May 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion

EDIT, I just read about your shave. You will be fine in a few days when the skin heals back together.

 

OK, Here I am back and caught up on the nonsense.

MAYhem is here!​

I will be using a sub $2 parker style shavette with some of the worst blades are resident bad shave guru @NCoxSTL could think of. If bad blades are better in aggressive razors then I'm going to push that with the most aggressive razor I can think of. I have in the shavette's corner,

Blendex Super Stainless,
Baili Super Blue Blade,
Patrix Super Stainless,
Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus,
Sharp Stainless,
Sharp Hi Chromium Durablade.
​

I know that I may be faced with some shaves too terrible to continue so I'm going to have a backup worthy of the Cartel. I have a soviet era Plastic handled 3 piece razor and a selection of fine Russian blades. In the Soviet corner I have,

Sharp Star Platinum,
Gillette Silver Blue,
Sputnik Teflon Coated,
Rapira Platinum Lux,
Rapira Swedish Supersteel,
Rapira Stainless,
Rapira Super Stainless (Thanks @NCoxSTL).​

I'll be using the VdH boar brush this month to break it in. I'll have plenty of help breaking it in because I'll only be using Marvy soap, Williams Mug, and Arko. Both the Marvy and the Williams have been treated to my 'soak it and make it into a cream' treatment. The Marvy is untested but the Williams and Arko I know I can get decent if not amazing lather out of.

I will randomize both sets of blades for their order and start a rotation of soaps. Arko, Williams, Marvy on loop for the whole month.

Let the Pain Begin!!​

 

Nice! Cringe worthy but nice. The Rapira in pink is the Super Stainless. Very nice blade.

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I added pictures. I have dubbed the shavette the "Hurt Hinge". Its very appropriate.

 

If I burn through all those blades I have an exciting Bonus round that I will try out. I'm thinking modded Dorco BBs in a Schick injector plus box cutter blades in a Gem SE.

 

May 1, 2016
SHAVE DEN SUNDAY

It’s Hydro-Magic May!
I’ll spend the month with my three Schick Eversharp razors that sport the Hydro-Magic shaving/cleansing head - Types I2, J3, K1



Hot Shower
Razor: 1955-1958 Schick Eversharp Type I2
Blade: Schick (China) (1)
Soap: TSD Iced Sensitive
Brush: Omega 48
TSD Witch Hazel
TSD Aftershave Milk
AS: TSD Lime



Two-day growth, three-pass shave - WTG, XTG, ATG
Too easy. Razor handles very well, great reduction on each pass, dolphin-smooth finish. I'm enjoying my extended look at injectors month after month.

Cheers!
RT

 

Random.org gave me these orders.

1. Baili Blue
2. Patrix
3. Sharp Durablade
4. Gillette Rubie
5. Derby
6. Blendax
7. Sharp Stainless

and for the "Safe" blades

1. Rapira Super Stainless
2. Sharp Star
3. Rapira Platinum
4. Rapira Swedish Super Steel
5. Rapira Stainless
6. GSB
7. Sputnik

You may have noticed the Derby added in. I have no love for this blade and I have not had much luck with it. It has a following so I have added it. Ideally I should be able to get 2 shaves per blade half giving me 28 shaves from the bad blades. The safe blades will stay in the razor for 3 shaves so, if I never need to be saved then I'll have a Rapira Super Stainless unused sitting in my razor. If I need saved eveeryday I'll switch to the CJB when I run though all my safe blades. If I have extra time at the end of the month I'll pull out the modded Dorco in an injector and the box cutter blade in a GEM.

That means that today is the Baili Blue in the hurt hinge with VdH boar and the Arko.

Let me stock up on QuikClot and shave. I'll be right back.

I'm not worried about my month. Everyone says how tough Russians are but I'm Scotch/ Irish and. . .

The parts of me not Scotch/Irish are from a formerly Soviet nation. No blade or soap can deter me(except the Tiger 3H thats just nasty).

 

That isn't the real problem. The biggest issue is that I am usually rushing to get cleaned up and out the door.

Hmm....would bleeding like a stuck pig earn some respect?

 

Pulling out the straight will earn respect and the blood will make you a legend at the gym.

 

Because you grin and give them the evil eye and say something like "BooYah!!! It makes you look invincible and manly. Or crazy.

 

It's MAYhem!!!!! The most wonderful time of the year. At least for now. But, before my month of MAYhem shaves begins we must recognize the date. It's May 1st.....MAY DAY!!!!!

Now, for some it's also Beltane, the great fertility ritual to celebrate the start of Spring and the rebirth of all nature after a long winter. The Soviets, of course, celebrated it as a glorious day of their strength and might! It later, after that might and strength failed, became International Workers' Day to celebrate the labor movement. So, really, it's Russian Labor Day. With missiles of course.

​

So, in honor of this great and glorious date from Soviet history, we begin today in true Russian fashion.........

And, let the parade begin!



Or, just the glance if you prefer.

​

My holiday shave this morning was a good one. I set up the detente shave....Aristocrat with a Voskhod. Used the Wolf Whiskers with Tabac for a fine lather and let the American and Russian tools work together for a magnificent three pass BBS. Then, since it is Labor Day after all, I went to work. So much for the holiday part right? But, the month is off and running and tomorrow is the first of my MAYhem shaves.

@ob1page was the chosen chooser for tomorrow and here is the setup his choices produced after everything was randomized:

Razor - Gillette New LC
Blade - Shark
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Proraso Green

Not a horrible way to start, though I've only used the Shark once. We'll see how it all plays out in the morning.

Now, next up to do the choosing is @DDuckyMark! So, choose away sir. Pick a number between 1 and 15 for the blade, between 1 and 15 for the razor, 1 and 6 for the soap, and 1 and 7 for the brush. That will be the gear for Tuesday!

Happy MAYhem everyone. ​

 

In addition to playing along for the May-hem, I have found a focus task. Yesterday, I shaved off my goat for basically the first time in a decade. I also proceeded to knick my chin up pretty well, so I will spend the month working on how to shave my bumpier regions.

Most if not all of the products I have to choose from in my den are survivors of multiple clearings, so I do not really have anything to pick from that is discouraging or troublesome. I did add in a few blades that are new or not a favorite, just to keep it interesting. The Bolzano was a blade I had not used before. Reviews are so hate/love, I had just sort of set them aside. Good sharp, comfortable shave. I am excited for the next time they get drawn.

SOTD: May 1, 2016

Razor - Gillette Super Adjstable w/Bolzano (1)
Brush - Thater 4125/1 3 Band
Soap - Stirling Gin and Tonic, M-Bombed
AS - Stirling Gin and Tonic, mentholated




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The Bolzano did very well for me. Nice choice.

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Glad you're part of the group! I'll be watching you work with the Marvy soap as I'm sure it will show up for me at some point. And the way I'm doing MAYhem I get no practice runs.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

There are a lot of guys who buy Lady Gillettes under the guise of their wife wanting to try one....and who don't even know their husbands got it. Nothing wrong with using the ladies gear if it shaves great. It's all marketing and color choice that makes the difference anyway.

 

Straight Focus
Afternoon shave was successful. Success measured by a lack of blood
SOTD
Proraso Pre-Shave
Proraso Green
Sensation Razor
Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
TSD Iced Egyptian Spice AS
Have a wonderful Sunday!

 

May 2

Today is a MAYhem shave. This is the first time to use my Dovo shavette. To stay in good with the cartel I loaded it with a nice Russian blade.

I scared myself in the past with a DE loaded shavette and for a year and a half I did not even think about using a straight. I was surprised how mild this razor is, I was expecting blood, irritation and BBS. Instead the opposite happened, zero irritation but just DFS-.

I wondered how this could be and upon closer inspection it is either the fact that there is very little of the blade exposed or the outstanding Russian blade. The razor is too light and makes it hard to keep light pressure. A big annoyance was the short DE blade, with half of the shavette cutting edge not having a bade it was hard to keep track of what was cutting and what part did not have a blade.

Irritation A+ Closeness B Smoothness A Sharpness A-

 

Cartel blessings on you for the blade. That does look strange with a short blade in it. Glad it performed well for you though. I haven't tried a shavette yet, so I should probably put one on the list.

 

SHave one of MAYhem,

Hurt Hinge
Baili Blue (1)
Arko
VdH boar
Pinaud Bay Rum

Safety:
Angry Russian
Rapira Super Stainless(1)

My first pass wasn't terrible. It wasn't good but it wasn't terrible. I could feel that it wasn't very sharp but I had peeked at the edge with a jeweler's loupe and it didn't look terrible. The reduction wasn't great but again it wasn't bad. I should have known that wouldn't last when I found out that the blade wouldn't ''snap'' in half. It bent back and forth like paper until I got a heavy set of scissors and cut it in half.

My second pass S/N was painful. Draggy, tuggy just on the verge of biting me. I stopped before I finished and relathered for my safe setup.

I did an extra pass and a half with my safe setup. The blade gap on this russian is big enough to drive a land battleship though.


Since I can't read the cyrillic on the case I'm going to call this razor the Angry Russian. The blade gap alone is enough to be called angry and the high domed cap with the extreme blade bend looks angry too. It gives a great shave if you make sure the blade is lined up. Forget to check it one time and you'll have one side that doesn't cut and one side that tries for arterial spray.

After the save me passes I felt a touch of stinging. to check it I slapped on a liberal amount of Bay Rum. I'm not fond of it but SWMBO loves it and if I use it I won't have to wear it anymore. As soon as it hit my face the burning started nd my face instantly turned a lovely shade of pink. After a few minutes the color and burning died down to a nice DFS.

If this blade is any indication then I should buy lots of box cutter blades and start hacking up Dorco Barber's Blades to fit my injectors.

 

3, 12, 4, 7