January 2019 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Awesome Mark.

Probably uses coat hangers

Great shave Keith.

Youre making great progress . Maybe the Proraso is a bit thick for you. A little more water and blade should slide easier.

 

Here's a challenge: Wait until you get enough courage to shave your head with a straight. I do it by feel. However, I will give you a handicap by allowing you to use mirrors. Now, don't worry. I am just thinking out loud.

 

I started a lot of that. Molesting the Williams is adding other soaps or creams or stuff like glycerin to change the way it lathers. This is usually done by those who do not have the skill level to lather it. It is normally spoke of with modern Williams. It is however acceptable to add a few drops of after shave to give a scent to the shave. Amateurs also tend to bloom the soap.. which is just as silly. Blooming is adding water to the soap and letting it sit to soften in the bowl. If you want to bloom something go plant a flower!!!! I hope this helped clear things up.

 

Grating is not frowned upon. I made a shave stick myself and need to make another. Even adding some fragrance is ok.

 

My high school photo.... nothing is safe I see. I am much more clean shaved these days though.

 

Open season on all but the chunky redheads yes..... I also see that you have been practicing your Shavette Fu

 

January 10

Parker SRX
Rapira Swedish Supersteel (2)
30 Day Crew LE figured maple w/APShaveCo Tuxedo knot
Soap Commander Love
Alum, Thayers WH, USB & Terre d’Hermes
12th focus shave

Early morning shave and late evening post. I performed two passes for a pretty good overall shave with the Parker. I returned to my 30DC LE brush, as it seems to build a nice lather with the Soap Commander. I skipped a lot of the touch ups as I was giving my face a rest from yesterday's shave.

I hope you all had a great day.

 

Still veddy hectic. It is going good though thank you for asking. I am getting back into the routine. There is still a lot of Peopleing involved but as long as I get a day now and then to recharge the social battery it works out

 

Than you, Spock.

 

I see a tornado up ahead. I disagree. I can use Williams without doctoring it up to get an ok lather. However, I like my lathers, creamy and thick so I add Noxema Classic Cleansing Cream to do the trick. My take is to do whatever it is to make a good to great lather for yourself. The goal is to get the best shave possible.

 

The way I shave my head is with my glasses sitting on the sink, no mirrors to see what I'm doing, other than the vanity mirror over the sink. I use my fingers to tell if I missed or if I have a bleeder. Haven't had any problems for a long time. Always did it this way.

There is a rumor going around the shaving gods grape vine that I will use a shavette ror the head shave sooner than later. They'er placing their bets now.
Thanks Joe!
tp

 

Just to let you know, after my 16th shavette shave, I took the head shaving plunge with it. Was it perfect, no. However, I can do it with the shavette or traditional straight. I still need to clean up with safety. Admittedly, I do not headshave with these tools frequently enough to get real proficient. I do it to improve my face shaving skills with the shavette or straight. I use safety razors to shave the melon and do it by feel.

 

You're welcome Adam.

Nice shave Charlie

I see flying bricks.

 

I didn't see any mention of angle in there. Pressure is just one piece of the puzzle. If the blade is too steep then it scrapes your skin.

Read this:
https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/3pc-de-aggressive-razor-fundamentals-riding-the-cap.51048/

 

Yeah, that's why they have to pay you to do it.

 

Very quick shave today after clearing 3 feet of snow. Then off to girlfriends parents for supper. It's her birthday today but I won't share her age, I'm smarter than that.
The Rapira is on shave 4 and still going strong. The TOBS is a mere tiny lump but still giving lathers , be sad when it's gone .
Snowing hard again tonight, gotta love Canadian winters. Have a great evening folks .

 

You see flying bricks because this tornado tore through a construction site.

 

January - Shavettes and Jeeves!

January 10 - Blade Trials

Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (3)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Stirling Two Band Synthetic
Post - Alum

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside. Yes boys and girls, blade trials are back! I haven't done this in quite some time but I've had a few sent to me with a request to give them the full treatment and see what they're capable of. First up are the Super Gillette Blue Blades from @John Ruschmeyer . I know he shaved with these and wanted me to give my take. He also sent a special treat, the matching razor for this blade that looks suspiciously like the Rapira razor. I know there are copies of that razor packaged with several blades. I will be getting to the razor after I give the blade its three shaves for the trial.

For those of you who have never experienced blade trials, and for the old-timers who need their memories refreshed, here's the protocol. Each blade gets three shaves. I use the Gillette Slim in order to shave at three different aggression levels. I use settings 3, 6 and 9 to approximate mild, normal and aggressive. I use Arko soap and I'll be using the Stirling synthetic brushes to make a consistent lather each time. I perform three passes, WTB, XTG and ATG with no extra touch up for the finish. I use alum to help determine irritation levels and then grade the shave by feel. What we're trying to do is establish how the blade performs under different conditions. Putting a Chinese blade on a blade trial is always something that makes me nervous. Chinese blades typically SUCK! However, Gillette branded (and Schick) blades made in China have traditionally performed quite well. So, we'll see how this one does.

Some interesting notes about the printing on the blade and packaging. These are stainless steel blades as opposed to the original Gillette Blue Blades that were carbon. And, they're platinum coated. That gives me hope. Gillette in China is based in Shanghai, which is an interesting note. Most of the rest of the printing involves identifying them as a U.S. company and also providing instructions on how to use the razor and blades. You'll notice on the front of the blade box the numbers 1.65, which is the price of the pack of 5 blades. That isn't $1.65, though, but rather 1.65 Yuan, which is China's currency. The cost in U.S. dollars for this pack of blades? $0.24. Yep. A penny less than a quarter. One more interesting note - the inner wrapper is also printed and has an ad on it for the Gillette Vector razor, which is clearly a cart or disposable of some kind. Even in China they're trying to push in with their cart garbage.

Ok, on to the shave. Arko, of course, produced an instantly thick and slick lather. I set the Slim on 3 and started the first pass. Very smooth and comfortable. With the mild setting I had to watch my angle just a bit to hold it steady. I usually shave with more aggressive settings/razors so going mild again was a bit of a change. Second and third passes remained very smooth and produced no signs of blood or other trouble. I stopped at the end of the ATG, rinsed, rubbed on the alum and found no stings/burns/discomfort at all. Rinsed and dried and checked the result. BBS all the way. Surprisingly smooth and very nice. Well, surprisingly only because I had set the expectation for a bit rougher of a shave than I received. So, first impression - very nice blade with great results. We'll see how it progresses over the next two days.

Happy Friday everyone! We have a Winter Storm Warning starting at noon tomorrow. Up to 8 inches of snow headed our way, or so they say, so it could be a fun weekend in the Lou!

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