July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

30 Day Rule - July 2015 - **MODIFIED**MODIFIED**MODIFIED
July 13th
Razor - Rimei
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie Long 12705
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold Water splash, Alum, Nivea Original

Well the Feather SS is on the way and will be arriving tomorrow. So, in the interim I've decided to give each of the el-cheapo mystery razors a turn. The Rimei and Long Feng get to come out of their cases and show their stuff. Today was the Rimei, which I bought on Ebay for less than $3. Oh, and shipping was free from China so it really was less than $3. The razor is nice and shiny and actually has pretty good weight to it. The baseplate is thin but solid and everything looks like it aligns well. Even though it's a cheap Chinese razor it's still engineered better than most Soviet razors.

@Bama Samurai suggested making these two days a razor review using the same setup so that's what I'll do. I'm using Ladas for the blade and the Vie-Long 12705 and Tabac. And off we go. Lather was great as always with the brush/soap combo. I start with a wet brush and add a little water to the tips if I need it to get the lather nice and slick and cushiony. I can tell from the look of the blade gap this should be a mild shave and, yes it is. Very mild, comfortable and it actually gets some good reduction on the first pass. The second XTG pass is equally smooth and effective, though my neck is still not DFS. This is not uncommon with the milder razors for me. Went for the full third pass including ATG on the face and went XTG and G-slide on the neck. Rinsed with cold water and hit the alum. Very quiet. Almost silent in fact. Very very good performance by the razor. Now to give it a couple of minutes and will check result..........wow. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls and friends around the world......we have a BBS! That is an amazing result for the uber-cheap Rimei.

My impression of this razor is obviously very good. It might be interesting to run a few different blades through it at some point but I can tell you, the Ladas is an excellent match for it. Hopefully the Long Feng will surprise me tomorrow as well! Happy Monday!

 

Menthol Monday, July 13, 2015
Mongoose Shave #14
Shower, Mystic Water Bath Soap Yemaya, Neutrogena Face Wash
B-3 Mongoose with Triad Helix Hex TI
Feather Professional #7
Druida Aluminum Chubby Manchurian
Krampert’s Frostbite SS
Alum Block, Dickinson’s +Menthol, Unrefined Shea Butter
Krampert’s Frostbite Aftershave

Today’s shave, two passes XTG-AGT plus clean up, was BBS with no cuts, no burns, and no weepers. Shave #7 for the Feather Pro blade was still very smooth. Druida’s knot held enough lather for extra passes. Krampert’s Frostbite was thick, slick, and minty. Krampert’s Frostbite aftershave left my face ice cold and my eyes watering.
Hope everyone had a frosty Menthol Monday.

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Those are great memories to have! Thanks for sharing and for pulling out mine for me as well!

 

Clint,
Where did you get the Myrsol Samples?

 

Garry's sample shop. http://sampleshop.blogspot.com/

 

July 13th, SOTD (Shave 8 of this focus)
Two days’ growth
Prep: Hot shower
Razor: W.R. Case & Sons “Registered No. 23 Warranted For Life” Purple Heart Wood scales
Strop: Prototype Travel Strop- Vegetable Tanned Goat hide (10 flesh side/ 10 grain side pre and post)
Soap: Jabonman Lima-Incienso (Menthol)
Brush: Spalted Maple Brush with Badger Knot
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman with M-Bomb added

Another great shave. Did my normal N/S pass, then did a Left/Right pass on my neck only, then did my S/N pass, then did a Right/Left pass on my neck again. So essentially, I did a 2 pass on my face, (BBS,) and a 4 pass on my neck, (DFS, but still not there.) I will say that this is better than I was ever able to get with a cartridge razor, and I likely would have called this BBS last year. Soap and brush made an awesome lather, and the razor was great to use. The other change I made today is testing a strop with a different kind of leather. I need to use it for a few weeks to make sure, but so far so good. This leather rolls well, with no issues on the grain side, and the flesh side has been worked to a fine nap like velvet. I am curious to see if this will hold up well to stropping.

 

July 13, 2015

30-Day Focus - Blade Trials for Gillette Tech
Weekly Trial for: Personna Red, Derby Green, Gillette Silver Blue, Voskhod
Day 4 for Derby blades

Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: Gingers Garden
Soap: TSD SubZero
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Razor: Gillette Tech “Fat Handle”
Blade: Derby Green (1)
RazoRock Alum
After Shave: Myrsol Agua di Limon



Two day growth means a three pass shave today, including a new strategy to deal with my nemesis (jawline) in order to best get at the pesky stubble that haunts me day and night.

I think I finally got it thanks to @Bama Samurai -

I stretch the skin up, putting it on my cheek and a flatter surface.
Kinda like this guy:



I'm still working on building "the stretch" into my usual passes.
Derby blades seem sharp enough to me, but as I continue my blade trials I'll be looking for something smoother for this razor.

Cheers!
- RT

 

Razor: Gillette SS, 1948-49
Blade: Personna Blue SS(4)
Brush: Omega 10066 Boar
Soap: Synergy Shaving Soap Bay Rum
A/S: Captain's Choice Bay Rum
Day 13.

Much better lather tonight with the 10066. An enjoyable shave that turned out to be a DFS.

 

Week two: No Name Wedge
July 10th and 13th - Shave 6 and 7
Prep: Hot shower, Aveeno 5:1 face wash
Brush: WSP Silvertip
Preshave: none
Soap: Tobs sandalwood
Razor: No name wedge Spanish point
Strop: @Drygulch Modern Barber Strop 24"x3"
Growth: 2 days and 3 days
Post: Cold water splash, TSD Milk
Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG
Open comb old style with Russian greatness

Out of all the straights I have lined up for this month, I didn't think that if be enjoying this razor as much as I have. I have to say that it is my favorite shaver so far in my short straight shaving career. First WTG pass on 3 days growth, no problem. Cut those trees down! The XTG was pretty good as well, finding that I am learning the stretches and grabs i need to get a nicer, closer shave. For my ATG, I am just doing a ATG pass on my cheeks and then against/xtg on my neck. I learned that since I've been refining the amount of pressure needed for a straight shave, it's influenced my de open comb shave as well. 1st time ever i don't have razor burn from my open comb. Awesome sauce! Overall, another great wedge shave!
Cheers,
Eric

 

7/13/15
Shave 5 30- day focus

Shaver = Celtic Wosty
Soap = Maggard Lavander
Brush = VDH Boar
witch hazel
Himalayan bay rum

Another shave...my neck has some whiskers left however my face is dfs/bbs. My focus this month is to get to the point that I don't need to do a DE clean up... I am doing well on my face but my neck is work in progress

I will be cleaning up my twin duck barbers hone tomorrow and start using that to freshen my edge. I really want to go "old school" when it comes to SR shaving...hopefully i will get there sooner than later.

Keen Blade and smooth shaves

 

Was I drunk when I wrote this on my phone? Thank goodness for edit mode. Lol

 

Omega 1066 is a great brush.

 

Well thank you very much Charlie. I appreciate that.

 

Do you own a Tech? If so, put it next to the Rimei and compare. They seem similar to me.

I decreased as well, but still a bit overloaded here too.

You're on a streak of great photos!

I am intrigued by that razor!

Menthol Monday!

 

Late post Day 13 - 13 July 2015

30 Days of Maggard and MITA!


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Day one of Platinum. The shave today was pretty good, not as smooth as a couple of the other brands, but no real issues. I need to do it again tomorrow before really forming an opinion, I may have just had an off day with the angles. Since it's Menthol Monday, MITA and Figaro brought the chill on a cloudy, humid and muggy day near Denver. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a Terrific Tuesday!

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One of the best things about traditional shaving is the connection to the past. I think of those visits every time I open my bottle of Pinaud Clubman, or when I use Vitalis. My favorite memory of the shop was the old school glass bottle Coke vending machine, it paired well with the Double Bubble gum the barbers kept for us kids. When you wrote about the lather dispenser it made me recall the sound it makes, and remembering the feeling of being 8, with a straight razor against my neck and sideburns as the barber outlined my flat top, worn lightly waxed just like my superhero Army officer Dad. Dad's are larger than life like that to a little boy. Even though I was a kid, I knew that the barber shop was a special place for the men in my neighborhood. That's how I saw it back then, and how I remember it now.

 

1956 Gillette Super Speed Flair
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Proraso Sandalwood cream
Aqua Velva
Current Blade under review: 2nd Gillette Silver Blue
Shave #3 with 2nd Gillette Silver Blue blade. A great shave. BBS results. Very close, comfortable, no nicks, weepers, irritation or razor burn.
Pass 1: WTG on my face (N/S), and XTG on my neck (N/S except for the outside wings which were WTG -S/N). Pass 2: ATG using my grain map. My original plan had been to end the shave with a near BBS at this point, but I decided since there were only a couple of spots where I could detect any stray whiskers, that I'd try to get them.
I lathered up and made one more pass in these areas with some blade buffing, but after my rinse, I could still feel a few there. I decided to stop trying for today, but after rinsing and using my Aqua Velva, I couldn't find them. Very strange. I'll claim a barely BBS shave for today.

I still had plenty of lather after finishing:


A very nice shave from the Silver Blue. Tomorrow: the return of the Shark Super Stainless (cue the "Jaws" theme)...

 

07/14/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2
Blade –Feather Pro (5)
Brush –Brothers Bristles with WD HM
Lather – Lo Haiku
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine Platinum



Another great near BBS shave this morning. I think I will finish off this work week with the Feather Pro and move to the Feather Super Pro next week. Finished off with Fine Platinum and I think I am ready for the workday.

 

Phoenix Dbl OC Focus Day 13:

Homemade PS Oil
VDH Boar Brush
Stirling Electric Sheep SS
Phoenix Dbl OC
Stirling Unscented PSB
Aqua Velva Musk

I bought the VDH brush to use as a travel brush and figured I would spend some time breaking it in. Good lather to go with another good shave from the Phoenix.