Share your Shave of the Day for Friday!
January 9, 2026
- Brush: Wild West Brushworks Blue Space 26mm Cashmere
- Razor: Thiers Issard Le Petit Français 5/8 Hollow Ground Round Point
- Lather: Noble Otter - Monarch - Soap
- Toner: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner
- Aftershave: Noble Otter - Monarch - Aftershave
- Talc: Pinaud Clubman Finest Powder
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This Le Petit Français razor has over a 22 degree bevel angle. And it is a new razor! It was sent to me to have a new edge put on it. I chose to use a Jnat to create the edge with that Jnat softness, and then I tried a new technique while shaving to deal with the wide angle. This was very successful for me, and I very much hope that it works for others.
I picked Monarch because its fragrance is modeled on a French market. I thought that was fitting to go with the French razor. Surprisingly great shave today!
Nice video! I was hoping you could provide some more context as to the bevel angle and what advantages/drawbacks there are with having such a large angle.
I know very little about straight razor shaving but I am getting interested and may have to try some day… Still need to finish learning the DE razor first I think.
Ok, here’s (probably) more than you want to know 🙂. An edge is made up of two (bevel) surfaces that come together (intersect) to form a line. This is almost always drawn as two lines that come together at a point (the apex) showing two sides of a triangle.
In cutting, you achieve more precision by narrowing that triangle; think about the difference between an axe and a scalpel.
We call the angle between the two sides the bevel angle. On a straight razor that angle is determined by the width of the spine and the height of the blade.
Generally speaking, smaller angles are better for shaving. Most straight razors that I’ve measured have a bevel angle between 15 and 18 degrees. The challenge I had with this razor, which had a bevel angle of 22 degrees, was, “how can I get it to shave well?”.
Wet shaving turns out to be a terrific hobby and there’s a whole world of safety razors (DE and SE), soaps, splashes, etc. to explore. Straight razors are another rabbit hole to go down within the hobby.
Décadi 20 Nivôse an 234 de la Révolution, jour de Van
- Preshave: Proraso White Preshave
- Brush: Chisel & Hound Blaireau de la République with 24mm G5 Synthetic
- Razor: River Razors Kamisori (1)
- Lather: Le Père Lucien Ébène
- Postshave: Naissance 702 Witch Hazel
- Postshave: Le Père Lucien Ébène Après-rasage
- Postshave: Nivea After Shave Balm
After last year’s accident, I had more or less stopped using the River Razors Kamisori. I thought I should give it a try. I now remember why I liked it so much – buttery sound, nice behavior. But the wife was in an (entirely unannounced) hurry this morning, getting up earlier than she used to the rest of the week, which cut a bit the enjoyment.
This was also the first try of the Ébène line by Le Père Lucien. A very nice scent. They say:
Fragrances: Elegant, fresh, woody.
Top notes: Bergamot, Palmarosa
Heart notes: Frangipani, Saffron, Cypress
Base notes: Tonka bean, Wood and resin
The fragrance of this shaving soap is composed of a refined blend of essential oils and natural extracts, creating a unique, elegant, and luminous sillage.
It is indeed a very nice scent, even though I could not enjoy it as long as I would have wanted 😒
But looking forward to using it more.
Ébène sounds very nice!
Smells even nicer than it sounds!
January 9th, 2026
- Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - “Santa Noir” w/ 28mm Badger
- Razor: Geneva Cutlery Co. (Genco) Straight Razor (2)
- Lather: Williams - Mug Soap - Soap
- Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Petrichor - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Nivea - Sensitive - Balm
- Fragrance: Fanzine Saponifications - Caravaggio - EdP
Nice shave. Very close, but a few small weepers – no big deal. I find this razor to be nimble and I quite like that aspect of it. It’s on the narrower side – I should print out one of those straight razor measuring charts.
SOTD - 2026-01-09
- Prep: Proraso - Crema Pre Barba Protettiva (blue)
- Bowl: Captain’s Choice - Obsidian Copper
- Brush: Semogue - Owners’ Club Cherry Wood Boar - 24mm
- Razor: RazoRock - Superslant - L3
- Blade: Feather - New Hi-Stainless
- Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen
- Post Shave: Floïd - The Genuine Aftershave
- Post Shave: Zingari Man - Sego Unscented Aftershave Balm
- Post Shave: Proraso - Polvere Post Rasatura
- Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo
- Tool: WSDB
- Tags: $discord
Fougére Friday!
- Brush: Omega - 10048 28mm Boar
- Razor: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing
- Blade: Accuforge GEM Microcoat (15)
- Lather: Woolly Wash Soapery - Outback - Soap
- Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
- Fragrance: GLHF Workshop - Atriox - EdT
Another great shave with no nicks or irritation. Clubman + Atriox is just a lovely combination.
Thus concludes my week with Outback. It’s a real winner in my book. Easy to make a super slick lather, with a nice and simple scent. It might be a little more patchouli than I typically go for, but it works quite well in the blend.
I’m not yet 100% sure which soap I want to use for next week, but I’m leaning toward Stirling’s Seine Reserve. I’ve very much enjoyed using a single soap all week and may continue with this pattern indefinitely. We’ll see!
I love that pattern of one soap per week. I would have to seriously thin my collection in order to do that.
I’m definitely not thinning my collection as part of this!
I do think it’s a good way to make a dent in some soap though. Otherwise I think I’ll have a bunch of soaps that I only used once or twice like last year.
Of course, that means it’s likely I’ll have a bunch of soap I used zero times this year…
The struggle is real.
The struggle is real.
It certainly is! 😂
January 9th, 2026
- Brush: Rubberset - 400 w/ Maggard SHD Badger
- Razor: Above the Tie - Windsor
- Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
- Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps - Vetiver - Soap
- Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Massacre of the Innocents - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Zingari Man - Sego Unscented - Balm
