A mild midweek shave with the Holy Grail.
A Böker Abalone razor brightly illuminated in an otherwise darker picture. Around the razor: a sample tub of BaM Reserve Fern, a bottle of NO/HoM/DG Cerberus Fougère splash, a bottle of Armani Privé Bleu Turquoise and a damaged Zenith MOAR BOAR
My Appreciation Gift Fund razor arrived yesterday, and just look at it! This razor with its green iridescent abalone scales is crazy beautiful. It's my first straight razor with decorative scales, and my first go with a modern Böker. The razor has an impressive spike point, it feels secure in the hand with the deep jimps on both the top and bottom face of the tang and feeling them made me think of Brad Maggard sounding all dreamy saying "There's just this nice, big, flat spot for you to put your thumb and fingers on". Incidentally, he's also the one who honed this particular razor.
The shave was lovely: three passes with a smooth edge. I'm not used to spike points (the closest I have to a spike is this Corn Cracker), so this one requires some extra concentration, especially around the concave bits under the jaw line. I'm looking forward to building my muscle memory for this beauty over the next weeks!
Thanks again to all the participants for this thoughtful gift!
Bleu Turquoise, courtesy of my wife, was chosen to keep the green/teal theme of the SOTD picture alive, and the salty vanilla is definitely not a fougère, but it doesn't clash, and I'm enjoying this fragrance a lot, and I'll have to find reasons to use it more often going forward.
Beautiful shot!
Thanks buddy!
That’s a beautiful razor!!
I’m a little surprised Brad didn’t mute the spike point. It can be done so that the razor looks the same and you don’t puncture yourself.
The point on this razor was muted after I lightly poked myself a couple of times. No issues since.
Yeah, I've also been thinking about the spike. I know it's said that they help lining contours, but a any straight point with a muted corner does just as well (even Ralf Aust's Spanish points are great at this, and they're basically round). To illustrate my point (hihi), my nominally round-point Sparschweinchen has an unobtrusive corner that is just as vicious as this Böker's if you forget about it. So spiky feeling points aren't an æsthetic choice.
Regardless off the why, I'm enjoying figuring out the how: learning to navigate this razor and its geometry 🙂
a damaged Zenith MOAR BOAR
Damn! What happened?
@PorkButtsNTaters666
It dropped on tile floor 😭
@djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social
A common problem with Zenith resin handles, unfortunately 😕
Sep 6, 2023 - Sample September: Dark Sky Preserve
It was an excellent shave with the Blutt razor this morning. I've tried several evergreen-forward scents from Macduffs, and Dark Sky Preserve stands out amongst them. Carpathia is a dark, clean scent with notes of evergreen, and I love it. I'll probably end up purchasing both of these because they work so well together.
Rating: 4.5/5
Sep. 6, 2023
Good shave. I must have dropped the top cap of my overlander at some point as there is a small ding on the edge. It may be affecting my blade gap a bit. I’ll check it out closer tonight.
It may be affecting my blade gap a bit
Bummer! Is it brass?
Yes it is.
September 6, 2023: Equine Greatest Hits Straightember
Yes, I'm aware that software-wise, this is my AA setup, but we're under a heatdome, and I need my most refreshing products.
I checked how I manage not to get lather into the pin: it's no issue on the WTG & ATG passes, but on XTG, I simply wipe the razor very often, and even with runny lather, this is not a problem.
Have a good night!
September 6, 2023
Woodshop!
Rapira are not my blade, but at least they aren't harsh. I can partly blame the razor, because it's mild as heck. A decent shave, really, but I prefer the feel of other blades.
Woodshop++;
September 6, 2023
3 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
I took my time this morning to concentrate on how to handle the edge on this straight razor. The edge is not mine. It is the one that was put on the razor when I bought it. The razor has a beautifully finished Jnat edge. It tests slightly less sharp than my own equivalent Jnat edge on this quality of steel. Frankly, I think most people would prefer this edge to mine. So, today I was thinking about how to make this work for me. The answer, for today at least, was to spend more time shaving each area to allow the razor do its work, and to do three passes. The result was terrific.
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