March 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

It looks like you scored a nice handle.

 

Mostly just curious to see if you had a specific type you liked. I have one square point I really like using compared to my round points. I feel like so far that I maybe like the cutting power/stroke etc of my bigger ones (13/16 is the biggest I have), but I like think i like the smaller ones for rolling up under the corner of my ear.... It's fun, anyway.

I have a Portland coming with a shortened blade and a Spanish point. I really like the length of the Artist Clubs, so this could be a neat one. Different at least.

 

March Madness
Barbasol and Barber Blade Edition
Planned Day Twenty-Six




Have a magnificent Monday!

 

You should just put the straights up on your Etsy page. Then I could maybe slip one or two of them into my cart when I order some dog collars from you here in a little bit.

 

March Madness & Spring Cleaning!!

March 26

Razor - Fatip Piccolo
Blade - (2)
Soap - Route 66 Bourbon Jungle
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum

A couple of days ago I saw a few mentions for R66 Bourbon Jungle and noticed another one today. I still have a sample puck of that so it seemed like a good idea to join the party. The Semogue quickly whipped up a very slick lather and it was the perfect base for a second shave on the Fatip and Ladas. I had misplaced this sample shortly after trying it the first time and found it when we rearranged everything in the room here so I was happy to have it back. And, happy to report that two passes have me at near-BBS with that very nice face feel that comes from a lanolin based soap. I think this scent is my second favorite of R66 at this point and has a chance to take the number one spot. At least until I try some more.

My weekend has arrived and none too soon. Rather rough five days but I'm not really sure why they felt that way. I"m just glad to have two days to decompress and hopefully do some writing about shaving. You all have a great Monday morning!

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My "I haven't had enough coffee to shave and I am late to work" razor is a 5/8 Genco muted square tip that is full hollow with rose wood scales. It's nimble, light, and I can almost run it on auto pilot. It's the second one from the left in the picture, and is honestly one of my favorite razors.

 

So I hadn't shaved in the last couple of days, so I had some nice stubble on my face just waiting to be cut off. The kit:

-Maggard MR5 Handle with V3A head, Gillette Nacet/Polsilver Super Iridium Blade
-Maggard 24mm Synthetic Brush
-TSD Gunpowder Soap
-Post Shave was Alum+Thayers WH+Conk's High Desert Breeze Lotion

So I didn't shower before my shave, but I did take a nice hot towel and rubbed my face with it, thinking it would be enough. Turns out it wasn't.

I moved on to the next soap in the TSD OK Corral line, which is Gunpowder. Like the other two, I felt the scent was week. Though I did get a single whiff during the shave of it, so that was an improvement. Since I had the badger brush figured out, I went back to my Maggard synthetic. For whatever reason, this Gunpowder soap took longer to create a lather than the other two. i eventually got it.

Since I'm traveling for a few weeks starting tomorrow, I decided to try and get one more shave out of the Gillette Nacet that was already in the razor. But I couldn't even get through a few strokes without a lot of tugging and just uncomfortableness, so I pitched the blade and loaded a Polsilver Super Iridium. That blade didn't do much better. But during the initial part of the shave, even splashing on the hot water, everything just felt cold. So i just don't think my face was sufficiently prepped, and if that is what a cold water shave feels like NO THANK YOU. So i got several more nicks than normal on the first pass, and by the end one that needed to styptic stick to close off. By the third pass things started feeling more normal. The alum burned along the jawline, but given how terrible the shave was I wasn't expecting anything less. I'm actually surprised there wasn't more spots that were burning.

Final grade would be like a D, D+. The highest would be a C- but that would be generous.

 

Nice razor. I have a couple of razors with similar blades that give wonderful shaves.

 

March has been a rough month so my focus deviated into focusing on relaxing, which really helped. I relaxed my focus and gained focus in the process. My father in law finally came home from the hospital after a month. My friend who had surgery made it home but has had complications since. The whole family (wife, three kids and the dog) have all been all kinds of sick for the last week, varying from flu (wife) to upper respiratory infections (all three kids) and ulcerative colitis (the dog). Sleep has been a scarcity. My two respites in the storm have been my shaving time and March Madness, during which my beloved Gamecocks have overcome many an odd and become the Cinderella story (and bracket busters extraordinary. That has been a lot of fun for this long-suffering fan.

I went for some menthol tonight and used my CRSW Limenthol. The scent is great and it gave a great shave, but the menthol is on the light side of my preference.

I used the trusty ol' Magic shavette with a Sputnik blade and it was more than up to the task. The flea market Aristocrat got the head shave and did a superb job there as well. Splashed on some Osage Rub (still wanted more menthol but any port in a storm) and finished off with some Clubman Citrus Musk for an overall quite favorable shave.

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I hope everyone heals up and gets back to feeling better. Your dog too. I cannot imagine a dog with colitis.

It sounds like you need a bottle of Joanna's M-Bomb, and a few dollar bag of menthol crystals.

 

Your post made me decide to get out one of my favorites 5/8 razors for tomorrow's shave. It looks so little compared to my Koraat

 

I was going to order some and then she posted that she would be away for a while and so forgot all about it. I need to get on that.

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Another one to consider is the Fatip open comb. It's supposed to be quite an aggressive razor, but compared to the Scientist all I really noticed about it was that it was extremely efficient but smooooth. I don’t know if you can get separate heads for the Fatip. I do know you can buy heads for the Maggard razors, which come in various levels of aggression.

Edit:. Alternatively, you could PIF the Fendrihan Scientist to Neal @NCoxSTL and see what he makes of it. A Taiwanese made razor might be a nice change from all those Soviet-engineered ones he's always trying. And it might be interesting to get an opinion from someone well-acquainted with razors of dubious quality control...

 

Good pictures and setup ups Adam.

 

I hope everyone feels better soon and things can return to normal.

 

The 34c is a very mild razor. From my personal use I would equate it to a Slim on 3 or so. I am not so sure that you need to jump all the way to a R41 to achieve the results you want. I would suggest that you give a Gillette New Long Comb razor a try. I have found the New LC to be more efficient than my Slim at any setting while being much smoother. I would post a want to buy thread here in the classified section and see what comes along.

 

March 27, 2017
Cobra Classic
Feather Pro (2)
Brothers Bristles with Tuxedo Synthetic
Fine Italian Citrus

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The BB Tuxedo easily whipped up a rich slick lather. I am really impressed with Fine Italian Citrus. I have found it to be very easy to lather and exceptionally slick. If you are a fan of Fine Aftershaves I would suggest giving their soaps a try. Two passes and touch ups ended with my normal work morning near BBS. Overall a great shave with no nicks, weepers or irritation. I finished off with a splash of Fine Italian Citrus and I think I am ready for the day. I hope everyone has a great Monday.

 

The Fatip is also a really good choice; the only reason I suggested the R41 over it, is that blade fit is sometimes wonky, and it is a more angle specific razor. It is probably smoother than the R41, if a bit less aggressive.

 

March 27 (Monday) - Gem SE focus

Gem 1912 SE / Gem PTFE ( 5)
Supply Provision synthetic brush
Supply Provision tallow soap Juniper
Supply Provision Juniper Post Shave Balm

Just a pleasant relaxed shave today with equipment that all worked together well to bring me to a DFS+ completely without irritation. The Supply Provision soap (old version?) provided both good lather and that well-hydrated face feel common to tallow soaps. The balm then finished off a good shave with further moisturizing and a longer-lasting pleasant outdoorsy scent.

I have both Supply Provision's original soap and its latest "concentrated tallow shave cream". I put "old version" with a question mark above because I have tried both and don't notice any real difference between them other than the descriptive name and the type of container. In fact, I also compared the ingredient lists and they are totally identical. Supply Provision's soap was quite soft. I would call it a croap of about the consistency of Cella or even softer. I think SP recognized this and simply rebranded it as a scoopable, spreadable cream and put it in an appropriate container for that type of use. Either way, the old soap, the "new" cream and the balms are all quality products at a fair price.

 

Beautiful picture, Clint! The Cobra Classic is one of the nicest looking razors, IMO.