May 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion

@Rufus T.

 

Shave 3 of my "riding the cap" focus. I changed it up a little today and loaded a derby for derby day. Each time I started in a new area I verified that I was using the shallowest angle possible and wouldn't you know, no tugging from the Derby! I cheated a little today and went ATG on my third pass which makes getting the BBS so much easier. I normally don't go ATG because it usually causes an outbreak of ingrown hairs on my neck. I must say though, even going ATG with a derby, riding the top cap has given me another irritation free shave. Have a great day friends!

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Razor: Gillette Red Tip
Blade: Derby Extra (5)
Brush: DFS Limited Edition Envy White, Handle Aluminum Color, Anodized Dark Bronze
Soap: Route 66 Lumberjack
A/S: Myrsol Lemon
Early shave, talking my wife out to dinner.

Kentucky Derby Day

 

Congratulations!! You've definitely made TSD a better place.

 

You ain't kidding! Russian Tea is the bomb! Very slick, protective and out of this world post-shave feel. Plus the brush I used was excellent!

 

May 7, 2016- Soap/Lather Focus

Razor: Standard 160 Goodwill (New LC-based)
Blade: GSB(3)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: Williams

I hadn't originally planned to shave today, but decided to anyway. The big decision was whether to go with the Marvy for another day, take a day off and pull out the Cella, or move on the the Williams. I decided to go with the Williams.

I had hydrated the puck and moved it to its own microclimate earlier in the week, so it was in a nice, soft state. A 30 second brush loading and then face lathering, adding water as necessary, produced a nice quantity of quality lather. It was a pleasant change from this past week's struggles. All-in-all, a nice one-pass DFS with no new or reopened injuries.

 

How do you like that soap? I'm looking at a combo with that soap and a Satin Tip The Purest black brush. I need a new brush, I think I ruined mine

 

I agree with that statement.

 

Too much menthol melted the synthetic fibers? LOL.

The Bush and the soap are fantastic.

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Ben get a Semogue

 

Hahaha! No, I was stupid and decided to clean it with really hot water. It lost some bristles and now it has a hole in the middle of the knot

 

cool brush

 

SOTD May 7, 2016
Injector/SE Focus



Prep: Warm shower
Blade: GEM Stainless
Razor: GEM Featherweight, Schick G1
Brush: Vulfix 2006C badger
Lather: Arko Cool cream
Post: Witch hazel splash, Fred's Old Spice knock-off, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG

Hmmmm.......another disappointing shave with the GEM Featherweight. I ended up pretty smooth but have some irritation on my neck. The shave just didn't feel good. The blade tugged like crazy to begin with but I persevered. By the time I got through half of my neck it was painful to try and shave there. So I switched briefly to my G1 to finish off down there. First pass reduction was pretty good, just not comfortable.

I relathered for pass two and went back to the GEM. This pass was much better but still not the best. My neck has some irritated areas where I used the GEM.

Not sure what the problem was. Perhaps a dud blade? That was a new stainless blade. Oh well. I'll start with the GEM razor and blade tomorrow (if I shave). If it goes poorly again I may have to put it away for a while.

The bright spot is that I got to use my new scuttle! I bowl-lathered the Arko cream with cold water in the scuttle. It worked well! My sister made the scuttle for me as a birthday gift. She's a ceramic artist and had made a scuttle for the first time back in December. She had never heard of one and got a custom order. It was fun to use!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

 

Thank you. It is a good brush also.

 

Is it bad that I was hoping my numbers would be the worst items in each bracket? It would be nice for someone else besides me to butcher themselves. I think I am holding the record so far with the bloodiest and worst shaves this month.

 

Saturday Shower/Shave

Shower- Noxzema facial cleaner, Dr. Bronner's All-One Hemp Peppermint bar soap
Pso- @barbersurgeon lime and blood orange PSO with M-Bomb
Brush- RazoRock Plissoft
Razor- Muhle R41 on a Maggard MR5 handle
Blade- Polsilver (2)
Soap- TSD London for Men lanolin
Thayers Witch Hazel with grapefruit EO
AS- Florida Water with M-Bomb

Another great shave out of this setup, I really like this blade. I think it passed the Ladas. I can't say enough about this TSD soap. It's the best I've ever used. It even works with a damaged brush (I think I ruined my brush cleaning it with some very hot water). Our daughter is going to a b-day party tonight so it's date night with my wife. The Florida Water is a great scent that she really enjoys so I sprayed a bunch on.

We have some serious competition between the Polsilver and the Ladas. No real runaway winner, both are fantastic. Have a great day folks!

 

I am pretty far behind. I gave the Sharp blade a day two and ended with a tuggy and slightly irritated DFS

Hurt Hinge
Sharp (2)
Arko
VdH boar
Nivia cooling sensitive ASB


I took some time to heal my face before moving to the next blade on the list.

Hurt Hinge
Gillette Nacet (1)
Williams
VdH Boar
Pinaud Vanilla

I expected this blade to be horrible but I ended up with a pretty good shave. This razor is hard to use without letting it bite me so I was a bit rough around the jawline where the angles change. but I managed a 2 pass N/S S/N shave with zero irritation, weepers or cuts. The Pinaud was quiet. This blade may get more than 2 days if it lasts. The Williams gave me Arko like lather that was only a bit different in smell. I've never had any trouble lathering the stuff and I'm not sure where all the hate comes from. YMMV I guess. I will admit that it leaves the skin slightly dry but no more so than Arko. This month the Marvy is the only real challenge and its up tomorrow. I'll try to make a usable lather that is better than last time. I will try a superlather at some point but not before I try all of my tricks to make this lather well on its own.

I've been busy with family stuff and kid's field trips and work and my other major hobby of Amateur Radio so I haven't been posting as much. I was building an antenna to talk to satellites. I think it will work pretty good so now I just need to wait for one of the ones I have the equipment to work to fly overhead.

 

I has a similar experience with the Williams this morning. That said, I think I get where some of the hate comes from. The biggest challenge for a lot of people, I suspect, is getting a good load on the brush. The scent also seems to put a lot of people off although I think that it smells like... soap. Ironically, I think the biggest strike against Williams is its low cost. On one hand, it represents a great value, but on the other hand, the low cost makes it easy for people to discount it (i.e., Why put in the effort to lather a $1.50 puck of soap?).

Good luck tomorrow with the Marvy.

 

Let's see if I hit the Lotto:
Blade: 15
Razor: 1
Soap: 3
Brush: 4

 

I didn't realize that I joined before you. It seems you were always here. You were the first member to send me something in the mail and I still appreciate the gesture. I'm glad you are still around