March '16 - 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion Thread

IMHO stropping may be more tedious than shaving.

 

Planned Day 88 - 90 Day Intro to SR
28 March 2016



Frederick Reynolds 5/8
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Route 66 - Lumberjack
Alum
TSD ISZ AS Splash
Pinaud Lilac Vegetal

Have great afternoon!
​

 

I did shave 153 with a straight this morning, and I strop before and after. Its actually the most fun part of the ritual for me, and I miss it when I don't use a straight. It will grow on you.

 

Thanks very much @Bama Samurai. I have another one in the original box with the Old Spice shave brush. I don't use those though.

 

Two days to go. That is impressive.

 

Since I got a gold tech in the mail today and I would be using a new blade tonight in the painstick I may take the rest of this month to try out the tech before renewing my pain stick blade search. I'm undecided on doing it or not.

 

March 28 - Straight Shave 27
Wade & Butcher French Point
PSO, hot shower, Nivia face wash
Jayaruh #40 Synthetic
Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber Soap & AS
Alum, Nivia Balm

Nice shave this morning, DFS. Alum and AS quiet. Ghost Town Barber is my favorite Chiseled Face scent, running low, time to order a full tub.

 

Monday Shower/Shave



In Shower Prep- Noxzema for face, Old Spice Classic shower gel
Pso-Homemade mint oil
Brush- RazoRock Plissoft
Razor-Gillette Slim on 6
Blade- Derby (1)
Soap- Kiss my Face mint
Thayers Witch Hazel
ASB- Nivea Sensitive
AS- Old Spice Classic

My first try with a Derby blade tonight. Thank you @Redrock for the generous pif. It wasn't bad, BBS above the jawline, DFS below. I do have more irritation especially on my neck but in fairness I did have 2 full days growth. The Kiss my Face lathered wonderfully and I can't say enough great things about the RazoRock Plissoft brush. I'm going to give the Derby another shot tomorrow before making a decision on it.

I'm getting better at face stretching, not so much with using my left hand. I'm not giving up though, each day I go just a bit further with it. Hopefully it will come. Have a great day folks!

 

When I first started it also felt like there was little to no beard reduction. As your confidence builds you will find the angle that gives you more beard reduction. You are just two shaves and I say no blood is a success. It is a steep learning curve, just add a little bit every time. You are off to a good start.

 

Route 66 Sweeny Todd
CJB
Feather microguard (1)
post war NDC gold ball end Tech
GSB(1)
Semogue 1438
Nivea sensitive

I lathered up the new to me scent of route 66 and really liked it. I feel like the little paper cups are softer then the tiny sample pucks are. I had a hard time lathering today with the boar on this soap. With the Black Pearl I learned that the synthetic brushes I have work better.

I stated WTG with the CJB and after the first pass I knew that I didn't like this blade. It felt harsh and I felt like it wasn't as sharp as the others I have used. I wasn't comfortable shaving with it but Ill give it a few days to see if it smoothes out like Feather DE blades do or if its just bad for my face. I did decide not to finish the shave with this blade since I have court in the morning and I didn't want irritation and pain before that. I loaded up my new tech and started with a XTG pass. It was nice. I had a more comfortable pass with the post war than I did with the prewar. I relathered and shaved ATG. still nice and so close to the baby that I loaded a few swirls of extra soap and lathered up to chase it a bit. I managed a BBS all over with only a few irritated spots on my neck that went away about an hour after I rubbed in the Nivea.

Tomorrow I'll likely have the tech there to save my face if the Feather micro guard still feels as bad as it did today.

 

I always had problems with the micro guard blade. After a couple of tried I just ditched it, it did not protect that much, didn't shave and encored me to use too much pressure.

 

The guarded Kai blade shaved alright. It just didn't get me really close because of the guard. It
was very comfortable.

 

Love the cold water badge! Consider setting the slim on 7 or 8 for the Derby, paying close attention to attack angles.

 

Thank you, the badge was made by @Jayaruh for the Fellowship of Cold Water Shavers. I may have to crank up the Slim and give the Derby another go tomorrow.

 

@Jayaruh was one of the teachers I followed in the very beginning, immediately after switching from Harry's carts to ultimately a Utopia 3pc 89 clone. Many of my fundamental ideas about lather and brushes are specifically from Jayaruh and @Holy Rollah.

 

March 28, 2016
March focus on two Schick E type razors: a Canadian E and a US E2, while also trying out different blades with each.

Hot Shower
Razor: Canadian Schick E
Blade: NOS Schick Platinum (Holland) (3)
Soap: Nancy Boy Signature
Brush: Rooney 3/3 "Super" Silvertip
TSD Witch Hazel
Myrsol Blue



Three-day growth. Three-pass shave - WTG, XTG, ATG

Another great shave with the Canadian. Hard for me to discern a great deal of difference with the two E types. I may just have to do a same-shave face off - a different razor on opposite face sides during the same shave!

Cheers!
RT

 

Vince-

Do you perceive a great difference between E and G? BTW...Sleek Rooney!

 

I'm not there yet...in case you hadn't noticed...I chose to organize my 2016 monthly Foci by marching through my injectors via alphabetical order...Gs are coming soon.

I will say that I feel much different about the Type Es today than I did back in September when I had about 1 or 2 shaves with each of them and wondered if I was really an injector guy. Only one conclusion can come from that - technique, technique, technique!

Long live Master @GDCarrington and Master @Bama Samurai ! 2

 

You're too kind...it was all GD back then! I had not considered the fact you don't have much G time yet. All I get from your posts is that you love injectors, and wield them with skill!

 

The Wolfman OC is very efficient and comfortable for me to use. It's not quite as efficient as some of my SE Razors but it is pretty close.