Mike’s Rants and Raves

Today was just one of those days.  It didn’t seem it would ever end and when I got home, I really wasn’t in the mood to do much of anything.

Some people look forward to a relaxing drink to signify the end of the work day, but I find relaxation in a really good shave.  And since I wasn’t much in the mood for any problems, I decided tonight was going to be back to basics night.

I broke down my Merkur 23C and gave it a good soaking with some Scrubbing Bubbles.  After it had soaked for a couple minutes, I used an old toothbrush to give it a good cleaning, rinsed it off and loaded it with one of my trusty Derby blades.

If you’re read this blog much at all, you’ve doubtless picked up on how much I like to use Mama Bear shaving soaps.  Mama Bear offers some interesting scents and the soap never fails to make a really great lather.  But tonight, none of the tubs of Mama Bear shaving soaps were even touched.  After my Omega brush was allowed to soak in a hot lathering bowl of water, I dumped the water and laid in a dollop of Proraso Green.  I gave the brush a couple shakes to get rid of the excess water and then mixed up an amazing bowlful of warm, rich lather.

Three passes later, I had once again reached shaving perfection.  A cold water rinse followed up with a generous splash of Pinaud Clubman and life was good again.

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I’ve really been away from this for far too long.  Other aspects of this thing called Life have piled atop me and I’m just getting around to catching up with everything.

Around 3-4 weeks back, the decision was made to pull all three of our vBulletin forums together, on one host’s server.  The move was made, at least part-way, but the intended result of running all three forums from one reseller account never materialized.  As a result, approximately 10 days ago, we pulled up the tent stakes and moved all of the forum domains to a Virtual Private Server, or VPS, hosted by KnownHost.  I was a little nervous about the move, but the support team at KnownHost has banished all my fears about operating a VPS.  And the members of all three forums are now enjoying page loads that are faster than anything we’ve ever witnessed before.

Reflecting on the decision to move to a VPS, I’ve realized there are times when it is necessary to spend a bit more money.  In this case, spending a bit more each month has ended up being a good value, because our forum members are enjoying the benefits.

But it is not always necessary to spend more money to obtain quality.  So it is always important to research purchases, before blindly spending the money.

This evening’s shave is an excellent example.  I am sitting here and enjoying an absolutely BBS shave and none of the components used in this shave cost as much as some gents will spend on a single brush.

Tonight was a Treet.  No, I didn’t spell it wrong, I used a Treet blade in a late ’40’s Gillette Super Speed.  My pal Giovanni, at Barbieria Italiana, sells Treet Classic blades for as little as 13 cents each.  Yes, that’s what I said - a pack of 100 blades sells for just $13.00.

The Ylang-Ylang shaving soap was made by my favorite soap-maker, Mama Bear and sells for just $8.99.  A luxurious lather was mixed up with my Omega 33175 brush, another item available from Barbieria Italiana for only $39.00.

After an excellent shave, I splashed on a bit of Pinaud Clubman, which is one of my favorite aftershaves.  And the overall result is one of the smoothest shaves ever.

I will be the first to admit that I am not sure how well a brush like a Simpson’s Chubby #2 works, but when I can get outstanding results with the above-mentioned materials, why would I want to spend $235.00 on a brush?  My favorite razor is a Merkur 23C that cost me all of $28.00.  That razor and a Derby blade can give me about as good a shave as I can get with any other combination and without the need to invest a lot of money.

To the gents that can afford the higher-end razors and brushes, I offer you my congratulations.  And I hope you can get results comparable to what I am getting with a fraction of the outlay.  To those that can afford the various components used in ‘method shaving’, all I can say is my tub of Mama Bear shaving soap gives me outstanding results.

For any of you that are not yet bit by the wet-shaving bug (what are you waiting on?!?), don’t be fooled by people talking about how they’ve spend hundreds of dollars on razors, soaps, creams, brushes and aftershave.  You can get excellent results without spending so much money.

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Several weeks back, I received an order from Giovanni at Barbieria Italiana. Giovanni had also enclosed six or eight razor blades from various manufacturers. I was really experiencing great shaves with Derby Extra Super blades, so I tossed the package in a drawer and pretty much forgot about it.

After reading the Leisureguy blog and seeing the results he was getting with some different blades, I decided to dig the package back out and give them a try. I’ve documented some of the results I’ve experienced with a Zorrick blade and a Sputnik blade.

A couple evenings ago, I pulled a Polsilver blade out and loaded it into a Gilette Super Speed. My first impression was the blade was definitely demanding when it came to angle. If the angle wasn’t just so, the shave wasn’t very good and the angle variation was a very narrow window.

Last evening, I lathered up with a Mama Bear Bonzai soap and then settled in for a very careful and exacting shave. I was focused on maintaining the blade angle, throughout my regular, three-pass shave. And the results were spectacular. The shave was smooth as glass, with no nicks or burning.

I checked the Barbieria Italiana site and Giovanni states the Polsilver is a stainless blade, made in Poland by Gilette. The Polsilver blades are a bit more money than the Derby and Sputnik blades, but the marginal price difference might be money well-spent.

I’m really happy that Leisureguy continued to encourage me to experiment with blades, as I’ve definitely found two blades that are giving me results as good as the Derby.

I barely mentioned the Bonzai shaving soap, from Mama Bear. A really nice scent and it also has that excellent lather that Mama Bear’s soaps are known to produce. If you’re looking for a wide selection of excellent shaving soaps, be sure to visit Mama Bear for some great products. I’m sold on her bath soaps, her shaving soaps and her aftershaves. And when you see her prices, you’re going to wish you had found her site earlier!

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I received a package from Mama Bear yesterday afternoon. Inside was a bar of the new Bay Rum-scented bath soap and a bar of the new Dragon’s Blood-scented bath soap.

I was torn as to which bar to try for this morning’s shower, but the Dragon’s Blood won out.

Rich, thick, cleansing lather that smells so good is probably illegal in at least three or four states.  Another two thumbs up for a great product.

Get thee to the Mama Bear Web site and order yourself some goodness of your own.

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As i mentioned a few days back, I was down with the flu for a few days and I’ve been pretty busy, playing catch up with all the lost time.

I got some more of the fine Mama Bear shaving soaps on Monday afternoon, so I broke open the package and selected Crème Brûlée for the evening.  Wow, this one is a nice scent!  I grabbed the Super Speed with a well-used Sputnik blade and had a fine shave, followed up with Pinaud Clubman aftershave.  I checked back and this was shave number eight on the Sputnik blade, but it was still producing a very close shave.

Last evening, I looked through the new Mama Bear offerings and decided on Toasted Coconut, which is another really nice scent.  I decided to use my Merkur 23C, loaded with a Derby Extra Super.  Another really enjoyable shave, followed by a bit of Mama Bear’s bay rum-scented Winter aftershave.

This evening, I grabbed my tube of Proraso Green.  I have really become a bog fan of the Mama Bear shaving soaps, but I’m still a Proraso fan.  I decided to go back to the Sputnik blade and my Super Speed and I finally noticed the blade was not feeling quite so smooth as it had.  Then again, the Proraso did its job, so there the shave was minus any burn or nicks.  Tonight’s aftershave was the Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum.

I think it is safe to say the Sputnik blade has out-lived its usefulness.  It’s pretty hard to argue with a blade that was still producing great shaves after eight uses, however.  The next order I place with Barbieria Italiana will include some more Sputniks, that much is certain.

I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  I had e-mailed Giovanni at Barbieria Italiana about an Omega brush that would do well with both soaps and creams.  Giovanni suggested a 33175 Omega and his advice was spot-on.  The brush produces mountains of lather with soaps and I believe it works a bit better with creams.  If you’re looking for a nice badger brush with a really attractive price, you’re not going to go wrong with this brush.

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As I mentioned in another entry, I have been a bit under the weather.  But today, when I got back into work, there was a care package from Giovanni at Barbieria Italiana.

I actually wish I had snagged some Sputnik blades on this order :???:, but I still had some nice surprises to unpack.

Since I am a bit of a push-over when it comes to bay rum, I ordered a bottle of Superior 70 bay rum.  I tried some this evening and it was a very nice exclamation point on a very nice shave.

I also received a bottle of Constanza bay rum, which really has a pretty stout scent to it.  I imagine I’ll give it a go tomorrow evening.

I also received a bottle of Murray & Lanman Florida Water cologne.  Very alluring scent, one I am anxious to try.

On a lark, I had Giovanni send me a cube of the Savon de Marseille Palm Oil soap.  I’ve noticed a lot of gents are using a technique known as ‘method shaving’, where a cube of olive oil soap provides the base for a very rich ’super’ lather, supplemented with a cream and an activating product.  I thought I would try a cube of the palm oil soap, just as an experiment.  The Barbieria Italiana Web site indicates this soap can be used as a shaving soap and Giovanni is certainly not fibbing on that count!  A couple of swirls of the Omega brush on the cube loaded up the badger bristles nicely.  Not wanting to be wasteful, I lathered up my face with it.  All I can say is, "Wow!"

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - if you’re looking for a nice source of shaving supplies, you really need to visit the Barbieria Italiana Web site.  Giovanni is a friendly gent, with excellent customer service.  You may find some of his product lines are not the same, run-of-the-mill products that everyone else sells, but Giovanni provides those of us in North America an excellent opportunity to discover some outstanding European shaving products.  I give Giovanni two thumbs up.

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Sorry to have missed a few days, but I was caught up in the outbreak of the flu that seems to have a grip on the country these last couple weeks.

I suppose I should go back through the entries on the blog to check, but I think tonight was the 5th shave with this Sputnik blade. A blade that really didn’t perform well in my Merkur 23C razor is working great in a Gillette Super Speed. And to think I had tried other blades in the Super Speed and hadn’t had much luck with them.

As well as a Derby Extra Super works in my Merkur, I think this Sputnik is working even better in the Super Speed.

I’m still feeling a bit down with the flu, but the two days beard growth was not going to let me skip another night. So I decided to pull out the stops and make the most of the evening’s shave.

I grabbed my lathering bowl, my Omega brush and a tub of Mama Bear’s Turkish Mocha shaving soap. A splash of hot water on the top of the soap and then the brush was set aside to soak in a bowl of water, whilst I treated myself to a couple of hot towels.

After another BBS shave and a cold rinse, I splashed on some Superior 70 Bay Rum that is just in from Giovanni at Barbieria Italiana.

And the result is another outstanding shave. I’ve tried stretching out the Derby Extra Super blades, but usually I start to see the results deteriorating on the fifth shave and the sixth is just out of the question. But this Sputnik seemingly refuses to lay down and die. Very impressive blade, very impressive indeed!

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I’ll admit to being a shaving cream fan.  I like Proraso Green, Palmolive and Arko.  I’ve always been able to mix a really great lather with these creams, particularly with this new Omega brush.  When it comes down to a thick lather, these creams all shine.

But you’ll have noticed by now that I’m also a fan of Mama Bear and her line of soaps.  I’ve had some really good results using this great line of shaving soaps.

As I had been trying this Sputnik blade and not wanting to change too many things at once, I was staying with the Arko cream I began the test with.  After getting a very favorable comparison on the Sputnik blade, used in both my Merkur razor and a late-1940’s Super Speed, I decided it was time to move back to a Mama Bear shaving soap for this evening.

I grabbed a tub of Dragon’s Blood and proceeded to mix up another great bowl of lather.  No way will I ever go back to lathering on my face., as the bowl mixing method works so well.  It gives complete control of how much water is used in the mix.

I had a fresh Derby in my Merkur, but I remembered the Sputnik was still loaded in one of my Super Speeds.  So I decided to compare the Sputnik/Super Speed combination with Mama Bear’s soap to last evening’s shave with Arko cream.

Another remarkable shave!  The results are every bit as good with shaving soap as they were last evening with the shaving cream.

I finished off the shave with a bit of Mama Bear’s Winter Aftershave Balm, custom scented with Bay Rum.  I keep saying this is my special reserve aftershave, because I like it so much.  But this evening’s shave was so good I had to use a special aftershave.

If you’re read many of these blog entries, you’ve surely noticed how positively I post about Mama Bear and her line of products.  When products work as well as these, I like to share that knowledge with others.  And to show you how pleased I am with Mama Bear’s offerings, I showered this morning with a bar of her Bergamot and Jasmine soap.  This evening’s shave was with her Dragon’s Blood shaving soap, followed by a good facial wash with her Tea Tree, Lavender and Hemp soap, followed by her Winter aftershave balm.  I really cannot say enough good about Mama Bear and her soaps.

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I was always a big fan of the television series, Hill Street Blues.  One of the oft-repeated lines in the show took place near the beginning of each episode, as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (portrayed by Michael Conrad) was turning out his day-shift force.  Every episode, he would utter the warning, "Let’s be careful out there."

I got to thinking about the incredibly sharp instruments we are using to shave with and how easy it can be to end up with some very serious cuts, if we’re not careful.

Everyone of us that has come to enjoy the experience of wet-shaving has discovered that the shaving soap or cream that we like best is one that provides good lubrication.  That is what allows a razor to glide along our face.  And the more slippery, the better.

But we need to bear in mind that it’s really easy to end up with all that well-lubricated lather on our hands.  And then we’re picking up razors? 

Is this straight razor the kind of object you want to pick up with wet, soapy hands?!?

So I think it is time to remind everyone of the respect we must give our razors and razor blades.  When we change out a blade in a double-edge razor, that old blade is still more than capable of slicing flesh to the bone.  And if you’re like me, you have come to realize blood is best left inside, where it belongs.

Most shaving goods suppliers will have razor disposal banks available for a small amount of money.  I have a nice metal bank that I got from Lee’s Safety Razors.  A small metal box with a single slot let into the top, so blades can be dropped inside.  Once inside, there’s no worry about anyone getting cut on a used blade.

There are other alternatives, in addition to these razor banks.  For instance, I use an empty prescription bottle.  I just drop in a used blade and when the bottle is full, I wrap a couple passes of duct tape around the bottle to secure the cap.  Once again, there’s no worry about anyone getting a nasty slice.  I’ve seen other gents cut a small slot in the side of a tin, so they can insert blades in the slot.  Once the can gets full, a couple of swats with a hammer will close the slot and the tin can be disposed of.

For those with small children in the house, please, please, PLEASE make sure that blades and razors are placed well out of reach, preferably under lock and key.

Wet-shaving is meant to be a pleasurable experience.  Trips to the hospital emergency room are definitely not pleasurable.

Let’s be careful out there.

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I kept giving that Sputnik blade some consideration and felt it deserved a second chance.

A lot of double-edge razor users like to use the late 1940’s and early 1950’s Gillette Super Speeds. I own a few of them and frankly, I’m not such a big fan of them. I like the longer handle on my Merkur 23C much better than the shorter Super Speeds.

But I decided to try something a little different for this evening’s shave. I pulled the Sputnik blade out of the Merkur and loaded it up in a late 1940’s Super Speed.

Again, in an effort to minimize the variables, I went with Arko cream and my Omega brush. I followed my typical routine, hot towel treatment prior to shaving and then afterwards washing with Mama Bear’s Tea Tree, Lavender and Hemp soap, followed by a cold water rinse and Pinaud Clubman aftershave.

And the decision is now in - the Sputnik performed quite well in the Super Speed. I’m impressed, actually. That combination produced as good a shave as any other razor/blade combination I’ve tried.

I may have to purchase a few more Sputnik blades from Barbieria Italiana, to see if I can keep duplicating these results.

I suppose I learned a valuable lesson this evening.  Don’t write off a blade without trying it in a different razor.  And it also showed me that the Super Speed’s are not so bad, after all.

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