Shaving notes of the MaineYooper

Great stuff Eric. Mike's makes a fantastic soap, and I often wonder why I don't have more of his offerings, especially since he's a local.

I learned something new from ALI in a thread about No 75 razors. They can be sneaky, razors that is!

And my shave today with the CB Karve with the safety bar A plate was a sneakily close shave! My concern is that I want to press harder, to hear or feel more whiskers getting cut. But that can lead to irritation. So I worked hard at not pressing. And I got a closer shave than I imagined!  So, sneaky razors are a thing!

And now maybe some comparisons with mrdoug, who was going to use his new 2BED synth brush today. I used mine as well, and I need to walk back my comments about pokiness! This brush is wonderful. Yes, it has more backbone than my SynBads, and so sometimes I apply too much pressure and that's when I get poked. But when I stayed to swirling and painting, and a trick I read somewhere about using  your chin to start the splay, then I experienced the wonder of an Extra Dense 2 Band synthetic badger brush.
How did your outing go, Paul?

For the other particulars, the soap was Mike's Natural Soaps unscented and a Bic Chrome Platinum blade (2). The Mike's soap is and always has been a great performer for me. I did go nuts for the last 2-3 months, buying lots of new to me unscented soaps. Going back to Mike's, which has been in the drawer continually since January 2016, I have to ask myself Why buy others? The answer, variety. I tried the minimalist thing for over a year, but I am enjoying trying other stuff. Maybe someday things will decrease, but I can't see it right now.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, or remembrance day, as some of us have.

Great post Eric.  It covered a lot of ground too. 

I keep hearing chatter on the grapevine about the 2BEDs - all good, and just as good for the Gelousy badgers.  Sounds like it may be time for me to pay Andrew a visit.  OTOH, I "need" another knot about as much the Titanic needed another iceberg - all of which speaks to your second conundrum, or at least my version of it:  There is always something enticing dangling off some node of the internet - something that will make shaving better, we hope.  And finally, but sadly, I'm sorry about your mom Eric.  I hope your memories are vivid and sweet.

I learned something new from ALI in a thread about No 75 razors. They can be sneaky, razors that is!

And my shave today with the CB Karve with the safety bar A plate was a sneakily close shave! My concern is that I want to press harder, to hear or feel more whiskers getting cut. But that can lead to irritation. So I worked hard at not pressing. And I got a closer shave than I imagined!  So, sneaky razors are a thing!

And now maybe some comparisons with mrdoug, who was going to use his new 2BED synth brush today. I used mine as well, and I need to walk back my comments about pokiness! This brush is wonderful. Yes, it has more backbone than my SynBads, and so sometimes I apply too much pressure and that's when I get poked. But when I stayed to swirling and painting, and a trick I read somewhere about using  your chin to start the splay, then I experienced the wonder of an Extra Dense 2 Band synthetic badger brush.
How did your outing go, Paul?

For the other particulars, the soap was Mike's Natural Soaps unscented and a Bic Chrome Platinum blade (2). The Mike's soap is and always has been a great performer for me. I did go nuts for the last 2-3 months, buying lots of new to me unscented soaps. Going back to Mike's, which has been in the drawer continually since January 2016, I have to ask myself Why buy others? The answer, variety. I tried the minimalist thing for over a year, but I am enjoying trying other stuff. Maybe someday things will decrease, but I can't see it right now.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, or remembrance day, as some of us have.

Great post Eric.  It covered a lot of ground too. 

I keep hearing chatter on the grapevine about the 2BEDs - all good, and just as good for the Gelousy badgers.  Sounds like it may be time for me to pay Andrew a visit.  OTOH, I "need" another knot about as much the Titanic needed another iceberg - all of which speaks to your second conundrum, or at least my version of it:  There is always something enticing dangling off some node of the internet - something that will make shaving better, we hope.  And finally, but sadly, I'm sorry about your mom Eric.  I hope your memories are vivid and sweet.

Thanks, Mike, for the comments. And I particularly appreciate the comment on memories. Mom passed a week after my folks 56th anniversary. There are many good memories, and my sister posted a great picture of Mom on FB, which I shared to my friends. Again, thanks for your thoughts.

And I agree on the enticing stuff. I can go for a while reading and thinking, OK that's cool. And then I get ambushed by the "I wantsies" and find my finger hovering over the Buy It Now button! But like your Titanic thought, I don't need another iceberg!!

They can truly be icebergs if they impede us from learning to use what we've got. With that thought in mind, and inspired by Dave Dave in KY, I'm doing my first 30 day at the den. It's a fine crew to shave with, but the regimen chafes at times.

Great stuff Eric. Mike's makes a fantastic soap, and I often wonder why I don't have more of his offerings, especially since he's a local.

Mikes Hungarian Lavender is my favorite take on lavender. I need to get some more of that stuff. He always seems to be sold out though.

They can truly be icebergs if they impede us from learning to use what we've got. With that thought in mind, and inspired by Dave Dave in KY, I'm doing my first 30 day at the den. It's a fine crew to shave with, but the regimen chafes at times.

What is 30 days at the den? Holding all parts constant?

I learned something new from ALI in a thread about No 75 razors. They can be sneaky, razors that is!

And my shave today with the CB Karve with the safety bar A plate was a sneakily close shave! My concern is that I want to press harder, to hear or feel more whiskers getting cut. But that can lead to irritation. So I worked hard at not pressing. And I got a closer shave than I imagined! So, sneaky razors are a thing!

And now maybe some comparisons with mrdoug, who was going to use his new 2BED synth brush today. I used mine as well, and I need to walk back my comments about pokiness! This brush is wonderful. Yes, it has more backbone than my SynBads, and so sometimes I apply too much pressure and that's when I get poked. But when I stayed to swirling and painting, and a trick I read somewhere about using your chin to start the splay, then I experienced the wonder of an Extra Dense 2 Band synthetic badger brush.
How did your outing go, Paul?

For the other particulars, the soap was Mike's Natural Soaps unscented and a Bic Chrome Platinum blade (2). The Mike's soap is and always has been a great performer for me. I did go nuts for the last 2-3 months, buying lots of new to me unscented soaps. Going back to Mike's, which has been in the drawer continually since January 2016, I have to ask myself Why buy others? The answer, variety. I tried the minimalist thing for over a year, but I am enjoying trying other stuff. Maybe someday things will decrease, but I can't see it right now.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, or remembrance day, as some of us have.

I did get my evening shave in. The 2BED was a really good brush, definitely soft and able to move a lot of lather easily. Not quite as soft as the Synbad, but still plenty good and it made up for it in lathering skills. Absolutely a winner, IMO. I used NO Monarch. If memory serves me, it's very similar in consistency to Mike's, so we probably had the same experience.

I am sorry to hear about your mother. I know where you come from, my friend. Lost my mom when I was 21. Always a tough day, but family and friends keep it positive.

Have a great evening.

Thanks for both your thoughts on brush and soap, as well as loss of a mother, mrdoug. I appreciate them.

They can truly be icebergs if they impede us from learning to use what we've got.  With that thought in mind, and inspired by Dave Dave in KY,  I'm doing my first 30 day at the den.  It's a fine crew to shave with, but the regimen chafes at times.

What is 30 days at the den? Holding all parts constant?

It can be whatever you want - ideally "1 brush, 1 soap, 1 brand of blades, 1 razor, 30 Days" - but shavers can and do give themselves as much or as little latitude as they please.   It repeats monthly, but it is referred to as the "30 day challenge".   Conversation on a first name basis is encouraged, and it is a great, experienced, and good natured group of guys to hang with.  I got there after hearing our very own Dave in KY mention it.  Dave heartily endorsed the group, but he warned me - correctly - that there is so much going on that it is hard to keep up with.  If you follow this link to the beginning of this months 30 DC, you will immediately recognize the "shepherd" of this thread by reading his OP.

  It's a fine crew to shave with, but the regimen chafes at times.

You are better than me Mike as I can do a focus of sorts but not the complete regimen or even close