May 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I have a couple from mine. One of them is up by my sideburn, and looks like I gouged it out with a lemon baller.

Feather DX, Kai, Sam Seong, spike pointed straights, all no problem. Feather SS hated me.

When I ordered the DX, it was mostly just to see if it was any better in general than the Kai's, and I sort of expected I would end up selling it. The head design/shape is virtually identical, but the DX is just such a pretty and well made razor, that it ended up displacing the Kai's.

I don't know how much wood is in the scales. They actually look real, but they call it a resin impregnated laminate or some such. They are pretty tho....

 

I bought a sample pack of Taylor's of all Old Bond Street creams when I started. They all perform basically the same, so there was no real variable thrown into the mix, and it had no negative affect on my first 30 day focus. Stirling is a great soap so if it were me, I would order some and switch to it as my focus soap. The switch will, if anything, help your results, not hurt them. If you switch around between different scents within the Sterling line you should be fine. I may get egged for saying this, but it helped me in my first 30 days to have some variety and not go nuts, without really adding variables into the mix.

 

May 18, 2017
Colonial Razors “The General”
Feather Pro
Shavemac D01 3 Band
Mystic Water Raspberry Lemon
Folsom & Co Shambala

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Another hot muggy morning here in "Hot Lanta" which makes me appreciate citrus soaps all the more and Raspberry Lemon fits the bill. I have the new formula Mystic Water to be easier to load and lather than the old formula. It is still not as easy to lather as something like Route 66 but it is less finicky than before. After working up a nice slick lather, I went with a modified 3 pass shave going XTG twice followed by ATG. After my normal touch ups I was so close to the baby that I couldn't help myself had to chase the little guy. After a little buffing on my lower right neck, I caught the baby. Just a great smooth shave. I must say the General has won me over. A splash of F&C Shambala.

 

I'm going to stick with the Rule. It'll make me appreciate the better soaps even more when I finally get them. And apparently this puck will last me "many months" https://www.gentjon.com/products/gentleman-jon-glycerine-shave-soap-2-25-oz

 

May 18 SOTD:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
PdP
Gem 1912
Stirling Unscented PSB
Vintage Old Spice AS

 

Great looking shave, Clint! Hope you are feeling better.

 

Very cool photo Jim. The 1912 razors just look great with their ornate handles.

 

Thank you, Clint!

 

Thank you Jim. I am much better that earlier this week. I would guess 60-70% over the flare up. The trick is just not relapse.

 

@Bama Samurai would be proud. I, like @RyX am a bit of an enabler. We pretty much sit in the back row and antagonize folks until someone else gets in trouble. Fair warning...

Wax on wax off, Fup!

Beautiful Photo! I love that GEM. This one beats the last one for a Shavy nomination, for me.
By the way, I have PDP 63, and really enjoy it. How does the PDP regular compare (primarily with regard to scent)? Do you have both?

 

@wchnu

 

SOTD May 18, 2017

Blade: GEM Stainless
Razor: GEM Pushbutton
Brush: Omega Hi synthetic
Lather: Proraso Green
Post: Witch hazel, Country Club Sweet Water aftershave
WTG, touch-up

Easy shave this morning. The Pushbutton continues to be a great little razor. The Proraso has been finished off! There wasn't enough left after loading today to be worth anything, so I cleaned out the container. I'll try to put a post in the Product RIP thread later today. It was a terrific soap with all things considered. Not overly fancy, but always effective and certainly affordable.

Have a great day!

 

My mayhem shaves have really been more about experimentation than mayhem (japanese pain stick excepted - oh, and there was that straight razor thing, but I digress...) Anyway, today I decided to mix it up a bit and go ATG first, then XTG. Then cleanup (i.e. shave my neck again at haphazard angles). I Tried a new soap - Stirling Black Cherry - love it! A new razor - birth year Gillette Flare Tip - love it! And the old faithful Astra SP - what's not to like! While there were no problems or mishaps with the shave, I don't know that it really accomplished anything other than continuing to reinforce the fact that my neck needs an additional pass above and beyond what my face gets. Call it cleanup or an extra pass, whatever. I'm not sure if this means a 2/3 (which will take some beard mapping and experimentation) or a 3/4 (which smells slightly of defeat at the moment, but may end up being the "baby maker" shave). Although my nature is to overanalyze everything ad nauseum, today, instead, I am just basking in the fact that something that was a chore only 3 months ago has become so enjoyable. Cheers!

 

Haha good luck. I've always been a fan of minimalism, simplicity and Zen but having been raised in this consumerist society I'm also a fan of buying new shiny toys. I've definitely given in to the urge many times and have stuff that I thought I absolutely had to have just lying around collecting dust now.

The great thing about this is the hair on my face won't stop growing. Even if I do decide to grow my beard again I'll have to trim it to keep from looking like the wolfman and now I can use a nice DE and make it look way better than I did with a cheap electric trimmer clippers.

 

Your just sucking up to @Bama Samurai . Good choice though. Dont let that bad ole @BaylorGator cross you up.

Thank you!!

Love success stories like that!-:hooray:

 

Nappy time. Y'all hold it down to a dull roar!

 

Shhhh, be very, very, quiet, Fuzzy wants a nap

 

I forgot to advise you to be wary of listening to Fuzzy @wchnu as well. He shaves with a twig, you know...

 

18 May 2017 Blade/Soap Focus
Shave
Today's shave using the '52 Super Speed Black Tip/Shark combo was aided & abetted by Route 66 "Rum Runner" soap. Using the Omega 10098 I was able to get a very slick, great smelling lather. Shark Super Chrome blades have always been a so-so performer for me. It is the primary in my DE89bl, but in other razors it usually gets aced out. In the Black Tip however, it's a star. I'm almost tempted to leave things as they are...nah. Gotta see how the Voskhod performs.
Getting back to the shave, 2.5 passes
and some XTG clean up on my neck and things were well taken care of.
Splashed on the Clubman VIBR and Thursday is off to an outstanding start.
Have a great shave, have a great day.

 

Thank you, Randy. I like PdP quite a bit. I don't have the 63 to compare it to, but this scent is what I would call a classic soapy scent. There is some herbal quality to the scent. It is very clean and pleasant. I think the soap performs very well. Just a light loading this morning, and I had tons of lather. It definitely pays to work it slowly with water in my experience.