Rooney small style 1 brush
Trumper's Almond shaving soap
Hand American strop
5/8 C-Mon Special #1 stainless
Taylor's of old Bond Street Bay Rum aftershave

The problematic C-Mon has finally been brought to heel.  Great shave with no irritation.  The Trumper's Almond is a nice (though odd-smelling) shaving soap, and this particular soap and bay rum aftershave combine to produce a really intoxicating post-shave aroma.
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Posted by: mparker762 at 09:30 AM
Post contains 67 words, total size 1 kb.

Rooney small style 1 brush
Truefitt & Hill Luxury Shaving Soap
Hand American strop
5/8 Henckels Friodur


The Friodur is a NOS vintage razor, and a lovely shaver.  Friodurs are like that...
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Posted by: mparker762 at 09:24 AM
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Rooney small style 1 brush
Penhaligon Blenheim Bouquet soap
Hand American strop
6/8 Clauss USMC straight razor
Pinaud Clubman aftershave

Posted by: mparker762 at 09:00 AM
Post contains 25 words, total size 1 kb.

Rooney small style 1 brush in finest badger
Truefitt & Hill Luxury Shaving Soap
Hand American strop
5/8 Thiers-Issard "Pierre Thiers Limited Edition"
Pinaud Clubman aftershave

This particular Thiers-Issard is a limited run of roughly 400 blades that they found in the back of their warehouse a few years ago.  They were hand-forged by the company's founder Pierre Thiers in the late 1800s from Sheffield steel, and had apparently been set aside and never used.  These razors are an odd thing both by vintage or modern standards.  For one thing they are all slightly different, which is consistent with hand-forging but still strange in an era where these things were mass-produced the way Mach 3's are today.  But some consistent styling elements include:

- the barber's notch at the end of the blade (in a variety of sizes and positions)
- a bellied blade with an "S" shaped spine, the scalloped jimping on the bottom of the shank (you can clearly see this in the photo)
- the double-ground but only half-hollow blade (most double-ground blades are paper-thin in the middle of the blade, but on these razors the sides of the blade are only slightly dished in despite two passes on the grinder)
- the small duck-tail tail on the razor

Also in an odd turn for Sheffield steel, these razors seem to have a very high carbon content and take an extremely fine edge.  Most Sheffield razors of that vintage aren't terribly hard - they will take a good edge but won't keep it very long, but they are easy to hone.  Razors in that era from the other major steelmaking regions like Solingen, the USA, and Eskilstuna (Sweden) tend to be much harder than Sheffield razors.  But this TI razors, made from Sheffield steel, is a standout performer even compared with the best modern razors using the best modern steel.

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Posted by: mparker762 at 06:23 AM
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Rooney small style 1 brush in finest badger
Trumper's Violet soap
Hand American strop
7/8 Henckels Friodur
Murray & Lanman Florida Water

I've been fussing around with a stainless C-Mon the last few days and decided to switch things up with the greatest of the stainless razors, the Henkels Friodur.  This particular razor is sporting a set of Oryx horn scales, but more importantly it takes and holds an extremely fine edge - this razor has needed honing only once or twice in the last few years.
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Posted by: mparker762 at 04:11 PM
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Rooney small style 1 brush in finest badger
Truefitt & Hill Luxury Shaving Soap
Hand American strop
6/8 C. V. Heljestrand #32 straight razor
Pinaud Clubman aftershave

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Posted by: mparker762 at 10:51 AM
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Rooney small style 1 brush
Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet soap
Feather Artist Club
Super Pro blade
Purell Hand Sanitizer

I've been on a Feather kick all week, though I've switched back to my beloved Rooney brush and BB soap.  Purell Hand Sanitizer makes a dandy aftershave if you don't want any lingering scent.

Posted by: mparker762 at 05:58 AM
Post contains 54 words, total size 1 kb.

Burma-Shave boar brush
Williams Mug Soap
Feather Artist Club razor
Super Professional blade
Pinaud Clubman aftershave

Very good shave.  Unfortunately the blades in the feather are incredibly sharp and fairly harsh and beat my face up a bit.  I can shave with it every few days but if I try to use it more frequently than that my face starts rebelling.  The Williams Mug Soap and Burma-Shave brush are from the local Wal-Mart.  $1 for the soap and $8 for the brush.  The soap will last about 6 months and the brush will last a decade or longer, assuming the dog doesn't try to eat it.
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Posted by: mparker762 at 06:01 AM
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Rooney small style 1 brush
Trumper's Almond soap
Hand American strop
5/8 Puma #39 straight razor
Bay Rum aftershave - Taylor's of Old Bond Street

This combination of scents was a serendipitous discovery a few weeks ago.  The Trumper's almond soap smells vaguely like a combination of amaretto and baby powder, and the Bay Rum aftershave smells a bit like pumpkin pie.  But the baby-powder component dissipates very quickly leaving an intoxicating complex of aromas.  This has quickly become my Sunday-morning staple.

Oh, and the Puma kicked ass too.  Baby-butt smooth and only a hint of burn when I slapped on the aftershave.

Posted by: mparker762 at 12:27 PM
Post contains 105 words, total size 1 kb.

Rooney small style 1 brush
Trumper's Rose soap
Hand American strop
6/8 Puma Gold
Purell Hand Sanitizer

Last night's session on the hones did the trick for this lovely razor.  The shave this morning was effortless and smooth, and I'm quite pleased with the way this razor handles.  Because of the lingering scent of the soap I didn't bother with a scented aftershave this morning, instead opting for a quick slap of the Purell Hand Sanitizer that makes a dandy scent-free and residue-free aftershave.

Posted by: mparker762 at 10:27 AM
Post contains 86 words, total size 1 kb.