24hrs beard
PAA Green Ray 24mm brown fiber synthetic
B&M shave soap sample Omnibus - Leviathan (Russian leather accord, sandalwood, coffee, cedar, musk)
Razorock Lupo stainless DLC - Gillette Spoiler (1)
across the grain first pass - north to south second pass
kokum butter - Ethos Tonka Bean AS splash- Ethos Mysore Santal EdT
when was the last time you gummed up your razor while shaving?
.....
Get a load of this hiccup, so last time I used B&M omnibus, (last week I think) the texture was pretty soft and spreadable. That's been my main process of using modern soft soap formulas that are not my favorite to load out of the tub. Anyways, the Levithan soap sample I have seems a bit more dehydrated or waxier feeling, didn't quite give so easily and smear all over.
I go to apply to the face, its having a hard time sticking to the skin. I had to really thin it out and get it to warm and soften. After starting to face lather and drown it to all hell, I had a feeling that maybe I should see how the razor cuts and make sure all the soap got thinned out. Well right after the first cutting strokes on the cheek, go to rinse the razor and I had gummed up both sides of the brand new Spolier blade. I couldn't shave through all the soap and still had a little bit on even after the entire shave and rinse. I guess the amount I used was more concentrated than I think. Shave still went well but I had to go through the shave with a bit of extra unmixed soap being on the skin. I think people have reported in this case if you don't rinse thoroughly you can get acne popping up later. For what it's worth, as bracing as Ethos Tonka Bean is and it does its job, I was still scraping some soap of my face after the AS splash application.
What an embarrassment to the gods of shavedom. Couldn't get the product to water ratio quite nailed today. Back to the drawing board on how much of the Leviathan to use next and/or to consider loading direct from the soap sample in my container. I'll probably revisit this setup again. It was a really nice shave and as far as the ol'factory notes, I had the sudden desire for leather/coffee/musk notes in the last week so I pulled this shave soap choice totally from out of left field. It smells so nice to my nose, it has been a bit of an acquired taste over the years I guess. Even with a bit of warmer weather, I feel compelled to shave with something that is a bit out of my norm for citrus something.
Anyways, stay hydrated and enjoy your shave everyone, cheers