Wednesday June 28 - Rocket Man English Gillette Rocket / Topaz Platinum ( 2 ) 30DC LE Cashmere Maple brush Italian soft almond frankensoap Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Astringent Aftershave For my soap today, I revisited my Red Green Duct Tape Special frankensoap. In the larger tub I dipped into today, the outer layer is almost pure Cella "red tub" cream, so that was mainly what I was using. I got my usual expected outstanding performance from it today - loads of creamy lather and a great postshave feeling from the mixture of tallow, coconut oil, almond oil and some glycerin. After shaving yesterday with a Flare-Tip Rocket, I shaved today with a standard one with the solid knurled handle and knob. My impression is that the plain Rocket is a tiny bit more aggressive than the FlareTip Rocket, probably because of the slightly greater weight. Both give an easy, efficient, very smooth and quite mild shave. I could live with either as a daily driver. Two passes to a near BBS; no irritation. Tomorrow I will try out the Blue Tip. My expectation is that it will probably be milder than the Rockets due to its lighter weight. As I understand it, the difference between the Red Tip (heavy or aggressive), Blue Tip (light or mild) and Standard razors of the time was purely a matter of weight and not head geometry or blade exposure. Hope the week is rolling along well for everybody.
Rive Gauche is my favorite fougere. I've never tried Fine American Bkend so I'm curious to hear your comparison.
Razor: Gillette Flair Tip (A3) (1955) Blade: Wilkinson (4) Brush: WDC-8 w/APShave Co.Cashmere Soap: Nuavia Blu Aftershave: Fine Platinum Bowl: Boise Mudworks
So I went with this setup plus the Lucky Tiger this morning except one difference...I finally tried the Feather blade(courtesy of @clint64) and Oh My... I'm believing more and more my hypothesis that the less sharp blades I've tried have been more unpleasant due to sharpness because I had a super nice shave. No irritation, almost no burn from the alum, a nice close shave with no tugging or pulling. It just glides across my skin with no effort, slicing the hairs down. I've decided I want sharp sharp sharp. Feathers get Happy shaving everyone!
Glad you liked them. I came to the same conclusion on blades once my technique was solid. I just use Feather blades in all my DE razors. The only downside is those wax dots which are a pain in the neck.
Thanks Clint. Because there is 30 days in June and 3 Nuavia soaps my focus this month was to use each soap for 10 days.
Oh joy of joys! Look what has arrived! It is simply stunning! Thank you so much @jtspartan Jason! I wasted no time in setting the 26mm (Jason made the opening a little larger for me) Maggard synthetic knot in it! The Soap Destroyer now has a deputy! Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
I do a N/S, then a S/N, then outward from my chin. Third pass is N/S in the center of my neck (ATG) and S/N on my chin, (also ATG) that's my three passes, but sometimes I do some touch up on the neck.
Looks great Andrew. Mine arrived a few days ago. I put a 2 band finest knot in it. Guy gave me a heads up on the LM knot. I've done a couple of test lather with the 30 DC LE and will use it for a week starting Sunday. I find the handle very ergonomic, it fits my hand perfectly.
Jason gets all the kudos here, for sure! I am just honored to be a recipient if his labor and also to be a member of this amazing crew! #30DC4Life Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
The mail gods smiled upon me and in just 10 days my 30DC brush arrived! A big shout out to @jtspartan Jason, my picture does not do the brush justice, it looks fantastic. It arrived last night so today it is the star of the show. I select the razor because I thought it would look good with the brush. Today's razor was Dovo Master, it has a number of shaves since it's touch up on a Zulu Grey. This razor both takes and keeps a great edge. It still has a very smooth edge and it sharp. My usual 4 passes and no irritation and a smooth face. Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A
June 28 Gillette New SC Astra SP (2) 30DC LE figured maple handle with 24 mm APShaveCo Tuxedo knot Palmolive Classic shave cream Thayers Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Zegna Uomo EDT I took the 30DC LE brush out for its maiden voyage today. The maple handle has a nice balance and feel, and the Tuxedo knot has solid backbone and super soft tips. This is my third synthetic knot, and they continue to improve. It lathered the Palmolive shave cream like nobody's business. In fact, several brushes in the next room lathered spontaneously. This phenomenon was first observed by @RyX and has now been independently replicated. Rick and I are jointly reporting our findings in all the major scientific journals: The National Enquirer, Martha Stewart Living, Pro Wrestling Illustrated, and UFO Magazine. My sincere thanks goes to @jtspartan for crafting this very special brush for the 30DC. It will always have a special place in my den. You may recall that I tried the Palmolive for the first time a few days ago. I experienced some irritation, so I switched to KMF unscented for a few shaves until it cleared up. I went back to the Palmolive, and it is working fine for me now. I attribute the skin irritation to operator error or maybe my skin readjusting to DE shaves after an extended hiatus. I hope you all had a great day!
