April 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Aggressive April - Day 11 (4/18/15)



Prep: Hot shower
Soap: TSD Barber Shoppe shave stick
Brush: Omega 13522
Razor: Cadet OC
Blade: Voskhod
Post: Witch Hazel, Nivea Sensitive Balm
Scent: Tommy Bahama Very Cool

Great 2 pass shave again today. I still struggle under my nose with the Cadet. Tricky to maintain the shallow angle this thing likes while working around the ole beak.

 

TSR -vs- Shavette styles

Keep in mind there are different Shavette styles, I am not a fan or user when it comes to the Half a DE blade styles, honestly they scare me, so they get nowhere near my Hollywood Face


Thinking of the Feather styles,,

They do have some advantages over Traditional SR's

No Stropping
No Honing
Less care
Ease of use
Speed

They have very few disadvantages

Cost of the blades
Some say they are a harsher shave, I haven't found that to be true
Some say you have to be extra careful, I haven't found that either

I think it is about what you grow used too, honestly if these had been a viable option in 1981 when I first learned to use a SR I might have never used a TSR


Thinking about Traditional Straight Razors
I am going to look at this as JUST shaving, not from the hobby standpoint which we all know can get rather crazy
I started with SR's in 1981, I bought two razors, a Illinois #835 strop, a brush, some soap, and a stupidly expensive rock to maintain them.
That served me for well over 20 years so yes if it is just about shaving it can be done ...

Advantages:

Costs are pretty much one time
The nostalgia
The comfort
The self sufficiency


Disadvantages:

The learning curve
The time involved


The simple fact of the matter is you have to WANT to invest the time into using a Traditional SR, without that commitment, there are much easier ways to shave. One of the things I see quite often is new guys getting into SR's that figure, I can do this, these guys just think it is hard..
Within 6 months they are gone never to be seen again, or worse they are still around the forums bashing the hobby

It really is a huge time commitment to learn it, you have all the aspects that you would with learning DE shaving then you have to add..

More attention to Angle and Pressure
Learning to strop correctly
and if you want to hone or maintain the edges you have another separate skill set to learn..

In return it is my opinion that all those things that make this a steep learning curve also make it the most adjustable type of shaving possible.

You can adjust everything that pertains to the other forms of shaving, but to even more of a degree, every minute detail can be adjusted to your face

Brand of razor
Size of razor
Type of point
Type of steel
Type of hone
Type of edge
Type of paste
Type of strop
Angle
Pressure

When you can tweak the experience to fit your unique shaving style and face combined with all the time you spend learning,,, in the end you should come away with an incredibly comfortable shave ...
Note that I did not say "Close" shave, I have never judged the success of my shaves by how close they are, to me comfort is more important,, but yes if it is clicking correctly then the shave should be BBS and comfortable

And that my friends is my story and I am sticking to it

 

Fantastic post with great information and very well written. Thank you.

 

April 2015 ... 30 day blade focus ...

pre: dr.bronner's, PSO(diy)
brush: EJ best badger medium
lather: proraso green soap
razor: EJ89lbl
blade:
post: alum block, thayer's witch hazel (various flavors)

04/12/15 ... astraSP (1) ... 3 days growth ...
04/14/15 ... astraSP (2) ... 2 days growth ...

both days with the astraSP were strong! no nicks, no cuts, no weepers, no irritation ... fairly smooth face and neck also after only a 2-pass shave on both days. quite simply, this blade gave me two solid performances!!

wilkinson, 7am, voskhod, astraSP ... next up is treet durasharp

 

Thank you. I know this was asked for in this thread, but I think it would be valuable in the straight forum as well.

Edit- I meant to quote @gssixgun 's post.

 

Well I changed up todays routine since my straight razor arrived this morning. It didn't take long before I threw in the towel and finished up with the slim. As always the slim provided a good shave but it could have been smoother. I was really looking forward to the straight and it didn't go as planned which changed my mood so nothing to blame on the slim. There's always tomorrow and I have a feeling it's going to take more than a 30 day focus to get the straight down.

 

Don't get me wrong - I love quirkiness w/in razors but if any of them would require me to shim it to give me a good shave I wouldn't hold on to it for very long.

 

I have used a shim with the Mongoose for several shaves this month trying to increase the blade gap and bridge the difference between the Feather Pro and the Feather Super blades. It did give me a good idea of what the OC Mongoose ( since it's reported as a little more aggressive) should perform like but it's too much trouble for a daily basis. I'll wait on the OC Goose.

 

Thanks so much for the overview and option. I may pm you to ask a few more questions Glenn @gssixgun.

 

Adam also makes awesome looking strops! It's not weird to sit and sniff a strop is it? Lol just something about the smell of leather....

 

Razor: Bluebeards Revenge
Blade: Wilkinson Black
Brush: WD Marble Handle Silvertip, 24/67
Cream: Bluebeards Revenge
A/S: Lucky Tiger

Day 15- Another good shave tonight. Wilkinson Black blade is doing good on the second day. Been enjoying this focus.

 

You may want to check that out with the young lady by your side in the picture. What we think doesn't matter, what she thinks does.IMHO.

 

Thank you so very much for sharing your insights with us!

 

Great photo. Love the reflection on the razor head.

 

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
April 18, 2015 - Week 3 Day 7
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - Arko
Razor - 1959 Superspeed
Blade - (3)
Post - Alum, Aqua Velva Ice Blue

With apologies to taskmaster @wristwatchb today was a very early start for the monthly spiff meeting. So, rather than try the CJB asleep I went with a two pass on the SS and Bic blade. Very nice DFS. I'm glad I tried the Bic and will keep a few around from now on. Finished with a very quiet alum and put on the Ice Blue to start the day. Tomorrow it's back to the CJB with a new blade....unguarded this time. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. It's a very late night now so off to bed in a bit to recover from a busy Saturday.

 

Saturday night shave was a great one..... DFS plus, with the SuperSpeed and Lord blade(2) I am really beginning to enjoy the DE shaves..... so much, I am thinking of getting a few more.... Raging RAD. I have my eyes on a my birth quarter SS (A1) yup, I am that old....

 

Merkur 39c focus
pre: hot towel over lather
brush: Semogue 1800
soap: Proraso Red shaving cream
razor: Merkur 39c
blade: Gillette Platinum White
post: Brion AS

3 passed to BBS land, Platinum White blades are the sharpest mild blades I have in my collection and they're available locally which is a big plus. Proraso Red should be in anyone's software collection. Period!
Brion AS is yet another Pitralon clone, with great performance albeit high alcohol content and it smells of chamomile, just like the Johnson's baby shampoo.

 

FB focus day 19:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Electric Sheep SS
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
FB w/Astra SP set on 6
Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill AS

Went one more aggressive today. Liked the results. I think I will continue working with aggressive settings for the remainder of this focus. I will probably switch back to my goto blade the Rapira PL.

 

04/19/2015
Razor – Gillette New DeLuxe Red & Black
Blade –Lab Blue (1)
Brush –Rudy Vey with TGN Finest
Lather – B&M Lavanille
Post - Witch Hazel and Floid Blue



I just got this razor a week or so ago. I tried but just couldn't help myself so I decided to give it a go this morning. A little more aggressive than my New LC but a very smooth shaver. This could be due to the base plate being 2mm more narrow than the New LC. Took my time and went with the normal 3 pass shave, WTG, XTG and ATG. Fantastic BBS shave this morning. The B&M Lavanille whipped up a very slick protective lather. Finished off with a splash of witch hazel and Floid Blue from my sampler. Back to SE razors for the remainder of the focus. Hope everyone has a great Sunday.

 

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
April 19, 2015 - Week 4 Day 1
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Razor - CJB
Blade - (1)
Post - Alum, The Veg

Increased the difficulty level today by moving from the Kai Mild MG blade with the guards to the Mild without the guards. I soon learned how the guard blade really works. By running the guard wires down the side of the blade it limits the angle where the blade can actually contact the face. Without the guards the entire range of angles is suddenly available. This increases the chance of user error exponentially.

Only three incidents. One is a cut near the left ear as I set the blade down. Wanted to ride the tip and as I corrected it I felt the bite. Second was another small cut on the lower right neck when I changed the angle at the end of a pass. Third was two nicks under the chin as I tried ATG. Nicks while doing that have been fairly common but less frequent over the weeks.

All in all two good passes, some blood but nothing of consequence. Did a quick third pass with the SS/Bic combination on the neck just to smooth things out a bit. Alum was nice and fiery and the Veg was a body splash again today.

Here's a close up of mild against the guard.