August 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Monday Shave

Brush- AOS Fine Badger
Razor- Schick Adjustable/PAL Adjustable
Blade- Chinese Schick/Chinese Schick
Soap- Palmolive
Post Care- Crystal Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
Osage Rub
Bombed Aqua Velva

First try with the Palmolive and I'm kicking myself for not using it sooner. @Robyflexx was right, this is a fantastic cream. The scent was pleasant, it lathered easily and was plenty slick. This is going into the rotation. This was my final shave with the Schick adjustable, @RyX is the lucky guy to try it next. I used it in my right side and the PAL on the left. I got a great shave from both but with a single blade, the PAL just shaves better. I am dolphin smooth but there was some alum feedback from the Schick side, nothing from the PAL. I finished up with a wonderful Osage Rub/Aqua Velva combo. Have a great day folks!

 

Whatever it is it's looks beautiful, are there no markings on it ?

 

August Straight Focus
Up at 3:45am this morning for an early flight. I decided to break my focus this morning rather than rush a 4:00am shave while groggy. I forgot just how nice a shave I get with this Red Tip. Two pass BBS with just a little touch up. Time to board✈️
Route 66 Twisted Tweed
TWhite 400 Brush
Gillette Red Tip
Astra SP
Alum
Lucky Tiger
Ogalla Bay Rum
Have a great week!

 

August 28-29, 2016

Razor: J1 Schick Injector
Blade: Chick (1/2)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: Williams

Same setup for the last two days as I await arrival of a Fatboy. On a whim, I grabbed the J1 yesterday and decided to keep going with it today.

No surprises. I've been taking the time to make sure to load the Williams long and hard and it has behaved well both days for two very nice shaves.

I think I've worked out my focus for next month. I had the revelation this morning that if I forget about conventions like September being for SE razors, then I'm pretty much staring at a focus. Basically, it's a "Getting to Know You" focus (cue Julie Andrews clip) for my two most recent acquisitions, the M3 Schick Adjustable and a Gillette 195 Adjustable. If I need some counterpoint, I can bring in the J1 and the Slim for comparison.

Hope you all have a great day!

 

Shave 14
Jayaruh #94 Whipped Dog high mountain badger
Proraso Green Shaving Soap Jar
Gillette New Long Comb
Astra Superior Platinum Blade.
Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill AS

Loaded up the new brush and made a bowl full of foam. The brush really wants to hold onto the foam. Rode the cap for a solid DFS two pass shave. No nicks, cuts or weepers. I noticed that the skin on my face has been feeling a little dry and decided to stop using the alum for a while to see if that changes. That being said, I put on a fair amount of lemon chill and a few minutes later noticed my face and neck were a little red. I think that was from all of the menthol in the after shave. I did use a bunch. It seems to have gone away. I will use less next time. If my skin is still feeling dry in a few days, I may experiment with some pre-shave oil or maybe a face lotion at night as I love my AS splashes and don't want to use an AS lotion.

 

You might also pay attention to if the redness comes with a bit of a burning sensation. When I started wetshaving, I loved citrus soaps and splashes. Over time, my reaction to them got worse, and I can't use some citrus products anymore without burning and pain. This included Arko, Maggard's Orange Menthol, and a few other soaps. Interestingly, some citrus soaps give me no issues. Try putting a little of that aftershave on the inside of your forearm, and see if you get the same reaction.

 

I've enjoyed Cremo for post shave care. Especially good when I get too close of a shave. Available at some Walmart and Kroger stores.

 

Do you use it before, after or in lieu of an aftershave splash?

 

After when Alum tells me I've done razor burned myself. It's a lotion that absorbs quickly, or dries. No sticky residue. Little or no scent so I follow with AS right away.

Fumble fingers Via Kyocera / Tapatalk

 

Those 4 am rushed shaves with a straight are much more entertaining for us. I feel cheated.

 

none that I can see even with a 10x loop

 

And I'm not bleeding

 

Which explains why I feel cheated.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

You will have to try harder, Brian.

 

Don't give up on me. My travel razor is a Feather AC

 

Mongoose/Feather Pro (7)
Stirling 24mm Finest 2 Band Badger
Glacial MITA
Mentholated Thayers
B&M Arctique

Great chilly shave today. BBS in 2 easy passes. Looking forward to SEptember. Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

 

Awesome Adjustable Arko August!!!!

August 29

Grand Blade Trial

Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (2)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum, Tabac cologne

Back to the Trial and, for the first time ever, an Israeli blade in the razor. Like most if not all Israeli blades it comes from the Personna plant there. I'm considering moving all the Israeli Personnas into a group to get through them all together for a couple of reasons. First, it would be a good comparison against the standard, the Israeli Red, to see if there are any significant difference between them. Two, since I won't be using any of them again no matter the results, they'll be fully in my rear view mirror. I still haven't decided whether or not I'll change the order. I have through Wednesday to make the change if I want. I had decided not to use them in the Trial at all but....it's bad form to test all of the available DE blades and not include all I can find. Gotta be fair, y'know.

The 620 again just absolutely blew me away. It just doesn't look and feel like it can produce lather like it can but once again I had enough Arko lather to use for a week if I could can it. I think it has captured the top spot in my boar brushes officially. Is it as good as my Silvertip? In producing lather, yes. In feel, well, they're two different animals (pun intended) and I'll just say they make great lather.

First pass was very encouraging. The blade is obviously fairly sharp. On the very mild 2 setting it produced a nice smooth feel and reduction on the first pass. Definitely better than many. Second pass got me close to DFS and the third pass made it all the way there. Good comfortable feel and the alum was quiet. Obviously the blade is high quality. If it starts getting rough tomorrow it may be a better indicator of how sharp it really is, but I'm not complaining. Very nice shave and leaves me wishing it was tomorrow already!

Started my two days off with a doctor appointment today. Normal monthly type. Tomorrow afternoon I go in to a new primary care physician to try and get some things back under control. My blood pressure is high enough it could pop a balloon and my blood sugar is, well, let's just say you could use my blood as a new sweetener. We'll start working on that tomorrow. In the meantime hope your week is off to a great start!

​

 

If you are not bleeding, feel free to rinse off the alum. It's a great feedback tool, but can dry the skin if left to dry.

Preshave oil is a waste of time and fights the chemistry of great shaves.

 

I rinse off the alum shortly after I apply it

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Our top draft choice showed up to camp early a big heavy 1/4 grind Koraat 7/8. Since she showed up faster than expected we gave her the roll treatment breaking out the tea kettle, scuttle and QCS.

This is a heavy razor and tight pins as I requested. This is the heaviest razor I own so it will take a few shaves to adjust. I do prefer heavy razors. One weeper and one pimple lead to tiny amount of blood. Four passes and zero feedback from the alum plus BBS. The edge was very smooth and sharp. I will be curious to see after I touch it up if I can get it sharper.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A-

Happy with the rookie and likely we will sign her to a long term contract.