November 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Nice setup and photo, Jim! Have a great Sunday!

 

Sounds interesting. Thanks, Jim.

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Awesome photo, Jason! Top notch gear as well...It all looks perfect together.

 

No guts, no glory. But.....less chance of a bad combo too. Discretion is the better part of valor, however, though we see so little discretion around here sometimes.

 

Great shave and photo Jason


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Great picture and lineup Jim. The razor looks fantastic.


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Thank you, Bruce!

 

Thank you, Clint!

 

Bruce, the hang time for me is relatively short...maybe an hour or so. I don't load up too heavily on aftershave at the request of my Bride. Platinum is based on Creed Aventus. Once I use up one of my existing colognes, I may spring for a small bottle of Aventus. It's kinda pricey, so I'm not in a big hurry. L'Orange Noir is based on Terre d'Hermes, which I already have as a parfum (but it's a manly parfum ) to pair with it. I consider both of these to be my "modern" aftershaves as opposed to "classics" like Alt-Innsbruck, Captain's Choice Bay Rum, Floid Vigoroso, and Pinaud Clubman. It will take me a long time to work through my aftershaves, but I'd repurchase both of these Fine scents when I run out.

 

I poked around that page. Stainless steel cap & baseplate. The price is comparable to retail of 50-60 years ago. The packaging does have the Gillette logo and copyright symbol. I didn't see the baseplate stamped in the traditional manner. Possible piracy shenanigans or produced for other than U.S. market? Photo from the website below.

 

November 4

Gillette Z-3 Super Speed
Voskhod (1)
Rudy Vey Chubby handle w/Shavemac two-band silvertip knot
Le Père Lucien - unscented
Alum, Thayers Lavender witch hazel, Trumper Coral Skin Food, and unrefined shea butter

I enjoyed another fantastic two-pass shave with this set up. The Super Speed provides a nice, close shave, with a nary a bit of irritation. I really like using it, and I think Voskhod blades were made for this razor. When the angle is right, you cannot feel the blade cutting whiskers. The RV Shavemac brush has tons of backbone, super soft tips. and makes quick work of soaps and creams.

Drum roll, please! @Drygulch I finished off containers of LPL soap and Trumper Coral Skin Food. Both products were solid performers, but I wouldn't repurchase either of them. I'm not incredibly fond of the Coral Skin Food scent, and it offers no skin conditioning benefit over and above my USB. LPL soap was fine, but I prefer a tallow soaps, in general, for cushion and slickness. For some reason, the last half of the LPL soap was gritty. The grittiness smoothed out after the lather was whipped up, but it was kind of aggravating. To be fair, I'd had the soap for maybe three years, so my experience may well not pertain to product fresh off the shelf.

I cleaned up the LPL stainless steel soap container (a keeper) and inserted the sample that @Pete123 graciously sent me. After I evaluate and use up Pete's generous sample, I'll move to a mostly full container of Soap Commander Love. The good folks at Soap Commander sell huge containers of soap, so I will smell like a rose for a long time.

I know that a lot of folks are trying to use up some of their products this year. I'll have a total of 12 soaps or creams left after the Soap Commander is gone: three tubes of C.O. Bigelow shave cream (aka Proraso - great cream and super cheap when you catch it on sale), Truefitt & Hill Sandalwood shave cream (a gift), Haslinger SPA Sandalwood, Jabonman Eufros Wet Earth, Jeeves of Hudson Street Blood on Steel, Martin de Candre scented & unscented, Mike's Natural Soap Hungarian Lavender, & Palmolive and Tabac shave sticks.

I've been sampling different soaps and creams for six years, so I have a pretty good idea of what I like. I hope to end up with about six favorite soaps and creams in my rotation. Currently, it would be Castle Forbes Lavender & Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood (love the scents and the performance of both creams - TOBS is especially affordable), MdC (scented - this triple milled soap lasts forever and smells good), Mike's Natural Soap (unscented for days when I volunteer; performance is top notch), Jabonman Eufros (love the bold scents and performance) and a Tabac shave stick for travel (tallowy old man smellin' goodness always makes heads turn at the Motel 6).

Have a restful Sunday, gentlemen!

 

Great report, Charlie. Congrats on finishing up a soap and your skin food.

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The consensus is that it is produced for the domestic Chinese market. Gillette actually sells/sold versions in a couple of other markets, as well. There is the one in India which is bundled with a 7 o'Clock Sterling (Indian Black) blade and a somewhat obscure Gillette Rubie version for the Russian market. Gillette also sells plastic razors (similar to the old Gillette Click) with a couple of 7 o'Clock varieties and the Gillette Goal blades (Singapore market?).

I'm dubious about the Stainless claim, but it is a decent quality razor, much better than the Ying Jili and other razors at that price point.

The hard part is getting the Chinese Gillette Super Blue blades in any decent quantity. Apparently, they are popular among counterfeiters.

 

Thank you, Jim. It seems like it took forever, but I made it.

 

That would be the logical thing to do, but no. I’m working on restoring a few razors, and if I buy restored ones without moving any out of the den, it makes it less likely that I’ll buy and restore another. Having said that, the day is young...

 

Stick around for MAYhem, Pete. Shaving with that sword may win you an award. Of course, it may not. I’ve seen guys in this group successfully shave with less worthy contraptions.

 

Great shave report Charlie. Congrats on finishing the soap.


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Thanks very much Charlie.

 

Thanks very much Bruce.