April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Same arsenal for today's shave as that of yesterday, but for the Burma Shave brush. After one pass, I was tempted to let it go at that, my skin felt so nice. But I went ahead for the second pass anyway.

 

I never said it wouldn't lather.


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Thanks Jim!

 

As far as I know, it also takes quite a while to get to that point, especially with a blade in a decent rotation. When and if I ever get to that point a professional can get the angle and bevel back to where it needs to be.

I believe taping is the norm now. Anything I have done has had tape, and the professional home jobs have been taped.


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Excellent picture and line up Mark. Hope you had a great trip.

 

April 4

Super Safety Razors Trac II Handle
Personna Twin II (1)
Simpson Chubby 2 Super
KMF Pomegranate Grapefruit
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Fine L'Orange Noir

Over the past couple of weeks, my routine most mornings on our trip with the Trac II was a quick face wash, KMF applied by hand on the face along with some water for a pasty covering, and a WTG (face)/ATG (neck) pass. Rinse with warm water. Apply more KMF and water and complete another full ATG pass. Finish with a quick rinse and unrefined shea butter. Done. What's for breakfast?

I consistently had a darn fine shave, and I only had two very small weepers due to operator error. I find that the Trac II lends itself well to quick, slightly overlapping buffing strokes on my neck. With two blades doing the work, I seem to be getting the benefit of at least one or two additional passes. In fact, I was able to shave ATG on the bulb of my chin, which I normally can't do with a DE blade. I swapped cartridges after four shaves, but I could have easily used them longer. The Personna blades provide nice audible feedback, although it's nearly impossible to miss the proper shaving angle. Without the rubber grip rings at the bottom of the handle, it would be quite slippery. My Kent BK4 brush and La Toja shave stick never saw a drop of water on the trip. All things considered, I was quite impressed with the consistent quality of the shaves given the amount of effort I invested in them. The worst parts were: (1) it was no fun, (2) it was nearly impossible to keep the paste rinsed out of the cartridge, and (3) it made me feel like a liberal Democrat.

I stowed the razor in check baggage on the outbound trip with no problems. On the return trip, I placed it in my carry on. The large metal handle caught the eye of the TSA agent, and she scanned my bag twice. She let me pass without inspecting the contents once I explained that she was seeing a razor handle. Maybe it was because I look so innocent and trustworthy. So, this razor loaded with a Personna Trac II blade easily becomes my travel companion when I need to pack light and go for quick shaves.

So, this week I will continue my mini Trac II focus with proper shaves before going back to a DE. Over two days of beard growth, it felt good to build a nice, thick lather with the Chubby 2 this morning. With no paste in sight, the lather rinsed easily off the cartridge head. Two passes later, and I'm as near BBS as I would be with a DE. Alum was cool, and the finish with Fine L'Orange Noir left me feeling like I had manly, abeit foo foo, mid-western shave.

I'm almost caught up on the thread, and it's wonderful to see all the participation this month. I hope you all have a great week.

 

Rick, your razor handle is cool. I found one for

Neal



and another for Chris

 

I'll revise my statement about Williams lather - just for clarity. It will lather. For a minute. Then it goes away.

 

@wchnu set you up for your double negatory

 

The minimalist lines of the brush are really cool. Nice LE choice for the collection!

 

I didn't notice anyone else comment on this. I don't do any touch ups without adding more lather. Even if your face is still a little slick, it won't have as much cushion or glide as it would with more lather. Since I always have some lather left in the brush, I will just get the areas where I need to touch up, that I felt when I rinsed my face between passes. This should reduce some of the irritation, and help get your trouble spots. I normally do three passes on my face, a half pass that is just my neck, then touch ups.

 

This is also where stropping and other edge dressing techniques help to add longer blade life.

Straight Razors are a real example of ymmv. All the techniques affect the blade. This pile of variabilities inherent to SR is one reason shavette appeals to me.

 

Welcomes back! Press play, resume.

 

Also @wchnu

I will be in KY and AL soon. Williams will get an attempt, provided I can find some. They'll have it in small drug stores though, so for fun I will wait to purchase.

My money is on the soft water down south to make it work great.

@RyX sent a sizable sample of vintage Williams Stick my way last year. It worked quite well for me. Obviously a different formula, but the 50 year old soap could still make good lather.

 

Charlie,

Perfect!

Let me go get a two seat Honda, and weld a spoiler on the back first. Neon green, like Veg?

 

If I was whipping out 2 passes with a DE, it would be acceptable. I would even use before canned stuff it if it were my only option, because I enjoy the process of building lather. But if it is possible to make a well hydrated lather that will stick around for a three pass shave plus multiple cleanup spots, I have not found a way. Hopefully I will never have to find out for sure. There are just too many other products that perform better without the work, including Arko.

 

Thanks Douglas!

Wild turkey out in force up there yet?

 

No doubt.