My Gear

Ok, So I thought that I would review the shaving gear that I have accumulated in the entire almost month since I began wet shaving. First off I have this fucking sweet Onion Soup bowl that I use for lather. I have 2 of these bowls which I purchased for .50 cents each. (which were made in canada {fuck you china}).  These onion soup bowls are unlike others I have seen in the past. The color pattern is not what I usually see on these bowls and the handle is huge.

Onion Soup Bowl
Great for Lather

 Secondly I have a gay little Wilkinson Sword brush (lame I know), but I also have a somewhat better Omega brush. I prefer the Omega over the Wilki as it feels softer and lathers a hell of a lot better. My razor of choice (only because it is the only one I have at the moment) is a 1914 Valet AutoStrop, sans Strop.

I did have original blades for this monster, but without a strop they are now essentially useless. I did buy a few packs of Feather SE blades. My travel bag consists of the very gay Wilkinson Sword brush, a puck of Williams in a small pyrex bowl , and a pretty decent Wilkinson Sword cartridge razor. Since I figured out that I actually enjoy traditional wet shaving, I think that I will invest in a new DE razor.

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Valet Autostrop VC2

I figure It's time for me to write up a review on the Valet autostrop VC2, or the "Million Dollar Razor." I found. This is the only safety razor I have thus far (I have a Parker coming in the mail any day now). Pictured  above is the same model I own but mine is what looks to be brass instead of nickel. So, the first time I used this razor was with an original Valet blade I procured. The blade was very sharp. This being my first "Old School" shave, I think I made out quite well, I didn't cut myself even though it was a somewhat more aggressive have than I was accustomed to. I even got rid of most of the hair on my face. Now that I am comfortable with it, I can get all the hairs off my face. For other noobs, a word of advice that I was given, don't try to remove all the hair at once, use less pressure on the blade and make 2 passes to achieve desired effect. All in all this unit does the job, I say better than the modern Schick cartridge razor I used to use. One thing that I wold like to get is the strop for this. I shall order one off of eBay.

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Feather Single Edge Blades

I was checking out Connaught Shaving as I was in need of new blades for my Valet Razor. Awesome! 5 blades for like $2.50. I bought 4 5 packs as well as some Col. Conk bay rum soap. The soap was awesome (my review here). Everyone I talk to I have always heard the same thing, "Feather blades are the cats ass", well, I had no luck with them. The original valet blades I picked up were far superior I have not a single complaint with the old Valet blades; But, the Feathers are less than good. Fucking copious amounts of razor burn and irritation.  I thought maybe I just got a defective blade so I opened another pack and tried a different blade, same shit....Either I'm doing something wrong or these blades are plain shit.
****Update****
Ok, so after shaving with these for about a week, It seems that I was doing nothing wrong, and these blades are infact, not shit. This morning, after waking up and dreading the use of these blades, I set out on my morning shave. Absolutely no irritation. A friend has advised me that he experiences the same effects on a brand new feather blade. He told me to run the edge threw a cork. I assume this will work as The blade now gives me a very very good and close shave after about 5 shaves with no irritation. So, I will deffinately recommend these blades.

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Col. Conk

Ok so back whenever I was sporting a stache, but before I started making my own wax, I came across Col. Conk moustache wax. It did not disappoint. It kept ever strand of stray scottish stache hair in place. I had nothing bad to say about this product. I was hoping that their Bay Rum scented, glycerin based shaving soap would impress me just as much. I must say, it has undoubtedly impressed me. I ordered some feather blades for my Valet Autostrop (as the original ones Are now dull) from Connaught Shaving. Combined price of just under $35 (shipping from UK incl.) The blades were delivered 4 days later counting the weekend. Hey whats the deal? Where is my much anticipated Col Conk soap? I decided to wait a few days before complaining (or shaving) today, I received my Conk and an oak bowl. So, after a few days of not shaving and living like a bushman, I would finally get to use my new blades and new Conk. The conk lathered awesomely and this being the first time I have ever smelled the smell of bay rum I must say, that I was impressed. This soap had all kinds of cushion. Just like the Proraso, the lather was slick as anything. Plus a bonus, the logo has an old timey dude with a classic beard. Col. Ichabod Conk, you are a slick mother fucker.  As for the feather blades, I will save that for a different review.

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Wilkinson Sword

Ok so what can I say about this stuff??? First of all, Classy name must be god shit right? Wrong. I did not like the lather on this stuff. Good smell but shit lather. I cut my face, that's right schick ... my god damned face!! Anyway It cost about $4 at big gay wal-mart so it'll probably cost around $8 at my neighborhood apothecary. In conclusion, the smell was great the lather left much to be desired.

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Proraso Bitches!!

Proraso White

So I just picked up some of this soap.... Proraso, from Italy I think. After smellin the stench of Williams all week this soap was a welcome addition. I opted for the Proraso White because lets face it menthol is for pussies (yes I am aware that the white is formulated for sensitive skin making me infact, a pussy). So yeah this soap lathers up great (although I have noticed it lathers best in my...hot... onion soup bowl), and is slick as shit. My old Valet just glides over my face with this soap. So yeah a great soap super classic smell and I think I paid like 9$ for the soap and shit plastic bowl.

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