Is Stirling so good because it's excellent soap, or is it so good because I use it frequently and know exactly how to lather it? Probably the first thing.
I didn't have time to shave until late today, it was a super busy Sunday. Le Grande Chypre gave me an excellent lather and was a wonderfully comforting scent to end the day with.
Wonderful Sunday shave today. I love the citrus and woody notes of Cedrati and they go well with the higher key citrus notes in Jack. I have always loved the Siero base, which helped make the mechanics of this shave top-tier.
The Bismarck (Iron Chancellor) performed magnificently! It currently has a rather boutique edge (Koma nagura on Black Arkansas), but this razor performs well regardless of what stones are used to finish the edge. The razor has a 0.1337 radian sharpening angle that results in a bevel angle of 15.3 degrees. We're in (and slightly narrower than) Filarmónica bevel angle territory here. Now, I did a little work on the spine of my razor, as I did with @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social's Bismarck, but I doubt that this work changed the razor's sharpening geometry significantly. In my experience, razors that have sharpened bevel angles in the 15-16 degree range provide extraordinary shaves.
Razor: Wade & Butcher Celebrated Fine India Steel Razor – 13/16" near wedge with barber’s notch
Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
This W&B was my first nice straight razor, and it played a key role in my stumble that ended at the bottom of the straight razor rabbit hole. Still a great shave.
The big 30 mm silver tip feels like a fluffy warm lather pillow.
Just to be pedantic -- you'd call it "this wednesday" instead of "next wednesday", even though it is technically the next Wednesday. English do be like that. I found this nice explanation:
Strictly speaking you would say "this coming Wednesday" for future events, and "this past Wednesday" for events in the past - but in most situations "future" and "past" tend to be omitted, as the timeline is implied by the context.
I went to the gym this Wednesday.
I will go to the gym this Wedneday.
We prepare by voting on which soap we want to use well ahead of time and the owner of the winning disk soap sends a sample to each of the participants.
You joined just too late to participate in the October meeting unless you have Narcisse already (it's on Wednesday), but you're welcome to join for November!
-> 2 pass head shave, 1 pass around the beard. A good shave, but unfortunately some skin reactions.
Today was a Sunday that just called for some Pumpkin Spice and Samhain seemed to be a great fit. I know how to lather SW perfectly, so it's always a good choice for my shave - unfortunately, there seems to be some irritation from the AS now that wasn't present 2 years ago. Granted, could be that something in the toner denatured despite it still smelling good. Unfortunately, that means one of my absolute favourite scents is now out as an aftershave option.
I did a short dermarolling session after my shave because I want to try it out for my skincare essay. I really just want to include treatments that I've tried myself. Despite the redness, it felt pretty okay. Will see if it actually does something for my old acne scars and some of the wrinkles...