January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

SOTD January 5, 2017
Route 66/Injector focus

Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Personna injector
Brush: Artisan badger
Lather: Route 66 Cavendish
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Skin Bracer, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

The mild Personna provided another nice shave for me this morning. One big pass with touch-ups is all I need on a workday. It's not as smooth as a multiple pass shave, of course, but it works just fine. Amazing lather from Route 66. Nice shave all things considered. I'm enjoying this Personna.

Have a great day!

 

January 5 SOTD:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
Mystic Waters Coconut Lime Verbena
Gem Damaskeene
Fine Fresh Vetiver

I won a soap PIF from @Sparrow last year, and received it yesterday, so I had to try it out today. This was my first Mystic Waters soap, and I have to say the lather was terrific. The scent is not too strong, but has some citrus and grassyness to it. There is just a hint of coconut at the end. It took just a bit longer to lather than some of my other soaps, but once there it was slick and protective. Like all the other soaps this month, I skipped the PSB, and my skin still feels great post shave. Maybe not quite to the standards I got from Route 66 or Stubble Trubble, but definitely better than I had with the Cremo, and probably a tad better than with the TSD Lanolin. For whatever reason, the scent of this soap just pushed me to use the Fine Fresh Vetiver to wrap up. All in all a very good shave. I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Beautiful picture, Mark!

 

Great looking set up and picture, Clint!

 

Great picture, Doug, although it makes me want to shiver!

 

Back in June or July, I was talking to one of my neighbors, a thirty-something attorney. Mentioned I was wet shaving. He seemed interested, so I told him to hit the Interwebs and do some research. Yesterday I met him while walking the dog. His wife bought him some gear for Christmas. Apparently things did not go well. He wanted to know if I was interested in taking a Parker 99R off his hands. I tried to convince him to take another whack at it. No sale. So now I've got another razor to blade audition. More Focus fun for me!

 

Many people find Mystic Water soaps difficult to lather. Maybe the fact that you use MWF helped out alot. The trick I found with MW is to load the soap very heavily and then add small amounts of water at a time. MW and Route 66 soaps are 2 that I will keep on hand.

Thank you Jim

 

Today was the next to last Voskhods Focus shave. Kept the Bay Rum thing going. Taconic Bay Rum Shave Cream(seems more like a croap to me) finished with Clubman VIBR AS. The blade is still holding up well. Seems to like the Double Natural. Minor jawline touch up and quiet Alum. One more day to go, and I think it's gonna come down to the 7 o'clock Greens or the Voskhods. Might just have to split the duty. Have a great day guys & gals.

 

Beautiful photo Perry. I really like the looks of the bowl/mug.

 

Thank you, Clint. My sister is a ceramic artist and made that bowl. It's not a bowl made specifically for shaving but it works quite well for these samples. Would be terrific for bowl lathering as well.

 

The bowl is beautiful and it's even more special since your sister made the bowl.

 

Thank you Jim! Have a wonderful day.

 

So glad you enjoyed the Mystic Water Soap. They are excellent performers with outstanding scents. However, lathering can be difficult if you have hard water. I use a lather bowl since our well water is loaded with minerals. The extra work is worth the effort.

 

-Feather SS w/Super (3)
-Duke 1 Best
-Henri et Victoria ~ Cognac and Cuban Cigars
-British Stirling

This morning went just great. The Feather needs a little care when starting a stroke, but its comfort level will increase with time. It gave me a very nice shave this morning. No drama to report.

My little Duke 1 is a travel brush, but I like the knot on it so much that I rotate it in. It works especially well on days like today when scooping from a sample jar into a bowl.

The Cognac and Cubans is a fantastic scent. It smells just like its name. The lather is billowy and slick, but I have a hard time getting it thin enough for my tastes without it disappearing on me. Even when it fades out it is super slick on the face, so it is more of a visual thing than a performance complaint. Hard to tell from a sample. I think I could dial it in with a little consistent use.

Have a great rest of the day.

 

SOTD 1/5/17
Razor: Filarmonica Medallin Taurino 14
Strop: Drygulch Leatherworks Horsehide/ linen
Brush: Troth handle, 24mm Envy White Badger
Soap: Wheat State Soap Barbershop
Post: Cold Water, Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel
Aftershave: Fine Platinum

Feels a little weird to use the same razor two shaves in a row. Tuesday's shave was a long lasting one, so I didn't need to shave until today. Software today is all new to me. Wheat State soaps just started their website on Dec. 31, so I got my order in before my no software purchases in 2017 started. I plan on using this for three consecutive shaves, with all three of my brushes.

Lathered with the badger today, soap was easy to lather, if a bit thirsty. Soft soap, but not a croap. Added water slowly, and built a thick and shiny lather. Scent is classic Barbershop, but light. That was my only complaint performance wise, that the soap didn't have a lot of scent. Great cushion and slickness, even slick enough to do a bit of touch up without re-lathering. I need to do a test lather on the soap and add water until the lather collapses, to get an idea of how much water it will hold. I added a coupe teaspoons before my second pass, and it held up well.

I used a light touch with the razor, and listened to it sing as it cut. Rewarded with a high grade DFS, quiet Alum, and no irritation on a three pass and touch up shave. Finished it off with Fine Platinum. Good scent and feel.

 

It looks like it's time to give this razor a touch up on the hones. Today's shave was a lot of work.
Route 66 Perfect Storm
B-400 Brush by Tom
Hien 650 Kamisori
Alum
Thayers WH
Fine American Blend AS
Have fun!

 

Yes. My favorite DE at the moment.

 

January 5, 2017

Razor: Gillette Super Blue Blade (a.k.a. 7 o'Clock Sterling)/Junjie handle
Blade: Astra SP (6)
Brush: Razorock Plissoft 22
Soap: Cella

This was supposed to be Saturday's shave by way of a follow-up to Friday's fail with the Tian Fu blade in the same razor. Not a lot to say about this one. I think the Astra may have been past its prime as the shave seemed harsher than I would have expected from the razor, though with no pulling. I'd say a DFS- overall but with no blood or excess irritation.

 

That is basically the process I use for most of my soaps, especially when new. I have found a few soaps like Stirling that don't seem to be too particular when you add the water, so I add a bunch up front. Otherwise, my experience with MWF taught me to add slowly until I get it right.

 

Best badger you say? That knot does look dense. My experience with badger is limited to a couple Vulfix brushes. Maybe a truly tight packed knot wouldn't be floppy. I haven't considered a horse hair because of that reason.