November 2019 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thanks, Jim!

 

Great shave and photo Jeff. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Nov 28th

Proraso PS/SC/AS - Red
Heritage Colletions Ever Ready 3-Step - 26mm Envy Shave 2 band badger
Drew Dick 7/8 Damascus Steel - Green Kirinite
Gentleman Jon Alum Block

All Italian goodness from Proraso today. The shave cream tube is the second gift from my TSD Secret Santa. And....another Heritage Collections brush handle showed up yesterday....an awesome ER 3 Step replica. Mounted the Envy Shave knot mid afternoon with Gorilla Silicone, and it sat for 14 hours. This morning....a round of baby shampoo, several lathers and rinses...time to get after it. Great aroma, thick and slick, just awesome bowl overflowing lather. More face lathering and painted on goodness. 2.5 passes with the green scaled beauty, just a small nick on a neck mole, otherwise a very nice DFS+. Gentleman Jon's to the rescue, all under control. Followed with one of my favorites, Proraso AS Red. Smooth and smelling fine.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Thursday!

 

November 28, 2019
OneBlade Genesis Gunmetal
Feather FHS
Shavemac Synthetic
TOBS Herbal Sandalwood
Fine Santal Absolut

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Everything is just about done for Thanksgiving Lunch so a good shave was in order. No better razor for a perfect drama free shave than the OneBlade Genesis. I just had to give my new Shavemac synthetic a try as well. The Shavemac feels like a CH2 synthetic. There is no glue bump evident at all. The fan shape does make it easier to splay than the CH2. The TOBS Herbal Sandalwood is a fougere sandalwood blend. Three passes and touch ups ended in a perfect BBS shave. A splash of Fine Santal Absolut and I am back to the kitchen to finish everything up. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

 

Fantastic photo and shave Blair. Congrats on the new brush.

 

Another fine shave from Stoylin Ramblin Man this morning. A couple weepers but not of the serious persuasion. 2 passes. The scent of the RM aftershave stays with me most of the day-I like that. More good focus on the sides of my neck, but I almost forgot the "straight up" part in the middle. The neck is indeed a work in progress. Happy Thanksgiving, gang!!!

 

Great shave, Jason!

 

Great shave, Joe! Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

 

Great shave, Joe! I agree about Mike’s! I used his Hungarian Lavender Shave stick this AM. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

 

Thanks, Clint! The same to you and yours!

 

Nice, Jeff!
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thanksgiving at the 30DC

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Yes, I know some of you are in places around the world where today is just another Thursday. Us American types invite you to join in the spirit of thanks today, no matter where you are. Heaven knows we need a lot more thanks and positive energy than just one corner of the world can hope to provide.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to everyone who makes this such a great and unique place. We’ve talked about it fairly often, but there is still no other spot anywhere on the internet where you can find the spirit and attitude of this place. Nearly five years ago, Chris @Bama Samurai invited a few of us to join him on a journey to learn how to shave. Instead of thinking the answer to a great shave was somehow in the gear we were all buying as fast as we could, he had discovered, thanks to a gentleman named G.D. Carrington, that the answer was in how we used whatever gear we picked up. Technique is the key. Technique Trumps Tools! (As long as the tool isn’t defective) This was the motto and goal, to achieve great shaves as effortlessly as we eat dinner. And most of us have no trouble with shoving food in our mouths. I know….I’ve seen a number of you eat BBQ!!

Somewhere along the way we also discovered that we could enjoy each other’s company. We found common beliefs, and even commonality where beliefs might differ! We started caring about each other’s lives, health, families and all of that other mushy stuff. For heaven’s sake, we’ve watched two young boys grow weekly for the past couple of years. And our Wednesdays and Fridays aren’t complete until we get the latest picture. We rejoice when others rejoice and feel sadness when others are sad. We share stories of kids off to college, moves across the country, the latest round of snow or floods, and watch tractors being fixed and built. The diversity that exists here is truly amazing. Beyond amazing, really.

And, by the way, we have some of the finest shaving gear in the world represented in this little corner of the world! Amazing vintage straight razors, vintage safety razors, modern pain sticks, modern DE razors and so many others. We could fill the Grand Canyon with brushes and the amount of soaps we hoard – I’m not sure there’s enough land surface on earth to keep up! Yeah, we’ve the cool kids with the cool toys. No doubt about it. And...we know how to "lightly encourage" others to try the best stuff we've found. Some call it "enabling". I just call it "sharing the love".

Most of all, we have a spirit of community that transcends anything I’ve found anywhere else. We invite newbies into the fold and answer their questions. Most forums tell the newbs to “look it up”. “We’ve answered that a million times”. “Do some research before you bother us”. Not the 30DC. Yep, we’ve answered every question a million times but we’ll answer it a million more if we get a million more newbies. We like getting to help you discover great shaving. We like seeing you develop your skills and become the next person who is now answering questions and coaching others. It’s an amazing legacy.

I could name so many names of people who have made my life more enjoyable, richer and just plain more fun by being part of this group. I could tell so many stories of the fun at the Meet-Ups, or of the shenanigans that are pulled around here. And I look forward to, hopefully, adding many more of those stories in the future.

I know this place has gotten busier by the month and is a bit of a handful at times to keep track of. When I look back over the past few years and see the growth it really astounds me. Sometimes I long for the old days when we only had about a thousand posts. It’s easy to lose topics and miss out on some of the shenanigans now, but I believe the added volume is worth the trouble. We have more people than ever in our little band and together we make some really beautiful music. There’s always room for one more! Thanks for your patience as we continue to get bigger and noisier!

Again, Happy Thanksgiving to all who make this such a special place. I hope you eat too much, nap too long and get up and eat some more. Then get that shave done and let us hear how it went!!!

Your humble and faithful Czar and the rest of the crew at Cartel HQ.


Neal the 1st, Ivan, Boris, Yuri, Vladimir, Natalia and the rest of the drunks….er…….staff.

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Beautiful, Blair! Congrats on the new brush!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Awesome, Clint! Congrats on the new brush!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Fine shave, Paul!
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Excellent post, Neil!
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thank you Jim.

 

Made me look...question O'King Enabler the First...the sale hasn't kicked in yet....right? Cause this is what is posted on their home page:



If so...it actually starts at 6pm today EST?

 

The family unanimously voted prime rib over turkey. Currently 27° outside. The smoker is taking its sweet time heating up. It'll be worth the wait.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my 30DC friends!

 

Looks fantastic, Jim! What's in your rub? I see the Rosemary and the rock salt. What else is on there?

 

Well said again, Neal. I trust you and yours will have a fantastic day.

 

Awesome! Now you're matching orange brushes to pumpkins, Clint? The influence of @jluc is everywhere!
Thanks for the review of the Shavemac. Very intriguing. Do you feel it is as thickly packed as a CH2? Do you think it is hand-tied? I feel like emailing to ask if they would just sell me a knot, but I'm guessing I know the answer to that one already...