December 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I would love to find those laying on a tree stump! Very nice pic. I love the scent of Ghost Town Barber, it is one of a couple of theirs that I have, but I do not expect to buy more of the soaps. Their aftershaves are fantastic though, and especially considering that you can get samples from Maggards to try them out first, I could see buying more of them.

 

Excellent pic setup with some excellent tools. That one certainly hits it for a decadent shave.

Merry Christmas!​

 

Beautiful amigo!

 

Decadent December!!

December 7


Razor - Master Barber Magic Shavette
Blade - (3)
Soap - Proraso White
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum, Nivea

Had to go the third shave with the Magic Shavette and Derby tonight. Hey, I usually use DE blades three shaves...this is just a DE split in two and packaged extra pretty and called professional so there ya go! Went with the Proraso White as I try to figure out if I like it or not (maybe not decadent enough?) and the Semogue which I am pretty sure could lather an old bar of Lava!

I've been going two passes with the shavette as it really seems to need only that. At least for a good DFS. After last night's slightly bloody mistake I was taking it slower tonight and got through both passes blood free. I really do like using this thing and it gives me the chance to practice a straight razor hold without stropping. Yep, still whining about that. I have another straight I haven't used yet since it needs honed. I think my xmas present to myself will be to send it off for honing and that will give me an incentive to work on stropping more. But, I digress.

I'm happy with all of the shaves I got from the Magic and can see this being a go-to razor from time to time. Definitely would be part of a rotation if I ever settle down a bit and set one up!

Cold air is headed this way. Talking teens for tomorrow night but no snow yet. Hey @Bama Samurai I'll make a deal with you.......I'll take all the cold air you want to send this way.....you keep the snow! Or I'd volunteer to be Santa on the islands. Now THERE'S a sweet gig!

​

 

Decadent December Day 2 with AoS Tallow

Went with 'Big Red', an Omega Pro boar brush an Ikon Tech with a GSB blade. The boar and the AoS getting along great hence awesome lather. Everything came together and an epic shave. Zero irritation and along lasting BBS.

 

Every day is a treat! Nice work, Mark!

 

The cold air is passing Chris's way, my direction is contributing the moisture. I've put several days in at dads citrus orchard preparing for freezing temps here. Our sprinkler system is at 95%. That's after turning on the spray and walking around getting moist in a cool breeze. Seems counterproductive, but a coating of ice insulates the trees from receiving catastrophic damage below 28°F.
Having a citrus orchard this far north is a compromise. Dad wanted to move to Florida. Mom told him,"Go ahead, but I'm staying here."

 

The Seventh of December, 2016



Glad @NCoxSTL was able to get acquainted with my new favorite razor thing! Decided to try Stirling again, and had the same good results. I experimented a little. But have decided AV Musk is the right thing with the Stirling. Big thanks again to Santa for the chance to try this new soap! As Neal alluded to, it's crazy cold out here, currently 1f and crystal clear on the prairie just northeast of Denver. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a terrific Thursday!

 

Good luck! This is a cold one.

 

Is the ikon mild like a vintage Gillette Tech?

 

Very nice and congrats! Love the @Jayaruh handle, too. This traditional shaving stuff just might work out.

 

Decadent December

TSS Acqua di Florida Tallow (Ginger's Garden)
JR #130 Cypress brush (Maggard's synthetic)
Weck Bantam shavette & Personna blade
Fatip OC/Muhle Grande hybrid/ Voskhod
Alum, Osage Rub, M&L Florida Water AS



Skipped yesterday's shave to give a bit of beard for today. Whipped up a tasty batch of sunshine scented lather with my freshest brush. Glad tallow soaps agree with my skin. Pleased I saved trimmings from a cypress tree that Jim @Jayaruh crafted into my favorite handle shape. The Maggard's synthetic knot rivals a Tuxedo for softness. Got in two passes, WTG & XTG with the long bladed shavette before I nicked my chin. Discretion called for a DE ATG & clean up passes. The nick sealed up with alum, tho I keep the styptic close by J.I.C. A splash of Osage quickly followed by Florida Water for a smooth nearly perfect experience.
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

Yeah, icing trees to keep them from freezing seems backwards but I know it works. Same principle as making snow caves and igloos.....snow and ice reflect heat back and can trap it. Hopefully you won't take any damage from the cold there!

 

Little Detour on today's blade:

@jimjo1031 likes messing around with blade combos like we do, and he also likes the generic Personna stuff. The pack he sent me from his local store is identical to the stuff others have featured, a ten blade spring fed magazine like Gillette did in the 70s. It also had the unmarked blades, and the blade I tried today seems identical to the other sources I've tested. Today's shave was up to par, and honestly I didn't notice or think about blade during the shave. That means it's a good blade, albeit I used it in the shavette. Will do the other half tomorrow. Thanks Jim for sending these in the never ending quest to positively ID these blades! They're a great option people often forget.

 

I got these off of Ebay and the only description it said was "Israeli Personna Blades", which seems possible as Personna had different branded razors from Israel. Since they were $4.99 shipped for 50 blades, it was a good deal and I do like the shaves they produce. But I still haven't been able to find them on any search, and they only have arrows for markings. Wish I could find more, especially at that price.

 

December 7, Decadent

Gillette Black Beauty ( 3)
Schick Plus Platinum (10)
Muhle small black-tip synthetic
Proraso White soap
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original
Clubman VI Bay Rum

Part of being decadent is being lazy, so I used the same setup as yesterday, except for trying a different brush.

For anyone interested, I couldn't detect any real difference between the Muhle silvertip fibre and black synthetic brushes. My two are nearly identical sizes. Both whipped up the bowl lather of Proraso White equally well, and the feel on the face was very much the same. If you blindfolded me, I would be able to tell the brushes apart only because the handles are different shapes; by performance not at all. In short, if anyone is looking at a Muhle synthetic and dithering between black and silvertip, just pick the colour that appeals to you the most.

The shave was uneventful. Alum was totally quiet, which made a nice change from the last few shaves. Did the Thayers just because, after which the VI splash was nicely warming and a pleasant scented end to the shave.

Weather here in Saskatchewan was about -15C with no wind and almost no snow. Not a bad temp for December; no snow on the ground is a bit unusual though.

 

I mentioned that I am trying out 4 new-to-me brushes this month. For those interested, here they are:



Image swiped from seller's listing on B+B. Tonight's brush was the black bristled Muhle on the far right. I think it might be a Rytmo. Yesterday's was the blackhandled silvertip-fibre second from left. As I said in my shave note, I couldn't really tell any difference between them in performance, at least not from a single use each.

Tomorrow, I plan to use the Edwin Jagger Super Badger in the stand, and the following day, the B+B special edition purple Omega boar brush.

I'm going to stick with the same soap and razor/blade while I try all the brushes. Which also lets me be properly decadently lazy about making decisions on soaps, razors, blades and splashes...

 

From what I have heard the iKon Tech is one of the most aggressive razors out there.

 

One more shave with the decadent Thäter brush (and a pretty decadent Stainless Steel Injector ):



- Stirling leftover soap mix
- Thäter 26mm 2-band silvertip
- The Single Edge
- Personna/Ted Pella blade
- Tüff sensitiv Rasierwasser

Yesterday I scraped some Stirling soap leftovers out of their containers, mixed them and put them into a new jar. It actually looks a bit like vomit now, but the scent - a mixture of Bay Rum, Tuscany, Vanilla Sandalwood and Glastonbury - is surprisingly pleasant. Performance is great anyway.

I replaced the aggressive Injector plate with the mild one today - much better. Same blade as last shave - zero irritation. But this shave was not quite as close as the last one, apparently I missed a few stubbles. So I guess I'll try the "normal" plate next time.

 

Thank you Jared.