June 2020 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Lovely shave, Tim! It’s not often that someone quotes the Bard in his shave report! Nice tie! I haven’t worn a suit to church in at least 10 years! I’m impressed! I wore suits fore my entire professional career (45) yrs. They almost serve as an aversive stimulus for me at this point. I’m the grouchy old curmudgeon in the sport coat and open collar at church, although we haven’t had a service since March.

 

Excellent post, Tim!


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Monday back to work shave, still focusing on the products that are new or came into vogue after my entry into tradition shaving.

The 'Rise of the Synths', when I started there were synthetic brushes but they were not that good. Now the selection has exploded and the quality has improved greatly. I am not a synthetic fan just because of the 'face feel', there is no question in mind that the performance is excellent. Today's brush is 30DC LE1 with a Tuxedo knot. A whole lotta backbone and it just flings lather everywhere with it springy hair.

I think Stirling was around when I started but they were the new kid and considered 'value' soap, now they are top tier in my book. I feel like they have improved since I started but fortunately Rod is not constantly changing the base, the current base is excellent. So this is also a story of the "Rise of Sterling'.

Since I started I have also witnessed the 'Rise of Menthol', yes there was menthol in the good old days, but now the selection and level of menthol is exploding. Todays Lemon Chill, is chilly. It is not the coldest one out there but compared to the old school menthol soaps it is way above them.

The Rise and Fall of the Toggle. Toggles were once the end all be all of collector razors followed by Fat Boys. Once the prices for Toggles soared to the sky, now no one even talks about them. This is a Janus Toggle, the stainless steel over engineered, more aggressive version. Just 51 of these beauties exist. Today I tried her with a Feather blade.

The lather was slick, cold and flying all over the shave den, the Toggle was opened up to 9 and I rode the cap for the first three passes. Definitely there is some blade feel with the Feather and think the razor feels better with the thicker Kai blades. For the fourth ATG pass I turned her down to 7 and rode the cap again. The shave was excellent and enjoyable.

 

Clint, there N95 cloth masks with filters built in that don’t fog one’s glasses.

 

cheers Tim.still learning to play it though....and it's been awhile..

 

Again, you knock me out with the quality and breadth of your collection.

 

thank you Jeff..been an interesting 3 years..

 

Great shave, Keith, with your usual spectacular kit! I always learn something from your posts! Thanks!

 

Fine shave and ending sentence, Joseph.

 

Wonderful software. Love Pharaohs Dreamsicle, I just do not have the Glacial.

 

Thank you, Jim--much appreciated!

 

Terrific and very cool shave, Tim!

 

Fabulous shave Keith. The Janus is a beautiful razor.

 

Thank you, Jeff! We tend to dress up for church, but like you haven't gone to church since March. Instead we hold at-home services. We still dress up in an attempt to keep the new normal as close to the old normal as possible

 

Awedome safety razor shave, Keith! I would like to add that Stirling is a top tier soap that doesn't ask for top tier prices.

 

Thank you, Andrew!

 

Just the Basics June

Sunday’s Shave

AutoStrop VC4
Feather FHS-10
Omega 11126 Boar
LEA Shaving Soap Stick
LEA 0% Alcohol Aftershave

Morning shave and late post today. I tried two new items - the razor and aftershave. The AutoStrop VC4 is one model that was missing from my collection. With all the marvelous reports and recommendations coming from this group, I decided to get one for myself. I unwrapped the Feather blade, carefully avoiding sticking my fingers into the huge glue dots, and loaded it into razor. The shave with the VC4 was nice and pretty much the same as with the VC3 that I own - comfortable and efficient.

Next item up that’s new to me today is the LEA 0% alcohol aftershave. I didn’t seek out this aftershave, but because of the low price, I added it to my last order from Connaught Shaving. They won’t ship anything with alcohol to the US, so I can’t get any other aftershaves from them anyway. This is a unique feeling aftershave. No tradition burn obviously and since there’s no menthol, no chill either. It does feel refreshing and has a similar pleasant scent like the soap, however it feels a bit sticky after first applying but eventually that goes away. The bottle lists several ingredients that are supposed to be good for the skin.
Final thought: Not my favorite, but will use it again.

2 passes today for a DFS and no irritation.

 

Excellent shave, Keith!


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Wow, Andrew that razor looks like NOS! I’m salivating! It’s my favorite of my 5 Auto Strops. I’m a head shaver, and it is hands down one of my best at that task! Where did you ever source a 75 yr old razor in such incredible Condition!

 

'Rise of the Synths'--awesome!

What a great report and focus, Keith!

Before Stirling, Arko, La Toja, and a tub-gone-bad of Cella we're the closest thing to a luxury soap I ever got. Stirling was the 1st artisan soap maker to produce a quality product at a price point that I felt was worth it. I love that Rod and Mandy don't mess with the base. They have a bazillion scent profiles, but it's always the same soap

I still think that Janus toggle is crazy-cool!