SEptember 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Another great photo Amigo. Looking forward to your report on the 1914 and Gem PTFE blades

 

Great picture! Great set up!

 

Thank you Clint. I may try a new brush also. .

 

Decision day for my TI 7/8 full hollow

This razor has allot going for it: a big 7/8 blade, shoulderless, thumb notch and looks very cool. While I prefer 1/4 grinds I do have some full hollow razors I that I love to shave with so full hollow is just a small negative.

Since I shaved last night I did just three passes. The edge is smooth and sharp but the razor feels to light to me which makes it hard to control. I finished with zero irritation but just DFS.

One of the attraction of SR is they shave is completely customisable including aggressiveness. Even mid stroke with just a slight change in angle I can increase or decrease the aggressiveness as needed. With a heavy razor I find it very easy to fine tune my shave but with a light razor I loose the ability to make these adjustments. The edge of this razor is very nice but I can't achieve a BBS with being able to fine tune the angle. Sadly this cool razor needs to find a new home.

 

Something tells me having the advantage of 180 degrees of angle on a shavette solves a multitude of other issues the blade would otherwise encounter. The Crystal is a very nice blade, I totally agree.

 

Smells like a Drug Store SEptember!!

September 14

Grand Blade Trial
Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (9)
Blade - (3)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum, Aqua Velva Musk

Whew! Busy day at work today. Two bosses in the store for awhile. Changing product again, or part of it anyway, so lots of floor planning and all that goes with it. Then, got home and realized American Horror Story started its new season tonight. Sorry guys, that had to be watched. So, finally, let's talk about this morning.

Final day on the Crystal and the Slim was wide open. This blade gave a decent shave at 2, a fantastic shave at 6 and.....at 9.....well let's just say I was amazed. Still smooth. The blade was a bit more noticeable but not in any kind of bad way. Just "there" more. And two passes essentially had this shave finished off with a BBS. A quick ATG and Slide touch up pass just to make sure and there it was. Nearly the perfect shave, if such a thing exists. Alum proved just a touch noisy and the Musk raised a sting but that's a good thing. Settled right down and my face still feels great and fairly smooth. I have to say, this blade did a better job than the Personna Platinum. Yes, I'm calling it. The Crystal did better than its supposedly top-line cousin, the Israeli Red.

I have another one of these blades in my possession so I see it being put in a direct head to head contest with another blade in the future. Just curious how it would do against the Voskhod. Won't happen for a bit, but it's on the future "to shave" list.

Tomorrow I move to the Q-Ball, another Israeli that I've seen some good reviews of. Not sure how they're producing these differently from one another but I'm willing to say that the Crystal is NOT a re-branded Red. Let's see if the Q-ball continues that opinion.

 

September 15, 2016
Mongoose B2 with Triad Ti
Feather Super Pro (4)
WDC-6 with Sunrise Synthetic
Route 66 Perfect Storm
Witch Hazel
Myrsol F/Extra

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Continuing to enjoy my time with the Mongoose. Another great drama free shave this morning. I hope everyone has a great Thursday.

 

Very good photo Clint. If you didn't know tomorrow is Friday. :.

 

Thank you Doug. Yes indeed Friday is almost here. But today is the deadline for Corporate Tax Returns for 2016.

 

SOTD September 15, 2016

Blade: GEM Stainless
Razor: GEM Micro-matic Open Comb
Brush: Vulfix 2006c badger
Lather: Vulfix Lavender shave cream
Post: Witch hazel splash, Speick, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

Well, I think the GEM MMOC is the least favorite of the SE razors I own. It's efficient for the most part for me but always leaves me feeling tender. My face feels like it has to recover for a while after the shave, which is unusual. I've used it all this week with some improvement, but not enough to warrant using this razor a lot. I'll continue to use it off and on but the Featherweight, Pushbutton, and G1 are above it in priority.

Today's shave wasn't all that close. I didn't push it though. I touched up the areas that needed it most after the first pass and then threw in the towel. I'll get a better shave tomorrow. No need to go at it multiple times and end up with irritation.

Have a great day!

 

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Shavemac 400 Silvertip D01 2-Band
Wickham's 1912 Cashmere
The OneBlade
GEM PTFE #1
Barrister and Mann Reserve Cool
Gold Bond Green Lotion



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I'm going to ask you a question that I would hate to be asked of me . What does the Speick smell like ?

 

September 15, 2016- Shakedown Cruise/Soap Experiment

Razor: M3 Schick Adjustable (6)
Blade: Chick (4)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: NeutroMarvy

Today we see what happens when we combine everyone's least favorite under-performing shaving soap, Marvy, with my personal favorite over-performing not-a-shaving-soap soap, Neutrogena French Milled Soap. I had threatened a while back to make Van Der Marvy, but have been too lazy to pick up another puck of VdH; so, instead, I decided to try combining Marvy with the Neutrogena. Grating the Neutrogena was easy, though I definitely need a better grade of grater. When I got to the Marvy, though, a problem arose. I've been keeping my puck of Marvy well-hydrated and in a closed container. As a result of this, it had a consistency more like a thick croap than a puck of soap (think really soaked bar of Ivory). I ended up not so much grating the Marvy as breaking it into pieces and then smashing the grated Neutrogena into it.

The experiment, so far, seems to be successful. Based on the first shave, though, I'm not sure if I'm getting a true mix of the two soaps or using a layer of Neutrogena that was glued to the top of the Marvy. Time will have to tell on that one. If worse comes to worse, I have more Neutrogena.

Not a lot to say otherwise. The Schick performed well and yesterday's change to my shaving pattern seemed to work well, so I repeated it today. A good DFs to start the day.

 

Shave 23
Omega 10098
Proraso Green Shaving Soap
Ceramic Suribachi bowl
Gillette New Long Comb
Astra Superior Platinum Blade.
Pinaud Clubman Aftershave Splash

Loaded up the brush and made a nice slick lather. I decided for a three pass shave since that big brush makes so much lather. 1st WTG then XTG the ATG. Rinsed with hot, then cold (as cold as tap water can be in Florida) water. As I applied the aftershave I could feel this was a close DFS. I'm not sure that with this razor / blade combo, that I can ever get BBS. I used my best technique listening for audible feedback. That being said, I am perfectly fine with a close DFS.

 

Haha - I'm terrible at describing scents! Nonetheless I find it to be a clean, fresh scent. I found this description online:

Speick After Shave Lotion is a refreshing, herbal lotion that restores balance to irritated skin after shaving. Contains pure fermentation alcohol, a combination of essential oils, Speick plant extract, witch hazel, lavender water, moisturising agents as well as refreshing and astringent ingredients (menthol, camphor and alum).

I saw somewhere else that sage is also an ingredient. The menthol level is pretty nil as I don't get cooling from it. The scent doesn't linger for long and is not powerful to begin with.

@Robyflexx - You used Speick this morning. How would you describe the scent?

 

After much deliberation I have come up with a winner for my head to head SE razors:

The differences between the Ever-Ready 1914 and 1924 are subtle but I think the 1914 is slightly smoother. The results are almost identical, BBS results with no feedback from the alum. 12 hours removed from my shave yesterday and both sides were equally smooth. Yesterday was a draw, Monday the 1914 had a slight edge so I had to give it the win. I do not think I could go wrong with either razor. Have a great day folks!

 

I'm a regular Speick user and do not detect any menthol. The scent is very lick and goes away quickly. It is a great AS in terms of skin care.

 

I agree. I really enjoy Speick - the scent and the performance. I have the cream and enjoy it too.

 

I have only the shave cream and to me it smells very much like Noxzema which I happen to love.

 

I have the cream too, just like the AS it is good stuff. @Robyflexx I have to agree it does smell like Noxzema.