April 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Nice shot Perry!

Very nice Clint! Time to put the nail in the Bigelo coffin!

Enjoy your time with the kinds, Charlie!

Excellent shot, Jim!

Awesome setup, Mark!

 

Thank you, Andrew!

 

Monday April 9 - sampling Menthol Monday edition

Pal adjustable on notch 2 / Personna (? But too many)
Semogue Owners Club cherrywood Tuxedo brush
The Dry Dock shave bowl
Soapy Bathman Fall at the Cabin sample
Alum and Soapy Bathman Cup of Joe menthol balm

I put too much water in the sample and the lather was runnier than I like. Still creamy and protective though. I don't know how long the blade had been in the razor but it definitely felt rough. Despite the rough blade and runny lather, two passes brought me a BBS, there was no blood and the alum had little to say. I guess the soap did its job well even labouring under these handicaps.

For Menthol Monday, I finished off with the strongly mentholated version of the Cup of Joe balm. I now have a face that is smooth, soft, smells of espresso and feels like I buried it in a snowbank. Or a bucket of iced coffee...

 

SOTD April 9th


Schick Adjustable Type M
Schick Proline B-20(3)
Italian Barber Amici
Doug Korn Stubby (35mm, Carrier Class)
Stirling Mentholated Pre-shave Soap
Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill PSB

Three items got their first use today. Fist up was the Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave soap. I lathered it up in my hands and applied it to my face just before begining to load my brush and build my lather. The slight cooling sensation felt great and it may just be in my mind ( or it may just be that a little extra prep made a difference) but I feel like it really helped prep the whiskers for a smooth, slick shave. The big 35mm Doug Korn brush had no problems loading up the Amici in the 4" tin that I re-homed it to and whipped up a warm scuttle full of lather in no time. I scrubbed the lather into my face prior to the first pass and it picked up some of the menthol from the pre-shave and it stuck around throughout the shave which was a pleasant surprise. Lastly I set my early Schick Adjustable to 7 loaded with a Schick Proline and went to work, super smooth shave. Even on 7 the razor was still pretty mild, but after three passes a DFS+ shave was waiting for me so I guess it did it's job. I fished with some Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill for that wonderful burst of bright lemon scent and temporary face freeze. Have a great day my friends!

 

Terrific report, Andrew! I can't see your picture unfortunately. That happens on my work computer sometimes.

I've been using the Stirling mentholated pre-shave almost every shave since October. I lather it in my hands, scrub it around my face, rinse it off and then face lather the soap or cream. Today I went without it as a test (even though my shave post says I used it....whoops) and I could tell a difference. I get better results when I use it. It seems like the menthol has worn off a good bit now as it's six months old and sits out on the counter perpetually. But that's a minor thing.....the best part part is that it works well and makes good differences in my shaves.

 

I didn't rinse it off, and was happy that some of the menthol carried through to the rest of the shave. I'm glad that you perceive a benefit too, I was a little worried that it was just the placebo effect.

 

Thank you Andrew. One more shave will likely be the end of the Bigelow.

 

Another great write up John. I am finding these daily reports very informative. Thank you for the effort.

 

Great report Andrew. That brush looks fantastic.

 

Thank you Clint!

 

That's partially why I chose to not use it today. I've been using it almost exclusively for half a year now and wanted to see if dropping it made a difference. It did. The shave overall was still fine but it's a little slicker and more enjoyable with the Stirling pre-shave.

 

By 'clean' I was referring to no spots/rash/irritation, not closeness of shave. I believe that the witch hazel is helping my skin.

 

Thank you, Andrew!

 

Great picture, Andrew! That brush is massive!

 

Thank you Jim!

 

Sunday Evening Shave

Been ill and a bit bored and wanted to focus on something for 45min so I used the following

* Feather Club Artist SS
* Feather Proguard blade
* Trumper's Sandalwood shaving creme
* Armani Code Aftershave balm
* Trumper badger brush

Shave was pretty solid once I worked out the angle. Feather Clubs tend to work better for me with a very almost skin hugging angle. The curve of the shaver pushes the skin and raises the hairs.

Bit of burn with the alun block. Did a WTG and ATG although in places like the upper lip could only manage XTG.

Armani Code aftershave balm is ok, but not very refreshing, nowhere near Trumper's skin food.

I reckon with a bit of work the Club could easily be a daily driver.

They've released some interesting blades with a bit more safety in them. I'm always aware I'm putting a blade much sharper than I can hone to my throat.

All-in-all a great first shave with this.



Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

Weather permitting, I'm looking at 9 straight days of very manly aftershaves coming up, beginning tomorrow. 6 of the 9 will be choices from TSD.

 

I have way too many razors (although none I'd want to lose or give away), an obscene amount of brushes, and enough soap to shave the entire population of North American Bison for the next millenia, at which point I may have the leftovers air dropped in Africa to help with the unshaven water buffalo problem there. Now to my surprise and shame, I find out that may possibly have the lowest number of razor blades on hand in the entire 30DC! I've never kept more than 100 around.

 

Ohh, I think you can relax on the # of blades. I'll be happy to compete with any 30 DC member in that category. I like the ones I have, but it isn't near to 100.

 

Ever Ready 1912 (Made in England) - Day 4
Blade - GEM Stainless (3)
Brush - Bluebeards Doubloon
Lather - Proraso White
Post - Witch Hazel & Arko Natural Cream

No nicks or cuts (winning there). Cheeks and under the nose feels good, my neck feels about as good as it ever has done with no irritation in sight. The only area that is really posing much of challenge in terms of smoothness (it looks clean) is my jawline and directly underneath my chin. Really liking this razor!