May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

Day#25 of the 30-Day Focus
..and Day#5 of 7 with the J. A. Henckels Zwillingswerk #472 'Friodur' Straight Razor.

After the discussion about MWF yesterday, I broke out my puck for this morning's shave. I pre-soaked the cracked puck while I showered. After some vigorous loading of the synthetic brush, the initially 'foamy' lather began to develop into that thick, slick 'face paint' that has earned MWF an extensive following. MWF's scent is VERY subtle—clean, 'soapy' and like many fine tallow soaps, feels very slick on the face. For me, it is one of those ideal soap lathers for SR shaving as it provided adequate glide for the blade and yet remains thick enough so the shaver has decent protection from potential razor rash.
This morning's shave was definitely a 'Menthol morning' as it began with the TSD Iced Subzero balm, and finished with the bracing chill of Fine Snake Bite.
The shave in-between was, as it has been the past 4 days, outstandingly smooth.

 

05/26/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Feather Super Pro (11)
Brush – Shavemac Silvertip D01
Lather – Mystic Water Lavender
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol Agua Balsamica Sample



Back to the Mongoose after the holiday weekend break. Fantastic near BBS 2 pass shave. Slowly but surly getting the Mystic Water soap dialed in. Much better lather this morning. This soap is incredibly slick and the post shave feel is fantastic. Finished the shave with a splash of Myrsol Balsamica. Not sure about the scent on this one but the feel of the AS is great.

 

Recovery and play with soap week!
May 26, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Vid Long 12705
Soap - Tabac
Razor - EJ DE89L
Blade - (2)
Post - Alum, Aqua Velva Musk

Changed up the soap and brush today. Went with the horse and Tabac. Love the scent of Tabac and it is very easy to lather. Great slick lather that allows for on the go touch ups. Two passes to a DFS...so close to BBS I want to call it but......oh what the heck. It's a BBS. I think that's the first baby on two passes I've found. Really can't say enough good things about the NOS Gillette Blue. Why did they ever stop making these? I know, I know, to market their evil carts. I may have to stock up while they're available.

The sun came out her and the rain stopped for now....off to sell some iron......or fiberglass.....or whatever they make cars from these days.

 

Brush Focus: Day 26/30
Brush: WDC-2 (Grandfather's) (Whipped Dog Knot) High Mountain Badger 22/65, set in 15mm.
Gillette - K-4 (1965) Slim Adjustable. (5).
Gillette Platinum Blade (5)
Soap: Razor-Rock XXX
A/S: Captain's Choice-Sandalwood.
Old Spice Coffee Mug.(soak brush)

Once again a great brush. The High Mountain Badger knot in my Grandfather's handle is a pleasure to use. Retains water and builds an outstanding lather. Can't say enough about WDC-2 it is simply a great shave brush. I also used Captain's Choice, Sandalwood A/S for the first time and I was very happy with it. The Razor-Rock XXX is also new to me and it is definitely a soap I will continue to use. I was a BBS shave tonight. Three passes. Thanks to all those members here who have informed me about this soap and A/S.

 

Day 26 - 26 May 2015

30 Day Rule with a Schick!


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After seeing the post by @HolyRollah , I decided to break out the menthol big guns for this late afternoon shave. It was kinda warm and muggy in the sun today, so the cool felt great. I don't normally do much prep and have mostly oily skin, so preshave balm is only an occasional wandering for me. The TSD Exclusive Iced SubZero products are a great way to freeze your face. The skincare from the Forum store products is first rate, and it's a great way to support the best little forum on the web!

About the shave, 2 pass plus touch up yielded a fine shave, near BBS, on day five for this blade. I am switching to XTG with pressure around the chin, and shorter more deliberate strokes in general. The injector just continues to deliver! After trying Florida Water, it has moved into a solid second place behind Lilac Vegetal on my AS faves list.

I hope everyone had a great shave, and an even better day! I love short weeks after a holiday weekend!

Have a great Wednesday!
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Douglas-

What is the scent profile of XXX?

 

Scent: Fresh and clean; a cross between a classic Italian colonial and an old-school barbershop!

 

Nice! Old school rules!

 

I agree 100%.

 

Today was day seven on the Astra SP blade. The result was a very acceptable DFS shave, after two passes plus touch-up. I really like this blade, and so far, it and the Israeli Personna Red are tied with seven shaves each per blade. So far, then, I found these two to be the longest living, the Voskhod to be the smoothest, and the Feather Hi Stainless to be the sharpest, but a touchy shave. of course, I still have six more blades to try in the try a blade top ten, and a few other Russian blades I got as well. It will be an amazing summer of shaving, totally satisfying the shave geek in me. I will try to do a cost per 10 pack breakdown, in some rudimentary format, of course, not coming anywhere close to @GD Carrington 's masterpiece.

 

Shave #28 in the badger brush focus. No pics today because, well, not much has changed. I did, however, use a different soap. I purchased 6 "vintage" hobbyist soaps from IanS last year and decided to grab one and see how it would do. I'm not sure how old this soap is, but the scent is sort of like leather and it is quite hard. I poured a little water over it while I soaked my brush and washed my face and the proceeded to load up the Made Rite/TGN finest brush. Face lather nirvana! Slick and shiny within less than 30 seconds. Hmmm, maybe there is something to these badger brushes after all.

 

05/27/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Feather Super Pro (12)
Brush – Rudy Vey with Shavemac Finest
Lather – TSD Yin Yang
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol Limon Sample



Fantastic near BBS shave today. The blade is falling off as the shaves increase. Had a bit more touch up today following the first 2 passes. I hope to get 2 more shaves out of the blade. The TSD soap is very easy to lather and super slick. I really like the scent of the Yin Yang and it paired well with the Myrsol Limon from my sample pack.

 

Day#26 of the 30-Day Focus
..and Day#6 of 7 with the J. A. Henckels Zwillingswerk #472 'Friodur' Straight Razor.

Next to last day of using the Henckels Friodur. I broke out the Cella—a soap I hadn't used in months. (A sure sign when you realize you have too many soaps: I found a heavy box in my closet last night containing several bottles of aftershave, bar soap, and about a dozen tins and plastic tubs of shave soap. This was my 'spill-over' box—which I had completely forgotten about—a box for those items that didn't fit in my wall cabinet. Quite a assortment in the box, including the Cella. )
I do enjoy the Cella soft soap, and love the marzipan-like fragrance. I find it pairs well with Bay rum, so ended the shave with my favorite BR aftershave.
After stropping the razor 35 linen/60 horsehide, a three-pass shave resulted in a near-BBS shave. I've mentioned before that after a week with this fine razor, the bar has been quite high as far as my expectations as to how good a straight razor shave can be.

 

May 26th, SOTD (Shave 15 of this focus)
One and a half days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Wade & Butcher 5/8 square point (pre-1890) with worm eaten scales
Strop: Drygulch Chromexcel Horsehide and Linen (15 Linen/50 Leather)
Soap: Barrister & Mann's Bay Rum
Brush: 24mm Finest Badger in Quilted Walnut handle
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman with M-Bomb added

Not a great shave today. Only did a two pass, because I set the blade down under my lip and cut myself pretty good. Any tips to avoid doing this? It’s getting kind of old.
The two passes were comfortable, and provided a SAS. My chin is rougher than I like. No alum burn today, except where I cut myself. Tomorrow’s shave will be better.

 

Are we talking about the area under the lower lip (soul-patch area?) on the chin below the mouth, or the upper lip? On the downward stroke?
If I knew for sure, I could advise....

Assuming its below the lower lip: As with a DE razor, jutting the chin forward and stretching the lower lip over your lower teeth provides a taut region to shave. With an SR in a downward stroke, I try and keep the angle VERY shallow with the blade almost flush—but not quite—to the skin. The tendency in that area is to keep the blade upright (near 90° angle to the skin), especially if one is trying to trim around a mustache or soul patch. I speak from experience when I say I am more inclined to slice myself with a perpendicular blade trying to 'manicure' around the mouth and chin. With the razor held at a much lower angle, the odds of slicing the skin is reduced.

Upper Lip: Same rule applies with the lower blade angle. Most cuts I've given myself around the nostrils, upper lip, ends of the mouth, have occurred when I've accidentally moved laterally with an upright blade, resulting in a stinging little slice....

 

That is a dead on description of what I have been doing. I have a horseshoe mustache that goes down to my chin. The area between the bars is where I keep cutting myself, as I have to reposition the razor several times to trim near the facial hair. Usually, I cut myself in the middle of the chin in a vertical line, as I am setting the razor down to do my XTG pass from the center of my chin out. Today, I set the blade down under the lower lip to do my WTG pass from the lip to the chin. I felt it bite pretty good. This just seems to be the one area I keep tearing up, just trying to postion the razor to do the shaving strokes.

 

Don't know what I enjoyed more this month, your mentorship or looking at your beautiful straight razors.

 

I took the easy way out - stopped shaving that area and grew a goatee. Not an option for all

 

SWMBO has preemptively ruled that one out. She can deal with the horseshoe, and the beard missing the chin when it’s cold out, but is not OK with a goat. She was quite clear about that.

 

May 27 - shave number... we'll call it 15 (I lost count somewhere in the month...)
Preshave prep: Hot shower
Preshave: stifling metha preshave oil
Soap: TSN bayrum (thanks @Queen of Blades)
Blade: gemstar custom Sheffield square point 5/8 straight
Post: clubman bayrum, alum, cold water splash.
Growth: 1.5 days
Passes: WTG, XTG, WTG

It's amazing what a properly honed razor can do for a shave! My face feels so much better right now. Even after three passes with my recently honed Sheffield from Glen (@gssixgun) no irritation or bumps! I noticed that the square point does offer a little bit more precision around goatee, but is a booger on random nicks! This has been an amazing month of shaving. I have grown so much in confidence and ability with a straight blade on my face. I think another month or two of this, and I'll never go back to DE shaving - maybe... Big thanks goes out to Kevin (@HolyRollah) Adam (@Drygulch)and @txskimo for joining me and sharing your experiences this month. We've all made great strides.

First pass was nice. No pulling or tugging. I find that I'm actually making a "J" stroke from side burn to goatee on the WTG pass. The XTG/ATG 2nd pass is getting easier. I'm only going ATG on one half of my neck - the other I'm just doing a WTG. Funny thing is that the side I'm doing 3 WTG passes on the neck is actually smoother than the WTG/ATG/WTG. Jawline has been an issue in past shaves, but focused on stretching and moving the skin to get a good pass on it and it worked out. Alum rewarded me with very little sting.! I'm very pleased with today's shave.
Cheers!