January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

A Journey down Route 66
5 January 2016



Looking down the barrel of a jug of Veg. Two passes to bliss. No blood on the steel, and you all know it ended heroically. Currently: -1f and cloudy, 11" New last 18 hours. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a fantastic Friday!

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It seems heroic SWMBO's are in short order. My Mrs. didn't banish it. But she did say "I like the other one better". I asked her which one she liked better. Her reply? "All of them."

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I'm popping up out of nowhere. I''m growing a goatee with chin strap type of beard and I've been cleaning up my cheeks and neck with my CJB and Dorco blades with the odd straight or DE loaded with the Russian goodness that is Sharp Star. My new girlfriend likes the Veg but I only like it about half the time I wear it. We reached a good medium when I pulled out the Humphrey's lilac witch hazel. I'm getting low so I'll need to order more soon.

The security job that was a sure thing ended up not happening but I start training for a welding position for the same hugely inflated pay rate in 2 weeks. I've been enjoying my few weeks out of work by watching a bunch of TV backlog, playing tons of video games and playing lots of tabletop RPGs and card games (D&D, Pathfinder, Exploding Kittens, Fluxx, Zombie Dice, ect) I haven't had a vacation in 8 years so I'm treating this like one while I'm being kept up by my significant other. I do all the cooking cleaning and household stuff too so I don't feel like too much of a bum. I'm really looking forward to working again because I hate not making my own money and contributing to the bills and expenses.

 

Good to see you! Don't be a stranger.
You can always do a bearded Drive-by.

 

Stunning brush amigo.

 

Mark, that is a terrific picture. The brush looks just beautiful!

 

Stunning photo. The brush is just gorgeous.

 

January 6, 2017
Timeless OC .95 Gap with Windrose SS
Feather (3)
Rudy Vey Rover with TGN Finest
Route 66 Twisted Tweed
Witch Hazel
Floid Black Sample

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Another fantastic automatic near BBS 2 pass shave this morning. This Timeless OC is a very efficient razor while still being a very smooth shaver. I finished off the shave with the last of the Floid Black AS sample. I hope everyone has a great Friday.

 

January 6 SOTD:

Razorock Plissoft Brush
Arko
Gillette SS
Clubman VI Bay Rum AS

It was rushed shave this morning, as I chatted it up at the gym too much and was very late. The Arko did its normal easy lather job, but I honestly missed a few spots with the razor. I would call this a SAS. My skin feels a little tighter with the Arko than some of these other soaps. Not bad, but noticeable. This Friday is going to be busy, and unfortunately not in a good way. I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Last day of my Voskhods/SA-109 Focus. Broke out the Proraso Green Shave Cream. It's underutilized in my Den for some reason. Guess 'cause of the TOBS,GFT, Taconic, Simpsons and Stone Cottage Soapworks. Anyway for the last shave I got brave and dialed the 109 up to "8" and left it there. Nice 2 pass with jawline touch up(when I'm done blading I'm gonna do a Focus on the jawline. It's starting to piss me off). The Alum block was quiet. Finished up with a cold towel and Aramis AS. By a narrow margin the Voskhods edged out the 7 o'clock Greens. Starting Sunday my NEW SC steps forward for it's blade audition. I'd thought I would go with GSB's, but I did not have Feather Blacks, 7 o'clock Greens or Voskhods when I ran that audition. So more Focus fun for me! Looking forward to it. TGIF y'all. See ya in the funny papers.

 

Great photo. I really like your gym bag setup.

 

Route 66 Perfect Storm
B-400 Brush by Tom
Dubl Duck Dwarf
Lucky Tiger
Ogallala Bay Rum
Have a great Friday!

 

Another day and another outstanding shave delivered by the Blackbird Open Comb and a Feather blade - shave #2. It was pretty smooth and took care of 2 days worth of stubble in 2 quick passes.

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I love Arko. I love the scent, I love the lather, I love the price. It dries me out; badly in the winter time.

 

Jared, have you tried putting a drop of glycerine in your lather? I wonder if that would help the dryness. I also find Arko to be a bit drying, but man the slickness is comparable to soaps costing 10x as much.

 

I had a little time to chase it this morning, and I dang near caught the baby. No irritation, no weepers, just a really nice shave. It helps that my face is healed up enough that I can just shave it, instead of around a bunch of cuts.

I am about three weeks into this, and so far I have a few observations:

-A second WTG pass nearly eliminates the need to go XTG, and makes it easier to go straight to ATG.

-With some pretty hard core skin stretching and a little steeper angle (scraping JUST A BIT) I can clean up most everything without going ATG, but definitely not as long lasting of a shave.

-A little bit of pressure is beneficial to keep the blade from sort of hopping; mainly in reduction passes.

It's been a fun few weeks.

 

SOTD January 6, 2017
Route 66/Injector focus

Blade: Kai Captain Mild
Razor: RazoRock Black Hawk
Brush: Artisan badger
Lather: Route 66 Twisted Tweed
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Fine American Blend, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG

Tried the Black Hawk today for the first time. Really enjoyed it! It felt very similar to a straight razor shave. You can feel the blade a lot more than any other razor I have. I went with light pressure. First pass reduction was decent but then the second pass really cleaned it up. Smooth result in the end.

I think skin stretching with this razor would help a lot. I'll have to try that next shave.

Route 66 is amazing shaving soap. I'm really enjoying this month so far in trying new razors combined with Route 66 each shave.

Have a great day!

 

I honestly haven't, but it probably would help. I have done it with other soaps trying to increase slickness.

 

Love the black and white effect of the photo. Great Job.

 

Perry, the AC razors are different. I have found for me I just go straight to the XTG pass. This assumes that I have a newer blade in the razor. I think this strategy makes full use of the AC blades increased rigidity and excellent sharpness. Again YMMV.