Celtic Odyssey

Like a lot of traditional wet shavers, I have some vintage Gillette razors in my rotation. I have a very early Tech (the one with the triangle slots in the guard), a 1965 Flare Tip (that’s my birth year), a couple of Travel Techs, a Super Speed, and some Adjustables . But the one thing I ’ ve wanted and couldn’t ever seem to get is a Slim Adjustable (K3), my birth year and quarter. I scoured the Interwebs for years to find one but they were mostly non-existent. The ones I did find were either too beat up or too expensive. But then it was Christmas 2020. While searching through eBay I actually came across a decent Slim Adjustable (K3) for a pretty good price so I bought it with some money I received as a Christmas present. When the razor arrived, I gave it a good once over. There was some greening on the handle and head (meaning the brass was showing) but the doors worked well and so did the adjustment dial. The knurling on the handle was a little less than I had hoped though; it just...

When I first started my traditional wet shaving journey several years ago, my wife gave me a really nice Sandalwood shaving soap from the Art of Shaving . It came in a really beautiful, wooden bowl and smelled amazing! But… When I used the soap, it really irritated my skin. The first pass was fine but the second pass made my skin burn a little bit. When I tried a third pass, I had to wash off the soap immediately. My skin was all red like I had been scalded. Ever since then, I’ve only used fragrance free soap. A few months back, I tried that soap again thinking that my skin had probably toughened up after all these years. While my skin might have gotten better, the soap still burned me so I just stuck in the cabinet. I should note that hundreds of other traditional wet shavers don’t have that reaction to the Art of Shaving’s Sandalwood shave soap. I’m just one of those people that has a bad reaction to it. Furthermore, others have bad reactions to other soaps or creams. In a recent vi...

As one can gather from the title, this post will be about shaving. If you’ve read this blog long enough, you know that shaving is one of my favorite things. For those just now discovering this blog, it might be strange to read about shaving and things pertaining to shaving — brushes, creams / soaps, aftershaves, colognes, balms, blades, and, as the title states, razors. In a previous post, I talked about my vintage Gillette Adjustable razors and in my opinion, one can’t get much better than choosing a Gillette Adjustable for a daily razor. They’re easy to use and one can dial in just the right efficiency for one’s skin and beard type. Recently, I’ve been using my Super-84 , one of the last adjustable razors Gillette made. It’s consistently given me incredibly comfortable shaves. Recently, however, I’ve had a couple of experiences on social media where comments were made about the Rockwell 6S — Adjustable Stainless Steel Razor . One shaver — Tim Tillock, The Shaving Tulsan — said he u...

I’m a rather loyal person; when I find something I like, I generally stick with it. When it comes to traditional, wet shaving products, it’s no different. I started my journey using products from Maggard Razors . Later, I moved on to Mike’s Natural Soap and Wet Shaving Products for my post shave (aftershave, balm, cologne). Then I switched over to Stirling Soap Company and used their soap and post shave products. But it was my search for a really good Bay Rum and vegan soap that led me to this artisan. As I’ve detailed my Bay Rum odyssey in another post, I won’t rehash it here. Before I go on, though, I want to make it abundantly clear that there’s nothing wrong with those other companies or products. Absolutely nothing . And I might venture back to them from time to time (never say never), but my trek has led me to Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements (PAA) and I think I’ll be staying here for the foreseeable future. What made you decide to stay with PAA? Well, that’s a good question. I...