April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thank you, Jason!

 

Here Here! Though yours are pretty good too, Marine!

 

I can do your taxes or handle the corporate books on a good day but I am a pure amateur at taking photos. I was in awe and inspired by some of the truly great photographers posting SOTD photos on various forums so I have tried to improve my skills over the last year. If my back improves and allows me to resume riding motorcycles, I hope to take the photography skills I have learned and better document my trips.

 

Thank you Doug. You have become the outdoor photo master. Your ability to include your beautiful local scenery into the SOTD photos is impressive. I am just trying to keep up.

 

Then all i have to say, is that you have natural talent.

 

Thank you sir.

 

You might need to reduce your caffeine and sugar intake, Shavette Fu!

 

If Shavette Fu starts a Clint64 fan club, I'm in. Anybody else?

 

Beautiful photo, Doug. Has he posted one yet?

 

If the name shavette fu sticks, I may start a @wristwatchb fan club! As far as being a fan of @clint64 photos, I assumed this was part of the reason this thread has longevity.

 

In other news, I shaved today. It was awesome! I used Cella for the first time. That is all.

 

April 20 - Two soaps in a single shave!!!

I have been on a kick to try all I can in Razorock. The sample box will be on to the next tomorrow if I can get to the post office in time, otherwise early Saturday. It has been a super pleasure smelling and sampling all these soaps. I have truly been spoiled and I would recommend anyone of any skill level, beginner or expert, to grab this opportunity to try a bunch of different soaps. I have become so enamored with all these scents that I have been ordering like a mad man lots of soaps to replace the presence of the box so my Soap Pass Around Box Withdrawal (SPABW) will be light. I am sure many have been afflicted with it.

Today, I decided to use half as much soap so I could enjoy two soaps in one shave. I lathered the right side with Razorock Santal Royale (RR SR) and the left with Italian Barber Amici. I have been very happy with the Razorock/Italian Barber product and just wanted one last opportunity to try the last couple I was interested in from the box. I ended up shaving one side of my face at a time completely before changing soaps and doing the other.

In addition to using two new soaps, I loaded the Merkur 34C with a Gillette Nacet blade. this is my first use of a Nacet.

I shaved my right side first with the Santal Royale. I saw a youtube review of this soap where he did not love this scent. In some way I can understand. Once you find THE sandalwood scent for you, no other will do. So far I like best TOBS and Stirling Sandalwoods. RR SR is nice but not quite up to the caliber of the others in scent. To me, it is more woody but has a heavy vanilla scent masking any sandalwood. I do not get any scent that reminds me of the others. It wasn't bad either but having based a preference for TOBS sweeter more cologny scent and loving the Stirling's more lumberyard woody scent, this just wasn't what I wanted it to be. I think it was strong enough to be fully enjoyed for the duration of the shower and I still feel like I got hints of the scent well after the shower which was good.

Lather for RR SR was up to the usual RR standards - thick, creamy, slick and so delicious. For such an inexpensive product, it really performs better than its price to me. I have been very happy with it. When the three passes and touch up were done, I lathered the right side of my face with the remaining just so I could continue to enjoy it further. For a scent that wasn't my definition of sandalwood, I did get much enjoyment from the small 1/2 sample I used.

While my right side marinated in Royale, I worked up a lather of the Italian Barber Amici (IB A). Both soaps do not need a lot of water and even in the 1/2 sized dollop I was using, I found pretty easy to get it dialed in. Amici, to me, smells like some citrusy lemon and orange scent. Its scent was simple but I am a lover of citrus scents, I found this very pleasing. From what I have heard and form looking at the ingredients, this and Razorock are the same soap. As such, it was great as well. IB posts the following for its scent: Top Notes: Red Grapefruit, Lemon, Orange Heart Notes: Spices Base Notes: Amber, Musk, Hay, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Patchouli. I am not the greatest with smell but some of this I could detect. The scent was at a good strength and very much enjoyed.

Shaving with Amici I realized I was just a little too much on water but only slightly. It was just barely lighter than the RR SR but still had excellent glide. For a $2.99 soap, this performed far better to me.

The Nacet blades did quick and rather quiet work of my stubble yielding a nice BBS and very muted alum. there was still some tingle but again less than with the Astra SP. Nacet blades may join my list of revered blades if they can keep up this result for a couple more days. Nacet blades seemed very smooth and had pretty good sharpness. I had no need to do short strokes to compensate for a lack of sharpness. For me changes to my desired technique in order to get a good shave is a good indicator of a poor blade. I was able to do nice smooth long strokes without issue.

In all, this has been the best week of my shaving life.

Thank you guys for facilitating the Soap Pass Around Box II and including me in this opportunity. A Big thanks also goes out to all the vendors and guys who donated soap to make this possible.

Thank you all.

Sincerely,
Frank

 

Way to maximize your time/experience, Frank! Looking forward to having an equally awesome experience myself!

 

I love Amici so much I bought a back up tub. Also get the AS splash its great! One other thing; If you love citrus, and I mean really really love citrus, you have to try RR Don Marco. IMO this is the best RR scent available.

 

Thanks

Not sure I will have room for much more. the result of the Soap Pass Around Box was to increase my den by 24 new scents THIS WEEK!!! Add in the 11 I already have, boy I will be needing more space for all this.

And to think, I got into this for a better shave and to be cheap!!

Frugal Frank is out!

 

I think most of us started with that delusion. I would pick Don Marco over XXX or Son of Zeus anyday, so if you are on the fence about either of those get the Don Marco instead.

 

Just think of the next hundred years of soap savings that this week will provide! That's a lot of frugality, Frank.

 

Congrats on your best week of shaving, Frank! You've evaluated a tremendous number of soaps in the last few days. Thanks for sharing your impressions with us!

 

Yesterday’s shave: 4/19/17 SOTD
Razor: Koraat 7/8 Quarter Hollow
Strop: Drygulch Horse/Linen
Brush: 28mm Ubersoft II w/ Custom Aluminum handles
Soap: Wheat State Soaps Sweet Tobacco Leaf
Post: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Bar, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Wheat State Soaps Sweet Tobacco Leaf

Yesterday’s shave was a good one. This razor is the heaviest one I own, and has a very smooth edge. The soap is a new purchase. I had a sample of this on the month long trip I took for most of March, and was impressed by it. When I opened the tub, I was reminded that scent and memory are very strong. This soap will always remind me of my trip to Phoenix to be with my Mother. Not a bad thing. Shave was a three pass DFS, that 24 hours later would still pass a visual look for being clean shaven, although at 3pm the day after I shaved, I have a bit of a shadow. The performance of the soap is top tier. Good scent, slickness, and cushion, and easy to lather. The aftershave was soothing, but not exactly what I was expecting. It is an alcohol free splash, with very light menthol. I’m going to M-bomb it and see if that makes it better.

 

Nice photo. The background texture really enhances the composition. Do we have another hidden talent?