DECember 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Decadent December!!!

December 6

Razor - 1959 (E4) Gillette 195 Fatboy
Blade - (3)
Pre-Shave - Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Soap - Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum
Brush - 30DC LE
Post - Alum

A bit late tonight but here we go. Day three with the Fatboy and Sharp Star and I'm giving Jeeves of Hudson Street's Bay Rum its second go around. My initial impression on the first shave with it was positive. So it gets another round to see how positive. I grabbed the LE brush to help with the lather because, after all, decadent is the destination.

The Jeeves impresses me. Very easy to get a great lather out of it and it's slick. SLICK slick. The Bay Rum scent is quite unique as they have muted the normal Bay Rum scent with some additions. Patchouli, orange and vanilla to be exact. It's quite delightful even for someone like myself who likes the traditional Bay Rum scents. You don't lose the Bay Rum. You mute and mix it for a spicy delight. How's that for a description?

The third shave with the Sharp Star wasn't quite as outstanding as the first two but I blame the guy holding the razor. I was concentrating on the soap and got a little heavy handed with the Fatboy. A little alum burn on my neck and one very small nick. Still a great finish and I have to call it decadent. If I'm the reason the shave isn't perfect I can't blame the gear. To make myself feel better about it I squeezed out the brush at the end and just enjoyed the feel of the full handful of lather I got out of it. Slick. SLICK slick. And very cushiony. Another one I'll have to include in my den.

In other news - a new shiny got dropped on my doorstep today. It's a loaner I'll be doing a few shaves with to reboot my blog with a review. More on that later - and no - I'm not telling you what it is. It's sitting her blinding me with chrome as I hunch over and start whispering "precious". I'm ok, really I am.

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Good enough that I'm considering shaving with only 27 hours elapsed since last time. There is a down side to improving technique - it takes a while for the beard to stubble up!

 

I had the same thoughtful gift waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home from work. Thank you Adam @Drygulch for your generosity!
I agree John, the Key Lime smells fantastic.

 

When are you joining the Dark Side? June 2018? Next week?

What's up? Jump in the pool.

 

Decadent: self-indulgent

To me, that means I've been enjoying my life, shaving daily. Playing lots of bass. Smoking lots of pipes. Burning through rolls of Reynolds. Will post a wall o' pix soon.

@NCoxSTL said it's always time....I agree...so while I am busy hashing out the minutiae of geopolitical intrigue and sampling fine aged VIrginia tobacco...you know what time it is....all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a great Thursday!

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Grail shave time. One ATG everyday for a week.

I know, you can call me out and make me do it, too.

 

Moi?
Nah, still having too much fun playing with different DE and SE.
I’m afraid that if I ‘jumped in the pool’, it would turn out to be the shallow end of the gene pool...

 

I did the whole progression first. Straight up mastered every safety style, like shave in the dark mastery. Realized that all razors were the same. Jumped in the pool after 15 months of safety razor wandering, If you're not currently dicing up your face with things like Schick E and G, straights are a matter of skin stretching and a leap of faith. Honestly, more tedious than dangerous, and the hard part is getting BBS, not avoiding injury.

In time....

The reasons I tried straights:

@lindyhopper66 's SR Daily thread, and specifically the photos of one @HolyRollah ; the confidence gained by watching @Drygulch succeed fairly quickly, and the generosity and continual encouragement of @Keithmax.

 

Fat, Tabac. R66, Arko, Jeeves. Your top five, in no particular order?

 

Throw Stirling in the mix and you have my top six. In no particular order. But I still have a few others that are vying for a spot on the list. So many soaps, so little time. That's the problem with shaving. You only need to do it once a day.

 

I've always liked swords and knives of all kinds so in some ways straight razors would be a natural for me. The truth is though that I simply cannot see myself bothering with all the daily stropping and regular honing - just too much maintenance.

I suppose that leaves shavettes. I do have a Magic and I used it for one blood-free shave during this year's Mayhem. I couldn't quite decide if the concentration required was relaxing or tedious...

For now, I feel that safety razors give me a decent balance between sharp object, ease of use and especially lack of maintenance. With, of course, a good shave resulting.

 

I’m also into sharp things. Part of what I love about straights is actually the maintenance. Depending on how relaxing you find the sharpening process for knives, stropping a straight can also be relaxing. The absolute focus required to shave with a straight is a from of meditation for me. They are also just flat out cool. Let me know if you would like to borrow my loaner set. Strop and two razors for a month or so to see if you like it.

 

Gem Clog Pruf
Gem Stainless (1)
Semogue BC Texugo
Stirling Rose
Soap Commander Love ASB

It's all coming up roses today.

 

Thursday morning December 7 - Mystery Cream Challenge

Delta Echo Ink black Gillette Black Beauty on 4 / Topaz Platinum (1)
30DC LE Maple Cashmere synthetic brush
Vlasta mystery cream F
Alum

A pleasant shave today with good equipment and a fine cream. I am guessing that this one is LEA or something very much like it. I may put an aftershave on later more for the scent than anything else.

 

December 7, 2017
OneBlade Genesis
Modified Gem PTFE (1)
Ever Ready 100T with TGN Finest
MdC
Myrsol Agua Balsamica

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This week has gone by fairly quickly. A change in some of the hardware and software today. The brush is my first restoration project, an Ever Ready 100T reknotted with a TGN Finest. The software is the original MdC with its herbal and lavender scent. After a run with the Feather FHS blades, I am back to using a modified Gem PTFE blade. The little Ever Ready is so small compared to most of my brushes providing a real change of pace face lathering. Three passes and touch ups along my jaw line and lower neck ended in a near perfect shave. The first shave on the Gem is not as smooth or as close as the first shave with the Feather. A splash of Myrsol Agua Balsamica and I hope I am ready for the day. I hope everyone has a great Thursday.

 

December 7th, a date which will live in infamy

Prep: Hot shower
Coffee: Wegmans Traditional Medium, black
Tunes: Pandora Shuffle
Soap: Irisch Moos
Brush: Omega 11574
Razor: Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Super Max Blue Pro, day 4, 3 passes, no weepers
Post: Cold water rinse, Avon Wild Country ASB, hand strop blade and drop it into next razor up
Stink-Pretty: Avon Wild Country cologne
Moustache Maintenance: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Wax

A pretty darn good shave. Paid attention to my technique and unlike yesterday with three weepers, none today.

 

Wonderful picture, Clint!

 

SOTD December 7, 2017

Prep: Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap
Blade: Schick
Razor: Schick G4 '66' injector
Brush: Surrey two-band badger
Lather: Soap Commander Vision
Post: Witch hazel, Speick aftershave
WTG, touch up

Nice and easy shave with the Schick 66. Straightforward with solid results. I really like the bright and minty scent of this Vision scent by Soap Commander. Incredible lather and slickness and post shave feel. Really enjoyable all around.

I am with @clint64 as far as watching the weather for my area. I am west of him near Birmingham, Alabama and we have a chance of some wintry precipitation starting in the early morning tomorrow. Even the mention of something wintry causes panic around here. The roads through all the hills and valleys just can't handle anything wet and slick and no one knows how to drive on it. So we'll wait and see what happens! I know the rest of the country makes fun of us in the south for things like this, but honestly we have no skill set or widespread equipment for dealing with winter weather.

Anyway, let's all have a great day!

 

DECember 7 SOTD:

PAA Atomic Rocket Brush
MWF
Ever-Ready 1914
Stirling Unscented PSB
Proraso Red AS

The decadence continues with this great set up. Two passes and DFS, what more can I say? I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Great picture, Perry!