June 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Beautiful Toggle!

 

Wonderful picture, Clint!

 

Jun 3 SOTD:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
Nuavia Rossa
Gillette Aristocrat #66
Voskhod (2)

I went for the full luxury shave today with a sample of Nuavia Rossa and the Aristocrat #66. It was fantastic. Two passes with a little clean up for a BBS. The Voskhod was just as smooth as yesterday. It has been a great day so far, and I hope everyone else is having a great day as well.

 

Thank you Jim.

 

The Aristocrat looks fantastic. Just curious which do you prefer the scent of the Blu or Rossa?

 

Thank you, Clint! I am not sure, as I seem to go back and forth. Today, I liked the Rossa better, but in the past I have preferred the Blu.

 

Thank you

 

On Focus June

Tabac, B-400 brush & Tuxedo knot
無名Shavette & Personna Med Prep
Schick type J-1 & Personna II blade
Alum, Pinaud Lime Sec aftershave


Going to see how long it takes me to desire another soap. Starting with Tabac as it does lather well and makes great open blade slickness. Second shave with the Nameless (無名) shavette I received from Andrew @Linuxguile. I like the weight and balance compared to the Weck I'd been ignoring last month. Having the choice of any DE blade is an upgrade, too. When I wet my brush, applied to the soap dish I realized I should have shaken the water out. Soupy mess that I poured into the bowl that made a perfectly juicy lather. Several shaves worth of lather, but just right on hydration. WTG pass with the shavette - it liked having a couple days of beard to work. ATG on my neck - all good with the added weight of the razor helping smooth out passes. East/West pass on my chin - bad set down for a 1/4 inch slice. Not bad as it sealed up on it's own. Relathered again for first swipes with the Twin blades in the J-1. Very nice reduction with good audio feedback! Easily found areas where I missed with the half DE blade. Having more lather than I really needed I took the full face tour with the injector. Alum swiped average tingle considering the number of passes. Pinaud's high alcohol content reminded me of the chin nick, but the total effect was DFS+.
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

Great shave today BBS no irritation loved it. How's the forum feel about Sandalwood Saturday!
Proraso red soap and AS
Murkur 38c
Shark SS
Satin tip Purest
Gentlemen Jon

Sent from my XT1609 using Tapatalk

 

June 3 - more Ginger's Garden

Merkur 34C
PermaSharp(day 6)
Dark Chocolate (JR 148)
DIY PSO
Ginger's Garden Barbershop Quartet
Alum/Thayers/AOS PSB

Today was another run with the pass around box and Ginger's Garden soaps. Today was Barbershop Quartet. I decided to hydrate it more than yesterday and got nice slick lather that was light and filled the bowl. I think I got more lather today from the same amount of soap. Nicely protective lather. My only gripe is I did not smell what is listed on the website for the description of the scent. It states

. To me, the scent was stronger but I only got a sweet powdery floral scent that is like a talc powder. It was a good scent just to me not what is listed on the site. It is also on the light side. I need to either hold the bowl to my face or have soap on it to smell the scent. For me, I still would like it stronger. The scent description sounds more like a bay Rum than a barbershop scent. I wonder if they made a mistake on the website. I even double checked with the wife and she smelled the same as I did.

I did 4 passes and the blade was showing wear, finally. DFS because I have some stubble feel in one direction on spots on the neck. Blade did very well. I still have GG Suede but I am not sure it is a scent for me and if it will be stronger. Post shave felt clean and non greasy. A shame it doesn't have a stronger scent. Then again for rehouse days you do not want an overpowering scent, this would be a great soap to grab.

Alum was very light in bite. Best so far. Odd how the blade got better with age

 

It likely just needs a shampoo and a vinegar soak. It works wonders.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

June 3

Head & Face

Magic Shavette
Astra SP
Semogue 820
The Fat
Thayers Medicated
Old Spice

 

PCN again today. Bowl lathered again, but using plenty of soap again too. Just fantastic lather. Tried my aristocrat (@wchnu hooked me up) and semogue 820 for the first time each. Another great shave. I'm doing short quick lathers on a gazillion soaps and samples to try and weed out down to the top 10%. Others will be given out as shavey bonus prizes.

 

Glad to hear you are enjoying the Aristocrat!!!

 

I felt very fancy using it. I wonder if that's what Trump shaves with as he's big into gold plated everything.

 

Could very well be. Lol

 

The Aristocrat is a great razor. It is a hard one to beat.

 

SOTD June 3, 2017

Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Schick M Adjustable injector
Brush: Artisan badger
Lather: Mike's Coconut
Post: Witch hazel, Speick aftershave
WTG, touch up

The soap pass-around box made it back to me. It's overwhelming! But there was a tin of Mike's Coconut soap in there and I hopped at the chance to try it. First time using Mike's. Terrific lather, on the level of Stirling as far as how much water it can take and the slickness and viscosity. Nice shave overall. Really enjoyed trying Mike's!

Have a great day!

 

Saturday June 3 - experimenting

Schick E2 / Personna (? )
30DC LE brush with natural maple handle and cashmere knot
The Red Green Duct Tape Special Italian soft almond frankensoap + M Bomb
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original

The temperature has crept up to 80F today so it is beginning to get hot and spring/summery here. I decided to try a menthol soap today. The only actual menthol product I own is Proraso Green cream, so I decided to try making my own after rediscovering the bottle of M-Bomb menthol additive I bought from TSD Shop a couple months ago.

I loaded my damp brush with the soap. It loaded very easily, picking up lots of soap out of the tub with just a few swirls and no mess (which I appreciated). I added a conservative two drops of M-Bomb to my lather bowl, trickled in a palmful of water, and then whipped up my lather as normal. The brush did an excellent job with the frankensoap creating lather.

Then I facepainted the lather. Again, the cashmere is a great knot for that, being very soft but not at all floppy. It's amazing how adding two drops of liquid can so radically change the character of an entire shave. The frankensoap felt a little cooler than normal at first, with the feeling of coolness and tingle increasing steadily throughout the shave. I have decided I like menthol - in small doses right now.

I also think M-Bomb is an ideal solution for someone like me. I can have a whole cupboard full of "normal" soaps, that will work well in any weather. Including during the majority of the year when it is "mildly chilly" out. And then, during the relatively short hot period, I can mentholate any of those soaps I want.

The Schick E2 gave me a good, error-free two pass near BBS. No grumbles from the alum. The Thayers non-alcoholic WH continued to feel mildly refreshingly cool from the residual effects of the menthol in the soap.

Hope everybody has a great weekend!

 

Razor: Timeless OC 0.95 w/El Druida Titanium & Carbon Handle
Blade: Gillette GSB (7)
Brush: El Druida Te Vigilo w/Manchurian
Soap: Nuavia Verde
Aftershave: Fine L'Orange Noir
Another close comfortable shave this evening.