SEptember 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Nice set up Perry! Love Mike's Barbershop.

 

Thank you, Mark!

 

Thank you Jim and Mark. I am enjoying the Brothers Bristles so much that I might stay with synthetic brushes for September as well. I have been using OC DE razors for the last several weeks and had forgotten how close the Cobra shaves. Oh my.

 

Very cool razor Jim. How does it compare to some of the other Gem razors like a 1912 or Damaskeene?

 

Thanks Jim!

 

Thank you Neal!

 

Those do look great together! Thanks for the shout out!


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I really love the brush now that I switched the Whipped Dog HW knot to the Synthetic. It's made a night a day difference. The brush has nice feel to it and it just photographs so well. Thank you for making the handles for Wade and I.

 

SEptember 1st


Schick G1
Chick (3)
Dr Jon's Hydra
Satin Tip The Purest
Lime AS & Nivea Sensitive ASB

On my first shave of SEptember I decided to use my very first SE Injector, the venerable Schick G1. Ans as I completed my first pass I thought to myself, "Man, why don't I use these more often". The first pass with the G1 had more reduction then two passes with a DE. I could have stopped at the second pass with a very nice DFS. The third pass reeled in the baby. The alum was silent and my homemade lime AS paired perfectly with Dr Jon's Hydra. A little Nivea to make things silky smooth and my face is feeling great this morning. I am really looking forward to a month of awesome SE shaves! Have a great day my friends!

 

First shave of September. For my focus this month, I will be shaving off my own edges on all my straights. Because I am not all that good at honing yet, I am also going to list a rescue razor, which will by my Schick injector. This morning I revisited the MD Barber straight, that was sold as hand honed up to 30k, and Shave Ready. When I received it, the bevel wasn’t fully set and it didn’t cut at all. I contacted MD Barber, and they said that their supplier, (which they won’t disclose the location of,) hones these up to 12k, and they finish them. The aluminum spacer at the end of the scales was also a problem, as it also acted as a stop to the blade, and the last quarter inch of the blade hit the spacer when you closed it. That means that the last quarter inch of the blade will always be damaged. After my first attempt to shave with it, I decided to try and fix it myself, rather than send it back to them. First thing I did was disassemble the scales and remove the spacer. When it came loose, it shot across the room and I haven’t found it yet, otherwise I would show a picture of it. I repined that end of the scales, using a boiled leather wedge, which allows the blade to rest inside the scales without hitting the spacer. I also sanded off the hideous paint on the scales. I spent some time honing on the 1k, 3k, 5k, and a Colorado Crystal hone. I looked at the edge as I was doing it, and should have spent more time on the 1 and 3k stones, as I still had deep scratches in the bevel. I did get the razor to cut hair, although not very comfortably. I shaved WTG and ATG with the MD Barber razor today, and would have called that a SAS, but I did another ATG pass with the injector as clean up, and ended with a DFS Plus. The straight razor was a C for Smoothness, C for Sharpness, Irritation was a B-, and Closeness would also be a C. I will give this one another round on the hones.

 

It has a sort of sterile medical feel to it. What did you use to look at the edge ?

 

I have a USB microscope from Amazon for about $30. If you can get the thing to focus, it's supposed to have 300x magnification.

 

Glad to be back and hopefully will be around much more often this month. It is definitely ROLLLL TIDE year this year in addition to GO COCKS! We don't play Bama this year (THANK GOD!) so I will be cheering for Bama all the way to the national championship hopefully! It all starts tonight, SO ready for college football!!

 

Below are the three razors I will be giving a go this month. I plan to start with the GEM and go with it until it is well figured out. I have never used it so it will be good to try something new. First shave will be tonight.

 

I'm sticking to a 30 shave routine with the same razor and blade combo to hone my skills. I'm steadfast in my resolve even though I have a lot of nice razors and a collection of blades begging to be used. I want to be able to enjoy them with as much skill as possible... so here goes

Shave 17
Omega 10098
Proraso Green Shaving Soap Jar
Ceramic Suribachi bowl
Gillette New Long Comb
Astra Superior Platinum Blade.
Proraso Green Aftershave Lotion

Loaded up the big boar with lather. The lather is getting to be second nature so I may switch soaps soon. I have a AoS sandalwood soap and just got a matching Fine aftershave splash and am looking forward to trying it. Standard 2 pass weekday shave N/S then E/W. No cuts, nicks, weepers or drama. Just a close shave. Didn't quite feel as close as others, but low end of DFS I would say. It was my first time using the Proraso aftershave lotion is really a splash. It is very light, has a clean and pleasant smell and really cools & conditions your face. I found it to be a great value and good for my rotation of aftershave.

 

Congrats on the progress. I had do stick to a 30 day rule when I started since I only had one razor, brush and soap. The fact that you are getting good shaves with no nicks or irritation means you are getting everything dialed in. You'll have it all dialed in pretty soon.

 

It was my pleasure!


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September 1, 2016- Getting to Know You Focus

Razor: F2 Gillette FatBoy (4)
Blade: Astra SP (2)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: Williams

Second shave with the FatBoy from @RyX. I turned it down to 4 which seems to give me more of the blade feel (or lack thereof) that I was hoping for. Still trying to ride the cap and still adjusting my technique to not massively overshave (interesting split infinitive) areas like I used to. All-in-all, a DFS for the day.

I figure I have a couple of more shaves on the Astra, but then I'm not sure which way to go on blades. Part of me wants to experiment with my usual blades which probably means the GSB or Gillette Platinum Plus (which intimidates me a bit on the FatBoy). OTOH, I'm tempted to track @NCoxSTL's Personna experiments for a bit as I have several of the blades from an unused sampler.

 

It is different than anything I have shaved with. It provides lots of feedback through the handle and a great sound. You can feel and hear each whisker being cut. It has some decent heft, and the head is a little big, but it isn't too difficult to get used to. The angle reminds me a bit of the Schick Repeating Razors. It is also fairly mild, but it is still efficient.