FEB 2015 30 Day Rule/30 Day Focus Pic and Discussion Thread

02/25/15 February Focus on Blades
Prep – MR GLO
Razor - Mongoose Satin B2
Blade – Kai Mild (2)
Brush – Rubberset 400 with Omega Boar
Lather – Soap Commander Confidence
Post - Witch Hazel and CC Bay Rum AS



Great 3 pass work morning shave. Soap Commander as usual provided a great lather with more than enough cushion and slickness. Nearing the end of this giant tub of soap.

 

February Focus - Blades
2/25/15 - Day 26
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - C.O. Bigelow
Razor - EJ89l
Blade - (3)
Post - RazoRock Alum & AV Ice Blue

Final day for the Super Max. Absolutely marvelous shave with all passes smooth, no drag, no pull, felt great. Finished with a very near BBS. Probably a BBS but I'm just feeling picky. Hit the alum and was surprised at two bites on the left side of my neck. Seems I had a couple of very small nicks on the third pass apparently. Not sure whether to blame the blade or technique. The blade felt fine, I suspect I had too much pressure on trying to go BBS on that spot. A bit disappointing but not a fatal flaw by any means.

Today's grade - A/1.2. Going 1.2 because of the uncertainty of the nicks. Don't want to totally blame the blade, can't ignore the bites.

Overall this blade has been really good. Much better than I expected. This is a platinum I can live with and its ranking will reflect that. I am now curious to try the Super Max Platinum and see how it compares to the SP. The price is lower for the Platinum as well.

Final grade - A/1.3 and this is now one of my top three blades.

Cost - Best online price this morning is $14.00 per 100 so 14 cents per blade. Not outrageous given that includes shipping and it's from New York.

Tomorrow - The finale begins. Three days on the legendary, feared, revered, much loved and much maligned Feather from Japan. Have a great day!

Off to the morning commute! It's crazy out there.

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Shave 24 Feb Focus Slim Adjustable
Nothing exciting, feeling very comfortable with the adjustable now thanks to this focus. Will be participating in future focuses...

 

One of the few soaps that I started out with that I still reach for, especially when my skin is bugging me on those cold days.

It might even be my go to winter soap if MWF did not exist.

 

February 26 Plans

Stirling Sheep facial soap
Feather Artist Club razor
Feather Professional blade (day 2)
RV Shaving handle with a 24/46 mm Shavemac Two-band Silvertip knot
Stirling Naked and Smooth shave soap
One pass plus touch-ups
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, & unrefined shea butter

Three shaves and counting until March Madness with my Merkur 37C!

Count your blessings, and enjoy your day!

 

As I count down the days to the March 1914 lather catcher shave month, I realize that using the Schick I1 injector has been one of my most "error free" shave experiences since I moved from the Schick Hydro 5 cartridge razor. I may not have always gotten the closest shave, but the chances of having major irritation, or weepers and cuts were minimized, as long as one's technique was sound, and the pressure was minimal. As I once read, it can be pointed out that the injector could be considered the grandfather (superior in my opinion) of the cartridge shaver. The Schick injector will always have a major place in my shaving rotation, whether the G or the I variation.

 

02/26/15 February Focus on Blades
Prep – MR GLO
Razor - Mongoose Satin B2
Blade – Kai Mild (3)
Brush – Brothers Bristles with WD High Mountain
Lather – Soap Commander Confidence
Post - Witch Hazel and CC Bay Rum AS



Fantastic 3 pass shave this morning. Sticking with the Soap Commander in hopes of getting to the bottom of this seemingly endless tub. The Brothers Bristles brush whipped up a great lather. Finished off the shave with CC Bay Rum. I'm addicted to this stuff.

 

Shave 25 Feb Focus Slim Adjustable
Well it finally happened, my first nick, at no fault other than my brain went dead for 1 second on my first pass on neck. Blood flow stopped with styptic pencil and proceeded to end with a very good close shave...

 

One report today on the Arko stick focus. I changed gear around a bit, and will get a current rotation photo up tonight.

I am absolutely loving the Arko overall. One Achilles heel I have managed to find is that it is a bit less forgiving than the MWF when I don't fully engage in my beard prep.

This came up on a couple of weeknight shaves. I work long hours and have two kids. Sometimes, I am just getting my first minutes of weekday free time at or close to 10PM. It was nothing terrible. Just felt the scrape of the blade a bit more and some more burn when the AS went on. No lasting irritation or nicks. I think you just get a bit spoiled on all of the natural lanolin in the MWF.

My conclusion heading into March is that the Arko will be permanently in the lineup. Pretty impressive considering I was only auditioning it as a travel soap. It has exceeded all of my expectations...

 

Finally back on the range...

Dad's Schick Injector
Chinese Schicks
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Proraso Eucalyptus
Lilac Vegetal

Gonna sit and get caught up on TSD today! You guys rock!

I will open a thread for March later today...I am considering a Rule next month.

 

A "Special Edition" 30 day focus for March madness? That could be very cool!

 

February 27 Plans

Stirling Sheep facial soap
Feather Artist Club razor
Feather Professional blade (day 3)
RV Shaving handle with a 24/46 mm Shavemac Two-band Silvertip knot
Stirling Naked and Smooth shave soap
One pass plus touch-ups
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, & unrefined shea butter

Two more shaves until March Madness with my Merkur 37C!

 

February Focus - Blades
2/26/15 - Day 27
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - C.O. Bigelow
Razor - EJ89l
Blade - (1)
Post - RazoRock Alum & The Veg

Day one with the Feather, the vaunted, cheered, jeered, feared, some say overrated, some say nirvana producing blade. There is no debate as to how sharp this blade is, and the produces some interesting results. Definitely not a blade for newbies who haven't worked out their technique.

I have rather mixed feelings after this morning's shave. I'm posting late because after getting done with shaving I checked roads (we had some snow) and found my commute time had doubled. I did not, however, rush my shave so I can't blame any results on that.

I was able to get DFS in two passes with an ATG on my neck for the third with the Feather, and the feel of the blade was smooth yet not, if that makes sense. Basically the sharpness added to the irritation factor. Also after the first pass, which I felt went very well, I looked back in the mirror to see blood running down my right cheek from a cut just at the cheekbone. I didn't feel it happen, but it was an actual cut, not a nick or weeper. It is still somewhat visible tonight. It bled nicely while I did the second pass and the ATG on my neck. Alum stopped the bleeding without problems but also confirmed the amount of all over irritation.

I'm not sure if more work with this blade to modify technique to fit its sharpness would make me feel differently but, to be honest, I'm not a fan after one shave. It is, though, just one shave so I'll give it another go in the morning.

Today's grade, based on the scale I've used consistently is a B3. The lowest score yet for a blade. The cut is the main reason why, along with the amount of irritation.

Definitely a difference in the feel between the Japanese Feather and every Russian blade I have tried.

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February Focus - Blades
2/27/15 - Day 28
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - C.O. Bigelow
Razor - EJ89l
Blade - (2)
Post - RazoRock Alum & AV Musk.

Second day on the Feather. I focused on keeping the pressure off of the blade given its sharpness and didn't suffer any cuts, nicks etc. However, the final result is rather disappointing. Three passes with some minor touch up and I'm calling it CCS. My neck needs more work to get to DFS and even along my jawline is not as good as usual. The blade was smooth and felt good, just didn't seem to have the ability to really get the shave where I wanted it. Alum produced only minor irritation so I know my attempt to keep the pressure off worked. But, it didn't get the shave I wanted.

Rather disappointed in the Feather but I also realize it may be unique enough that my technique needs to be worked into it. Nevertheless I have to stick to my grading and give it an A3. An improvement over yesterday but it's just not getting it done for me.

I think that's it for this blade as I've seen enough to rank it with the others. I'll have a summary of the month up tomorrow at some point and then be ready to go vintage in March.

The Feather blade - like so many things in Japan - just kind of hard to figure out.

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02/27/15 February Focus on Blades
Prep – MR GLO
Razor - Mongoose Satin B2
Blade – Kai Mild(4)
Brush – Rubberset 400 with Omega Boar
Lather – Soap Commander Passion
Post - Witch Hazel and CC Bay Rum AS



Great 3 pass shave for this mornings shave. Planning on finishing up with the Goose tomorrow and then using some of my different razors next month. I have really enjoyed the Goose over the past 2 months and it will continue to be one of my go to razors. Have a great weekend.

 

February 27st SOTD (Shave 14 of the challenge)
Two Day's growth
Prep: Hot shower
Razor: '52 Gillette Super Speed Black Tip (X2)- Steel Handle and Baseplate
Blade: Derby Extra Super Stainless- Stropped 30 times per edge
Soap: Dirty Deeds Beer Soap- I can't remember the scent, bowl lathered
Brush: Vie Long Horsehair
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block
Aftershave: Pacific Shaving Company Caffeinated Aftershave

This was another blade that had come with a razor I had purchased. I have heard not so great things about them, so hadn't tried to use it. I am too cheap to throw away a perfectly good 10 cent blade, so am working through my odds and ends of blades. The Derby is completely capabale of giving a great shave. I got a three pass BBS, but I also got two weepers and quite a bit of irritaiton. The blade felt tuggy and not smooth. Two hours post shave, my face feels great however. This will be my last shave of my focus.

Focus on '52 Gillette Super Speed Black Tip (X2)- Steel Handle and Baseplate, and Vie Long Horsehair Brush.

1. Overall, this is a great mild razor. I do find myself using more pressure on this razor than others, almost as much as with a cartridge. It will bite with very sharp blades and too much pressure.
2. This is a great travel razor, because it is such a no brainer as far as use. It allows me to work around other varibles like water hardness and no freaking hot water at the bathroom sink at my mom's house.
3. Cold water shaves and I don't get along.
4. Paired with a sharp blade such as a Feather or Rapido, this razor gives great shaves, with minumum focus required.
5. Horsehair brushes smell like a sweaty horse that just got a medicinal bath when you get them wet the first time.
6. It takes a couple of weeks for that to go away. I shampooed it twice, and I had to leave soap on it after shaving for the first two weeks, rinsing it out before using.
7. Doing bowl lathering with this brush creates a great lather with minimal shedding.
8. The brush worked best like face lathering to work the soap in, then like a paint brush to get a thicker coat.
9. It is the least soft of my brushes, and can irritate spots that are already red from other shaving abuse.

On to March focus. I will be looking at a focus with two razors, a Feather Artist Club and one of my DEs. I have some travel for work, and don't want to take the feather, still haven't gotten my blades for it, and want to have a DE as a back up if I slice my face to ribbons.

 

Shave 26 of Feb Focus Slim Adjustable
End result a very good shave. Tried a new blade and was very tuggy and not the most comfortable. Not much feedback from alum, so it did its job just not a good combination in the adjustable for me.

 

February 28 Plans

Stirling Sheep facial soap
Feather Artist Club razor
Feather Professional blade (day 4)
RV Shaving handle with a 24/46 mm Shavemac Two-band Silvertip knot
Stirling Naked and Smooth shave soap & D.R. Harris Almond shave cream
Two passes
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, & unrefined shea butter

I will put my Feather Artist Club razor away for awhile after tomorrow's shave. This razor reminded me of the importance of good prep and post, taking my time, stretching my skin, and having a very gentle touch. I can enjoy a close and comfortable two-pass shave with this set up, and that was my goal for February.

I very much enjoyed seeing all the wonderful SOTD photos and posts this month! March Madness begins on Sunday with my Merkur 37C slant bar razor loaded with a Feather blade and a boar brush! Have a great weekend, all!

 

This will be my last post and shot of my lineup this week.

To summarize what I have learned:

• Arko sticks deserve more love from me than just travel use. There is also something cool about using some of the real old classic products and getting a good shave out of them.
• I have to step up my photography skills lol.

Looking forward to the March focus and have enjoyed all of your posts gentlemen....

 

Focused February-

Another great 2 pass!

Dad's Schick Injector
Chinese Schicks
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Arko!
Lilac Vegetal




For General Consumption: The March Thread is now open...spread the word!

NEW!! March 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

Also, a heads up, I have badly burned my right hand and therefore will not be able to type and make photos easily over the next couple weeks... Thanks for your understanding in advance! I will be doing a 30 Day Rule newbie style in March, and for the March Madness...I will shave left handed for my Rule. Details later.

Missed you guys while I was on the road...more details on that later too...thanks for keeping this thread going!

Happy Friday!