u/Inkandartgods

For most of the past two weeks I’ve been using Artist Club blades with the Feather Kamisori-style SS razor and the Yaqi Romulus. And I’m impressed!

The SS is only used on weekends as it is taking some time to get the hang of it. I go slowly and carefully and have got decent results with no nicks (so far). It definitely is nowhere near ready to be used for daily 4:30am shaves before I head out to work - I need to be wide awake when using this beast - but I am enjoying the learning curve.

The shiny Romulus is a very different matter. It is proving to be a reliable and comfortable daily driver that I adjusted to immediately. The only two points to note are that (1) it doesn’t take Feather *Light* blades and (2) I do use an alum block on my fingers to ensure a good grip on the slender, shiny handle. Neither point bothers me as it’s no hardship to use alum and I quickly figured out my error with blade purchasing. The Lights haven’t gone to waste as they work perfectly with the SS - indeed I’m happy to use the Lights until I’m feeling competent enough to try the Pros or Kais in the kamisori.

I’m pleased to have both razors in my collection and look forward to trying some other AC razors in the future. As for the blades, I’m equally delighted. The additional thickness and rigidity mean that I’m experiencing absolutely no blade chatter, and they hold an edge better than DE blades which offsets the additional cost. And it’s fun to try something new!

I’m making good progress with the Feather kamisori-style razor. Today I got a good two-pass result, no nicks, and the speed/confidence is improving. I think we’re going to be friends.

Feather, Stirling and Yaqi.

Every time I post a Cella Red shave I’ve been urged to try Moon Soaps’ Amaretto. Easier said than done when one is in Aotearoa! There aren’t that many distributors, fewer seem to have Amaretto in stock, fewer will ship to Aotearoa and in the case of the splash, doubly so. But I persevered. After more than 5 months I managed to, piecemeal, acquire the soap, balm and splash.

Tonight I prepped for A Very Special Shave: an almond-scented candle, a packet of Bakewell tarts (an idea nicked from u/Ghostbuster-) and a pristine Feather blade in the Hone 15S.

What a delight! What a shave! The powerful scent of the Amaretto is glorious. The soap lathered easily and produced a soft, pillowy cushion. Unlike Cella Red, the balm and the splash maintain the scent, making for a consistent and fulfilling experience.

The Hone performed beautifully (as expected) and the alum block elicited not a single hint of a tingle. I’m nibbling a Mr Kipling Bakewell tart as I type this, so I’ll probably be diabetic come morning. 😂 I AM VERY HAPPY.

*Bonus points if you’re Of An Age to get the title reference.
**Double bonus points to Moon Soaps if they find an Australasian distributor 🙏

My Moon Soaps Amaretto has arrived in Auckland and should make it to Wellington either tomorrow or Tuesday. So in preparation for finally being able to enjoy an Amaretto shave (soap, balm and aftershave) after many months of waiting, tonight I enjoyed the full Cella Red experience.

The hardware was the R41 GS loaded with an Astra Green, and the Omega boar whipped up a fine lather in the PAA scuttle.

The result? Three pass perfection!

I decided that I wanted to try Artist Club blades - because I don’t have enough variety in my collection 🙄🤦‍♂️. I figured ‘in for a penny in for a pound’ and ordered a pack of Light blades, a Feather traditional SS razor *and* a Yaqi Romulus. I couldn’t help myself because quite a few people have recently posted pictures here of that lovely thing. Shiny!

Anyhoo. The blades arrived Tuesday and the Feather razor arrived yesterday. So last night I watched everything on YT about using the traditional razor and this morning took the plunge. I took it very carefully and managed a nick-free shave. The alum block confirmed that I may have been painfully slow but actually painless 🎉 It’s going to be quite a while (if ever) before I wield it with the confidence and skill of @geofatboy!

**[May. 9, 2026](https://i.imgur.com/Hhyvv7J.jpeg)\*\*
* **Prep:** Proraso - Protective - Preshave
* **Brush:** Yaqi Silver Tip Badger
* **Razor:** Feather Professional Artist Club SS
* **Blade:** Feather Professional Light (1)
* **Lather:** Haslinger - Schafmilch - Puck
* **Post Shave:** Nivea - Deep - Aftershave
* **Post Shave:** Nivea - Replenishing Post Shave Balm - Lotion
* **Bowl:** Grimwades - South Seas Exhibition

Shared from [My Shave Den for iOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/1581646387)

A great way to start the morning (I’m in Aotearoa) on May Day ✊

At 4am on Monday the hill behind our house began to slip during a ferocious rain storm. By 4:30am we had packed the car with our bug-out kit and were anxiously monitoring the developing damage, ready to vamoose immediately. We stayed calm and moved quickly and efficiently to prepare for evacuation. Wellington, New Zealand was not having a good day and the city was soon declared to be in a State of Emergency.

Mercifully we only had to spend two nights away and we’re back home. But now I can ponder some of my choices. One of them was to pack two books from my collection of ‘classic’ wargaming books!

I chose the two books I know would be almost impossible to replace: Barry Van Danzig’s ‘Who Won Waterloo?’ and Steve Castle’s ‘Murder & Mayhem’.

Setting aside the issue of why on earth I was thinking of bloody wargames books at a moment of crisis (!), I am amused by my choices. WWW? was self published and I know it’s very difficult to find. The few copies I’ve encountered have been extremely expensive. Nonetheless I’m a bit puzzled I picked it out in my 30 seconds of contemplation.

M&M is easier to justify and I reckon I’d do it again. It’s a rare (possibly the only?) horse & musket wargaming book produced in New Zealand. It was written by Steve Castle in Wellington and published in 1975. I first read a copy in my local library in the 1980s and acquired a second-hand copy sometime in the ‘90s for the princely sum of NZ$6.50.

In 2004 I moved to Australia and accidentally sold it to a book dealer as part of my extensive general book collection that I couldn’t take with me. I discovered the mistake months later and by then the dealer had sold it. I was heartbroken. 😭

I then spent eight years online trying to find another copy. I finally found one located in Christchurch NZ, snapped it up, and had it shipped to Melbourne - to discover it was the exact copy I’d accidentally sold in 2004!

In a treasured collection of wargames books by titans such as Featherstone, Grant, Asquith et al, it remains my prized jewel.

So would you decide to save anything from your collection in a moment of crisis and, if so, what’s the one that you choose?

P.S. The following day I returned to rescue more clothes… and my 15mm Spanish. Just last week I’d finally finished painting them after more than 15 years and I was damned if I was going to let them be potentially destroyed by a landslide! That’s the job of the French.