What soap/cream did you use today?

And I bought today's razor, the Karve Overlander, because I liked the handle. A cross between a light saber and a wizard's wand, it looks like the sort of gear you'd pack for an adventure. But I may have to ask for lessons on how to use it. In spite of its weight, the Overlander strikes me as exceedingly mild. One pass barely scrapes off the lather. In fact, even after two passes, there's still lots of bristle left. How are you getting your best results with this razor? 

Bouki, I've been wet-shaving for 6 years but only over the past 1-2 years have I made the realization that I am mild-mannered razor type of shaver that prefers a 3-pass with clean-up shave.  The Overlander has become one of my absolute favorites and it is because it allows me to do my preferred routine and do so very smoothly with no irritation.  Does it work well on the days when i have to hurry through my shave and only do 1 or 2 passes...no, it doesn't.  It does well enough to give me a decent shave but it's not BBS by a long shot. 

But I did take your question into consideration during this afternoon's shave.  What I noticed is that on the WTG pass, I kept the angle nearly in the middle of the top cap and baseplate.  During the XTG and ATG passes, I did note that I was riding the top cap.  Feeling the cheeks/neck after the 2nd pass, I never would've thought I could achieve a bbs shave with one more pass.  But after 3-passes and touch-up on the neck and sides of the lips, it is one of those amazing BBS shaves.  You know, the kind that is difficult to not constantly rub your chin in admiration....I just try to make it look like i'm in deep thought contemplating what my book so the wife doesn't think I've completely lost it

HoosierShave, many, many thanks for your tips and advice. When I'm feeling up to a three-pass shave again, I'm going to reach for the Overlander, and I'm going to try out the technique you've so carefully described. I'd like to feel a BBS again, some day.

Hold on one dang minute! Why not make that 'some day' today? Time to polish up the Overlander and really see what she is capable of.

Lost Souls (Ethos) pine sap & horse mint
Shave 6 ・ 140 g left

‘Whatcha doin’?’
‘Reading.’
‘Must be really deep stuff.’
‘How’d you know?’
‘You keep stroking your chin.’
‘Yeah. It’s really, really deep stuff.’

Well, HoosierShave put a fire under my kettle. I couldn’t wait even a day to try out his technique. I’d no sooner closed the lid on my laptop than I picked up some polish and put a proper shine on my Overlander. Then I was off on a true shave adventure, a three-pass escapade filled with trepidation, trembling, and finally triumph! I kept an eye on my angles, held my foot off the gas, and rode the cap when I was paddling upstream. Dang, my hide’s so smooth now it would make a baby’s butt feel like sandpaper, 40 grit.

Of course, a lot of the credit goes to Ethos Lost Souls soap. What a joyous combo of protection and glide! What's more, that deep forest smell is the aroma of adventure. And finally, I have to give Frank extra snaps for sharing some of the best shaving advice I've ever come across: "Don't wash off all the lather between passes." Wouldn't even think of it now that you've show me the light. All around, a near perfect shave. (My only wish is that some day, I could repeat it with an Ethos F-bases soap deeply scented with authentic bay rum.) 


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Razor Karve Overlander ・ Blade Astra SP ・ Brush Phoenix Shaving Peregrino ・ Hoard 17,673 g (⇣52 g)

   

MdC Agrumes

GD Coattail Redux

Grooming Dept Kairos + Lamb Tallow + Emu Oil Shaving Soap - Pasión
Scent Notes: - Pear, Ginger, Tuberose, Narcissus, Hay, Honey, Amber, Leather, Patchouli, Musks.

This is a beautifully scented special edition soap recently released by Grooming Dept over the Valentine's Day Holiday.  It is the first of the new Special Edition soaps based on the well-respected Kairos formulation but substituting lamb tallow for beef tallow and adding emu oil.  It has since sold out but two new SE soaps are now available from GD, Omnia and Ousia.  I don't yet know how those soaps will be but this one is stellar and I suspect the new ones will be as well.

Reef Point Soaps / ClassicBarberShop

8/19/42