Ouch...

Tried out a new shave set today...Williams Mug soap and Gillette 7 O'Clock Blacks. Things...didn't go well...


It was my first time with both the soap and the blade. I'd heard good things about the Black:

That it is sharper and smoother than the Yellow's I've been using, which I love. Well, after today's shave I certainly think the first is true...Luckily they had a few pints in my type at the blood bank...

As for Williams.

Hmmm. I don't know what to think. That's the problem with introducing two new elements at the same time--you don't know which one blindsided you. Either that Gillette Black is a monster, featherlike in its deadliness, or Williams gave me all the benefit of shaving with warm spit. Either way, today's shave sucked the big one.

Ok, so, the blade nicked and cut and burned me. The soap lathered (apparently) fine. Not quite as slick as I like, and the scent was a bit off for me; reminiscent of ARKO, though not quite as penetrating. I don't know what I should do...I want to give this pair a good try, but I DON'T want a repeat of today's performance. Maybe I should switch out the Williams for it's brother-in-bargainhood (Williams is about $1 a puck), VDH, and let the Black have another go at my face. Let's just hope it's bloodthirst was slaked with this morning's sacrifice.

Yeah, let's do that.

Productive Product Reviews: Auslese Trocken Skin Conditioner

Icy winter is just around the corner, even in balmy Hikari. It snowed today, and the wind blew dry and searing. It's time to get serious about a topic vital to everyone: MOISTNESS!!!!

I gets some mighty dry skin in the winter, and although my TSD Aftershave milk does a good job of taking care of my skin, I feel like I should use it more sparingly as it is an import...and imports are special.

So, when I was standing in the drug store the other day with some yen burning a hole in my pocket, and the men's skin care shelf passed before my eyes, I took an interest.
In this:


Look at that. What a bottle. What style. Man, that is one PRETTY bottle of skin conditioner. I couldn't help but pick it up. Reading the back, it looked like this was a soothing, slightly medicated moisturizing lotion for use after washing or shaving--just what I was looking for.

Ingredients (Maybe, this was a tough one...):
Dikalium Glycyrrhizin (Anti-inflammatory), d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), Aloe Extract, dipropylene Glycol, Water, Ethanol, Ethylhexyl palmitate, methylphenylpolysiloxane, Polyoxyethylene, Polyoxypropylene decyl tetradecyl ethyl, Cetanol, Carboxyvinyl polymer, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Sodium hydroxyl, Polyacryl alkyl, Trisodium Edetate, Propylene Glycol, Paraben, Fragrance

The "Trocken" in the name is, in keeping with the Auslese, German. It means "dry", as in "dry white wine" or "dry sherry". Dry as in not sweet, slightly bitter...And the label says that the scent is "A gentle, non-sweet fragrance..." There's a whole line in this scent, Colognes, AS Lotions, Hair Tonics, and I had such good results from the Original Auslese I figured this was a good bet.

So I got that puppy home and took her to town.

My first reaction when I opened the bottle was, "What scent?" This is a SUBTLE fragrance. Even when applying it, I could hardly make it out--it was like walking into a room that had just been occupied by someone wearing a very tasteful cologne. There's a touch of floral scent to it, perhaps Rose or Lavender, but it is fleeting, and almost imaginary. Subtle. Not a reason to buy this product, but a nice touch.

The product itself is VERY thick; the shaker on the bottle is almost too small, it's kind of hard to get anything out, but that's fine. As with most milks/lotions, a little goes a long way. The product absorbed fast and did not leave any sticky or oily residue. Plus.

Now, as for the effects...Hmmm... This contains Aloe, which is good, it is pretty soothing after a bad shave (luckily, I don't get those too often, it as it goes, I got one today...) and it calms razor burn pretty well. However...it really isn't moisturizing enough for me. It is better than nothing, and certainly better than an alcohol based splash, but in both the soothing/healing and moisturizing aspects, it is not quite to the level of the TSD milk, which is my gold standard. It's better than The Gentleman's Refinery Aftershave Balm, in my opinion, if that helps, but not immensely.

I will use it as a moisturizer at night, to save my AS Milk, but it won't be my daily-use aftershave.

So, with an almost imperceptible scent, and slightly above mediocre results, I can't wholeheartedly recommend Auslese Trocken Skin Conditioner. But man, WHAT A BOTTLE.

Behold, a Stick Is Born!

I love me some Mitchell's Wool Fat. Great, great soap. Lovely smell, fantastic shave, excellent skin care. It was my first soap, and remains my favorite. However, I have found that since I first started this shaving bidness, I prefer shave sticks to soap pucks.

What's a boy to do?


Put the two loves together!

Inspired by a thread on B&B about turning a Tabac Puck into the highly coveted Tabac stick, I went to work on my battle-scarred puck.

First, I shaved the puck down into slivers using a vegetable peeler. I dropped the slivers into a glass bowl and tried a little "double boiling". The heat and steam softened the slivers a bit, allowing them to be reformed. I dropped the slivers into an empty "twister" deodorant stick and tamped them down with a marker. I added a few drops (DROPS! not splashes) of water now and again to add to the softness. Soon, I had this:



A MWF STICK!

After the stick set for a while, I tried it out.

Unfortunately, the soap set up too hard in the stick,and the twist-action broke when I tried to use it. I had to cut the bottom out and push up with my thumbs. Apart from this little mechanical trouble, the soap performs beautifully!

I've shaved with it and the lather was pure MWF. The shaving/tamping caused no permanent changes, and the stick form is PERFECT for lathering this notoriously difficult soap.

Score!!!

A Research Shopping Trip

My Wife and I got a new car (YAY!) and it showed up the day before yesterday. We took a road trip to The Big City, and while we were there I checked out the shaving goods available.

It wasn't pretty.


We went to Kokura, which is a nice big city in northern Kyushu. It's not huge, but it has some major department stores, which are about the only places to find good shaving supplies in Japan.

First, I went to The Body Shop. I was finally able to pick up a tube of their Maca Root Shave cream for 1,630 yen, about $16. Not bad...

Next, to a big department store--Izutsuya. Shaving supplies are usually found in the cutlery sections, cased along with row after row of fine hand-forged Japanese knives. Maybe it's to help justify the prices...Apart from the usual Schick and Gillette multi-blade cartridge shavers, they had ONE DE razor, a Merkur Futur. For 11,000 yen. That's 110 bucks. For a razor that retails in the US and Europe for around $55-$60. Eep.

They also had Merkur DE blades for 825 yen a pack, and a no-name Tanuki hair brush for 7,000. (Their no-name boar was 3000...). Eep again.

SO we moved on, to the big Isetan department store next to the station...which, in the year since we had last been to Kokura, had been bought out by Izutsuya. D'Oh!

The cutlery section again...and there's a bit more selection this time.

There was Futur again (same price as before) and also a gold Merkur Slant Bar.


For 11,000 yen. Which is odd, as the Slant usually sells for quite a bit less than the Futur...

They also had a couple of Plisson brushes. This Pure Black hexagon (Retail 40 Euros) was selling for 12,000 yen:


And this one (I think) for the same price:


Over priced, over priced over priced. I guess products ARE available, if you are willing to pay double the price of importing them from the US or Europe. Thank God for the internet, is all I can say.

New Features!

Sooo. There's a couple of new things popping up here. Though I might draw your attention to them...Take a looksee!


First, a little bit down on the ol' left side, is "My Daily Shave." Pretty self explanatory, these are the things that I am using now...I update this daily, and as new things pop up, I'll post reviews or link to past ones. Because, you know, I was getting TONS of email begging to know what I was using to shave with every day. Cause that's just how cool I am.

Second, and perhaps more pathetic, is the "Followers" gadget, aka "People Who Might Like Me." This is a little widget that people can use to add themselves to the teeming hordes of avid readers I have. Like, all three of you ;). Really, though, if you have a Blogger account and if you like what you see here, add yourself. You'll get automatic updates of my posts and stuff on your dashboard, and maybe you'll come back to see me. This also helps me put a face to people who take the time to read my blog, so I can know who I'm writing for.

So go ahead and add yourself; you can be anonymous if you want, but it makes me feel good.

Like I said, pathetic...

Later!

Turkish Delight...?

So, a while ago, I tried a week of shaving with an ARKO Stick, from Turkey. I am a stick fan (Just wait till you see what I've got in my fridge...!!) and when I got this one for free with an order from Giovanni at Razor and Brush, I reckoned I had to try it. Now, in the fullness of time, I think I'm ready to give my opinion.

(image from Razor and Brush).

ARKO sticks are fairly polarizing. There are those (like Giovanni) that love them--they say the lather is thick, luxurious and plentiful, far outperforming the measly $2 price tag. There are those that hate the stuff --the primary complaint is the scent...

My reaction? They're both right.

The stick is plain jane, wrapped in paper and with no plastic base/holder like is found on the others I have tried. The graphics are kind of nice in a kitschy way. I felt like my shave was blessed by J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.


But even before I saw the stick, the first thing I noticed was the scent. In fact, the entire package I ordered smelled like this stuff...The stick's detractors, and there are many, say that this soap smells like a urinal puck. I don't think that's quite right. I think it smells like ten urinal pucks. This is a potent aroma...I was afraid to leave it in my bathroom, that it might turn the place into the John at a cheap bar. But luckily, with a day or two of air the stick calms down and the smell loses part of its penetrating edge.

So, then, the important part? Well...my first shave with this was a bit disappointing. Make no mistake, it lathered like a monster. My Omega brought forth MOUNDS of creamy lather in no time. But the shave wasn't that great. It was draggy and left my skin feeling dry and slightly razor burnt.

My second shave was similar. Then I realized, the lather was coming too easily--I wasn't adding enough water, seeing the big mounds of foam made me stop too soon. The reaction to the brush was deceptive. This soap needs quite a bit of water to get a good lather, even though it'll whip up a dry one with no trouble at all. Once I found the right water ratio, I got some pretty good shaves.

Pretty good. Not great. After 5 shaves, the bottom line was that I wanted to use something else. This was not true of the Valobra Stick or MWF...with those, I have to make myself stop, to give some other product a chance. With ARKO, I gave it a shot, thought "OK, that's not bad" and moved on.

Now, this is not a bad product. I can definitely see the appeal--it's cheap, it's easy to whip up a good lather, and it's cheap. But given the overpowering scent, and the lack of a really outstanding shave (not as good as VDH Deluxe, for instance), I can't see this one being a re-purchase. I am glad I tried it though, and I will probably give it another chance in a while, when the smell has faded from my mind's nose...

A Guide: Single Edge Blades and The Spines Who Love Them

So, I have been involved with these Feather SE blades, and now that they are finding their way into the public, people are wanting to use them. How odd! Unfortunately, there is a bit of work involved with them, as they are not exactly designed for the common SE shavers we have. Basically, they need a spine from another blade; the removal and installation of that spine can be tricky, if you don't like blood loss. I have a fairly safe way to do it.

Come! Let me show you my world!

First off, what you need.

The Tools:


That's a pair of endcut pliers and a pair of needlenose pliers. I use the endcut pliers because I saw them in another video, and they were 100 yen at Daiso. You could probably get away with regular grip pliers, though.

First, adding a spine to a blade. Not too tricky...

Be Careful:


Grip the blade with the needlenose and get the spine centered on the blade. You can leave the paper on or off; off works a bit better for me. Make sure that you don't get the pliers near the cutting edge, you don't want to ruing the blade.

A No Brainer:

Press the blade spine onto a hard surface, gripping the blade tightly. The blade should fit snug into the spine, with the two indentations on each end of the spine fitting into the slots at the top of the blade.

Now, taking the spine off.


Grip the spine with the end cut pliers, being careful to catch only the edge; you don't want to be gripping the blade with the spine, it's counterproductive. Grip it slightly off center, I find it works best.

Slowly...


Grip the blade with the needlenose, aligning the edge of the jaws with the spine. Grip firmly, but not too tight, there should be a tiny amount of slide. Slowly pull the END of the blade outward, using the tip of the needlenose pliers as a fulcrum, levering the blade out of the spine one end at a time. Don't try to pull the blade straight out, it could fly out and cause some damage.

Once one end is out, it's easy! Just pull them apart with the pliers.

Good luck!