May 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion

SOTD May 13, 2016
Injector/SE Focus



Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Schick G1 Injector
Brush: Artisan maple handle badger
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post: Witch hazel splash, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

Wool Fat Friday! Nice shave this morning. I went with two full passes instead of the usual one with touch-up. My XTG pass was from nose to ear. I really prefer that direction for the XTG pass. Mitchell's lathered up nicely and provided a great lather backdrop. This was shave 10 on the Chick blade. It still feels smooth but is losing a little of its sharpness. The G1 injector continues to provide great shaves.

Hope you all have a great Friday!!

 

I think we need to qualify "real gear" as opposed to items purportedly sold for the purposes of shaving. Some of the items in your focus this month (Soyuz One, Tiger-3h) hardly qualify as real gear.

 

May Focus Day 12:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
Arko
Injector Type J
Stirling Unscented PSB
Brut Classic AS

I didn't get a pic this morning as I was running very late. I did get a great shave. Since this razor is a bit mild, it does work well when in a rush. I was able to glide though the shave even with a little lack of focus on technique, and still feel finished with a DFS and no irritation. A great start to think Friday. I hope everyone has a great day.

 

Well they are marketed as actual shaving products......but.......point taken.

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May 13, 2016- Soap/Lather Focus

Razor: Standard 160 Goodwill (New LC-based)
Blade: German Wilkie (6)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: Williams

I've got to stop overthinking lather!

Went back to my main brush, the VdH. Good initial load... lather started nice... and then I over hydrated it. :-(

Decent one-pass CCS/DFS despite the disappearing lather spoiled only by reopening yesterday's chin weeper.

I was going to switch to the Arko for next week, but I think I'll stay with the Williams a bit longer and try to dial it in. I'm going on vacation week after next, though, so I need to spend Thursday or Friday on a dry-run of what I'm taking with me. Right now, it looks like a Tech, GSB, Arko, and the VdH boar. Maybe I'll have to try shaving with the hotel face soap just for the sake of MAYhem.

 

MAYhem 2016
May 13
Razor - Gillette 1918 Old Style
Blade - (2)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Marvy
Post - Cold Rinse, Alum, Nivea

Happy Friday the 13th! Up a bit earlier than usual since I had to put my wife on a plane. She's in Dallas for a week for a residency in her Master's. I'm sure she'll come home with enough new psychobabble to keep me entertained and reanalyzed for days!

It's the @Joe Babb setup today and it looked like a mixed blessing going in. The 1918 and the Wolf Whiskers are fine. The Laser Ultra is a rather pedestrian blade and of course, Marvy. Enough said about that. I soaked the puck this morning as before and the brush as well, then shook the brush as I did the horse when I used it. We have figured out that Marvy works best with cold water and a floppy brush. The WW Silvertip is not floppy but I'm going to try and make it act like it. Whipped up the lather and it doesn't look too bad on the brush. Face lathered it up and, well, it might work. Quickly shaved the right side and turned to the left and found no lather. Not a faint film or kind of a film, we're talking none. Total dissipation. Relathered that side and did a quick pass. The 1918 feels great. It's aggressive but, after working pain sticks and straights, it's just a safety razor. Nothing to fear here.

For the second pass I painted the lather on and dabbed it to try and get a thicker coat. Seemed to help as I was able to go XTG before it all dissipated. Still not as good as with the horse. This lather just isn't good enough to keep being that picky. Annoying.

Some touchup and I'm left with a near DFS. Close enough for a Friday. Also that nice Marvy dry feeling took some Nivea to correct. It's time for the shaving gods and the Chosen Choosers to get their act together and get this soap back on the shelf. I mean, Williams is in play! What are the odds that I haven't use it yet?! And, even more amazing, what were the odds going in that I would WANT to use Williams!? Right now, if it stops the Marvy run, I'm all for it.

Onward and forward. Tomorrow it's the @Linuxguile double random, let's play with chaos theory shave. Out of chaos comes order, or so the theory states, and apparently there's something to that. He managed to pull three repeats. Here they are:

Blade - Shark. This is the third shave on the rather unfriendly Shark
Razor - RazoRock TTO - The first time for this razor but it's one I particularly loathe. Likes to slice and dice due to some manufacturing issues on mine. With the Shark? Mostly likely not a pretty sight.
Brush - VDH Boar - I think the third time for this brush too. It's a solid entry, stiff boar so works well with most soaps. However, with Marvy it could be a disaster.
Soap - Wait for it. Yeah, keep waiting. A little longer. Waited long enough? MARVY?!?!?!?!?! Yep It's Marvy again. Seriously?????????

Well, with that in my future it's time to look toward Sunday. We've reached the end of the Chosen Chooser list so @ob1page you're up for round two! You know the drill. 1-15 for razor and blade, 1-6 for soap, 1-7 for brush. Hope everyone has a great start to the weekend!

 

SOTD May 13th
'57 Gillette Super Speed/ Astra SP(5)
Satin Tip The Purest
Arko

Finally a great shave with the Flare Tip, not just a good shave, a great shave! Holding the very shallow angle in order to "ride the cap" with the superspeed is quite difficult. Every Stroke: "check the angle, no pressure". Ended up with three pass BBS shave and my face is thanking me for focusing on technique! "Riding the cap" absolutely has an impact on blade longevity as well. Five shaves in on the Astra and no indication that it is losing any bit of performance. Have a wonderful day and a great weekend!

 

Glad you dialed it in with the FT Andrew, beautiful photo!

 

Thanks buddy!

 

Going with my address
3-9-2-6...let the MAYhem proceed

 

What degree measurement is the handle of the Flare Tip to your face when getting the great shave today?

 

I would say the handle is no more then 15 degrees off perpendicular. So in relation to my face it would be sitting at about 75 degrees

 

15 degrees from parallel or perpendicular? If the handle was straight out from your face at 90 degrees then you're coming down 15 degrees or so? So there's a wide space between your face and the handle? Sorry for all the questions!

 

Correct, 15 degrees off perpendicular. So if the razor handle was pointing straight out from my face at 90 degrees I came down 15 degrees from that. It feels very unnatural to hold the razor at that angle too. In comparison my Merkur 34C is at about 25-30 degrees down from 90 while riding the cap

 

Wow....that's interesting! I hold most of my DEs about 20-25 degrees up from parallel, not perpendicular. I have gotten some poor shaves from a Superspeed before. My angle is WAY off!

 

Straight Mayhem
I'm thinking I can justify my shave as a straight since the guard has been removed. Works for me
Those of you that were hoping for Mayhem on this shave are going to be disappointed. I got a wonderful two pass shave with this setup. It just goes to show you that guards are the equivalent to training wheels on a bike. With practice, you don't need them.
If I had tried this before joining the 30 day group last July, I would have butchered myself. Thanks for helping me with my technique.
TOBS Grapefruit
Vie-Long horsehair brush
Modified Gillette New SC
NOS Gillette blade
Alum
Lucky Tiger
Fine Snake Bite AS
Happy Friday!



I forgot to mention that this was my first experience with Snake Bite. It's cold stuff!❄️

 

I'm not there yet! LOL

 

Keep in mind that the angle that matters is the blade to face, which will change depending on head geometry.

 

To the disappointment of many (Only @NCoxSTL ) I will be taking a break from MAYhem tomorrow as my Mongooese will be here and I want to have a decent shave (hopefully) and see how I like it. Before you all banish me to Siberia and add me to your ignore list I promise I will be right back to my bloody antics on Sunday. Carry on and have a great Friday the 13th.

 

Cartel approval is granted for a one day furlough for the Mongoose. It's a great razor and.....has its own risk.

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