May 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion

Since I've gotten this style of brush I've put my other synthetics away we the exception of the Ever-Ready 100T @theFAT98 gave me. I love that brush! I have 3 synthetics, 1 RazoRock boar, and my Oscar11 in my cabinet. All the rest of my brushes are put away.

 

Jim, it's May..

 

+1

 

When you run low on the Nacet's let me know, I have 100 or so..

 

Straight Mayhem
This is going to be a long month
I have no idea what possessed me to start a straight focus when all I own are spike point razors. I look like a pissed off cat attacked my face. I should have bought a beginners round point razor. Oh well, I guess this is why styptic powder was invented. I'm not giving up!
SOTD
Route 66 Sweeney Todd soap
Doug Korn brush
Sensation razor
Alum
Lucky Tiger

 

Shows you the state of things for me lately!

 

Something about a spike point razor next to Sweeney Todd.....don't know why a chill went up my spine.

 

No worries Jim...I occasionally still write the date as 19__ something!

 

May 3, 2016
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: 1958-1964 Schick Eversharp Type J3 "Golden 500"
Blade: Schick (China) (1)
Soap: Route 66 - Sea & Citrus
Brush: Ever-Ready 1CS Badger
TSD Witch Hazel
AS: Myrsol Limon



The first injector I ever used. I picked it up when I was learning to shave with DEs. I thought I might like to see if it was more convenient to use around my mustache/goatee. Oh yes it was, and with a subsequent full shave, soon thereafter I was hooked. That was about July of last year, I now own about 16 injectors!

Two-pass shave - WTG, ATG
A very smooth comfortable shave. BBS could be achieved with minor touch-ups. Will look forward to see how these H-Ms perform with the sharper Dutch blades.

Cheers!
RT

 

You made me laugh. That helps. Thanks!

 

Day 2

Hurt Hinge
Patrix (1)
Williams
VdH Boar
Nivea cooling sensitive

Angry Russian
Rapira super stainless(2)

Great lather from the Williams. after soaking it and keeping it cream like I get Arko like lather from it. A bit drying on my face but works just fine. The Patrix blade got less than an inch of pain and ripping before it was tossed. I checked it under the loupe and the edge was serrated. It looked like the grinder that sharpened it was wobbling down the length. Hands down the worst feeling blade I have ever tried. The Angry Russian came to the rescue and I ended with a passable shave.

Day 3

Hurt Hinge
Sharp Durablade(1)
Marvy
VdH Boar
Nivea Cooling Sensitive balm

Angry Russian
Rapira Super Stainless(3)

Blood has flowed!

This is the first blade this month with any hope of a decent shave. The first pass was smooth until I got to my neck. I didn't maintain my extremely shallow angle and it caught and nicked me not once, not twice but 3 times. After the bleeding was stopped with styptic, tears and curses I couldn't bear to do more so The Angry Russian came out again. I felt the burn I normally feel with blades from this factory today. I guess I wore through the Teflon and got to the Chromium. Being the 3rd day the blade will be binned even though it has quite a bit of life to it still. The feel of the Rapira on my skin was very nice and smooth. The burning I get is after the shave and I get it everytime I use a blade with Chromium in it. Nivea to atempt to cool it down and I've finished with less of a shave than I was hoping for.

Now the Marvy soap was able to lather but it was tricky. After I soaked it until it was gooey and then let it dry into a thicker cream I loaded like it owed me money and lathered it a bit dry on my face. I then wet the tip of the brush and painted the water into the dryish lather until it felt wet enough. It wasn't amazing lather but it was wet, thick and, almost lasted the whole shave before it started dissapating. So for everyone else with this stuff, dry lather then paint in water or it breaks and turns to foam.

The Sharp Durablade is the first blade this month to get a round 2. I'll try to maintain better angle and get the second pass in on it tomorrow.

 

The Patrix is truly a terrible blade and the look at it under the loupe was telling. Serrated blades. New Chinese torture devices.

 

Okay... soak puck, lather dry(-ish), paint water...

Sounds like a plan for tomorrow.

 

I may start checking every blade with the loupe.

It worked for me. It still wasn't a long lasting lather but it got through the shave mostly.

 

It sounds slightly better than my best efforts with Marvy.

I suspect that this is close to the best one can hope for without somehow "goosing" it with either glycerin or shaving cream. I was doing some reading and wondered whether a drop or two of castor oil might make a difference.

 

MAYhem 2016

May 3

Razor - 1959 Gillette Ball End Tech
Blade - (1)
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold Rinse, Alum, Nivea

Onward and forward to the setup chosen by fate and @DDuckyMark. Only one thing about this setup gave me chills and it's only the most important piece. The blade. The Chinese Baili Super Platinum, known as the Baili Green as well as several other more colorful names. I tried it once and said never again. Yeah, well, we know how that goes around here.

While setting up MAYhem shaves is definitely fun and entertaining, there is a greater point to it all. It's the perfect chance to test technique and to once again validate that Technique Trumps Tools. Or to discover truly unusable tools. @DDuckyMark may have found one earlier with the Patrix blade. Another fantastic (cough cough) Chinese product. So, by randomizing gear and then letting someone else randomly choose the setup, I'm really setting up 30 days of having no control over the gear and having to try and adapt technique to overcome. That's what today feels like to me. It's a good, but mild razor, a top notch soap, a brush that's definitely usable but a blade that, well, let's just leave it at that.

So, my first adaptation was to really cover my face in Arko. Not a light film or any usual thing like that. I'm talking let's get some soap on the face. Serious soap. And on top of a lot of water. Then, hit it with a wet brush to slick it all up. Well, ok, so too much water at first as the first pop of lather ended up on the ceiling and walls again, but one shake of the brush and it's about right. Wet, slick Arko all nice and lathered up and here comes the first pass. Expecting pain, scraping, really horribleness and............I actually took the razor apart to make sure I had loaded the right blade. It wasn't smooth necessarily, but it wasn't horrendous either. And, at the end of the first pass I felt like I had a pretty good result going. Lathered up again letting it really whip up and the XTG pass was actually no worse and maybe even felt a bit smoother. Huh?!?! Went ahead and did a G-slide on the neck and, ok, yea it's the Baili Green but it still didn't rip me apart. Just set up a nice irritation that the Alum set on fire. But.....no nicks, cuts, weepers and I finished three passes with a DFS.

How in the world did that happen? Well, two thoughts come to mind. One, the extra slick Arko definitely helped. No added drag from lather or lack thereof. Second, I used the Baili in a bit more aggressive razor the first time. The Ball End is one of the milder ones around and I suspect that may explain a lot of it. Limit the exposure and keep the angle right and this blade may have the ability to be used. I'm also wondering if it isn't engineered to work with milder razors, given that every Chinese made razor I've found has been ultra-mild. Makes you wonder.

So, that one is down and even less damage than the first day with supposedly better gear! Tomorrow it's the setup chosen by @Bama Samurai who coined the phrase "Marvy's Law" in reference to drawing the Marvy brush and soap together at some point. Here is tomorrow's setup, courtesy of Chris:

Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - Kai
Brush - Marvy
Soap - Marvy

Yes, boys and girls, the man who coined the "Marvy's Law" phrase managed to pick it out of a randomized list. I'm thinking witchcraft may be involved. My take on that setup? Why not a Japanese blade I like from the Samurai man? And the '59 SS.....one of the best. The rest.....I'm already working on a solution. We'll see if it works.

Ok, for Thursday it's time for @English expat to step up and give me the numbers. 1-15 for the blade, 1-15 for the razor, 1-6 for the soap, 107 for the brush. I await my fate.

​

 

Razor: Bunny V3
Blade: Schick Injector (2)
Brush: "Tres Amigos" Desert Ironwood w/Sunrise Synthetic
Soap: Route 66 The Perfect Gent
A/S: Route 66 The Perfect Gent (test product)
My last day with the Bunny V3. This razor has been an outstanding shaver right out of the box. It took very little time to find the right angles to use and it offered dream shaves each and every time. When they become available buy a Bunny V3. You won't regret your purchase.

 

A blade that's... made of metal?

It does make some kind of sense. From what I've read the Baili razor is even milder than the Weishi.

Okay, so you've got a mild razor and a decent blade. The brush is an un-broken-in small-knot boar and the soap is problematic. The bigger issues will probably be the stiffness of the knot and getting a decent soap load. Step one: start soaking the puck now. Step two, I'd consider the idea of building a test lather on the brush and leaving the lather overnight to soften the bristles. At least you shouldn't have to worry about shedding for tomorrow's shave.

 

I gave the brush three days in Proraso to help break it in. I think the major shedding is done but I'm not taking bets just yet. The choice for me is to soak the puck like crazy like everyone recommends, or to go by the old TSD 30 Day slogan "rub the puck on your face". I'll make my decision shortly. Oh, and yes, the Baili is made of metal. Of some kind.

 

Well it would straighten it up if its mother gave it to it for being bad.