Guitar Gear Forum

Vegetables are evil.

but not lattuce.......

Steinmetzify wrote: Ajax, fuck all that murder weapon shaving, man. You got balls of steel.

Balls of steel?!?!
Nah, I'm just too dumb to see the danger. If I were smart, I'd never do it.
Seriously, it's a passing phase - blade maintenance takes A LOT of time and shaving takes three times longer than with a DE.
After I move into the new crib next month, I'll be selling all my straights, except the Henckels.

One of the fastest shaves I’ve ever done with soap and a brush. Running late. It was great. The Tcheon Fung sing bob stone smells great. Kind of sweet. Kind of spicy. Not offensive. No burning.
This razor rules again, btw.

Seems like the TFS stuff just always works. Keeping that in mind.

Gene, what's the razor 2nd from the right in yesterday's pic, short handled steel/alum one? That thing looks killer.

Took my time today, still on same shit until birthday shows up....I have a barely noticeable scar on right side of my face, sticks out just barely.....was really digging in and sliced the shit out of it and bled like a stuck pig lol

Cool thing is these blades are SO sharp I never even felt it. Getting used to it tho.

Steinmetzify wrote:Seems like the TFS stuff just always works. Keeping that in mind.

Gene, what's the razor 2nd from the right in yesterday's pic, short handled steel/alum one? That thing looks killer.

Took my time today, still on same shit until birthday shows up....I have a barely noticeable scar on right side of my face, sticks out just barely.....was really digging in and sliced the shit out of it and bled like a stuck pig lol

Cool thing is these blades are SO sharp I never even felt it. Getting used to it tho.

That razor looks awesome, doesn’t it.

It’s a fatip piccolo in nickel. It was like $20 at Italian barber. It shaves super aggressive. Trying to tame it/figure it out. I love fatip stuff. All brass. All made in Italy.

Btw, re: tfs soap:

The linea intenso seems to burn me no matter what

The rasozero was kind of a low tier product to meet the $5 price.

Everything else has been awesome. The character series. Stupefacente. Etc.

Stein, here’s another pic

Yeah I want one, that thing looks sick

in honor of Stein, I used the Piccolo today. Got a pretty good shave. Still trying to get this dialed in. It was massively aggressive with a Dorco Titan. Today it was borderline too gentle with the Personna Red Israeli. Still a great shave.

The Declaration Grooming soaps sure are awesome. This one smells like Nag Champa. Made me feel at peace. Shaved great.

Putting the DG stuff on the list; getting quite long now lol

Steinmetzify wrote:Putting the DG stuff on the list; getting quite long now lol

I will try to help.

Ultra tier 1, gooey, en vogue, artisan soaps that help keep your face soft after the fact:
1. Declaration grooming. $18-$25. 2 different bases. (Icarus and Buffalo) Both perform well. Buffalo is softer, and I think shaves a tad better. Relatively strong scents. None have burned me. "Bon Vivant" is probably the greatest soap I've ever used. It just became available again. I think it's $20, and DG has free shipping right now iwth code "Vday".

2. Wholly Kaw. Goofy name. Elite performance. The scents are hit and miss though, and one burned me terribly. These are usually like $24 and up. not cheap.

3. Grooming Dept. Very chic. Very coveted. $20-$30 Lots of limited edition/out of stock games. I've used duck fat unscented, beef something unscented, and one vegan very scented. The unscented duck worked the best. It was also the cheapest. The scented Vegan burned me, and the scent was kind of a funky one. Not sure why this brand earned a mystical better than everything rating. It's not.

4. Barrister & Mann. The reserve line performs like DG/WK/GD/Etc. Super soft. kind of stringy/gooey if you don't use enough water. I like these because they 're like $16.99, and everybody sells it. I have reserve waves. Not crazy about the scent, but I would like to try the reserve cool.

Other SOFT soaps in the same league, basically using the same kokum butter formula as the above 4:
Chiseled Face
Shannon's Soaps
Mike's Natural Soaps


Let me know what you like, and I can narrow down the confusion BIG time. Or I can just give you a few that burned me. That was the plan all along.

FWIW, I consider Tcheon Fung Sing in its own league of Italian soft soaps along the lines of Cella, P160, Valobra, Prep, 3P, Figaro, Razorock, Vito's, etc.. They are pretty much all vegan, and have their own great style of lathering.


EDIT::::: Buy samples of everything you can. It gets expensive when you use a $25 soap once.

Maggard razors has samples.

Groomatorium has samples.

You can get soaps, creams, and aftershaves.

+1 to "get samples"

I just ordered a bottle of Creosote aftershave and a bottle of Planet Vetiver aftershave from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements, for $24 each.
Right after I hit the "Place Order" button, I noticed that they sell sample viles, of all their aftershaves, for $1.00 ea.

BroSlinger wrote:Snip

1. OK....DG stays on the list, set up email notifications for samples from all those places for when they have the BV in stock....

2. Hit or miss scents aren't really for me; from what you've recommended so far, I REALLY like the TFS UW, that stuff smells so clean and lathers so rich, it's gonna be hard to put it down to try anything else....I'd like to try whatever burned you, just so I know if it does the same to me and what to avoid after the fact....speaking of that Ajax, if you have a list of anything that fucked you over that'd be good.

3. If this is that one from the other day that has the veggies on it that burned you so bad, I'd try that one if you're never going to use it again...whatever you've got that you're sure you're never going to use again, I'll try just to see. Whenever dude, no rush or anything.

4. I've seen Mike's and Shannon's, good to know those are good. I'll grab the B&M reserve cool sometime in the next few days, try it out and then flip it to you if you like what I describe.

Samples will be incoming once I get a better idea of what I like....I'll be sure to pass em around if they're anything you guys are interested in.

Thanks for the help guys!

ajaxlepinski wrote:+1 to "get samples"

I just ordered a bottle of Creosote aftershave and a bottle of Planet Vetiver aftershave from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements, for $24 each.
Right after I hit the "Place Order" button, I noticed that they sell sample viles, of all their aftershaves, for $1.00 ea.

Ouch!

So, I got more samples.

Shoooot, I hate every one of the Wholly Kaw samples I got. I’ve only liked two scents from wk and one burned me like flame thrower. The other had synthetic menthol that felt like ice (kind of cool, but not when it’s 20 below zero outside. )

So, barrister and Mann stuff really smells good overall.
Shining starz:
Reserve classic - smells like tabac but better
Reserve cool - smells like blue floid
Reserve fern - smells like Musgo real
Cologne russe - smells like tabac
Lavanille- smells like shoe polish
Chypre something

Got some other samples.

Chiseled face Midnight stag smells like dip spit and solvent. Awesome!!

Stirling sandpiper smells exactly like original nautica competition in the light blue metal spray bottle. Amaizing!!!

Schone Nickel Razor - these are made by Fatip. Shaved alright.
Personna Red - maybe too mild for this razor
Grooming Dept - Lavender preshave. This is mighty nice, but not completely necessary.
RR Dead sea - fantastic lather and slickness. scent might not be for everyone. kind of strange
Tcheon Fung Sing - Stupefacente aftershave. Killer fantastic.

How’s that Dead Sea Gene?

Steinmetzify wrote:How’s that Dead Sea Gene?

It lathered and shaved REALLY well. Like silky awesome. It seems like it will wear down quite fast since the puck is really soft.

The verdict is out on whether it slightly burned or not. Since i had introduced the GD Lavender pre shave, it may have been that product that was giving me a mild sensation.

I'm not sure I would pay $20 for it when B&M reserve is $18 shipped. Plus, this big glass jar kind of scares me in the shower.

Tried to go all black and white today.
I think my personna platinum today was a dud, or the angle is different on this black baby smooth vs my blue baby smooth. Something wasn't right. Maybe I need my noxeema, and this GD pre shave isn't right for me. The B&M Waves is pretty intense. It's the Gillette Wild Rain smell that made me leave conventional shaving in the first place for greener pastures in the fancy wet shaving world. I sort of like it again. FWIW, this Fine Fresh Vetiver is THE SHIT. Awesome. I don't think my wife liked it. I feel like these classic aftershaves are made to attract other men.

'I feel like these classic aftershaves are made to attract other men.'



True story tho.....none of the women ask me about any of this stuff at work, but literally every guy I work with wants to know about it.

Women just say I smell good and leave it at that.

Steinmetzify wrote:'I feel like these classic aftershaves are made to attract other men.'



True story tho.....none of the women ask me about any of this stuff at work, but literally every guy I work with wants to know about it.

Women just say I smell good and leave it at that.

My wife said I smelled like an old woman.

The furbo vintage blu is the only one she’s liked in the past year.

Steinmetzify wrote:'I feel like these classic aftershaves are made to attract other men.'



True story tho.....none of the women ask me about any of this stuff at work, but literally every guy I work with wants to know about it.

Women just say I smell good and leave it at that.

ha! man, that's why i stick with straight witch hazel.. though i can't say anyone male or female has ever been like 'MAN.. that bay rum smells AMAZING.' i know i dig it.. so that works out... but i think the good bit is that it DOESN'T make you smell like you're hiding some post gym ass funk like a 14 year old with a bottle of AXE.

I'm done with buying Grooming Dept stuff. I don't think that guy can use a scent/oil/FO/EO/fragrance/etc that doesn't burn me. Even lavender, which I thought never burned me.

Luckily, somebody on B&B wants to trade for these pre shaves that are $16 a pop.

The stupefacente soap performs just like uncle walter, but with a fresh, strange, jungle smell. It's awesome. It's like bananas, bell peppers, and gasoline. Ditto for the aftershave.

The fatip testina gentle is nice. Not as cool as the piccolo, but good though. It's my only fatip that doesn't have an open comb.

Dorco Prime Platinum was pretty good.