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  • November 23, 2024

    • Brush: Elite Razor Neo-resinate 26mm Mother Lode
    • Blade Holder: Gillette Super Adjustable 109 (Black Beauty) Gold O-4
    • Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (11)
    • Lather: Ethos Grooming Essentials - Dragonsbeard - Soap
    • Aftershave: Ethos Grooming Essentials - Dragonsbeard Skin Food - Splash

    2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

    I was in a mood for Oud, so I pulled out the Dragonsbeard. A couple of years ago, I was so enchanted by this scent that I found myself alternating between it and BaM Leviathan. I finished my tub of Leviathan and have not purchased another so I could use the rest of my soaps.

    Dragonsbeard doesn't show up much around here. These are the scent notes:

    Agarwood Oil and Oud Resin with essential oils of East Indian Sandalwood, Amber, Tonka Bean Butter, Madagascar Vanilla Bean Infusion Oil, and White Rose Absolute

    • Mood for Oud sounds like a band name.

      Sounds like a really nice soap!

      • The Ethos soaps, and Dragonsbeard in particular, are very pricey. The owner claims that the prices reflect the use of very high quality components. Assuming that's true, I don't experience higher quality that is justifies the higher price. However, I do think that the soap and scents are high quality. When I run through this tub of Dragonsbeard, I'll buy another one.

  • Saturday, November 23, 2024: FLS

    • Brush: Omega - 10048 boar
    • Razor: GEM - Micromatic Clog-Pruf
    • Blade: Personna - GEM PTFE (2)
    • Lather: Barrister and Mann - Leviathan
    • Post: Stirling - Oro Valley Aftershave splash
    • Post: Ginger's Garden - Unscented AS balm (+ menthol)
    • Frag: Stirling - Oro Valley EdT

    A much more comfortable shave with the Clog-Pruf this morning. I heeded advice and used much less pressure, and got away with no irritation and a really close shave.

    Leviathan into Oro Valley is a nice combination for sure.

    Off to do all the errands, have a great Saturday y'all.

    🍳 Created with Neovim & sotd.nvim 🍳

  • Tridi 3 Frimaire an 233 de la Révolution, jour de la Chicorée

    I hadn't shaved since Wednesday, and feeling scrubby. Good shave, but I believe I get a slight reaction to the after shave: initially, hardly any burn, but then increaning burn for a minute or two, followed by a decrease. This is not a normal alcohol-burn. Sigh.

    Shared via [emacs](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) & [sotd.el](https://gitlab.com/shavin1/sotd.el)

  • November 23, 2024

    • Brush: Maggard 24mm SHD Bulb
    • Razor: Chiseled Face - Legacy Raw Titanium (#69)
    • Blade: Personna Lab Blue (4)
    • Lather: Chiseled Face - Gearhead - Soap
    • Post Shave: Barrister & Mann - Lyssa - Aftershave
    • Post Shave: Nivea Sensitive Balm
    • Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Face Lotion - Kelp & Sea Mineral
    • Fragrance: Auntie Anne's Pretzels - Knead - EdP

    $Discord

    Another great Chiseled Face shave. I tripled up on the post-shaves today, just for fun.

  • GEM Days 7b/14: second Generation GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless – Sat 23 Nov 2024

    • Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
    • Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless (second generation)
    • Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
    • Lather: Mitchell's – Wool Fat
    • Post Shave: Ralon Original

    The Fat really agrees with my face. I usually use moisturiser after my shaves, but with The Fat I feel like I don't need it.

    This was shave 14 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors:

    1. 1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene
    2. 1914-1927: 1914
    3. 1924-1933: 1924 Shovelhead
    4. 1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate)
    5. 1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)
    6. 1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf
    7. 1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless ← We are here
    8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year
    9. 1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO)
    10. 1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to "Slim-V Flat Top" in 1953, British version sold as "Natural Angle" by Ever-Ready
    11. 1955-1958: GEM V-Slim "Heavy Flat Top" (G-Bar, shiny chrome), New V Natural Angle Heavy Flat Top (E-Bar, less shiny nickel)
    12. 1958-1965: Push Button
    13. 1965-1973: Contour
    14. 1973-1979: Contour II (The last GEM razor)

    • What's your impression of The Fat vs Stirling's sheep soaps?

      • They're very different. Mitchell's Wool Fat it an old fashioned hard soap versus Stirling's modern croap. Compared to modern soft artisan shave soap bases, you need to start with a drier brush with The Fat or you'll have a bubbly mess. Think SV.

        I really enjoy the post shave feel with this one.

  • November 23, 2024

    • Brush: AP Shave Co Summer 28mm G5C
    • Blade Holder: Karve Overlander Brass
    • Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)
    • Lather: Wholly Kaw - Amber Bomba - Soap
    • Aftershave: Wholly Kaw - Amber Bomba - Toner

    2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

     

  • GEM Days 7a/14: second Generation GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless – Sat 23 Nov 2024

    • Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
    • Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless (second generation)
    • Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
    • Lather: Barrister and Mann – Nocturne
    • Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Nocturne
    • Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash

    This is shave 13 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless

    The GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless

    The Clog-Pruf Peerless is a bit of an elusive beast. It is referenced in the wetshaving blogosphere and forums, and people remember seeing ads for it, but my searches came up with amost nothing. No document by ASR or GEM even mentioning the Peerless, just this catalogue page advertising it, but it is an interesting enough evolution from the first generation to warrant its own day (for certain definitions of "interesting") because it shows the way future GEMs will go. Pinging @merikus@sub.wetshaving.social who expressed an interest in this part.

    So, what's the Clog-Pruf Peerless and how does it differ from the first generation Clog-Pruf? If you look close at the SOTD pic, you'll see that the Peerless on the left has a thinner safety bar with 17 nibs in contrast to the heftier safety bar with 12 nibs on the first generation. Seems like a small difference, but it's link in the evolutionary chain from GEM's open comb (Damaskene) to functionally open combs (1912, 1914, 1924†), open combs (MMOC 1 and 2), towards big nubs on a bar with channels‡ (Clog-Pruf 1) to this, which is already very close to a modern safety bar. The writing is on the wall and with the exception of the pretty lapse in djudgement known as the Jewel/Streamline, all future GEM razors will have modern safety bars.

    † These look like safety bars with lather channels at first look, however, the sheet is bent down and out of the way so what touches the skin is functionally a comb with teeth. It other words, its just a way to make a structurally sound equivalent of a comb with rigid teeth, but from a thin sheet of brass, too thin to have strong enough individual teeth.

    ‡ The Mühle R41 has that, and it's usually referred to as an open comb razor.

    The shave

    The Peerless is a wonderful shaver like all the members of the Micromatic family, and it gave me a smooth Omnibus shave. Nocturne and Autumn Ash clearly go for a similar vibe, but they are surprisingly different, yet combine very nicely. I will smell delicious running errands today.

    The timeline

    1. 1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene
    2. 1914-1927: 1914
    3. 1924-1933: 1924 Shovelhead
    4. 1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate)
    5. 1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)
    6. 1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf
    7. 1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless ← We are here
    8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year
    9. 1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO)
    10. 1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to "Slim-V Flat Top" in 1953, British version sold as "Natural Angle" by Ever-Ready
    11. 1955-1958: GEM V-Slim "Heavy Flat Top" (G-Bar, shiny chrome), New V Natural Angle Heavy Flat Top (E-Bar, less shiny nickel)
    12. 1958-1965: Push Button
    13. 1965-1973: Contour
    14. 1973-1979: Contour II (The last GEM razor)

  • Saturday, November 23, 2024: SLS

    • Brush: Grizzly Bay - v24 Fanchurian 26mm badger
    • Razor: RazoRock - Game Changer .68
    • Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (5)
    • Lather: Stirling - Ramblin' Man
    • Post: Stirling - Ramblin' Man Aftershave splash
    • Post: Stirling - Glacial Unscented Aftershave balm
    • Frag: Stirling - Ramblin' Man EdT

    Quick and easy with Ramblin' Man this evening before we go out for dinner with the in-laws. I'm looking forward to some good Italian wine and food!

    Still not used to it being so dark so early. I'm already missing summer.

    🍳 Created with Neovim & sotd.nvim 🍳

    • Very nice SLS. Like all of the "Man" series Ramblin' Man is a Creed dupe. This one is a dupe of Creed Himalaya.

      • Yup! It’s probably my wife’s favorite scent in the den.

        I’ve tried a decant of Himalaya and, while nice, I don’t think it’s better enough to warrant the price difference. I’m totally happy sticking with the Stirling EdT. :)

17 comments