April 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

TGIF

Still working the Tabac and today I used a nice half hollow Japanese razor. It has a lot of shaves on it so before it's next use I will take it to the pasted strops.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ +Sharpness A

Razor: Suzuki Niles
Strop: T. Miller
Brush: Etsy Silver tip
Pre: Nivea
Soap: Tabac
AS: Specik AS, Edsin Jagger ASB
Scent: YSL Kouros


Spring has sprung! I live on a small island in the center of Seoul. There is a road that goes around the island and it is lined with cherry blossom trees. When they bloom, which is now there is a big cherry blossom festival. Here is a pic

 

Great shave picture and terrific picture of the cherry blossoms!

 

Are those ornamental for the pretty, or real fruit bearing cherry trees? I ask because having lived in Atlanta for 20 years I grew to dislike Bradford "pear" trees. Pretty flowers for all of 15 minutes or a week. No fruit. Growing up near Chicago many neighbors had real cherry trees, along with apples of many varieties.

Great looking shave set up! Keep beating that Tabac. It has to succumb.
Does the YSL have much clove?

 

I may be in trouble then.

I have quietly PIF'd away a few items. So there's been a start.

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Wonderful picture of the cherry blossoms.


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Remember -- "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single PIF."... Or something like that...

 

Thursday April 5 - committing Science on samples

Gillette Black Beauty on 4 / Gillette 7 O'clock Super Stainless ( 2)
Simpsons CH2 Synthetic brush
The Dry Dock shave bowl
B+M's Barrister's Reserve Cool sample in a ton of water
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original and Florida Water

Jason @jtspartan said yesterday that the Reserve soap base can hold more water than any other soap he has. So I decided to test that tonight. I took the bit of soap left in my soap bowl for tonight's shave, and I started off by drowning it. I buried it completely in a puddle of water to the point where I was sure I would never get anything but soupy, slightly sudsy water. And then I whipped it with the Soap Destroyer. The result? A full bowl of lather!

The lather was runnier than I prefer -- more like what the SR guys seem to prefer -- but it was definitely lather, and it was slick and it worked.

It was certainly an eye-opener to see just how much water that Reserve soap can really hold.

Other than that, it was a good two-pass shave with no grumbles from the alum and a pleasant finish from the Thayers WH topped with Florida Water.

Hope everyone is heading for a good weekend!

 

SOTD 4.5.2018
Face Shave (2 days growth)
Brush: Marvy boar
Soap: Williams Mug Shaving Soap
Razor: GEM Junior
Blade: GEM Stainless (1)
Post-shave: Assured WH, Nivea Men Sensitive Cooling PS Balm, Family Dollar Spice AS

Late afternoon shave today with a GEM Jr. This particular razor was one of several vintage razors my wife gave me for Valentine's Day. Fuzzy @wchnu says this one is from a "G3" kit... a wartime razor, blades and travel kit. The cool thing about this kit is that I believe it has never been used. The box of GEM blades is still wrapped in cellophane. The razor head showed no signs of rust, pitting, loss of plating... the bakelite handle is in perfect condition. So.... today, I believe it's safe to say the razor made its shave debut.


For the record, I didn't open the box of GEM blades which are in the kit. The Williams provided good lather and fine protection as I guided the razor across my face. I did two primary passes, and I should have left it at that. I received 3 weepers on my neck as I did a little clean up there. That's what happens when one gets greedy.

Overall, a very pleasant shave.

Happy shaves everyone!
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Now that is a fantastic vintage you have there. I love that you also went with the "drug store" type after shave too. Family Dollar Old Spice. You're the man!

 

I’m still acting up on reading the thread, so someone my have shared it already, but check out last May’s thread. There is a video of an idiot with a razor blade taped to his finger in the first post, and it went downhill from there.

 

I think I need to go back through our past MAYhem's, Cinco de Julio and other assorted dates and pull together a "best of" of some of those. Something we can archive and point to proudly (??) for all our accomplishments.

 

Arko Adjustable April!!

April 5

Razor - 1959 (E4)Gillette Fatboy (Me)
Blade - (2)
Soap - D.R. Harris & Co. Marlborough
Brush - Stirling Pro Type Synthetic
Post - Alum, Marlborough Cologne

Staying with the adjustable theme but deviating from Arko tonight. @Bama Samurai left me a gift of a stick of D.R. Harris & Co. Marlborough soap and cologne. The only soap stick I've ever used is Arko so it was fun just to try another one. I used it just like I do the Arko stick, wet the face, rub the soap, face lather and......no problem at all. Just as easy as Arko and on the second pass it proved just how luxurious it can get. When I was done I squeezed a full handful out of the brush. Very cushy, very slick. I like it.

The scent is subtle but very nice. After the shave I spritzed on a very light shot of the cologne before approaching the wife for her opinion. She loved it. Even with the spritz it was still subtle and very nice. I could even wear this one to work without worrying about offending someone or kicking off allergies. I like!

The shave itself with the wide open Fatty and Rapira was a baby bringing beauty. Quiet alum, no issues, just a fantastic shave with a great after-feel from the soap as well. Hard to beat any part of that tonight.

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I just got to see that

 

Thanks, Neal. I tried to create a shave routine with products that would come close to those used in the early 40s.

 

Beautiful set. I have pif'd a few of these that I was sure were nos. Sorry to hear about the weepers. A little practice will sort that out!! As an aside that head also came on a baton style handle. Veddy much worth the hunt also!!

 

Bully!!!!!

 

If some of you have never used the schick L's let me get you in on the secret. These shave great! Today was a Schick Grip with a plain ole Personna blade. Veddy nice shave. Good face lather with the old ladys purse scented Tabac cream too.



Edit**** I just noticed the F photo bombed the L.

 

Well worth the hunt!!

 

APRIL Stirling Focus

Stirling Gentleman sample
30 DC LE Cashmere brush
Suribachi and cool water
Gillette Red Tip, Kai blade
AquaVelva Musk AS Cologne
Popped another Stirling sample into an OS mug for tonight's adventure. I left several of the samples in a stack for more than a week and one of them has a decidedly pine scent that about overcame the others. This one in particular must have been on top since it maintained it's individuality. Quick wetting of the APShaveCo synth knot and the soap loaded easily. Interesting scent - tobacco, vanilla, amber, and musk. The 3rd one is the only I have no clear mental picture of. In keeping with my Decadent Lather Policy I loaded the brush in the mug and went to the bowl. As I started incorporating cool water it seemed like I hadn't loaded enough. Easy fix; scrape most of the soap out of the knot into the bowl & load more. More water, more, more! Got plenty that time and a heaping glossy mess of suds. This months side Focus is moving DE blades from previous to next razor in the rotation. No Blades Left Behind. An unusual occurrence when the Kai was headed to the Aristo. It wouldn't fit over the center thingie. (What's the name of that post in the middle of a TTO DE?) Like the blade slot was cut too small end to end. Rather than fight it I went on to number next. Lathered up, razor ready in hand...phone rang. My neighbor letting me know there's a huge raccoon on my front porch. Several folks have spotted it the last week. Sometimes I enjoy a pipe sitting in the dark on that porch. Just happened to have a long handled pointed shovel at the front door. The SWMBO would frown on that if I had one. Porch light on, see the neighbor who's pointing down the driveway between our houses. Didn't see the 'coon. Going to borrow dad's live trap tomorrow. Might make me a Davy Jones cap. Back to shaving - the lather actually held on quite well but I refreshed and got my three + passes before any other exciting events transpired. Had a bottle of AV Musk that I'd decided I didn't like, but comparing it to the S.Gentleman it has much the same sweetness and paired well. A DFS +/- with good hydration from tallow, lanolin, & shea butter lather left on longer that usual. Did you know Urban Raccoons are much larger and better fed than their rural cousins?
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

Great picture and nice report. I have never used DR Harris soap; I may have to put it on the list to try -- a decade from now, when I have whittled my current inventory down enough to see over the pile...

Also glad to know you are obviously settled in and unpacked enough to be able to enjoy a relaxing shave!

Enjoyed both the picture, the report and the story about the big one that got away. I assume Urban Raccoons are bigger because of more plentiful food in the urban garbage cans, much of it quite high in protein.