July 31, 2024
- Brush: Maggard 24mm Synthetic
- Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3 SB
- Blade: Personna Lab Blue (12)
- Lather: Barrister & Mann - Petrichor - Soap
- Post Shave: Noble Otter - Hamami - Aftershave
Unfortunately it looks like I might be getting roped into doing Austere August, with a Stirling Mutton based soap.
This tub of Petrichor is close to being 3017'd, but it might have to wait.
Hamami++
I might be getting roped into doing Austere August
Well, misery loves company 😅
Stirling mutton++;
You'll have a great AA
Oh, unless you do AA correctly and have to travel. One month of cartridges --;
The only constant will be soap.
The essence of AA👍🐏
Good Bye July, good bye Croatia
- Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 55 mm Manchurian badger)
- Razor: Fatip - Lo Storto - Testa Dentata
- Blade: Derby Extra
- Lather: Barrister and Mann – Oceana (Soft Heart)
- Post Shave: Ralon – Sport
- Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Island Man
Nice shave! Tomorrow morning, we'll fly to our next vacation destination where my AA razor, stone, brush, and software have already arrived by mail, making this my last shave here in Croatia, and my last Anteausteritarian shave of 2024.
The soft heart and Fatip unsurprisingly treated me very well, but the real star of my travel setup for the July portion of our summer break was the Manchurian Zenith. This scrubby badger feels wonderful and makes lathering trivial. I'm looking forward to breaking in a SOC next month, but I can tell I'll miss this badger.
Lo Storto - Testa Dentata
An internet search for this results in, well, posts by you. A search for "Testa Dentata" without Lo Storto has a result for "Have doctors ever found teeth in a vagina?"
What is it?
Open comb, I would guess?
Huh, I'm not sure what's happening here. I thought "testa dentata" (literally "toothed head" = "open comb") was what Fatip called their open comb razors, but they call it "testina originale" (original diminutive head) on their website. I don't write know where I have the expression from. I don't speak Italian well enough to know such specific terms so I guess I would have seen it somewhere on the packaging?
This Italian online shop uses the same term, so I'm wondering whether Fatip changed their description at some point?
See you tomorrow for the start of our 31-step AA program.
Hey, what happened to BBS August? Don't you have a 62-step AA program?
I have a busy month coming up and was not convinced I could find the time. I think going without stropping will be an interesting enough challenge. I noticed that this year’s headless horseman allows stropping. 31 shaves on a good edge that is stropped daily doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to me.
Fair. BBS months take a lot of time.
31 shaves on a good edge that is stropped daily doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to me.
I think that's part of the point. 31 shaves on an edge shouldn't be difficult, and AA leads people to this realisation. At least for me, that's how it went😅
I suspect that we over-strop straight razors. If the edge has the right geometry off the stone, it typically is not as keen (Science of Sharp definition) as a DE blade. One can take a DE blade for 31 shaves without too much loss of closeness and comfort. I don't see why that can't be done with a straight.
Maybe sputtering the edge with platinum or tungsten or whatever different manufacturers do with their disposable blades held with longevity. It's the only thing I can think of why a disposable could outlast an unstropped straight.
Pure speculation on my part, and I'm curious to follow your AA story
Maybe sputtering the edge ...
Yeah, I thought of that too. Normally, that wears away after the first few days, though. (Among the many useful takeaways I've had from previous AAs 🙂)
I must have missed our forgotten the evidence of that. Is the sputtered metal (and its removal) visible under your microscope?
Yes. It’s generally gone within the first few days. I think, now, that the added comfort of the sputtered material comes from reducing the harshness of a freshly machined edge.
I'm a bit confused here. My understanding is that the polymer coating is here to increase glide and reduce the harshness. The sputtered tungsten, titanium and whatnot is sputtered onto the edge, under the coating to add wear resistance, but it makes the surface rougher, which I thinkshould translate into a harsher feel.
I obviously don’t know, but from videos I’ve seen of making DE blades, the tradeoff between cost and precision favors cost. My assumption on the sputtering is that it normalizes the edge and that the coating reduces harshness when the blade is at its sharpest.
My scope is calibrated so the 50 micron scale at the bottom left is reasonably accurate. It’s amazing how much better the resolving power of a SEM is at similar magnification.
After AA I’ll do a sequence with a DE blade. I’ve only done a GEM and Kismet so far.
Yes, looking forward to it!
It will be a bit of a leap of faith on my side. I wasn't able to hone (or try) my AA razor before we left for vacation. I shipped my AA setup and my honing equipment to where were will be tomorrow evening and I'll have to make it work 😅
July 31, 2024
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Brush: Wald Stratos Goldvein 29mm A1 Fan
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Razor: Dovo Bismarck 6/8" Full Hollow Round Point
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Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Soap
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Toner: Thayers - Lavender - Toner
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Aftershave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Aftershave
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Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Eau de Toilette
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
I'm fortunate to get in one last Black Watchday before Austere August. See you tomorrow when austerity begins!
31.07.2024 - Blu Tobacco quick affair
- Prep: warm water
- Razor: Leaf Thorn
- Blade: snapped BIC Chrome Platinum
- Brush: vintage yellow bakelite handle w/ 22 mm SynBad knot
- Lather: Abbate Y La Mantia - Blu Tobacco
- Post Shave: Thayer's Original toner; Saponificio Varesino Cubebe sample; moisturiser
-> 1 pass head and neck shave. Rushed as hell, but still comfortable.
Last day off before returning to nursing school tomorrow, so I still wanted to get a first try of Blu Tobacco. Despite the fast shave, it didn't disappoint. Off the puck, it smells like unlit menthol cigarettes on a beach. Not the crowded holiday season beach though - more of a well hidden spot in early spring when the sand is still a bit damp. I dunno how to describe it better, there's certainly something maritime instead of the typical "aquatic men's cologne scent" like Cool Water or AdG.When lathered, the menthol provides a nice cool down without overstaying its welcome. The tobacco stays noticeable (huge pro) and the maritime notes tie everything together nicely. I already like this soap and it was surprising how fast it was to load and lather for a hard soap. Post shave skin feel is not as "balmy" as e.g. B&M, ZM or Mammoth. But still good and refreshing. Further uses will show how much I really like it.
Actually I had to rush because now's an awful time for me to be still be awake, but I tried to update my laptop for tomorrow and after two failed updates, it's now stuck in an eternal restart cycle. A fairly new laptop I just bought last year... Sigh. So tomorrow I'll have to make do with my notepad, a pen and my smartphone. Plus way too much coffee after a short night 😵💫
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