Nov 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus

Thanks, Charlie.

 

Thank you Charlie. I am feeling much better.

 

Thanks Charlie, from the looks of things the head profile on the 34c looks a lot like your Weber. I bet they shave pretty similarly

 

Jason, congrats on catching the baby! I'm not familiar with Chatillon Lux Unconditional Surrender. Can you describe the scent? I hope you get to the bottom of your irritation problem.


Yeesh, Charlie. I'm not very good at describing scents at the best of time, and certainly not ones as complex as Chatillon Lux. I find that Unconditional Surrender is in the same scent ballpark as Gratiot League Sq. Tobacco and amber are constants. I beleive U.S. has vetiver listed as well, but I don't get that off of it. I'd describe it as a complex, warm tobacco and vanilla scent with lots of other influences. Not floral and not citrusy.
The good news is with a description that poor, you'll never ask me for a scent description again...
FYI- I got Bon Vivant in today, and that is quite a bit different than either of these two. Much more of a citrus vibe.
One thing I can say confidently is that CL aftershaves have the best face feel and longevity of any splash I have. Just fantastic products.

 

NOVember MMXVII A.D.
No Variation - Days Twenty-Four through Twenty-Seven



Back after a nice trip. Day 133 on the Challenge. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a terrific Tuesday!
​

 

But......but........but.........imagine how much more you could sell if I was the one pushing it!!!!! Mountains of magical ice cream that would create mountains of money for everyone involved!!

 

NOVember!!!

November 27 - Another @Drygulch Challenge!

Razor - Chinese Double Handled Blade Clippy
Blade - (1)
Pre-shave - Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Soap - Fatbac
Brush - Stirling Synthetic
Post - Alum, Styptic

Apparently, using the Aristocrat with a Voskhod wasn't risky enough for Adam. But, nothing usually is. So, he put forth the challenge today to use a modern Chinese Double Handled Blade Clippy razor with the Voskhod. What? You mean you've never heard of the modern Chinese Double Handled Blade Clippy razor? You probably have one somewhere around your house right now. No, don't look in your shaving cabinet. Try the junk drawer. Try office supplies. Yeah, we're talking about a binder clip.

Now, I have to say that at first glance this looks like a pretty ingenious way to use a blade if you were ever stranded and the world had ended and you wanted to look good for the final round of the zombie attack and had nothing except the blade and an office desk. But once you put the blade in the clip you immediately begin to notice problems. To begin with.....will it really hold the blade solidly in place under shaving conditions? Second, how much is the blade going to wobble and chatter? Third, how in the world should you grip it? Fourth, what do you do with the big lip on it that makes the Feather SS look like a wedge?

Well, we'll find out. Adam did pull off a shave with one of these back in MAYhem, and did bleed for his efforts. I'll try to avoid that. A frankenrazor like this one deserves a frankensoap to match up so I chose Fatbac. Besides, it's super slick and consistent. And, I lathered up with the pre-shave soap leaving it nice and wet for the lather to go over. I want no friction if I can get it. Finally - lathered up, Couble Handled Blade Clippy is in hand and off we go.

The immediate issue was angle. I mean instantly a problem. I was trying to hold one clip while using two fingers on top of the clip for some weight and had to play with it a lot to get the blade in position to cut. Awkward but I got a start. Started on the right cheek and loved the noise I was getting as it proved something was happening. Just couldn't get comfy with that grip so I switched. Held both ends just behind the blade. That gave me good control except for one problem. When my finger slipped into the blade that was inside the clip it caused the bottom corner to wobble just enough to dig in and...........yep.........nice little cut on the cheek. I felt it. Ouch. As in ouch. Seriously. That hurt. And, the blood began to run. Oh well, keep going. Not like I hit an artery.

I went back to the clip handle hold and kept working with it. I had found while checking the cut that I was getting good reduction before that happened. So I slowed down and just worked the right side all the way down my neck. Then the neck under my chin. Then switched to the left hand. Surprisingly, my left hand wasn't any more difficult than the right. I think my brain was giving me a break figuring that even trying this was a sign of potential therapy sessions. No more cuts during that entire first pass. I rinsed, put a little pressure on the cut and was happy to see it already sealing. Went ahead and did another pass trying some XTG. Between the XTG and more WTG I managed to get to a passable CCS. Called it good for this thing, picked up my Aristocrat and finished it off to a nice DFS with a quick pass.

This was a fun shave, although pretty tense too but probably more because of the early cut. Once I'm bleeding it's always tough to stay calm and work through the shave with something like this. But, I made it. And I have a fancy new razor to add to my den too!

As for the spin this gives Technique Trumps Tools - yes, you can use a binder clip as a razor should you need/want/have to. However, of all the things I've tried, this would be my last resort. Even the blade on a bolt was easier to control and didn't draw blood. This makes a popsicle stick razor look like a finely honed vintage straight!

​

 

@wristwatchb
You need to get that PRC back into shape Charlie. Mine is one of my favorites.

 

Thank you, Charlie!

 

To me, it is like the inside of a nice humidor.

 

There you go. I'll refer future scent description requests your way, Jim!

 

Tuesday shave

Today is test soap K and well it was not as wet nor slick as I like for a straight. It kept drying out on my face no matter how much water I added. The edge was very smooth and sharp. I was careful, maybe too careful and finished without any irritation but just short of BBS.

Irritation A+ Closeness A- Smoothness A+ Sharpness A

Razor: PRC western grind kami
Stop: SRD
Brush: Elite Razor Manchurian
Pre: Nivea
Soap: “K”
AS: Speick AS, L’Occitane Cade
Scent: MDCI Chypre Palatin

 

That's a really nice wooden bowl you keep your Fatbac soap in. I think your razor is lacking something in elegance though. I can't quite put my finger on what the problem is -- maybe it needs to be shipped off to Delta Echo for a custom finish to bring out the true beauty of its design?

 

Welcome back Chris.

 

At least you survived the experiment without too much damage.

 

Beautiful Kami. I had forgotten PRC made one.

 

Congrats on completing your dare - without a trip to the ER! I still stand by my initial assessment....you ain't right in the head! After all, it was only a "regular" dare, not a double dog dare. Unfortunately I didn't think about it until too late, otherwise I would've asked if you were going to use the big ol' chunk of black soap - the stuff you said that might harm your razor, otherwise you'd try it.

At least you bled from a "stunt shave", which is almost expected. Last Tuesday I had a bit of a technique error that caused me to get three stitches. Not from shaving, thankfully. I was removing the protective cover from a pizza cutter and slipped. Oops.

 

November 28

Weber SS
Gillette Silver Blue (5)
Simpson Chubby 2 Super
Mike's Natural Soap - unscented
Thayers Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and CC Bay Rum

 

Well done, sir! Mayhem is now bleeding into other months.

 

Thanks guys. I'm definitely interested in this one. Once I finish off one of my current bottles of aftershave (it may be awhile), this one could be a replacement for it.