July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Thursday shave #12

Allot of prep and great lather but some operator errors resulted in 2 small cuts and 2 weepers. Almost DFS but with irritation, definitely not on the same level as yesterdays shave. The weird part is the right side of my face is DFS bordering on BBS but the left side... not so good. Tomorrow I will go with a DE shave and then back to the straight on Saturday.

Proraso Pre Shave
Razorock Tight Buns
Thater 2 Band
Rasurpur western grind kami
Dry Gulch strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Homemade rum AS
Spieck ASB
Tom Ford Lavender Palm

 

Thursday, July 23, 2015
Day 20 with the Mongoose

B-3 Mongoose with Triad Rolling Hex Titanium
Feather ProGuard #4
Oscar11 Light Blue Omega Boar
Chiseled Face Shave Soap Ghost Town Barber
Whitch Hazel ++Menthol, Unrefined Shea Butter
Chiseled Face After Shave Ghost Town Barber
Brooks Brothers 1818

Today’s shave was wonderfully smooth. The Feather ProGuard blade has been giving me very close shaves. Two passes including clean up, missed the baby but it was an extremely close shave all over. My Oscar11 Boar made a mountain of creamy Ghost Town super lather. I closed out with Ghost Town Barber After Shave. Whoa Nelly! That’s a great old time barbershop scent. Hope your shave was as good or better than mine. Have a great day gentlemen!

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30 Day Rule - July 2015
July 21st
Razor - Feather SS AC/Gillette New LC
Blade - (6) (3)
Brush - Omega 10066 (BoS)
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold Water splash, Nivea

If I ever achieve consistency I will be a happy camper. Not there yet. When it comes to the BoS and MWF I'm consistent. (Probably cursed myself to terrible lather tomorrow for that remark) When it comes to the Artist Club razors, not so much. I had a couple of nice days with it to the point I was planning on all three passes with it today. The first pass started great and finished pretty well too. I did hit the old cut on my right chin area but really didn't open it up. It was the second pass that got me. I managed a small nick on my left cheek while going XTG and then, while working down my neck directly under my chin I added too much angle as I set the razor down. Got a slice right there. Are you kidding me? Just a technique error but once again I got to cold rinse and alum it closed with the attending sting. Really a bit frustrating as I was really close to a decent second pass. Used the New and Voskhod for touch up instead of a third pass and called it good. I think I need a little Zen to get me to the next level so I'll spend the rest of this evening sitting cross-legged and chanting Kiiiiinnnnnggggg........Cccccccccccc.....Gilllllleeetttttttttttte until I find peace with the blade. I'll be at it again in the morning. I'm going to stay with the Artist Club through August, though not every day. More on that later.

 

Day 22 - 22 July 2015

30 Days of Maggard and MITA!


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A simply superb shave today! I almost hit the Grail...was nearly DFS afte one and definitely caught the baby! The alum was the most quiet today so far this month. These blades really shine in this mild OC. This month has been interesting, I had not done blade trials in a long while. Tomorrow I will continue on this blade, see how it lasts, then give GSB another chance. It's a tight race between ASCO, these Gillette 7OC and GSB. I may even slip in a Voskhod just to see it stack up against these. 94F with 22% humidity on the range today, and the Arctic Blue was a nice finish. Gonna use Myrsol blue tomorrow! Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a triumphant Thursday!
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That handle is amazing! Beautiful machining and it looks awesome in your photo!

 

Nice work! Knowing the grain of your beard is essential for good shaving.

 

Looking good! Glad to see you around again!

 

You will love nine! I promise!

 

In Soviet Russia, you didn't find peace in blades, blades found peace in you.

 

And, blades found piece OF me.

 

July 22, 2015

***COMPLETED***
30-Day Focus - Blade Trials for Gillette Tech

No shave today.

A travel day on my way to a one week family trip from Seattle to:

Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
48.8450° N, 123.2808° W

Will take a holiday from my completed 30-day focus as well.

Making the trip with me will be (my family, of course!)
plus two new companions
- a '46-'47 Gillette Aristocrat!
(PIF loaner from @NCoxSTL )
- my brand new Omega Beehive brush!
(part of my May Newbie PIF from @Bristle Me )

Currently in transit somewhere in the Strait of Georgia, BC.



Ahoy!
RT

 

Love the pic. Have a wonderful time!

 

Hope you have a blast!

 

Mark, fantastic photo. The Triad Hex handle looks stunning. Toby really does great work.

 

Fantastic Pic. Congrats on completing the 30 day focus. Have a great time on your trip.

 

Amazing looking handle.

 

Great picture. Have a outstanding time.

 

1956 Gillette Super Speed Flair
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Proraso Sandalwood cream
Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Current Blade under review: PolSilver Super Iridium

Shave #3 with PolSilver Super Iridium blade. Nice BBS results, a great shave. Very close, really comfortable, no nicks, weepers, irritation or razor burn.
2 Full passes: Pass 1: WTG on my face (N/S), and XTG on my neck (N/S). Pass 2: ATG based on my updated grain map. At this point, I was very near a BBS shave.
Applied lather to the areas that needed touch up. I used some stretching to get the remaining spots. Today there was less to cleanup than yesterday, but I needed to go over some of them twice. The Aqua Velva burned a bit this morning, but my face quieted down pretty quickly.

The PolSilver Super Iridium turned in another very comfortable 2 pass BBS shave with very little touch up required. Much of the first pass felt like I didn't even have a blade in the razor, but the result was pretty close to a DFS. I'll revisit the Gillette Silver Blue tomorrow to see which I like better.

 

07/23/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Triad SS Helix
Blade – Feather Super Pro (10)
Brush – Rudy Vey with TGN Finest
Lather – MdC Fougere
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol Metilsol sample



A truly great shave this morning was easily the best shave of the month. Went with a 2 pass shave, ATG followed by XTG gave me a near BBS. Decided to chase the baby and caught the little devil with just a few touch ups. Finished off with Myrsol Metilsol from my sample pack. First time using this one and I am not sure about it. The scent is very similar to Balsamica but not as nice and no or very little menthol for cooling. I need to revisit this one for sure.

 

30 day rule - Day 23
MDC unscented Face Lathered with Stirling Glacial Obsidian
Ladas blade
Slim Adjustable set to 8
3 passes


Today was a very nice extremely mentholated shave. If you like menthol, you should try Stirling Glacial Obsidian - it is very cold.