May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

MAYhem & Mercy
May 18, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Razor - EJ DE89l
Blade - (1)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

Well, well, well, my Bangladeshi friends...quite the surprise this morning. 7 a.m. Plus was up for its turn at Mercy and it actually, dare I say, exceeded expectations! I went back to my notes from the MAYhem round and while the blade did pass the test after three days and two horrible razors it demonstrated a lack of sharpness overall and this is the blade that had a different level of sharpness, or rather dullness, on the edges. I remembered it with a shudder when I read the notes. Today in the EJ it was quite smooth. Both edges were the same in performance and feel and after two passes I had a high CCS with only the neck left to finish. Third pass produced a very nice DFS. SWMBO picked me up off the floor after I realized how decent the shave was. (I count kicking me out of her way the same as picking me up).

Based on the differing results I'm going to assume that this is a blade that may suffer, most of all, from inconsistency in manufacturing. Either that or the first blade was truly a dud. Makes me wonder. It's also possible that it's just a better match for a good somewhat mild razor instead of the jokes of a razor I used it with the first time. Still, it produced acceptable results in both sides of the equation so here's to the 7 a.m.! I still wouldn't make it a part of my rotation but I wouldn't refuse it if it was the only option.

Happy Monday everyone! Gotta get it started so I can get it over with quick!

 

Day#17 of the 30-Day Focus
..and Day#3 of 7 with the Böhler Stahl Straight Razor.

One of the many challenges of using a straight razor effectively and efficiently is learning to understand beard growth direction. Since we all have differing growth patterns, there isn't one simple solution that can apply to all. Through practice and often trial-n-error does one begin to finally learn to understand these patterns and attack them appropriately. The neck (and/or) throat area is a common place where all shavers seem to struggle. Another is the area just below the jaw line. It is much easier for most to shave these areas with a DE razor than with a 3" long straight razor blade. When I was learning to SR shave, these areas were generally where I used a DE razor to finish up. Today, these spots are still my 'touch up' areas (no DE razor required!) that often need additional attention even after 3-passes.

Three-pass shave this morning, all went well until I managed to nick myself on a touch-up pass going ATG on the jawline towards the chin. This has happened before in this same area so I'm considering changing my approach angle to this area—which is currently a blade edge-forward, near vertical angle, pushing the blade towards the chin along the jaw line. Inadequate skin stretching might also have contributed to this blood-letting.

 

Blade Focus Day 18:

Homemade PS Oil
WD High Mountain Badger 30 mm
TSD Lanolin Iced Sub-zero
EJ Chatsworth Barley
Nacet Platinum
Stirling Unscented PSB
Osage Rub

Day three on the Nacet. Definitely a middle of the packer for me. I would use this one again, but won't be at the top of my list to buy.

 

I love those scales! Add a black streak to them and we have a world championship SF Giants straight!

 

Great point! I can barely get the straight over my face for two passes comfortably let alone HONE and SHARPEN it! Lol. Eliminate as many variables as we can to be successful!

 

May 16 and 18 - shave 8 and 9?
Prep: Stirling Metha Preshave oil
Soap: ToBS Sandlewood with 3 drops of M bomb (thanks TSD store!)
Straight: Whipped Dog Sight Unseen Straight - Clover Brand, 5/8, Round
Strop: Gemstar Bench Strop x 30
DE Razor: Gillett TT
DE Blade: Wilkinson Sword (1 and 2)
Post: Cold water, alum, TSD Milk Iced Sub Zero, Stirling post shave balm
Growth 1 and 1.5 days respectively

Been a whirlwind weekend get the house ready for owner inspection - miss owning our own home but God has blesses us with a roof over our head. Both this morning's shave and Saturday night's shave were great! I didn't go chasing anything with the straight or lines on the goatee with DE. I'd say that the "training wheels" are off with regards to the straight, only used the DE for the goatee. My face feels great right now! Not the closest shaves I've ever got, but these are two of the shaves I'm most proud of. Took heed of Lynn's demonstration of strokes, I've been able to reduce the amount of irritation on my neck.

Take away's from these two shaves: 1. I'm a lot more confident with the blade and how I place it against my face and use different parts of it to cover all areas of my face. 2. I haven't cut my chin ONCE since growing a goatee. Looking forward to getting my other straight back from Glen after a proper honing. Notice the nice cuts in my bench strop from rolling my razor on the blade rather than spine! Progress not perfection.
Cheers!

 

I wasn't sure if I liked them or not when I bought the razor. I genereally like things that are obnoxious, and things that are orange. Still not sure. Razor is comfortable to use and works well, so I am just going with them for now.

 

Brush Focus: Day 18/30
Brush: WDC-3, Olivewood Silvertip (WD) 24/67 knot deep set.
Gillette Super Speed, Red Tip (1955- A-3)
Gillette Platinum Blade (4)
Bowl: KO Shave
Soap: The Shave Den, Coconut.
A/S: The Shave Den, Coconut
Old Spice Coffee Mug.(soak brush)

I'm using the same brush with different soaps for a few days. I'm making sure it is the brush and not just the soap. Added a little to much water so the lather wasn't the best today. Human error. I did have a good three pass shave with no clean up. TSD soap is great as is the A/S. Razor and blade are performing good. Two brushes are out of the rotation.

 

I see why you like orange.

 

Nice setup!!!

 

Me too!

 

No razor was delivered today so I'll hold off another day

 

Change your name to Job.

 

I've decided that my focus is based on the number of shaves, not days. I shave my face every morning and shave my head about every other day in the evening. I am staying true to the brush focus, so tonight's head shave brought out the TGN Finest knot in the Made Rite handle. This was shave #16 in my brush focus. My prep was a simple scalp scrub with Kirk's CocoCastile soap. I loaded up the TGN knot with TSD Wheat cream and scalp lathered away. A fresh Rapira Lux blade in my Weber was applied twice to my scalp and the results are just fantastic. I finished off with a splashy rubdown of Captain's Choice Cat O'Nine Tails and cleaned up my gear.

I did not use the bowl tonight. So far, I have to say that the TGN finest brush is ahead of the Omega 6214 as far as making a good slick lather on my scalp or my face. Neither brush is working for me for bowl lathering, but that's okay. I rarely bowl lather.

 

Wow, had to bring up the Giants again didn't you. Gotta cleanse my screen with another picture of Baseball Heaven!

 

SOTD 18 May 2015

30 Day Rule with a Schick!



Caught the Baby on day 6 of this blade! I am still practicing the skin stretching technique and it's working very well. The blade is holding its own! Decided to observe Menthol Monday with the Osage...a frosty treat that left me refreshed and smooth!

Have a great Monday night!
​

 

Nice bowl and picture. Good write up.

 

Third shave in three days with my Merkur Futur.

Hot towel
Proraso Sensitive Pre-shave creme
Shaving-Shack badge Brush
Taylors of Bonds Sandalwood shaving soap
New Israeli blade
Merkur futur set to 3
Trumper Sandalwood skin food

This has been the closest shave I have had yet. Two WTG passes and Two ATG passes and all was BBS. One slight nick on my neck. Slight sting on upper lip and neck with alum block.

I'm thinking I'm liking the Israeli more then the Feather which was the previous blade. The Feather seems a little more thin and feels like it flexes when I shave, although this could be my imagination. With the Israeli blade there was silence on the second passes apart from trouble spots.

Still haven't quite mastered just below the jawline ATG and a couple of trouble spots on my neck where the grain is all over the place.

 

I was going to blame not getting this last night due to being tired but it still went over my head this morning