DECember 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Decadent December!!!

December 4

Razor - 1959 (E4) Gillette 195 Fatboy
Blade - (1)
Pre-Shave - Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Soap - Tabac
Brush - Jayaruh #46
Post - Alum

I had already decided that the second razor for Decadent December would be the Fatboy. It's a birth year razor and I'm dialing it to 6, which is the optimal setting I've found for my shaves. I can go more aggressive, but the idea is decadence. Pair it with my favorite NOS blade - the Sharp Star from Mostochlegmash in Moscow, and it should be epic. I hadn't decided on the soap until we got into a bit of discussion earlier about the slickness of Tabac vs Stirling. Well, I've used a Stirling soap this month, and Route 66 after starting with MWF, so it's probably Tabac's turn anyway. The Fat and Tabac have been in my top two spots although Stirling has rivaled Tabac for me. We'll put aside the whole discussion and my new task of figuring these two out in order and just enjoy a great soap tonight.

Adding to the decadence - the Jayaruh #46. Nothing like holding a stylish and perfectly turned wooden handle that you know was just a plain old block of wood before @Jayaruh crafted it. The Maggard synthetic knot makes such quick work of loading and produces mounds of lather. On top of the pre-shave - with that little menthol kick just right for Menthol Monday - this was an epic lather. Slick. I mean slick. Did I mention slick?

Two passes, touch ups, quiet alum, and if it's not the baby it will do 'til the baby gets here. Another awesome shave. I'm liking this month. A lot!

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Sadly it is faux.

You are going to love that brush

Tomorrow I will "souse" my soap before using my 'stroned' razor, just keep things interesting I will palm strop in between passes.

 

Don’t forget to dry your brush and then tape your razor before touching it up on the hone.

 

I like to hone my razor au natural, I try not to tape unless necessary.

 

I have always figured that when I am washing my hands or showering, I don’t "bloom" the bar of soap first. Instead I just start rubbing it on my hands until I have enough lather to do the job. If it's a hard, dry bar of soap, I just rub a little longer. I have never understood why the same method shouldn't work with a brush and shaving soap but instead some special technique of pre-soaking the soap is required...

 

Beautiful picture, Doug!

 

Thanks very much Jim. I hope you have a great day.

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December 5, 2017
OneBlade Genesis
Feather FHS (3)
Tres Amigos Elite Ironwood with Envy White
Jeeves of Hudson St. Bay Rum
Captain’s Choice Bay Rum

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Another great shave this morning with everything just working well together. The Jeeves Bay Rum lathered easily with the Tres Amigos brush providing the much appreciated scrub. Three pass with minimal touch ups and the baby just escaped. I can tell the Feather blade is falling off but I will try to get one more shave with it tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

Excellent photograph with good looking tools Amigo.

 

Thank you Doug. Since Maya had a 6am physical therapy appointment, everybody here is up and moving early. Way to early.

 

I hope Maya is doing well. Sometimes physical therapy can be tough.

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Great photo Clint!

 

Great picture, Clint!

 

DECember 5 SOTD:

PAA Atomic Rocket Brush
Jeeves of Hudson St Bay Rum
Gillette Fatboy
Stirling Unscented PSB
CC Bay Rum

My first use of this sample @Drygulch sent me, and this is some good soap. It was slick with plenty of cushion. The lather built easily with plenty of volume. The scent was light and pleasant, but it was a lot different than any other Bay Rum. Overall, it was a very good way to get a shave started. As always, the Fatboy did a great job, and two passes resulted in a DFS. I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Just so everyone knows, I am not opposed to soaking soap.
It's your soap. Treat it how you like.

I am opposed to the term, "bloom."
People do not:
Bloom their dirty pots and pans.
Bloom their dentures.
Bloom their beans (I do like a good 16 bean soup!).

No.
They soak their dirty pots and pans.
They soak their dentures.
They soak their beans.

I started this "traditional wet shaving" back in Feb., 2008, on the Shave My Face forum. Back then people did indeed soak their soap. I even tried it for a while. The term bloom was never used. When did that term become vogue?

 

They aren’t even close. Scots Pine is straight up pine. It has a cold or wintry feeling to me, kind of like snowy, crisp balsam. Ozark Mountain has an earthy, smoky element to it that stands out. I love it, but it is very, very strong. The soap lingers a long time, and if any of it is wiped away as opposed to rinsed, it stays forever, and the aftershave is a bit too much for me. The Scots Pine is lighter, rinses away cleanly, and the aftershave dries down to a simple clean type smell very quickly. As @Linuxguile said, it doesn’t smack you as hard as I expected.

I would love to see Ozark make a move to sheep base. It has that stronger scent which seems to be necessary to cover the mutton. It would make an already awesome soap into the awesomest.

 

I think calling anything us shaving nerds do on here, “vogue”, is a stretch.

 

Cool photo & filter effect!

 

Point.

 

SOTD December 5, 2017

Prep: Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap
Blade: Schick
Razor: Schick G1 injector
Brush: JR #142 black badger
Lather: Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum
Post: Witch hazel, Fred's Iced New Spice aftershave
WTG, touch up

Wow - this Jeeves soap is the real deal! I have two of his splashes and think very highly of them. I had one of his soaps a while back but either sold or traded it off. It was Velvet Jacket which is now the Tobacco Bay Leaf soap. It's a great scent but I had another soap with a similar scent. Anyway, the return to a Jeeves soap this morning was top notch. I agree with everything Jim (@Norcalnewb) said above - this is a different bay rum scent. Quite enjoyable.

I added some menthol crystals to this cheap Old Spice and made it darn cold! That was enjoyable as well. Really nice shave all around.

Have a great day!