October 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Welcome! Just pick a setup, and we'll talk you through. The good news... You have no bad habits! This should be easy. Good luck!

 

OCtober Oleo and Odd Balls!!

October 29

Razor - Gillette NEW LC (Delta Echo)
Blade - (2)
Soap - Blood on Steel Meetup LE by Jeeves
Brush - Jayaruh #230
Post - Alum

Well this turned out to be a banner day around Cartel HQ. Typical boring Monday at work among the mattresses followed by a rather slow night of dashing door to door with food and finally home to get the mail. I was expecting my Schick Injector blades today and they were indeed in the mailbox. But....what is this other package? The only other thing I'm expecting is Jayaruh #230. Jim @Jayaruh mailed it Saturday afternoon. I figure it will find Missouri from North Carolina by Wednesday. Well, let's just say that whoever Jim knows at the Post Office apparently owes him big.....or else Jim is holding something over his head. The brush arrived. One business day. Basically next day service on a first class package. Unbelievable. But I'll take it!

So, before shaving, I had to unwrap my newest addition to the den. It's a beauty!

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It's a bit smaller than I thought but I'm fine with that. It compares favorably with my Vie-Long 12601 horse for size, and is close to the Omega 10066 as well. Feels really good in the hand. Of course, I had to let its brothers out of the rack to say hello. They were about to tip the thing over trying to get out.

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There they are. In order of arrival in my den the Jayaruh #46, #54 and #230.

So, with the brothers all settled down and enjoying each other's company, it was time to get down to the shave of the day. And, of course, #230 gets the honors of the first shave in the house on his first day here. After a short deliberation I decided the most appropriate soap to break him in with would be Blood on Steel by Jeeves. The LE soap just for us seems the right choice. Still using the NEW LC with Voskhod for the rest of the setup.

Quick load with the new brush and I was able to go for three full passes and have enough left for a fourth pass with ease. Nice work from a smaller brush. Loved the feel, the look and how it handled. Got him all rinsed and put to bed between his big brothers. I can't be sure but I think I heard some mumbling in the dark in there. Something about "wait until you see the stupid stuff he does in May". Then again, I might be hallucinating.

Thanks to @Jayaruh for another fine piece of functional shaving art! And I hope you all have as good a day tomorrow as I had tonight!

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I don't think I like it enough to use it as a Mayhem razor...

That's where I think this razor is headed.

 

OCMM's almost qualify as MAYhem gear new out of the box. With a missing blade stop? Yep. It's definitely over the line. To make it exceed expectations? Use the cheap carbon blades from Gem.

 

On second thought, this last May (or was it last year, I forget), I shaved with a cheap plastic flat-blade paint scraper fitted with a Gem PTFE blade. Compared to that, how bad can the MMOC missing a bladestop really be? My personal recollection is that the paint scraper provided a better shaving experience, but maybe that's just my prejudices showing. Perhaps this coming May, I should do a comparison shave between them to find a definitive answer... For Science, yada yada yada...

 

williams is a good level. i use it to keep me honest..not old enough to know if de shavers in the 50/60s had as good of soaps or blades as today..we could all be lacking......

 

You... Can't... Mustn't... Throw it away

Great start! You'll love the Gillette Tech when you get there! For now, I would:

1) Lather your whole face. (By the way are you bowl or face lathering?)
2) Perform one, single pass from North to South.
3) Rinse with warm/hot water followed by cold water.
4) Apply with hazel to your whole face, rinse your face after cleaning your stuff.
5) Avoid aftershave due to your acne perhaps (I only say this because many aftershave balms are a little oily.)

You... Can't... Mustn't... Throw it away

Take off the other blade stop?

 

Thanks, Jason.

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Well if you're going to cry that hard about it, James, I will keep it for Mayhem. Taking the other bladestop off is right out, however. (Besides, I already checked . I can't recycle brass in the household recycling bin. Which means dropping brass off at a metal salvage yard -- hardly worth it for one razor...)

 

Congrats on the first shave. Things will get much easier with practice.


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October 30 SOTD:

Razor: PAA Ascension SS
Blade: Voskhod
Brush: PAA Atomic Rocket
Lather: Stirling British Leather
Aftershave: Stirling British Leather
Additional Care:
Stirling Unscented PSB

This was the 20th shave on this blade, and I do think it is time to swap it. Still got a DFS, but it wasn't near as smooth. The Stirling was as good as ever, and the bottom of the tub is starting to show a bit. I hope everyone has a great day!

 

SOTD October 30, 2018

Prep: Cold water and Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap
Blade: Schick
Razor: Schick G1
Brush: Zenith B02 boar
Soap: Williams Mug Soap
Post: Witch hazel, Jeeves of Hudson Street Tobacco Bay Leaf aftershave

I'm committing to Williams through tomorrow, then I'll reevaluate. Today's shave was much improved from yesterday. Williams doesn't have good post-shave feel, or really any at all. It's fairly drying on me, so that was part of yesterday's complaint and today's. However, Williams does get the job done as far as providing a fairly slick backdrop to shave with. As I use it though I'm reminded of the quality of some of my other soaps and the wonderful post-shave they provide: The Fat, Stirling, Soap Commander, etc.

So, at least one more Williams shave. Pretty good results today.

We have a concert tonight. Been working on concert music since the last week of August during our class periods most days. Some days we have to do marching stuff, but the majority is spent in concert band mode. The performance will be off-campus at a local church because our auditorium is deep in the throes of set construction for a production of The Wizard of Oz in a couple of wees. So we had to haul equipment over there yesterday afternoon and will have to bring it back tonight once we're finished. We are taking two field trips over there today to rehearse, one for each group, so it'll be a busy but fun day. Wish you all the same!

 

Practice will makes all things better. Glad you're here and we'll do our best to help you out.

 

Welcome!

Despite the issues, congratulations on your first shave. Mazel Tov! I suspect that most of us, if we could remember that far back, could probably tell similar stories. (I turned 15 in the summer of '76, between my Freshman and Sophomore years of High School. TBH, I don't remember much of what happened then other than some vague Bicentennial recollections and lots of HS crap. (I was *not* one of the popular kids.)) Some random observations...

- Don't sweat the idea of having to shave every day. Everyone's beard growth is different and some shave every other day or some other interval.
- At this stage, I'd probably say to go with a single pass until you're more comfortable with the process.
- Continuing from the above, be careful about obsessing over a spot which you don't think is close enough. It's too easy to overshave that area and that's when bad things can happen.
- That said, all of us get nicks from time to time. Sometimes, it's because we get distracted; sometimes, it's because of minute changes in our skin.
- Personally, I'd probably stick with the Gillette (which one?) and save the Gem for later.
- Hopefully, you're not getting too much negative feedback from your parents based on this experience. If so, remember that they mean well and are don't want to see you hurt. I'm going to go ahead and assume that they are probably from a generation which already thought that the DE razor had gone the way of the Dodo. Your grandfather probably started shaving with a very similar setup.

Please let us know more about your setup such as which Gillette and what blade you were using. We may have suggestions for small hardware changes that can also make a big difference.

 

That's awesome, Jim. Kudos for jumping in and serving for a great cause. You might consider a 4th pass on your next shave.

 

Clint, you'd make it quite a ways into the year if you used a different razor and brush combo every day. With your collection, that would be some very cool combinations.

 

I was thinking that if you took the other blade stop off, you would end up with a blade that partially rotates...

Deep promo voice: "The partial rotation of the blades follow the contours of your face, giving you the closest shave of your life"

 

Great picture, Jim! Glad you're enjoying the Ascension.

Have fun tonight, Perry!

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OCtober 30th
Razor: Gillette New LC
Blade: SuperMax Blue Diamond (3)
Brush: Maseto Finest badger 30mm
Pre-shave: Stirling Mentholated
Soap: WK Merchant of Tobacco
Lucky Tiger face tonic
AS: WK Merchant of Tobacco

Tobacco Tuesday!

Great shave this morning! The usual two pass with touch up. Not much else to report.

Have a great day, gentlemen!

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Congrats, Michael, on your first shave, and welcome to the 30DC. Stick with it, and the shaves will get better with practice. Regardless of the razor you use, use very little pressure and just wipe the shaving cream off of your face with the blade. Experiment with the blade angle...when you have it right, you should not feel any pulling or tugging. The blade edge should be almost parallel with your skin surface. You want the blade to slice the hairs and not scrape your skin. You don't have to overthink the blade angle, though. You'll get a feel for what works soon enough. Stop shaving after one pass for awhile until your technique develops.

Aside from a couple of dudes names Declan and Logan and a couple of others from Texas and California, you're one of our youngest members. Much older guys, like @jtface, are here to provide advice and encouragement!