WetShaving

The Thu Oct 03 2024

• Brush: Mühle Boar Brush ☭ 🇩🇪
• Razor: Böker – 14er (8/8", extra hollow, carbon steel, square point) 💱 🇩🇪
• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original 💱 🇩🇪
• Post Shave: Pitralon – Classic 💱 🇩🇪
• Fragrance: Sir – Irisch Moos 💱🇩🇪

So this slightly ridiculous, but pretty 14er arrived yesterday, and I'm quite impressed with the overall build quality. There's a little write-up of what I found noteworthy with some detail pictures here.

I decided to try the factory edge, so I didn't expect the smoothest of shaves, and sure enough, this edge sucks 😅. It's easy to understand why Brad Maggard hones all his Bökers before they go out to the customers. So on the to-hone pile it goes.

I appreciate the great jimping on the shank. This razor really feels natural in the hand. I do need to be careful, though, because this razor has the overall geometry of a 14, which I'm very familiar with, but with a wicked sharp point, unlike all my other 14s. I managed to get a decent shave and didn't poke any holes, and I'm looking forward to enjoying this razor after it's been properly honed.

For today's theme, there's an imbalance between eastern and western German products, and this is kind of a parallel to how the German reunification went. The west dominates united Germany and the east struggles catching up and is economically disadvantaged. With the political implications we've just seen in the latest state elections.

October 3, 2024

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps w/Maggard 28mm Silvertip Badger
• Razor: Gillette Tech (Z-4)
• Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (1)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Port-Au-Prince - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - Aftershave
• Post Shave: allMan - Refined - Balm

Back to DE shaving after a week with GEMs. Apparently not the best combo here, or maybe I'm just spoiled by GEM shaves :-)

Oct 3, 2024 - Theme Thursday: Deutsche Wiedervereinigung

• Brush: Wald Shaving Nimbus Haunter 29mm A1 Synthentic Knot
• Razor: Mühle R41
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) [22]
• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Original - Soap (Tallow)
• Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Original - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Man Gravity - Eau de Toilette

Rating: 4.5/5

03.10.2024 - Transition

• Prep: warm water
• Brush: RazoRock 400 Noir SE 24 mm
• Razor: Stando Perun
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - Transition
• Post-Shave: Tüff sensitive AS; Phytorelax Aftershave scalp cream

-> 2-pass head shave. Originally I wanted to do a neck lineup as well, but didn't have enough soap left in my brush.

Transition is a WK soap I hadn't tried yet. It has a beautiful autumn landscape for its tub art, so it fits seasonally. The scent is on the lighter side of the spectrum but goes rather well with my Phytorelax balm. I'd say it's good for everyday wear based upon my first impression. Unfortunately I don't even own a single german soap - the only active german artisan I know of is Meißner Tremonia from Dortmund, but a lot of their products that'd interest me are currently unavailable. Mühle is from the former GDR and their stuff is solid. Of course there's still Tabac, but I am not sure if their soap is even made here anymore. Most german razor blade manufacturers were bought either by Gillette or Harry's, so they only produce cartridge BS these days. I still had an aftershave from East Germany around though, even one that's around since GDR times! Tüff used to be quite popular, mine is the green version without any fragrance/perfume added.

So today is German Reunification Day, but as @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social has already mentioned, we're still not fully united. I live in East Germany, and while not everything sucks over here (e.g. our part of the Autobahn is better than most of it near Hamburg or Bochum) we are still at a economical and cultural disadvantage. From big corporations to little start-ups, most will settle in a big metropolis in West Germany. Bands rarely play in the East either, and so forth. Our last regional elections were all huge successes for the far right-wing party I despise deeply & refuse to name here, but one factor contributing to this is the sheer incompetence of our government. Many people here fear for their economic safety due to high unemployment and rising bankruptcies, so my hope is that a lot of voters are in fact not right-wing arseholes but generally unsatisfied with everything. Despite different opinions in the public, I'm still a firm believer in continuous dialogue and searching for compromises. It'll never do us any good to prohibit certain parties and dictate opinions - as we saw, this only strengthens right-wing extremists and their propaganda.

Now this turned out to be much more of a tirade than I anticipated, sorry for this wall of text... I'm currently in a bit of a transition period as well, as my RN retraining draws to a close and the exams are next year. Let's hope the best for the future.

October 3, 2024

• Brush: Wald Nimbus Chryselephantine 29mm A1 Fan

• Razor: J.A. Henckels Friodur 14 Full Hollow Square Point

• Lather: Mäurer and Wirtz - Tabac - Soap

• Toner: Thayers - Rose - Toner

• Aftershave: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac - Balm

• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac - Eau de Toilette

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

Ah yes, German Reunification Day. Well, any chance to celebrate works for me. I'm honoriing it with an all German setup. After 31 days without a single strop, the Frio 14 sports a brand new sharp, feather-like edge. And, of course, The Stank® needs no introduction.