OCtober 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

In honor of OCtober I decided to dig into the mystery razor pile. This one has been difficult to find any info on. It's not in the Watts compendium and google isn't much help. It is a nice shaver and I'm very smooth today
SOTD
Route 66 Casablanca Soap
Wolf Whiskers Brush
Velox Razor (Brazil)
Astra SP Blade (1)
Alum
Lucky Tiger
Old Spice Cologne
Have fun!

 

Hello TSD

Shave #9 of my October Focus:



- Dr Jon's "Anne Bonny"
- Simpson Commodore X2
- Feather Artist Club SS
- Feather Professional Super (#1)
- Tüff sensitiv Rasierwasser

Well, looks like I'm getting the hang of it: Another very pleasant shave with the Feather. And I just had to satisfy my curiosity, so I loaded the Professional Super Blade. I have to admit ...the blade protrusion looked quite scary at first, but it turned out that it wasn't a problem at all.

First time I used a Dr Jon's soap. Very pleasant scent, but different than I have expected. Not too much Bay or Rum, to me it smells like a spicy black tea with a drip of lemon. Very easy to lather, slick, good cushioning - a very good soap. Not QUITE as good as the last fantastic soaps I used lately, but still ... I like it.

First pass WTG went very well, in terms of reduction this might have been the best first pass I have ever performed with any razor. I recognized though that the most efficient/smooth shaving angle is a little bit different from the Feather loaded with a "regular"Professional blade. The second pass, a X/ATG mix, was just as nice - DFS, pretty close to BBS, though I did not even try.

One teeny tiny bloodspot on my neck from shaving ATG in a very sensitive area ... I can live with that and count this shave as a very succesful one

Have a great day!

 

Todays setup-



MR18 w/ v3 Head
Gillette 7 O'Clock SuperEdge blade
London Barbershop soap
Maggards 22mm Synthetic brush
Old Spice Classic aftershave

Another df shave. I'm Thinking after a month or so I might add another razor to the mix.

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October 12

Gillette New LC
Feather blade (2)
Kent BK4 brush
Tabac shave stick
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Fine Platinum aftershave

I enjoyed a near-BBS, two-pass shave this morning before taking my Bride out for breakfast. I shaved slow and easy, paying attention to the basics, to avoid the occasional weepers I've been getting with this set up. The end result was one of the best shaves I've had the month. Compared to a few months ago, my technique now allows me to get an acceptable shave on most days without touch-ups after the second pass.

It's 84 degrees, 40 % humidity, and nothing but sun here on the Florida Panhandle today. I hope everyone had a fantastic day!

 

Razor: Gillette OC
Blade: Personna Platinum (4)
Brush: El Druida Red Heart Chakte Kok/African Blackwood 2 Band Badger.
Soap: Eufros Tierra Humeda
Aftershave: Myrsol F./Extra

 

Very nice line up. Hang in there you are doing great.

 

Shave 7

Tonights 3 pass shave went quite well. I was able to clean my chin up. Thanks to a tip from @KarlG.

I really like this brush with my shaving cream. Thanks Doug.

My razor was nice and smooth today. I payed attention to making sure I pulled my skin tight. Big help there. I am still at a loss on my neck. I need to go from ear in.

Have a great rest of the week
Tom


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I visited the area's largest indoor antique mall (according to the sign on the building) today. I saw more old bedpans and card game chip carousels than razors.

I plan to immediately enroll in mrchick's "How to Find Razors in the Wild" webinar.

 

I have been unfocused this month but finally found some focus in my shaving life. I have allot of soaps and creams, too many, and I change everyday. While I like change I am going to stick with a soap for 4 to 5 days trying different brush, lathering techniques and in a hot scuttle. I will likely take this focus through November.

Up first is my first soap, Tabac. Actually my first was Col Conk but it was failure quickly replaced with Tabac. Today was a big boar, Omega Pro 49 and face lathering. The lather was awesome but as a four passes shaver I had to hit the puck a couple times during the shave.

Tabac produces good wet slick lather for SR shaving and it was a good match for Feon 172 Jwest. Zero irritation and I was surprised that I just missed the baby.

Irritation A+ Closeness A- Smoothness A+ Sharpness A

 

Changing things up around here. I skipped shaving this morning due to yesterday's great finish with the Fatip. I've been debating switching to night shaves in order to save some time in the mornings and to allow for better time management with the shaving stuff as well. (Almost sounds like work). So, the skip this morning gives me the opportunity to shave tonight and start following that schedule to see if it will make life easier etc. So, why not eh? I'll be shaving in a bit for OCtober with the 1918 and then moving on tomorrow night back to the Grand Blade Trials. Nothing changes except the time I'll be shaving. I know some of you are night shavers so we'll see if you are smarter than the rest of us!

 

Well that would explain why Grandma kept walking to the left and also why the refrigerator magnets kept sticking to her.

 

First shave with a Super Pro. Head still on shoulders......check. Carotid artery still sealed........check. Nose still on face........check. Two ears?.......check. WIN!

 

It's easy, have total blind luck. Works for me

 

Where do I sign up? I need to take a 6 hour drive and visit him on his next outing.


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Come on up!

 

I will. That would make for a nice weekend.


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One thing about stropping... It's important to get the vector right with the pressure, making sure the spine bears more force than the edge. When done correctly you'll hear some sweet sounds, and you'll feel the spine glide over the leather barely dragging the bevel. This may result in singing blades and happy shaves.

Ymmv, but probably not.

 

OCtober-een!

October 12

Grand Blade Trials - OCtober shave

Razor - 1918 Gillette Old Style
Blade - (1)
Soap - Tabac
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Witch Hazel, Nivea

You can tell me I'm wrong, but I don't think there are many razors more aggressive than the Old Style. Mine is from 1918 and it hasn't lost a bit of its aggressive tendencies. That incredible blade exposure, those small and spaced out teeth and the feel of that thin head working its way across.....add pressure and just remove layers of skin with the beard. Every time I use this razor I'm reminded of how shaving was in the early days of the Gillette Safety razors. Better (safety wise) than a straight, but still plenty of blade feel and opportunity to draw blood.

Tabac courtesy of the Semogue 620 was very slick and cushy tonight which was good. I needed every bit of it. I focused on absolutely no pressure, just as I approached the Fatip yesterday. Let the razor do all of the work. Stay on the cap and hit that angle that keeps it from having a chance to bite. And feel and hear that reduction with each pass. Three passes, WTG, XTG, ATG and a very shallow angle Gillette Slide on the neck to finish with a BBS. No question the baby made it but he is quite irritable as well. And, as usual with this razor. Even the normally smooth Sharp Star can't stop the burn. I avoided the alum altogether in favor of the milder witch hazel. Then, Nivea original to calm it down. And yet, that burn remains to a degree and I LIKE it.......it reminds me I'm alive, and that I just did something very cool. I took a razor that was made when my Grandpa was in World War I and I used it to shave just like the first dude did 98 years ago. That's amazing.

Tomorrow it's back to the Grand Blade Trial. The Treet Falcon is up for three days. Carbon blade so we'll see how it fares. I've used it before and if memory serves wasn't overly impressed. More time for it to do its thing this time.

Speaking of the 1918 here's a blast from the past. Taken on January 5, 2015.....the fifth day of the inaugural 30 Day Thread. I had just been shaving about 2 months maybe, less than three weeks on TSD and decided to use the 1918 as my Rule razor in the setup depicted. I did the first shave as planned on January 1, then on through the 5th and then.........modified my setup by switching to the Gillette Aristocrat . As a newbie I was absolutely destroying my face with the 1918. I mean serious irritation and cuts, weepers, nicks, you name it I managed to go 5 days before throwing in the towel. I nearly called it quits, but with the Aristocrat I finished the month strong and headed forward to this very day when I can now pick up the 1918 and, yes it's still a beast, perform a BBS shave in three with nary a scar. A little Nivea and all is well. There's proof that the 30 Day Rules and Focuses work!

 

When i get it can I sing Barber of Seville?


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You can do that now if you like.

Life is a matter of taste.

Choose wisely.