30 Day Rule/Focus; May 2024. All Are Welcome!

Outstanding shave Chris. Love the Agar.

 

someone opened it..

 

thank you Joe.

 

thanks again Joe.

 

Lol! Thanks Joe. This evening, I didn't feel like making anything and went out to have a Subway half hero with chips and a drink. Boy, did I go to town today for my first full day of 3 square meals. Yes, I'm back baby! Ok, I stole that line from George Costanza on Seinfeld. Alas, this is my last post on my daily dietary itinerary. Back to just posting all things wetshaving.

 

That really is a beautiful razor. Awesome shave Joe.

 

Thanks Joe.

 

Wednesday May 15 (just after midnight) - Simplicity & Injector Blade Focus

Prep: Hot face wash with Aleppo olive oil soap with 20% bay laurel oil

Razor: Supply 2.0 matte black stainless steel injector with "SE" open comb plate; Personna white box cartridge blade (1)

Soap: Arko stick

Brush: Supply Silvertip Synthetic 24mm

Lather Bowl: None

Post: rinse, alum, rinse - and nothing else

Last shave: Sunday morning - 2.75 days

The shave stuff:



The blade array:



Top to bottom: Vintage American-made Schick Plus Platinum, Japanese-made Supply Black Label, American Personna-made house-branded Supply White Label, standard white box cartridge of American-made Personnas.

I am continuing the Test Plan. Today I tried the third blade, the American-made Personna. I used one from the Personna white plastic box cartridge; one from the Supply-branded all-plastic white cartridge would have been the same blade.

I loaded a fresh one in my Supply 2.0/SE injector. As usual, I cheated and placed it into the disassembled razor instead of injecting it. Thus removing any possibility of "blade scrape" error from the blade test.

The Arko stick and synthetic brush created a quick and plentiful lather, as usual. I then did my two standard passes of WTG on the face and ATG on the neck, then XTG on the face and WTG on the neck.

Excellent shave, leaving me DFS near BBS. Alum was silent.

My impression was that this blade was slightly less sharp or slightly rougher than the first two. I could feel and faintly hear a rasp as it mowed the whiskers. There was none with the Black Label and I had actually double-checked with the vintage Schick to see if I had a blade in the razor. I think this blade started at about the level the other two would be at by the second or third shave. But with the thick, stiff, durable injector blades that is not a hugely significant difference.

My conclusion: as far as sharpness and smoothness is concerned, my mental ranking is unchanged, but really any of these three brands would be fine. Barring large differences in durability (the next test phase), I would simply buy whichever was cheapest or most readily available.

It did occur to me that I might be using the wrong razor for these tests. The heavy solid metal Supply 2.0 has enough mass simply to plow through my whiskers regardless of the blade in it. In a very light razor, the differences might be more noticeable. So before I move on to durability, I am going to repeat these last three shaves with fresh blades in one of those very small and light bakelite- or plastic-handled vintage Schick razors. I will use my E-1 Schick so that I can continue to place rather than inject the blades to remove any possible "blade scrape" variable.

Next shave will be in two days with a fresh vintage Schick blade in my vintage Schick razor.

 

SOTD 20240515 Che Fico!

ischiapp.blogspot.com​

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Thanks.

 

Lovely shave and photo of your gear, Chris.

Try a bit of extra skin stretching with your non-shaving hand to flatten the hollows and see if that improves your results. It works for me, particularly on ATG passes. (I hope such effort won't be required after my face lift.)

 

If you had a Dumbo bowl like @Trigger, you could just soak 'em from tusk 'till dawn.

 

Noted for future reference. I presently have enough Dumbo bowl commentary to last for 12-18 months.

I'm glad you are feeling better, my friend.

 

Now that's a razor King Arthur might use. Super cool, Joe.

 

Awesome analysis and shave John.

 

Impressive looking razor Joe, very neat

Thanks Joe, this sample should not last much longer!

Superb write up again John. looking forward to you new tests.

thanks Charlie, stretching works out fine around the flats, under the jawline etc, and with the Schick I have only lately starting lifting the schnozz out of the way too. The deep dipper between the bottom lip and the bulbous chin remains a fun part, much facial contortions required, can't imagine what that will be like when I lose all my teeth...

 

Thanks Charlie. I am slowly getting back to my daily physical fitness routine. Currently, I am just doing light cardio. Will not do any resistance training until later this weekend and I will be going light because it will be almost 2 weeks since I picked up a weight.

 

May 15 Morning Headshave

Good morning.

Gillette Slim Adjustable (8)
Gillette Wilkinson Sword (3)
Rockwell Synthetic Brush
Van der Hagen Select SS
Aqua Velva Ice Blue AS
Stirling Alum Block
Personal Care Witch Hazel
Dome Turf: 4.5 days



Yes, I was definitely overdue for a head shave. I went with the Slim on setting 8 to do this shave. I went with the VdH soap in the mug because it provides s slick and creamy lather. I just want to recommend this soap because the performance punches way above its price point. A 2.5 oz puck will cost approximately 4 US dollars. Anyway, here's my lather:




I did a 3 pass error-free headshave for a cueball smooth finish. Had very little alum feedback and that was due to buffing some stubborn areas on the upper side of my head.
I splashed on the witch hazel and the soothing, cooling aftershave. I would grade this head shave an A+. I probably will do a face shave very late this evening or tomorrow morning. Take care.

 

Lol!

 

Aaand, a much better shave this morning. The Stoylin soap saved me. An All-Stoylin shave, in fact, save for the Bill Neumann A.S. For better loading, I titled the soap to the side, as all that is left is the audience in the stands(meaning the remaining soap is along the perimeter). Clean and clear everywheere for the shaving action. Some of yesterday's damage still remains, but there were no NEW problems. 2 passes. The A.S. was great. 1911 is my third Bill Neumann A.S., ans it may be my favorite. Course I like my others too, and my Heartwood soap. As Outstanding As It Gets.