April 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix&Discussion Thread

Gold Dollar 208
JR #23 Silvertip
The Fat
Maggard Alum Block
The Veg



What a horrible shave today. Everything start off going perfect and then I started thinking and ended up hurting myself. My JR #23 whipped The Fat up into a perfect lather and I proceeded to face lather. Stretch the skin and start my first pass and I get to thinking about what I am doing (Straight Razor Shaving) and how I feel about using the STR8. As I start pondering if I like it much more then a DE and thinking if I want to stick to just STR8's full time. I came to the conclusion whilst shaving that I love shaving with a Straight although there are a few things I don't like. I hate stropping. I don't like how much longer shaving takes compared to my DE. Don't get me wrong I love my long relaxing shaves but when you have 2 kids knocking on the door and a grumpy SWMBO asking you if you are done with your makeup as other people need to get in there you start to feel rushed. I decided that while I will stick with a STR8 I also miss my DE's. I think after the end of the month I may retire my Str8's and only use them on my days off and the weekends when I have more free time. This is when things got ugly. The GD 208 had been reading my mind the entire time and she was angry and hurt. As soon as the thought of retiring her she decided to show me how Hell hath no fury like a straight razor scorned . Just as I moved down onto my neck she decided she wanted to bite me a good 2-3 times just in 1 stroke. I quickly apologized to her and finished up my WTG pass and moved onto my XTG pass while determining if 911 would need to be called. I started my XTG pass and decided after this pass I will call it quits as I don't want to bleed anymore. XTG on the upper lip and I sliced my lip and nose...wonderful... finished up and started doing my usual bad shave post routine which consists of cold water rinse, alum, a styptic pen, and tears. The alum burned pretty good and the styptic made me yelp so loud I am pretty sure I could do a wonderful cover of Whitney Houston's "I will always love you" and hit all the high notes. Finally got the bleeding to stop did another quick water rinse and slapped on an unhealthy amount of the Veg. Well I am safe now I thought to my self now just time to clean the scales and give it a quick strop. I cleaned the scales and razor and began stropping. As soon as I finished stropping I started to close the razor up but she was still out for blood as she caught my pinky and got me pretty good. I dropped it and no harm done but I am scared to see what she has in store for payback next time I break her out.


Long story short with all kidding aside:

I zoned out while thinking and my technique got sloppy and paid for it in blood.




Not my first shave but...

 

I love your Schick F type. Love.

 

Ended up missing my shave last night due to my uncle in the hospital. We found out he's got for blockages in his heart,a major blood clot, and has to be on oxygen since they resuscitated him. I'll try to shave tonight. Any and all prayers are grateful.

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Sending prayers your way right now!

 

I'll be praying for your uncle and family.

 

Prayers being sent up for your uncle

 

Praying for your uncle, you and your family.

 

Shave #9

On a whim I decided to try face lathering. What a pleasant surprise. Not sure what I was really doing, but apparently I did it right, as it was a great lather. I also had time to lounge, and enjoy the process.

I didn't need to shave today, but I did "practice" the face lathering. Didn't go so well today.

I'll do some searching - didn't get enough water mixed in I think.

 

So sorry to hear this. Thanks for sharing!

 

So I got to shave with the PAL on high. It was a quick 3 pass with opposite XTG passes. Went very well with no irritation an a clean DFS. looking forward to this rule a as my technique improves.

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skipped my shave today. Decided sleep was more important.

 

I am not a religious person but my thoughts and prayers are with you and your uncle.

 

Thanks for all the prayers folks. It really means the world to me that y'all would extend such a kindness for a stranger y'all have never met

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One thing I learned while learning straights, if you are pressed for time put the straight down and pick up a DE. If something does not feel right or feels awkward, put down the straight and pick up a DE. If it is noisy or there is a chance of distraction but down the straight and pick up a DE. Lather not right? Put down the straight and pick up a DE

I enjoy shaving with a straight but when I am not 'feeling it' and force the shave I pay in blood.

Hope you heal quickly and get back on the horse.

 

April 22, Reference Shave.... TGIF

I get so caught up in the focus and improving my straight razor skills that sometimes I need to do a 'reference shave' and remind myself what the 'gold standard' is. Nothing gives me as good a shave as my 2011 R41 loaded with a Super Iridium or GSB. It also requires awesome prep and lather.

So I brought out the 'holy hand grenade' and loaded it with a new Super Iridium, fired up the kettle and with a scuttle made some hot lather. I always prep so I was confident today would be at least an awesome shave. Four passes and an epic shave today. Alum no reaction at all and hours later faceturbating results are smooth baby smooth.

Irritation A+ Closeness A+ Smoothness A Keenness A+

 

ArkoApril in Russia!

April 21


Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - (1)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water rinse, Alum, The Veg

Baikonur, we have a problem. I'd say Houston, but this is a Russian blade after all. The last time I used a Ladas I was quite disappointed and declared it a dud. The notes I have on this blade indicate I've had good luck previously. It's always been in my top three Russians. Well three or four. But, it's always delivered a great shave up until the last time when I went to one just for a day. And it sucked. So, time to move on to the Ladas again today and I used a brand new blade, of course, and the shave, to be polite, SUCKED. The lather with the Wolf was fantastic. No problems like yesterday with that. The feel of the blade was absolutely rough. The audible feedback was loud, but not the velcro loud I'm used to with these blades. It's hard to describe other than saying it sounds like ripping instead of that velcro zip, if that makes sense.

On the second pass I still got plenty of roughness out of the XTG and the sound was still quite loud. Clearly the first pass hadn't accomplished what it should have. And the second pass didn't get me to a good DFS either. Maybe a barely DFS. So, in spite of the feel and rising irritaiton, I did a full third pass and lived to tell the tale. By the time I got done with the slides on my neck I was ready to throw the razor as far as I could. This was not what I expected and it is the first really bad shave I've had all month. When I set things up for a month of awesome shaves it's a bit maddening that a blade that has always helped with that suddenly turns south on me.

So, what is the problem? Well, that's the question of the month at this point. I have two working theories. One, the Arko lather just doesn't work with this blade. However, I'm pretty sure I've used them together before but I didn't keep as good of notes back then so maybe not. The way to find out? Stay with the blade and change soaps tomorrow. The second theory - since this blade came out of the same tuck as the other one that sucked I may have a tuck from a bad run. In other words, multiple duds. While disappointing to see that happen it is the most likely of the possibilities. The way to find out? Open a new tuck that I just received so that there is plenty of time between manufacture dates. And that is what I will be doing tomorrow. I'll use a blade from the shipment I just received and stick with the Arko. AND also stick with the Wolf Whiskers another day. Change one and only one variable. Hopefully that will answer the problem and I can breathe a sigh of relief that it was just bad luck and a bad tuck that upset the balance of power.

As if that wasn't enough today I got a message from Putin as well. He only made it as far as Hawaii before he couldn't take my crew anymore. I won't repeat most of what he said because while it was Russian, I'm pretty sure it was also unrepeatable. All I know is he dropped them off with enough supplies to drift the rest of the way. Or be eaten by sharks, whichever. I did manage to get a satellite image of the area. These guys will be the death of me long before bad blades and razors will!

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The mail came today and brought gifts! Thanks to @John Ruschmeyer I'm now the proud owner of a puck of Marvy soap AND a Marvy brush! That's the most marvy thing that's happened to me this year! According to John the soap is incredibly hard to lather and given the fact he's said I may not want to try the brush with it at first the brush itself isn't much help. Is this right up my alley or what? These two items will definitely be added to the MAYhem mix. Speaking of which, here is the latest list of volunteers for the audience participation portion of MAYhem. Still plenty of time and room if you'd like to join this esteemed group. Just let me know you're in!

@ob1page
@DDuckyMark
@Bama Samurai
@English expat
@mrchick
@Norcalnewb
@Mr. Freeze93
@Keithmax
@Rufus T.

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I think you got the wrong pictures. I looked around and found this guy floating around with beer and vodka trying to call sturgeon over so he could have fresh caviar.

 

And the inflatable doll. Yep, you found Ivan. NO doubt about it.

 

Maybe his date will spring a leak and your shaves will be wonderful for all of your days?