March 2020 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion

Beautiful New Deluxe Gary! How are you?

 

Thank you Evan....Jeeves does make for a great shave, that's a fact.

 

Nice to see another Dovo Special out there. Sorry it's not as sharp as you like. I struggle to keep mine oiled. It was my first quality razor and I wasted some of the blade learning to hone... Still a favorite, but the Inox is so much easier to maintain.

 

Great shave with your new razor, Joseph! Congrats!

Good job on the shave cream. Did you remove the granules for aesthetic purposes or will this step be necessary for me should mine suffer the same fate?

 

Great shave and photo Terry. I hope you have a relaxing Sunday.

 

Thanks Evan! It does the job, but if I honed it better, then I wouldn't have to refresh it after 7 shaves. Again, I will see how the next shave with this razor turns out.

 

Thanks Tim!
Add a big bath bar of Sandalwood to start the day off right with a hot shower before the shave.
I liked it!
tp

 

Excellent shave Charlie! A 10x mirror? I usually like the results of my shave better from a distance, in a foggy mirror.

My Alum was pretty warm yesterday too, but it felt good after that calmed down. Today's shave needs to be gentle for sure.

 

Lovely shave lineup and photo Gary.

Excellent shave report Joe.

I am glad you were able to remove the granules from the shave cream Joseph. Congrats on the new razor. As usual another excellent shave recap.

Excellent shave and recap Charlie. Have a blessed Sunday

 

Because taking things literally is how I roll...

Here at the 30DC thread it doesn't make as much sense to go mild--lot's of help readily available (as well as moral support).

However, if you're experimenting with DE shaving and don't have that support, I can see how someone just starting could have some pretty wretched early experiences with a Muhle R41 loaded with a Feather blade. Bad enough to set the process aside forever. I'm stubborn, and will slog my way through crummy shave after crummy shave almost indefinitely (especially if one out of 20 bad shaves turns out well). Heck I did exactly that for the first 3 or 4 years that I started wet shaving. It's why I wound up with 7 or 8 razors--a more aggressive razor will fix everything; a slant will change the game entirely; an adjustable razor will solve it all; thicker Gem blades will do the trick... ad infinitum.

Without fairly steady and close support, an aggressive razor could be like putting a 16 year old behind a formula one racer, tossing him the keys and saying, "Here, you go, Lad--figure this thing out!" Some will figure it out well enough, others will quit after a close call or two, and others will crash pretty severely and just walk away.

Very few beginners have their dad teaching them how to wet shave, and while it doesn't make any sense, most of those beginning wet shavers don't plan on joining a forum so they can ask questions. A few might slog through various forums after a google search in order to find info they are after. Most, I think, just jump in the pool and try to start swimming--a milder razor does give you a greater margin for error.

Case in point. I tried shaving with a shavette last summer (three months of beard to get through). I had no idea what I was doing, but was impressed, then intimidated, by how easily it mowed through a couple inches of beard. Trying to get a CCS, however was extremely difficult, often bloody, and always slightly terrifying. I put the thing down and walked away after just 4 or 5 attempts. Stubborn as I am, the shavette was too much for me to get a hold of on my own.

If someone were to ask for a DE set up, and I knew they weren't going to have a support system, I'd probably tell them to get a Q-shave adjustable, keep it on 2 or 3 for a month or so, and hope for the best. However, if I knew they were coming here, I wouldn't worry quite so much.

Really the best advice for a beginning wet shaver has nothing to do with aggressiveness of razors and blades; the best advice would be to point them to a place where they can ask questions and have them answered by folks who know what they are doing (either that or tell them to build a time machine, go back 50-70 years, and have granddad teach dad how to shave--then have dad teach them )

 

Thanks Clint!
There's enough craziness going on out in the world right now.
Think I'll sit and watch it from here.
Hope your day is the same.
tp

 

fine shave and pics Joseph..

 

cool shave and pic Charlie..

 

thank you Evan..i am good thank you..

 

March 15th
Razor: S•H Apollo Light II
Blade: Astra SP (3)
Brush: Jayaruh 285 synthetic
Pre-shave: PAA The Cube
Soap: B&M Ravish
PAA Galactic witch hazel
PAA unscented Star Jelly
AS: B&M Ravish

Good morning

Fabulous shave to start the day! Three passes for near BBS. Just the lightest tickle from the alum on my neck.

Third shave with the .85 baseplate. Plenty of blade feel and a wide range of angles available for a comfortable shave. I've been riding the cap for the last two shaves with great results. The .50 baseplate up for the next three shaves.

Have a great day!

 

"RIGHT SIIIIIIIIDE!!!!!"

Ah, your old arch nemesis

Certainly a most excellent shave, Paul--glad to hear you got the clove issue all shook out and squared away.

 

March 15, 2020
RR Lupo
Feather
Simpson CH2
WSP Ol’ Kentucky
Small Batch Shave Tonic

​

Up and moving very early this morning to make the ladies muffins and slice fresh fruit for the breakfast. They got on the road around 8:30 am and I took a long nap. I did manage to get my shower and shave in before noon which works for me. The "Soap Destroyer" did a number on the WSP Ol'Kentucky. Like all WSP Forumla T soaps the performance is fantastic. I just love the scent of this soap. I immediately pick up notes of bourbon over a woody base. I even get a hint of vanilla that is not listed as a scent. Perhaps it's me picking up a subtle note in the bourbon. Decided to change things up a little and give the RR Lupo another go. I absolutely hate this DLC finish but the razor shaves like a champ. Three passes and touch ups ended in a wonderful BBS shave. I really have to buff my lower neck pretty intensely to get the results with Lupo. This is not surprising since I have to do the same with my original gap Wolfman. To keep the Kentucky Bourbon theme going I used Small Batch Tonic to finish off the shave. I have nothing planned for the afternoon beyond taking a few SOTD photos and relaxing. I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday

 

Beautiful looking New Deluxe, Gary--and fantastically photographed as per usual!

 

Fantastic photo and shave lineup Jim. The Apollo razor just looks great from every angle.