SEptember 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

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Another month in the book. During the month I was able to get consistently drama free good to great shaves. At last I am able to use the Gem Razors in the mustache area with success. I have always enjoyed and had success with SE razors and this month just confirmed my thoughts. I enjoyed participating with you guys and coming along for the ride. Looking forward to OCtober 2016.

 

Thanks very much Clint. The Oscar 11 works beautifully also.

 

SEptember 30 SOTD:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
Stirling Bay Rum SS
Schick Type J
Stirling Unscented PSB
Clubman VI Bay Rum AS

 

Jim, great photo. Very nice close up with soft focus effect.

 

Thank you, Clint! Have a great day!

 

SOTD September 30, 2016

Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Schick L1 injector
Brush: Omega 10049 boar
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post: Witch hazel splash, Fine American Blend, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

SEptember is over! Time sure does fly by. Having the end of SEptember be on Friday is terrific since it's always Fat Friday for me. Mitchell's was terrific this morning. Beautiful lather. The Schick L1 is providing great shaves. Fine American Blend at the end sends you off with a great scent. Terrific shave.

I am without any type of open comb at the moment, so OCtober will be a little different for me. I'm going to go with a rule hybrid. I'll explain it further in the new focus thread.

Have a great day!

 

Ok troops. The OCtober 30 Day Thread is up! Here's to a great last day of SEptember.

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threa...rule-focus-pix-discussion.52963/#post-1120718

 

Friday Shave

Brush- AOS Fine Badger
Razor- Ever-Ready 1914
Blade- GEM
Soap- WSP Blackbeard
Post Care- Crystal Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
Osage Rub
WSP Blackbeard with menthol

King of the mountain shave! After putting all of my injectors and SE razors head to head my Ever-Ready 1914 came out on top. Today it took a victory lap. I grabbed the WSP Blackbeard; wonderful scent, great lather and protection. I love this soap. Three easy passes for a completely smooth shave. Zero feedback from the alum. I finished with a few sprays of Osage Rub followed by WSP Blackbeard with menthol. Glorious!

What a great way to end the month! I learned a lot this month. I think I prefer SE razors to injectors but not by much. While I like the feel of some razors, Schick E3, I get better results from others. With the possible exception of the GEM 1912 I got wonderful shaves from all the razors. I will continue to rotate them all but I plan to focus heavily on the 1914. Have a great day folks!

 

SOTD SEptember 30th


Henckels Rapide, Le Coq Blade
Pal Adjustable (On Standby)
Satin Tip The Purest
Stirling Executive Man
Tangerine AS & Nivea Sensitive PSB

This Morning I had my best shave yet using a hollow ground wedge type SE blade. I made a very nice slick Stirling Lather and put the blade to my face. On the first stroke I knew! I may have been taking shots in the dark but even sometimes a blind man can hit a target! The blade wasn't quite as sharp as a commercial SE or DE blade but it did cut the whiskers nicely. There was no tugging on my cheeks or neck and only slight tugging on my mustache and chin where before it felt as though the hairs were being pulled out instead of cut. The Pal wasn't needed today as I finished all 3 passes with the Rapide. I finished with a DFS of my face and a CCS on my neck. I still have a blade in the mail on its way to Glen to see how much sharper I get it but I am very happy with my progress on this blade! I have much more work leaning to do in regards to honing bur I fell like I have hit a milestone! Have a great day my friends!

 

September 30, 2016- And Now For Something Completely Different...

Razor: Pre-War Gillette Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: Arko

After yesterday's great shave with the Schick Adjustable, I seriously considered not shaving today as the amount of stubble was right on the edge. Instead, I decided to forgo the focus and try for a nice, safe shave using one of the mildest razors I own and my favorite mild blade. Definitely good choices all around and just what I need to put me in the mood for the first day of OCtober.

Looking back on SEptember, it's been an interesting month. My focus for the month was to get familiar with two relatively new-to-me razors: an F2 Gillette Fatboy and an M3 Schick Adjustable. Along the way, I celebrated the anniversaries of both my TSD membership and of starting traditional wet shaving and, along the way, shaved for more days than I planned on with a supermarket Personna blade. All in the name of science, of course. I even went back this month and revisited everybody's least favorite underperforming soap- Marvy.

Some random observations:

I really like the Fatboy, though I don't think it will displace the Slim Adjustable as my favorite. (Perhaps, if I find a G3 one (birth quarter), in the future...) My only disappointment is that I seem to need to run it one number lower than the Slim which means I probably won't be going above '4' on it for some time; somehow this feels like a waste. A big "Thank You" again to @RyX for this razor.

I find myself more mixed about the Schick Adjustable. My previous Injector experiences were mostly with a J1 and three or four shaves with a G1. To me, the M3 has a different feel on my face and I think it's taken a lot of my time to get used to that. Had some really good shaves with it, but also made some stupid mistakes that ended up yielding blood. At the moment, I think I prefer my J1, but I also think I want to give this razor some more chances with a different blade, maybe even a Twin. I think I definitely need to use a good soap with this razor.

The blade experiments were definitely interesting. I think I have a better respect for the Generic Israeli Personna blades, even if I still don't understand their performance in an Adjustable at very low settings. Since next month is all DE razors, I might slip in the Crystal as I've been wanting to try one. OTOH, I think I may have a new favorite DE blade, the Rapira Super Stainless, which provide a very enjoyable experience in my Adjustable razors.

Finally, we come to the Marvy experiments. I started playing with this soap again on a whim but, by the end of the month, was on a mission (unsuccessful) to try and use it up. Back in May, Marvy, by itself, was pretty underwhelming. This month, I decided to go with Marvy plus various add-ons: Shaving Cream (for a Superlather), Glycerin, and even another soap. Handled this way, it's not a bad soap... still not a great soap, but not bad. One observation- my puck had been well hydrated back in May and stored since then in a closed container. The result was something with more of the consistency of a croap. I suspect that this, combined with long loading, may be key to the effective use of Marvy. I think that if I were to start a new puck of Marvy, I'd probably make sure it was well-hydrated in a Glycerin/water mixture. To be honest, though, I don't see myself every buying it again, so I really just want to use up the puck I have and be done with it.

Thank you all for your support this month. I plan to be with you all again next month along with my OT's and Goodwill.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Fatboy. No shame in having preferences or finding your comfort level. We have members here that have tried and laid aside razors that most of us will never see (@Darkbulb ) If they find their best shaves with cartridge razors that is their path.
I've been from SR's, through many DE's, and this month into SE's. I don't look at it as Destination, but a Journey to be enjoyed.

SEtember has been a pleasant trip. I only own one OC and it's a Frankenrazor of unknown manufactuer. I haven't decided to Rule it for OCtober because I enjoy the variation of using different tools. My only options would be blades.
And brushes.
And soaps, & aftershaves.
Or cold VS. hot water.

 

Have a good trip!

 

Razor: AlumiGoose (Silver) w/Timeless TRH4: 14mm x 100mm Razor Handle With Barber Pole Design
Blade: Feather Professional (10)
Brush: Oscar 11, w/Omega 10049 Boar
Soap: Jeeves Soaps Private Study
Aftershave: Fine L'Orange Noir
Great way to end my 30 day SEptember. Have a great time reading everyone's post and admiring your pictures. Thanks for having me along for the ride. I am looking forward to OCtober.

 

I have greatly enjoyed this SEptember. I primarily learned that it will be very difficult to eliminate many SE razors from my Den. I can't think of a single razor I didn't enjoy using. Probably the worst of them was the Schick Type A, but this razor was never on my list of possible reductions, as I will keep it as part of my collection, even if I don't use it. It tends to bite a bit, but I suspect a little Focus on it, and I could tame it just the same as the others. Outside of that, I got some great shaves this month. A big thank you to all the 30DC, as once again you have added a lot of fun and more knowledge to my shave month.

 

So, who's getting in the last shave of SEptember? We're almost out of time!

 

I have yet to post today's shave...

 

Love the end of month calendar of all your shaves. Onward and forward to OCtober!

 

Final SEptember Shave! (For me, at least....anyone else still out there?)

Well, I remembered to get the new thread up and running and forgot to post my final shave in SEptember. Used the 1912 Gem as planned with a Gem Carbon blade. The only one I had left in my stash. Nothing like using an old school razor with old school blade. I used the Semogue 620 brush with Tabac....and man did the Tabac ever smell nice this morning. I find I miss the Tabac and MWF more all the time if I extend shaves for the Trial. But hey, anything for science.

Two passes this morning to a very nice near-BBS. Always fun to shave with this razor just because of the difference in angle and technique. And it produces great results. The carbon blade was nice and loud and I was a happy camper when I finished up. Used Clubman as the final drug store scent for the month.

It was a fun month everyone! Glad to meet some new members and have all the regulars along and hope to see you all in OCtober! You all make this thread what it is....the most informative, unpredictable and fun thread I know of! And also the greatest group of really skilled and steely eyed razor men I know! Makes it feel like we are in our own barber shop sometimes.

 

Doug, what a great picture today. I grew up on farm with cattle and your picture managed to take me back to my childhood.

 

Thank you Neal.