[b]SOTD THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 29, 2020[/b]
My son has 182 straight razors in his collection, 93 of whose blades are Japanese silver steel or Yasuki steel. I have a much smaller collection - all are users - but three are Japanese silver steel. The razor selected for today’s mug shave is a Tanifuji Airi. The jasper edge is a joy to shave with, and is amazingly sharp, yet still buttery smooth. Some on the dedicated straight forums describe ‘whisker-meltin’ edges and this razor definitely possesses one. This morning’s three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) shave felt like I was just brushing away the rich MWF lather.
There appeared to be a slight weeper after my second mug pass, but it disappeared after I applied the lather for my third and final pass. That’s one of the benefits of MWF that is a feature of its consistent use. It truly conditions one’s skin with long-term use. Of course, it possesses a clean, mild soapy scent, and not one of the strong scents so popular with most wet-shavers. It’s these very differences of opinion that makes this hobby of ours so enjoyable. As a daily shaver, I use MWF generally about 4 out of 7 shaves a week. Creams are a different story!
My dome shave starred my Ronson safety razor! It was developed for proprietary blades in the very early 30s (1931), but works beautifully with Schick Proline Injector blades, although it is admittedly a bit fiddly to set up. Although a bit top heavy, that is not a problem and works beautifully for me. It is a surprisingly capable little safety razor, and one I’m proud to own. It delivered an extremely close dome shave in two ATG passes. I feel cool, clean and smoothly velveteen!
RAZOR: Tanifuji Airi 11/16 (Mug), Ronson Safety Razor (Dome)
BLADE: Schick Proline Injector (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Knurled Aluminum Hybrid Knot #007
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Krampert’s Frostbite AS Splash.