Wednesday, October 16, 2024: Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club No 3

• Preshave: Proraso Green Preshave
• Brush: Zenith 506U XS Horse 🐎
• Razor: Ertan Süer L’Ours Russe (7/8th)
• Lather: Le Père Lucien Narcisse
• Postshave: Naissance 702 Witch Hazel
• Postshave: Pitralon Classic After Shave
• Postshave: Nivea After Shave Balm

This must be my 30th-ish shave with Narcisse, so my impressions are not the freshest. I must say that I had never once considered that the name could be the flower; I always assumed it has to be the Greek mythical character. Anyways, this is one of the soaps whose scent I like most in my den, even though the base is not as easy-going as the U.S. artisans. All in all, I’m happy to have bought it, and I’m also happy that you seem to appreciate it. And sending out soap for the BVWSC is a good way to accelerate a kill, and justifying buying other soaps!

Have a good evening!

~Shared via emacs & sotd.el~

Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club, 4ᵗʰ Edition, Thu Oct 17 2024

• Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
• Razor: Mühle – Rocca R96
• Blade: Feather – New Hi-Stainless
• Lather: Le Père Lucien – Narcisse
• Post Shave: Abbate Y La Mantia – Koké
• Fragrance: Farina 1709

I can already see that these BVWSC meetings will cost me money and that I’ll need to figure out additional den storage space because of them. After last month’s discovery (for me) of MacDuff’s delightful base, this is another fantastic first for me. LPL’s base seems relatively firm, and thanks to @PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social heads-up, I knew to load heavy and long and was rewarded with a fantastic drippy and slick lather.

When I smelled Narcisse (french for “daffodil”) off the sample to figure out my post and frag pairings, I realised that I don’t really know how daffodils are supposed to smell. What I got is a rich, heavy, sweet floral, reminding me of Koké, and I chose Farina to add a bit of fresh summer to the mix.

There was a bit of discussion surrounding the Rocca in the discord lately, so I dug mine out again. My memory didn’t deceive me and I still really like this one. It’s a wonderful stainless steel DE razor at a reasonable price. Not aggressive, but really efficient, and with a nice loud feedback (by DE standards).

Great shave, great BVWSC meeting. Thanks for showing us this soap, @PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social!

Much thanking to MR butts for enabling me to join in for my first buena vista shaving club

Decent lather and a nice light floral that teminded me that I don’t mind florals but also that they’re not my favourite scents. What I do like is the euro scent strength. Not overpowering as some us scents can be but neither do they fade quickly.

Durham shave 2 is an improvement on shave 1. Going to see how many shaves I can get before I give up and go back to a beloved OC

• Brush: Omega - 10048 boar
• Razor: Rockwell - 6C (R4 + R2 plates)
• Blade: Astra - Superior Platinum (4)
• Lather: Stirling - Stirling Gentleman
• Post: Nivea - Sensitive Post Shave Balm
• Post: Barrister & Mann - Roam Two AS splash
• Frag: Barrister & Mann - Roam Two EdT

My first shave with this sample of Stirling Gentleman was very enjoyable. My wife liked the scent so much that she insisted I order the EdT for future use. 😊

Overall a close and comfortable shave. For whatever reason, one of our cats yelled at me for the entire shave. Of course, as soon as I finished she settled down and slept. 🙄

Have a great one y’all! ✌️

16.10.2024 - Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club shave N°3: LPL Narcisse 💐

• Brush: AP Shave Co. snakeskin handle w/ 26 mm Silksmoke Flattop/Fan hybrid
• Razor: Leaf Thorn
• Blade: snapped KCG
• Lather: Le Pere Lucien - Narcisse
• Post-Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Necromantic; Phytorelax Aftershave scalp cream

-> 2 passes on the dome, 1 for beard contours. A relaxing and enjoyable shave.

Third edition of the BVWSC and this time we get yet another european artisan: Le Pere Lucien from France with their masculine floral Narcisse . Since narcissus is pretty common around here, I was really intrigued when it was suggested. Florals are often not my kind of thing, except for Ylang-ylang, so the combination LPL has created had a high bar to clear.

And I must say, it did so with flying colours. Once the sample arrived (side note, PB&T666’s handling of samples is the new damn gold standard IMHO - great work all around!) I was already surprised how it didn’t smell overly cloying or sweet. It’s definitely a good scent to wear and more on the mild side in terms of fragrance. The base was quite a surprise - I already have Cedre-Patchouli (sorry francophones, can’t properly do the apostrophes) and it’s more leaning towards a hard soap. This felt like the same, but it really started to get a good lather going very fast and after the shave, my skin already felt good. Really nice. Judging by the botched job my translator did with the LPL website, Narcisse should also contain bergamot, tobacco and vetiver. The former two I adore, the latter is a love/hate relationship depending on how it is used. Fortunately, this here gets my seal of approval.

Finished the shave with a less fortunate floral (wisteria and rose together with honey and red wine). At least it wasn’t as unbearable as SW Tres Matres, my personal least favourite floral ever. If more of them would be like Narcisse , I’d use them more often.

As always, it was a pleasure to join in for the BVWSC shave!

October 16, 2024 - Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club

• Brush: Brad Sears Arley 26mm Super Badger

• Razor: Dubl Duck Pearl Duck 6/8 Full Hollow

• Lather: Le Père Lucien - Narcisse - Soap

• Toner: Thayers - Lavender - Toner

• Aftershave: Combe Inc. - Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue - Aftershave

2 passes. Bowl lather. Excellent shave.

Today’s BVWSC used Le Père Lucien Narcisse. The scent notes of this soap are: bright jasmine, bergamot, warm tobacco, vetiver, patchouli, and oakmoss. I liked it. I’m seasonal in my scents, so this one fits better in the spring for me than fall. Nonetheless, like many European soaps, the soap quality was very good, scent strength was medium, and the scent itself seemed sophisticated.

Thanks to @PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social for this one!

October 16, 2024 - Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club Shave

• Brush: Stirling 24mm Synthetic
• Blade: BIC Metal (3)
• Lather: Le Père Lucien - Narcisse - Soap
• Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Face Lotion - Kelp & Sea Mineral

Armed with the knowledge to expect a potentially bubbly lather, I set out with my “dry load” technique and man, great lather. I used most of the ample sample (c’mon, you’re making us envelope smushers look bad!), and had lots of dense creamy slick lather.

The scent was familiar and enjoyable. I want to say there’s a Southern Witchcrafts scent that features Narcissus (aka Daffodil, aka Jonquil), but without more research I can’t be sure. I used to live in Smyrna, GA which called themselves Jonquil City, so maybe I just know the smell from the flowers there.

Floral can be hit-or-miss, and I think this one is a hit.

FYI, all smushes of Oro Valley are in the mail. I left out @sahenders and @wtharris89 because they already have some.

Oct 16, 2024 - Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club

• Brush: Highlander Brushes Jade 26mm Cashmere Synthentic Knot
• Razor: Mühle R41
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) [26]
• Lather: Le Père Lucien - Narcisse - Soap
• Post Shave: Oaken Lab - Sanctum - Aftershave (Alcohol Free)
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Sun Soaked - Eau de Parfum

For today’s BVWSC shave, the selection was LPL Narcisse, generously provided by @PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social . From the scent notes, I already had high expectations, and the actual scent is better than I expected. Despite some scent notes that can usually overpower a fragrance, Narcisse is subtle, well-balanced, and beautifully executed.

I’m disappointed that I’ve slept on LPL soaps until now because the lather is excellent. I will definitely be exploring Narcisse and their other scents more in the future.

Oaken Labs’ Sanctum had a very similar vibe to Narcisse, but the Jasmine is much more prominent. MO Sun Soaked incorporated the narcissus from the soap and offered a great overall finish.

I wouldn’t recommend shaving with the R41 when in a hurry. I nicked my Adam’s Apple, but I managed a smooth shave in record time nonetheless.

Wed Oct 16 2024

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving exclusive MOAR BOAR (31 mm × 57 mm bleached boar)
• Razor: Zwilling J. A. Henckels Friodur 72-V (13/16", quarter hollow or near wedge, stainless steel)
• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
• Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original

For today’s Wedgeday shave, I went with my best wedge, the Frio 72-V. This thing takes a smooth edge and holds it, and, you know, stainless.