May 2022 30 Day Rule/Focus and Discussion. All Are Welcome!

Daniel.

 

Gary.

 

Wonderful shave Barry! I knew Vie-Long made horse hair brushes, but not shave sticks. Enjoy your day!

 

Thanks Daniel!

 

Fine shave Daniel!

 

Thanks, Joe! I will probably not shave tomorrow to give my face a rest, and thursdays shave will hopefully be error free.

 

I understand. I use witch hazel to calm irritated skin. If it isn't severe, it goes away pretty quickly. You can also use moisturizing balm as well. Unless you need to shave every day, I think giving your skin a rest is a good thing.

 

I've heard very good things about witch hazel! Thankfully the irritation has gone almost completely away by now. Actually you just reminded me that I actually have a tube of balm that I got in a some sort of set last christmas, so I might as well give that a try. Thanks!

 

Today's shave was OK. I shouldn't have included the Fatip in the photo. I didn't use it at all. No cleanup. Whole shave was done with the shavette. I had only 3 errors (nicks) but no straight line cuts. The ProGuard blades will work for me. I may continue this week using only the shavette. I really don't need to go SR if I can shave this close with the shavette. I have a little bit of a hard time using my left hand and there is how the cuts come. Give it a week and see how it goes. Minimal burn with the alum giving feedback on the nicks.

The Ogallala is nice. Vanilla & Bay Rum was nice. I like these hard soaps in puck form. Continued with the Proraso Blue pre-shave. Finished with Proraso balm and a splash of Pinaud.

Overall, not bad. I didn't get as close as I do with a DE but passable. If I can't get a close shave by weeks end, I will go back to the DE razors and shelve this shavette for a bit. I want to enjoy my shaves again. I can do the DE and get no burn, or nicks. This is like starting over again!

So, I have yet to try the Bic blades!

 

what surprises me is that I got BBS on my upper lip & chin with NO CUTS using the DX! I almost always nick that area with the DE!. There is something to this!

 

Very nice shave, Hogie. Just keep at it, be patient, and you will master the DX eventually!

 

Nice setup Hogie. You are doing fine with open blade shaving. You will get nicks from time to time because that's the nature of shaving. DE razors are called safety razors because it is much harder to cut yourself than with an open blade razor. The design of a safety razor will only let you shave at a specific range of angles whereas you have a wider angle range with a straight. This larger angle range is why it is much easier to cut yourself with a straight or shavette. I just want to say the nicks will be less frequent the more you use the shavette.

 

Much better today than yesterday, but it could have been better than THAT. I kept the same razor as yesterday out for today. Glad I did. I did a casual load for tue first pass, and felt it was just OK. That's right fellas, it was"Boy do I need that second pass" day. First pass I could hardly see the soap on my face and next. Got through the shave OK, but I knew right then and there that I had to go for a minute on the second, which I did. I definitely saw the soap this time . While that pleased me, I still missed NE Porcupine(under right nostril) and a section of Cactus that frustrates me more often than not(just to the left of the Ingrown Swamp. THAT became a swamp today, and I'll fix it tomorrow. As for NE Porcupine, I killed it off just a few minutes ago, right after breakfast, with the razor and hot water. The Royal Copenhagen was a nice A.S. for tye day, and I closed with Passion 4 Men Cologne(House of Elizabeth Taylor-a lady who knows what works good for men in the cologne persuasion of life..Most Excellent.

 

Good shave and post Paul.

 

SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 10, 2022

Woke up to another sunny, yet cool 53°F day forecast to rise to 70°F. It does appear to finally be warming up. I’m dedicating today’s shave to Andrey Shpakovskiy of Gipson Razor in the Ukraine. As a vet, my heart is with the people of Ukraine, and I would ask that every shave brother and sister pray with me for my friend Andrey and his loved ones and family’s safety in the face of continued Russian fascistic aggression. I pray every day for an end to this war, and that Putin experience the karma he deserves!

In Andrey’s honor I’m shaving my mug with his first Saito homage effort, the Katsumi #1 that I purchased from him. While definitely heftier and wider at 14/13 than any other straight razor in my collection, it shaves smoothly and easily. Balance in hand is first rate, as was the three pass shave it delivered. While it’s not a razor I reach for regularly due to its blade width - 4/8 to 7/8 - is my sweet spot, it certainly delivered the goods this morning leaving me smooth as a peach as my Swedish friend, Hans, is fond of saying about a great shave.

This morning’s noggin shave featured my Cooper Monobilt, a great shaving hinged OC safety razor masterpiece designed and produced in Brooklyn, NY in the 1930’s. Brooklyn during the first three decades of the 20th century was a bit of a razor manufacturing mecca. In addition to the Cooper Safety Razor Company, Star, Kampfe, Gem, Ever Ready, American Safety Razor Corporation and Weck all produced quality shaving tools there. Things change! In any case, the Cooper Monobilt sheared away my noggin stubble in the usual two ATG passes leaving me glassine smooth from noggin to neck.

RAZOR: Gipson Katsumi 14/13 (Mug), Cooper Monobilt (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T400 with 26mm Silvertip Badger Ferrule.
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys WH. Finished with Canoe Original EdT.

 

Thanks, Joe! One of the Iwasaki’s is headed for our summer place on Tybee Island.

 

Great shave, Barry! Isn’t the Gillette Guard designed to prevent razor bumps. Is it a cart? I’m one of the few guys in the US with very limited cart experience. The need to press down is contrary to every shaving skill I ever learned. In any case, my one attempt led to ingrown hairs. Glad your shave went well.

 

Very nice Lo Storto shave, Daniel! I should dig up my Fatip Piccolo. Enjoy your day!

 

Great shave, Gary! Two handed shaving takes a while to fully get the hang of, but it appears you’re well on the way! You might want to also focus on skin stretching with the DX. It does help to reduce nicks. Enjoy your day!

 

awesome shave and pic Joe.