream!


On the recommendation of several fine folks at the Shave Den forums, I got a tube of La Toja Sensitive shave cream from Leon at Vintage Scents.

This cream is getting some very good reviews, but the clincher was when one person said "If MWF made a cream, this would be it." That's magic words. So I ordered up a tube, and for less than the cost of a movie got a GINORMOUS tube of fantastic cream.

La Toja comes in a 150mL metal tube--that's as much as a TUB of the premium English creams, and that's two tubes of TOBS...not too shabby. I also like the quality of the packaging. Call me picky, but if I'm buying a "luxury" product, I would like the cap of the tube to last more than one closing (Taylor's, I'm looking at you!).

But much more than the mere looks of the thing, it's what's on the inside that counts (eh? EH? Clever that, Eh?). What's inside this tube is pure shaving pleasure...

La Toja Sensitive has a very subtle scent, as it should, but that scent is what I'm coming to call the "European Tubed Cream Scent". It's the vaguely masculine cologne scent of WARS, Florena, et. al. But it's pretty subdued, so scent isn't really a big factor. The texture is soft and smooth, like most of the other tubed creams--not a thick paste like some (TBS, for example). The lather, however, is something else.

This cream is smooth. It is protective. It's down right MOTHERING in it's care...seriously, my skin is so happy with this cream it is practically begging me to keep using it. It lathers up easily, not being too picky about water content, and it lasts for a good three and a half passes. It offers fantastic skin care, with great cushion and decent slickness for you straight shavers. Really, this stuff is Immaculate. I'm already ordering another tube, with a tube of the regular version just to be safe (it was recommended for more humid weather, as it's less moisturizing than the sensitive...apparently.). I've used it for about 5 straight shaves, including some that were rushed and careless, and I have had some of the most comfortable shaves I can remember. No burn, no irritation, NO NICKS AT ALL. Honestly, I should have had a miserable face this week, but it was all good.

Seriously, Fantastic.

Get it.

A Little History...Beardsley and Alvord

Who knew history would become a pert of my blog? But here you go, when you use tools made more than 100 years ago, history tends to just...happen!





In my last post, I showed my first restoration project. It's a beautiful razor, and one I'm glad I found,but it is something of a mystery. I couldn't find any information on the maker, dates, anything, and I was getting really curious...so I started to really research this blade.

In my research about this razor, I first encountered a reference to a company called "Beardsley and Alvord" in the book "Annals of Winchester (and Winsted) CT." I could only find the index, however, not the text, so I knew nothing. THEN, on SMF, a very kind member posted a page from History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut on Google books, where we find:

"It is necessary to turn back the pages of Winsted's history to the year 1852 in order to find the record of the first work accomplished by the concern which is now known as the Empire knife company. It will be found that two Englishmen, Messrs. Thompson and Gascoigne, came to Winsted in that year and opened a modest little shop for the purpose of making pocket cutlery...The founders did a fair trade, but lacked capital to devlop the industry, and in 1856 the business passed into the hands of Beardsley & Alvord."

So there was a cutlery business in the 1850's in Connecticut by the name of Beardsley and Alvord, which in later years changed its name to The Empire Knife company (in business until 1932)! So this razor was a product of the Beardsley & Alvord cutlery business in Winsted,　CT...
Further digging turned up THIS information:

"James Richard Alvord was engaged in the dry goods business in his early years. In 1853 he took up the manufacture of pocket cutlery. This business was continued under the firm name, of Beardsley and Alvord, who bought the small pocket cutlery concern of Thompson and Gascoygn. In 1856 they built their factory at the Lake outlet, enlarged the business and placed it on a permanent basis, changing the name to the Empire Knife Co." (From A GENEALOGY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF ALEXANDER ALVORD AN EARLY SETTLER OF WINDSOR, CONN. AND NORTHAMPTON, MASS. V COMPILED BY
'SAMUEL MORGAN ALVORD 1908 A.D. ANDREW B, Pb int sb. Wbb st bb.N Y., p.288--found on the Library of Congress site.)

So Beardsley & Alvord changed their company name to The Empire Knife Co. in 1856, placing the date of my razor somewhere between 1853 and 1856...

Now THAT is some interesting stuff.

Now, further research shows that Connecticut had a lively iron and steel industry in the 19th century, so it is very possible that this razor, as English as it sounds, is a pure old American razor...which makes me inordinately happy!

The End of the Road?

So I've gone through several sheets of sandpaper and worn out my arm sanding, but I might, MIGHT that is, be pretty much done with my first restoration project.

I got this razor, which has some gorgeous lines and a pretty unusual grind, off of eBay a while back. The staining was pretty extensive, and there was some rusting, but structurally the razor was fine. I decided, with some help from my friends, to go ahead and sand off the staining and say goodbye to the etching (it wasn't that interesting to begin with) and try to clean it up.

So I got some sandpaper and went to town. I tried to get it clean, but not perfect--this is an old razor, it should look it. So I left some of the staining--Intentionally, yes--but tried to get it as even and smooth as I could. So, how'd it go?

We started with this:



And this:



And after a few days of hand sanding up to #2000 with wet/dry sandpaper (mostly dry), We come to this:




The pictures aren't the best, but that is NOT a mirror finish. It's shiny, yes, but there is still a bit of cloudiness. I'm NOT going to take this to the buffer. I decided it was too risky, I'm too inexperienced and this is a razor I want to keep. So, I might take it up to higher grits of sandpaper, but no machinery. I also had some trouble with the monkey tail; it's not as clean as it should be, but to get it better I'd have to unpin the scales, and I don't want to do that yet. As for the scales, that's another issue.

They are some kind of plastic--bakelite, perhaps, by the smell--and they were finished with a lacquer that had discolored and flaked off. I scraped it off, leaving a matte black surface, and I'd like to clean that up a bit more. I tried some metal polish, and got some improvement, but I want gloss--any ideas?

Anyway, it's pretty much done. It needs honing, and it needs a bit more polish, but the difference is certainly striking. I'm no pro, I never will be, but I didn't screw it up too bad!

I MADE this!!!!

I actually, for the first time in my life, with my own two hands, made something that is almost EXACTLY what I wanted it to be...outside the kitchen, that is. I've got the kitchen well in hand.




That, good friends, is a Paddle Strop. I made it because I wanted a pasted strop, and hanging strops aren't perhaps the best for that purpose; and I made it to see if I could. I'm not the handiest guy with tools--but as the years go by, I feel that's something I should really try to change. This was a simple project, but it turned out ok--a first for me. And that is actually something I'm really proud of. I know it's not much, but..I did it, and it turned out well, and for me, that's a big step.

So...what I did was this. I got a board from Daiso, the type of wood wasn't marked, but I think it was cypress, based on some wood at the homecenter I was looking at. SOmething very light and soft, anyway, but not balsa--not THAT soft. I got some hand tools--a Jigsaw, sanding block etc.--and cut a handle into one end. Predictably, the curves aren't as even or smooth as I would like, but they'll do. I smoothed and rounded the handle with my pocket knife and sandpaper, and then lapped the surface of the wood to make a good hone-like backing.

Then, I went to a shoe repair shop because I couldn't figure any place out to get leather. After a long, rather amusing negotiation, the owner (an awesome old dude with a coin purse made FROM A REAL FROG!!!!) sold me a big old piece of leather, something like latigo maybe? for the change I had in my pocket.

I got that home, pressed it for a couple of days, then cut it to size. I used some G-Clear leather bond and glued it to the wood, pressing it under books for a night to make sure it was flat. The leather's back was a velvety, smooth texture and I decided to make that the pasting surface.


I used some of the smoother side for a regular strop.



I sanded the smoother side to remove some of the finish and to help reduce some of the residual cupping of the leather--that's the lighter coloration you see there.

Then, I applied some neatsfoot oil to keep the leather healthy, and improve the draw, and when it was dry, I applied some Chromium Oxide paste to make a fine finishing strop.

(You can seem y disorganized workspace...sorry about that...)
Et voila! I made a strop! Overall length 46cm, 6cm wide, leather portion is 33cm long. The Eastern Smooth strop, less than $10!

A Little History...

Feather is a name well known to those in the Wetshaving gig...their DE blades are (in)famous for sharpness and quality, and their disposable blade straights are the only disposable blade straights that anyone really takes seriously. Living in Japan, I feel a natural affinity for this company, and I've found some stuff out about it I think is interesting.

The Feather Safety Razor Company was started in 1932 as the "Japan Safety Razor Company". They were, interestingly, founded by former German POWs (from WWI--did you know Japan fought Germany in WWI? Neither did I...) who stayed in Japan after they were released and started making safety razors in 1920. Now, the problem is, I'm not sure what kind of safety razors they were producing...According to the Kamisori Club website's English synopsis of Yasuoki Takeuchi's "History and Culture of Shaving in Japan" (I highly recommend you read the synopsis...very interesting stuff),

"During the MEIJI ERA ( 1868 - 1912 ) mainly open razors were used. However, in the latter part of the MEIJI ERA foreign made razors came into Japan with the introduction of western civilization. Some from Solingen in Germany and others from Sheffield in England. After World War1 (1914 - 1918 ) Gillette T-Shape safety razors were imported and they gradually replaced the open razors." So these safety razors were probably the Gillette style double edge razors, right? Welllll....maybe.

Considering the fact that the Feather company still makes single edge blades, and that peculiar shape those razors took, it seems clear that at some point, Feather was making something OTHER than a DE razor (though, of course, they made those as well). What did the make? Well, I was more than satisfied to find out that one of their original products (as well as KAI's, in fact--does anyone else notice anything odd about this picture...?) was a copy of the Valet Auto Strop!


(Image taken from "こまはむの館　別館【ひげ剃りの館】"

Pretty cool huh? Well, not as cool as this:







A real live Feather Auto Strop! ON Yahoo Auction! Ohhhhh...I should have bought it. Ahh well. It's still cool to know that out there are some real examples of Japanese Safety Razor history...

But then, what really got me excited was THIS:



That's a western style straight made by a Japanese company. What Japanese company?



Feather. How cool! It's a Feather Straight! Now, of course it might be a totally different company, or a fake that someone was just trying to sell using a little name recognition, but it could also be real--Feather was a company specializing in the introduction of western shaving instruments to Japan, and while they might have focused on Safety razors, there might very well have bene a few attemtps to bring striaghts into the market, as well. Whatever the case, I think it's pretty cool. Too bad it wasn't in better condition, I'd have bought it...Hmmm...

Florena...Nothing Rhymes with Florena....

I recently won third prize in a drawing on SMF, and I got a very nice tube of a discontinued cream. I LOVE winning good stuff, don't you?




Florena cream is a product of a German company called...Ummm...Florena (link is in German, of course). The cream was a big hit in Canada, so of course it was discontinued there (I think, actually, that Nivea bought the label...maybe. Not sure. Fact checking is for wussies.), and in the way of all flesh, has disappeared from Canadian shelves. It appears to still be available in Germany, though the tube has changed and probably the formula. I'd love to compare the two, however. Any German readers out there? Care to send the reviewer a tube to test? Anyone?

Didn't think so.

So, I got this cream and I have shaved the last several days with it, and I am quite pleased. My first shave actually wasn't that great...the scent struck me as rather cold-creamy and medicinal, and the cream irritated my face a bit. However, I had laid it on pretty thick,and I know that can sometimes cause problems--so for my next couple of shaves, I cut back on the cream amount and got MUCH better results. The scent cleared a little to a WARS-like scent, and there was no irritation at all.

With the lower cream levels, the lather was much lighter and slicker, and I got some fantastic shaves. This is a fluffier texture--not as thick as the better creams like T&H or The Body Shop, but it still gave some beautiful lather. What it lost in cushiony protection, it gave back in slickness and comfort. And afterward! No pain, no discomfort at all, and a darned near BBS shave with each one. A thorough pleasure to use...which of course, is kind of sad, because I'll probably not ever get another tube. Hint Hint.

This one goes on the Workhorse list for sure.

Spoke Too Soon/Soap time--D.R. Harris! (and bowls...)

Yesterday's post was a bit premature. Also, SOAP REVIEW!

When I posted yesterday about not being sure of my Straight Shaves, I hadn't had my straight shave for the day. I should have waited...because I got a GREAT shave.

Here's the story. I had my Kropp straight sitting for a while, so I thought the edge might benefit from some light touching up, so I gave it about 10 light strokes on a coticule with water only, and went to shave. The edge was not what I would call great...And so I got out my John Primble Barber hone. This was a bit chancy, because the last time I'd used it, it developed some pits in the top, and released grit into the lather I was using as lube; the grit scratched up my blade something fierce, and made me very very sad ( you can read the whole sorry story here on SRP).

I sanded the hone down to eliminate all the pits, and polished up, but I was worried about it happening again. It didn't, and the edge it gave my razor was the sharpest I've had so far. I actually got that "velvet squeegee" effect, and just WIPED the whiskers away. A FANTASTIC shave, I tell you. So yeah, straight shaving can be quite good.

==========



Now, you may have noticed mention in my last post of D.R. Harris soap. I recently picked this up and I was using it for all of the last week. I just kept using it and using it--I didn't even realize that I had stopped rotation to other soaps, it was that good.

The lather was thick and protective, and the razor (that was the SE) slid through it like butter. I got enough lather for three passes using my boar brush and the Zach method of Soap Lathering, and it was really great lather, too. After the shave, it offered great skin care, and there is really nothing at all I can say about it that isn't good. This soap is close to great--CLOSE, I say, it was a bit tricky to lather at first, and it might have been a TOUCH too thick for my tastes--and I am super duper glad I got it.

The scent of this particular puck is Marlborough, a warm, mellow scent. A hint of spice, some Sandalwood notes and overall, a good, subdued masculine scent. Thumbs up; I have another puck, in the Arlington scent, on the way. I can't wait!

Now, the only problem is, I got the OLD formulation. the one with LOTS of tallow, as opposed to just some. So...yeah, I love Old Formulation Harris soaps, but I have no idea about the new ones. Dammit.

Now, at this point I'd like to mention my new soap bowls. Why such a mundane thing, you ask? Because I am immensely tickled with myself for finding them. I was tired of the cheesy glass bowls I was using. Effective, but not so nice to look at I thought. However, the real bowls for the soaps are SO EXPENSIVE, and sometimes not even that great for lathering purposes. So I wandered around, looking for a good solution, and found it at the Daiso, the Japanese dollar store.
Take a look at this:



They're stackable, and have a nice classy red finish. But what are they? Why are they special?



They're bonsai pots! I was inspired by the Provence Sante' bowl (have you seen it? It's a rough stoneware bowl, like a flowerpot. Really cool, really rustic.) The thing I like about them is, they're rough inside so there's no need to worry about grating and pressing or anything, the soap naturally sticks! No sliding or spinning when you7re trying to lather. The size isn't quite perfect, but when I turned the puck over (the picture shows a puck of D.R. Harris Marlborough--top is 8 cm across) it fit perfectly.

The tops are actually bottoms--the plates that fit under the bowl to catch water dripping ALSO fit right into the top. This has the added benefit of making the bowls eminently stackable. I like that a lot.

Now, my wife thought the hole in the bottom might be a problem. I didn't, because the soap will cover that well, but in the almost unimaginably far future, when the soap gets down to the bottom it might be a problem; a little rubber cement, a small sheet of plastic and some duct tape for Real Ultimate Power, and that problem is solved. Totally sweet, huh?

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back...

I was getting good shaves with straights. I was. Then, blade deterioration and futzing about with things started the decline of my shaves, and so I decided to take a break. And got some absolutely brilliant shaves...

I took a break from straights because my face was getting sad. Between experiments with the scaleless DA, and some trouble with my barber hone scratching up some blades, I wasn't really getting what you'd call "good" shaves, and I missed the occasional bout of faceturbation I had been getting before. That, couple with some surge in board interest in single edge shaving, pushed me to break out my Feather New Hi-Stainless SE blades.

I loaded up my GEM Contour II and, not having used a safety razor, ESPECIALLY one with a Feather blade, in some time, began my shave rather nervously. However, less than 15 minutes later, I had a bright shiny BBS face with no blood, no tears and no stropping.

Oh dear.

I repeated the process, which admittedly might have been helped by the FANTASTIC D.R. Harris Marlborough soap I just picked up, 5 times this week, with similar results each time. It has been an experience which certainly made me question my commitment to this whole straight razor endeavor. Then I remembered that these blades cost almost 50 cents each, can only be bought in boxes of 100, and are probably not going to be in production much longer, and thought that maybe a bit of stropping might not be so bad, after all..