May 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion

Destiny, fate.... :hooray:

 

That's great!

 

May Focus Day 19:

Simpsons Commodore X3 Best Badger
Razorock Don Donato SS
Boker King Cutter
Stirling Unscented PSB
Tabac AS

I had a great shave with the King Cutter this morning. This razor definitely sings more than my others. It is also very smooth. I could have called it good after one pass, but I did a little clean up on my jaw and ended with a DFS.

This week is flying by, and this shave got me ready for this Thursday. I hope everyone has a great day.

 

SOTD May 19, 2016
Injector/SE Focus



Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Schick G1 Injector
Brush: Omega 10049 boar
Lather: VDH Luxury scented
Post: Witch hazel splash, Renaissance Man Black Amber, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

Smooth, comfortable, and enjoyable shave with this combination again today. This is day 3 of this brush and soap combo. The large Omega brush has been quite adept at whipping up some great VDH lather. I was disappointed with the lathers last week but have been thrilled with this week's suds. This brush is great for this soap.

The G1 is easy to use, maneuverable, and provides great shaves. I have really enjoyed using it the majority of this month.

Hope you all have a great day!

 

SOTN- Mayhem continues
Razor-Gem 1912
Blade- store brand made in South Korea
Rescue Razor: Genco 5/8 square point
Soap- Route 66 Twisted Tweed
Brush- Dubl Duck M2/ Omega 10066 boar
Post- Cold water, Alum, Thayers'
Aftershave- Lucky Tiger Aspen

My Mayhem has been on including new items for my shave, and not sticking with any of them long enough to get a feel for them. This is the third GEM razor I have purchased. First time using an SE that isn't an injector. I stropped my Genco straight as a back up I case I needed it.

New soap today as well, @mrchick made me want to try this scent. Clean and light are what I get from it. Just a hint of something green. I didn't notice it being any stronger scent wise than my Sweeny Todd, but it's a bit less sweet of a smell. Got a great lather as usual, and the scent did get a bit stronger. Lucky Tiger Aspen is not an exact match to the scent, but they complement each other well.

Not really a cap to ride, but same concept. Find the angle where it cuts well. I used sound and feel to find this on the WTG passes on my cheeks. Found it, but it was pretty rough. Finished my first pass with some reduction, but also a healthy irritation and less smoothness than I like. Put the 1912 down and grabbed the straight for the ATG pass. Much better. Redid my neck and jaw for. A three pass shave at DFS plus. Alum and aftershave burned some, but would have been worse I had kept going with the 1912.

 

Straight Mayhem
I'm learning something on this trip. I like my straights more than my Feather AC. I bought the feather as a step to straights and now that I have straights I'm finding that I get better shaves from the straights. This will probably just be relegated to a travel razor.
Travel Day Two
Lea soap
Badger brush
Feather Artist Club SS
Kai Captain Mild (2)
Pinaud Citrus Musk
Have fun!

 

A Beautiful Aristocrat!

 

I ended up having to go back and add balm. Face was really irritated. Think I am going to try and get better blades before I try the GEM again.

 

You've got some good karma working for you, whatever you've been doing keep it up!

 

Holy smokes, that omega is a monster!

 

Haha! It sure is. I got it from @Marverel in my first PIF win back before Christmas. It towers over all my other brushes. But it's fantastic for the VDH bowl.

 

Thursday Shower/Shave

Shower- Noxzema facial cleaner, Dr. Bronner's All-One Hemp Peppermint bar soap
Brush- RazoRock Tri-Colored
Razor- Muhle R41 on a Maggard MR5 handle
Blade- Bolzano (1)
Soap- Route 66 Barbershop Hop
Thayers Witch Hazel with grapefruit EO
AS- Florida Water with M-Bomb

First try of the Route 66 soaps and I now see what all the fuss is about. Excellent lather, scent and protection. I could use these and TSD lanolin soaps forever and be perfectly content. The Bolzano was decent, kinda rough but I can't argue with the results, I'm BBS everywhere. I'm going to give it another go tomorrow before passing judgement on it. Finished up with a nice Thayers splash and the Florida Water. The Barbershop Hop and Florida Water compliment each other nicely.

Riding the cap makes such a difference in the feel of the shave. At one point I lost the angle and the blade was tugging, reset it and it went back to being smoother. This blade is not the best I've tried but it gave a super close shave. Have a great day folks!

 

Good morning friends! Another fabulous shave with the MonoBilt. Finding the angle of this razor is so easy it almost goes there automatically. The Arko made a great protective lather and after two passes I was DFS+ almost BBS. There was no sting from the alum (crystal deodorant stick) so I guess I did something right. After a few minutes I rinsed it off and applied a splash if the WH, it felt quite soothing on my skin but I really don't like the smell. I might have to mix in some EO to make it a little more pleasant. After that a little dab of Nivea and my face is quite smooth and feels great! Have an amazing day everyone!

@PLANofMAN @Morman Bridge

 

The @English expat shave is in the books! Yes, I'm still standing, just trying to find the right amount of Nivea to cool this off. Full report late tonight. Have to pick up SWMBO from the airport after work. In the meantime here's the lineup for tomorrow - the @mrchick second round pick.

Blade - Big Ben Blue
Razor - 1918 Old Style
Soap - Arko
Brush - Marvy

Boy, those Marvy products just keep haunting me. Sheesh. And another day on the Old Style.....after today.......and with a blade I haven't used before but from Lord, which I've never had great luck with. I'm thinking I'll keep the Nivea and Aloe close at hand.

Next up for Saturday is @Norcalnewb so 1-15 for razor and blade, 1-6 for soap and 1-7 for brush. How about a nice, mild easy day on Saturday, eh? Please?

 

How about we try lucky 13 for the razor and blade, 2 for the soap and 7 for the brush?

 

May 19, 2016- Soap/Lather Focus

Razor: Chinese Gillette Super Blue Blade (aka Sterling) / Fat Tech handle
Blade: GSB(3)
Brush: Chinese Pure Badger
Soap: Arko!

Third dry run to sort out what I'm taking on vacation. Time to break out the Arko which I received in a recent PIF. All I can say is... Wow! This was my first time ever using Arko, so all I knew was that a lot of people like it and that the scent can be a bit polarizing. Let me sum up the experience by saying that this was probably the best lather I've had this month (with the possible exception of the time I did a Marvy Superlather). As for the scent, I don't mind it. It's different than the Ivory soap-like scent of Williams, but not unpleasant.

The Sterling continued to perform decently. It's not my pre-War Tech, but it will do.

The surprise star of the day was the cheap Chinese Pure Badger brush. Normally, I don't like it as it is very floppy and, to me, harder to load. Since loading is not an issue with a soap stick, I figured it was worth a try. The process was a bit messier than I prefer with having to squeeze lather out of the knot, but the result was very satisfying.

I think we have our final lineup.

 

Don't forget you also have to do a full pain stick head shave on Monday....

 

It's a beauty Joe. Congratulations.

 

Back to Mayhem. Pain Stick Friday

Given the last two pain stick shaves with lots of weepers and some nicks I was expecting blood today. The shave went much better than expected, no weepers and just one tiny cut. Maybe it was technique trumps tools or maybe it was because this was the 3rd shave on the blade. Either way a good shave. Four passes, just a tickle from the alum and BBS. TGIF!

Irritation A Closeness A Smoothness A Sharpness A

 

Waiting for @NCoxSTL to talk about his tiger shave like ^^^