S.O.T.D. Saturday 10th June to Friday 16th June 2017

Wednesday AM 2017-06-14

Moss Anniversary Slate scuttle
D7 Elite Manchurian 2-Band (27mm/51mm)
Aramis JHL shaving soap (vintage)
DE Ink Edition AS-D2/Triad Brass Helix Round Bar
Gillette Platinum 'Swede' (5)
Aramis JHL aftershave (vintage)
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Wed 14th June

RazoRock Plissoft 22 mm
Tabac
ES Claymore V1
Schick Proline Type P ( 18 )
Alum Rub / Rinse off
Tabac A/S lotion

Though today's Shave was smooth and comfortable, the blade on its 18th outing had obviously lots its sharpness,as the quality of finish was not as good as usual.However, I am not too worried as I would not normally use a blade for so long , but I became interested in seeing what it's optimum use might be in the Claymore.

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DIY Wednesday

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So today was a bit of an unusual one, in the sense that I wasn't using an 'off-the-shelf' soap... instead, I've made my own! I'd describe it as a very soft, mocha brown cream. This particular iteration was very heavy on the peppermint, being the only 'flavouring' I added. I feel that some of the oils used had been sat around a little more than I'd have liked, plus I'm keen to trial tallow in the formulation I've come up with, so I'm not too disheartened by the performance/scent. That being said, after two passes with a 20-second or so loading phase I still had this lather remaining. It's a little on the airy side as I was keen to add water until I reached the turning point and it held a reasonable amount. It gave enough cushion and slip for me to carry out two neck passes with the relatively aggressive Thomas Clipper DE, loaded with an Astra platinum blade on its second outing. No irritation, no weepers etc. I have a feeling this soap will mature somewhat considering it was made only earlier today and has had very little 'curing' time (though it was made as a hot-process soap so no real requirement for this). The addition of peppermint gave a nice cooling sensation when washing off with cold water. My skin feels a little on the dry side (not much more than usual) but I've ideas how to combat that when I purchase some more ingredients. For those in the know, it's a mixed-lye soap with a strong favouring for KOH over NaOH, giving the cream-ish consistency (I'd liken it to Cyril Salter creams for a viscosity reference). There is a portion of glycerin added post-trace so I believe that helps with the humectant qualities giving me a decent shave. Overall, I'm very pleased with this early iteration and will update you when I manage to purchase some more ingredients and make further small batches.

I'm 98% smooth and looking clean!
 
Evening gents,
Decided to have a quick buff up after last nights fiasco, used a personna platinum chrome blade for the first time and also truefitt and hills soap, I struggled to get a useable lather out of it, but I'm sure it was user error.
Unfortunately still not a great two pass but I tried. Will leave it till Sunday now and take my time about it.
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