January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I have it in a repurposed maple syrup bottle. I have to be a bit careful pouring it out, but it works.

It definitely needs a few days or weeks to mellow out.

 

I bought a new olive oil cruet at the grocery. It has a spout and stopper. The stuff mellows out after a week or so in sealed glass.

 

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

 

It does not need to be glass. I found that a month in a used metal gas can will help it also.

 

Never wore Brut. Teens through late twenties it was, in order Ice Blue Aqua Velva, English Leather. Then I met Herself and the Aramis Era started. I do use/have used Brut deodorant, whose scent I like.

 

January 18, 2017
Timeless OC .95 Gap
Feather (3)
Zenith B02 Boar
Route 66 Rum Runner

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I continue to enjoy my month with the Timeless OC. Thus far I have found it to be a very smooth and efficient shaver. Route 66 soaps continue to easily deliver wonderful slick lather with superb post shave feel. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

 

Great picture Mark. The Strop Shoppe was a fantastic soap. I am sorry they are not still around.

 

That's beautiful. Is that from SpongeBob?

 

I like the pic placement, Clint. Don't know why, but it made me think of an easter egg hunt.

 

Thank you Jared. It would make a great place to hide an easter egg.

 

Thank you Doug. Happy Wednesday

 

Great set up, Clint. I like the colors in your SOTD photo. Did you re-knot the handle, or is it orginal?

 

SOTD January 18, 2017

Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: PAL Adjustable
Brush: Artisan badger
Lather: Route 66 Barbershop Hop
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Stirling Executive Man, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

Good shave this morning. The PAL Adjustable is still taking some time to get used to. I tried setting 4 today and liked it better than 3. I'm gun-shy with this razor after I hacked up my neck a few days ago. I'm a little tentative and am using so light pressure that the first pass isn't doing as much as it should. I may put this one down and come back to it later for a more detailed focus.

Superb lather from Route 66 and the artisan badger that I got from @Drygulch last year. I love this brush!

To make the record official - I am definitely OUT for the popsicle slice and dice event. Y'all are crazy.

Have a great day!

 

Hump Day shave. The 7 o'clock Green continues to excel. Near BBS with very minimal touch up. Two passer. Today's cream was TOBS Coconut. Probably my favorite out of all my creams. Great scent and it whips up into a very nice lather. Finished off with an ice cold towel and Canoe AS. Great start to HUMP DAAAAY. 'Bye folks.

 

SOTN January 17th


PAL Injecto-Matic
C Schick
La Toja (Grated in bowl)
Satin Tip The Purest
Myrsol Lemon

Good morning friends. Marvelous first shave from the PAL Injecto-Matic last night. First of all I have to give a very big thank you to Roger @Hodge who put this beautiful razor up in a PIF. It is in immaculate condition, I am very humbeled to receive such a pristine razor. On to the shave, all I can say is WOW. The PAL IM was very smooth and didn't feel aggressive in the slightest, but it shaved with such efficiency that I haven't experienced before. After one pass WTG I was at DFS status after a second XTG near BBS and a couple of touch-up strokes brought the baby home. I finished with a shot of Myrsol Lemon, which has a surprisingly good dose of menthol. I'm going to keep riding the PAL train because it was just too good to stop after one. Have a great day my friends!

 

Dune. Dude...

 

Actually, it was worth the dollar plus the postage to send it to you just for the commentary.

On the whole, your experience sounds a lot like my separate experiences with the razor and blade. The razor tries to be a clone of the Zamac Tech but is marred by the fact that the safety bars are too short (narrow? shallow?) If you stay on the cap, it's not really a problem; however, the razor likes to dig in if you have chubby cheeks or fall off the angle.

The difference between a Soviet and a Chinese razor:
- The Soviet razor is solidly built but ignores details like mechanical tolerances
- The Chinese razor uses state of the art technology to precisely make a razor out of the absolute cheapest material

The Tian Fu blade is total crap. I'd argue that it is worse than a Tiger. The Tiger describes itself as a "razor" blade, but not necessarily as a "shaving" blade. As a result, I'll accept the possibility that it is actually suited to some purpose for which it is actually intended. OTOH, the Tian Fu blade, by virtue of being bundled with a razor, is assumed to be a "shaving" blade... a task it fails at miserably. (Beard reduction though friction?)

I think the problem with Chinese razor blades is simple lack of scruples. China is well-known for counterfeiting many products, including DE razor blades. It makes a perverse sense when you consider that the cost to make a DE blade is practically nil. Unfortunately, it seems to make it very difficult to get the good ones here in the US.

Lastly, you make a good point about the disservice that such razor/blade combos are to the public. The only thing that saddens me more than the point you made is the idea that, somewhere in the world, some struggling soul is putting down the pennies he scraped together and actually buying one of these. It makes me really wish that Gillette would take the Sterling razor, bundle it with a Platinum Plus blade, and sell it in the US.