Share your Shave of the Day for Wednesday!
BVWSC Jul 16 2025 Edition
- Brush: Stirling Soap Co. Green & Ivory 24mm Synthetic 2-Band Synthentic Knot
- Razor: Karve Shaving Co. Overlander
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) [3]
- Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park - Soap
- Fragrance: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park - Eau de Parfum
For today’s edition of the BVWSC, we are using Chicago Grooming’s Irving Park, generously provided by @[email protected]. Irving Park is a dupe of Yves St. Laurent Rive Gauche. Today is the last travel shave, and it will be nice being back to a full den.
July 16th, 2025
- Brush: Summer Break Soaps - Ord w/ TnS Quartermoon Synthetic
- Razor: Yates Precision Manufacturing - Merica
- Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
- Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park - Soap
- Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park - Aftershave
Used Irving Park today for the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club. I’m happy to be one the who got to send smushes out this time around and hopes everybody enjoys it who is participating!
July 16, 2025 – BVWSC
- Brush: AP Shave Co Lemondrop 28mm SynBad
- Razor: F.W. Engels Leader 6/8 Full Hollow Square Point
- Lather: Chicago Grooming - Irving Park - Soap
- Aftershave: Noble Otter - Monarch - Aftershave
- Fragrance: Floris of London - Elite - Eau de Toilette
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club (BVWSC) day, and thanks to @[email protected] for providing the smush of Irving Park.
I already know that I enjoy Vida’s soap base, but this was a new scent for me. Mr. Hoggins was kind enough to provide the scent notes, and I’m also aware that this is a dupe of Yves St. Laurent Rive Gauche. I really like this scent and it is another that I will put on my list of soaps to buy from Chicago Grooming.
Octidi 28 Messidor an 233 de la Révolution, jour de Vesce: BVSWC July
- Brush: Semogue C3 Galahad Horse 🐎
- Razor: Thiers Issard Le Grelot
- Lather: Chicago Grooming Company Irving Park
- Postshave: Naissance 702 Witch Hazel
- Postshave: Pitralon Classic After Shave
- Postshave: Nivea After Shave Balm
This month’s soap has been provided by BossHoggins10, who also helpfully included the scent notes. I don’t know what’s up with me, maybe I’m just primed to smell leather in BVWSC shaves, because I again smelled leather. I didn’t really get the anise or the bergamot – maybe that just means its too well blended for my uneducated nose. I don’t know YSL Rive Gauche, so I cannot comment on how clause it is to the real thing. But I must say I’m tempted to go to the next perfume store and try it.
The base is good, and produced without much effort the American-style rockstar lather. Once again, a very solid soap, and the smush is generous enough for another two shaves. Thanks again!
Edit: I had honed my razor before this shave, and it was a very smooth experience. I should probably also hone the others…
Glad you liked the soap. There are a few other Rive gauche dupes, but Ariana and Evan’s has a really good dupe, hold the fragrance burn. Unfortunately the perfume is out of production so you’d have to find it second hand to try it.
16.07.2025
- Brush: yellow bakelite handle w/ 22 mm AP Shave Co. SynBad knot
- Razor: RazoRock Hawk V2 w/ Cyber handle
- Blade: KAI Captain Protouch MG
- Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park
- Post-Shave: OAM sensitive skin toner
-> 2 passes on the head, 1 for neck line and cheek line each. Nice and smooth!
For the BVWSC shave (it’s Thursday by the time I’m posting in my time zone, but the shave happened while it was still Wednesday) we used Irving Park by the very talented Vida (owner of Chicago Grooming). Thanks to @[email protected] for the generous sample!
YSL Rive Gauche and by proxy Irving Park would on paper be something I shouldn’t like, thanks to anise, lavender and geranium - scents that usually turn me off. That being said, on paper is different from the real world: it’s blended nicely with the other pleasant notes that it smells really good to my nose. I would say I can notice and appreciate the hint of bergamot, but I don’t really get anything else individually. It’s really a thorough cologne blend. A good one though. For those male wetshavers who aren’t as crazy as us hobbyists with tons of different soaps, I can see this being a solid daily driver. Perhaps better suited for the other 3 seasons except summer, but today it was a rainy day over here so it actually worked for me.
As for the performance, it was as great as expected. Never had any problems with CG lathers. I had to use a tiny brush for sample lathering which was a bit awkward for head shaving, but the sample lather became useable pretty fast. Good primary and residual slickness (important during head shaves) and a very nice post shave skin feeling.
Overall, a really good shave. Thanks to Boss for the opportunity to try this soap!
Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club Wed 16 Jul 2025
- Brush: Boti - Sunrise
- Razor: Zwilling J. A. Henckels Friodur 50 (7/8", hollow ground, stainless steel, masonic deco)
- Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. – Irving Park
- Post Shave: Speick – Men Active
- Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime
For today’s meeting of the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club, we shave with CGC Irving park, courtesy of @[email protected] (Thanks Boss!). It’s a dupe of Rive Gauche and a thoroughly enjoyable scent. I consistently get great shaves from Vida’s soaps, both the older base (did it have a name?) and darkwing, and today was no different.
I’m trying to decide which Friodur to use for this year’s Austere August and I’m waffling between today’s weird masonic deco Frio 50 with the murky history, the venerable Frio 14, the chonkier Frio 17, the Frio “the cleaver” 72-V, and a normal 72 or 59. My dilemmata:
- I think my favourite option is the Frio 50, a great shaver, but it’s what I used last year.
- The 14 is my favourite razor of all times, but I guess I want to use it sparingly and deliberately.
- The 17 is a great shaver but feels a bit normal for AA
- I’ve never used a wedge consistently for a month, so the 72-V would be interesting, but I wonder whether I’d miss the crunch of a hollow.
- All of the above are hard to replace if they get lost, and I’ll be travelling during the lead-up to and the beginning of AA, so plenty of opportunity for lost baggage.
- The 72 or 59 are fine shavers, but there’s to oomph there. The upside is that I wouldn’t mind terribly if they got lost during a flight.
Today’s shave was fantastic, so I think I’m leaning towards a repeat of the masonic 50.
You are spoiled for choice with all these nice frios! 😄
For what it’s worth, I’d probably base the decision on which razor I would be willing to risk bringing on a trip.
The Masonic sounds like a one-of-one razor, would be a shame to lose it!
Yes, but on the other hand, yolo?
Touché
That’s a conundrum, but as your formal education is similar to mine, I’ll suggest that your decision can include risk analysis; where you trade benefits of use against the likelihood and consequence of loss 😀
Maybe I should have taken a more applied direction because I learned none of that at uni. My analysis so far is more along the lines of Alfred, Lord Tennyson;
“I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have 50ed and lost
than never to have 50ed at all”.Yes, well, this from a man who was bearded during the heyday of straight razor usage. 😉
I admit that I did not learn risk analysis while attending university, but I did realize its importance during my 12 years working at one.
The only rational choice is a Gold Dollar: Highest utility if lost, while traveling. Nash would agree!
That’s certainly one strategy to which Nash could be applied 😉
I think the previous base was called ‘Canard’.
Two people, one thought 😂
Yup, not sure how I forgot that 😅
[…] both the older base (did it have a name?) […]
The old CG base was called “Canard” IIRC and I agree that it is a very solid performer - I’m not familiar with Darkwing though…
Yup, not sure how I forgot that 😅
To be fair, there’s a ton of different bases with different names by a variety of soap makers. It’s hard to keep track of everything that’s out there.
July 16th, 2025
- Brush: Rad Dinosaur Creations “Nebulagance” - TurnNShave Quartermoon 26mm Synthetic
- Razor: Fatip Il Piccolo Storto
- Blade: Astra Green (1)
- Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park - Soap
- Post Shave: Noble Otter - Lonestar - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Stirling - Glacial Unscented - Balm
- Fragrance: Stirling - Arance Mandarini - EdT
$discord
The Buena Vista Wetshaving Club is back after a month’s hiatus for LG. This month we’re shaving with CGC Irving Park, a dupe of Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent.
This gave an excellent lather and is a pleasant scent, though my nose had a hard time identifying the listed notes. I got some vetiver, and a general earthiness, but that was mostly it apart from a general “nice” smell. Thanks @[email protected] for sending around the generous smush!
Also my first shave with the Fatip slant. It shaves much better than the only other slant I’ve tried (a shitty and overly aggressive Yaqi), though I’m not yet convinced that it does a better job than my other DEs. Looking forward to spending more time with it.
