July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Razor: Gillette Black Handle Flair Tip (P1)
Blade: Wilkinson Sword (6)
Brush: Semogue 1305 Superior Boar
Bowl: KnockOut Shave
Soap: Jack's Shave Soap
A/S: Fine American Blend
Day 24

May have reached a break through with the 1305. I had a good lather last night, but thought it was a fluke. I whipped up an excellent lather tonight and easily had enough for my 3 pass shave. This focus has taught me a lot about soaps and boar brushes. The American Blend is a good finish to a DFS.

 

Beautiful place!!!

 

Great picture and an excellent looking ring.

 

Nice gathering.

 

July 24

Gillette New LC
Feather blade (1)
Edwin Jagger XL Synthetic
Trumper's Coconut cream
Two passes
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Trumper's Coral Skin Food

I'm taking a weekend detour from my July Fat Boy focus to try out my Gillette New LC (compliments of @Rufus T. ). My first shave ever with this razor was near perfection. It was easy to find the correct angle, and I couldn't even feel the new Feather blade on my face. I had just over a day and a half of growth, and I enjoyed a very comfortable, extremely smooth two-pass shave with no touch-ups required. I suffered one small weeper above my chin, due to operator error. The alum just whispered, it didn't even talk to my face. Bottom line, this is probably my best-ever two-pass shave. I love, love, love this razor, and I can't wait for tomorrow's shave.

Have a great weekend, all.

 

I thought you would like the New LC. It's one of the best DE razors I've used.

 

Clint, I've only used it once, and I would already agree!

 

Saturday, July 25, 2015
Day 21 with the Mongoose

B-3 Mongoose with Triad Rolling Hex Titanium
Feather ProGuard #5
Rubberset 400 #3 Omega 1066 Boar
MDC Le Bol En Bois – Fougere
Whitch Hazel ++Menthol, Unrefined Shea Butter
Chilled Proraso Aftershave Lotion

My first 30 days with the Mongoose continues, with day 21’s shave, a BBS on two passes plus clean up. The Feather ProGuard blade gave me another very close shave. The combination of MDC and my @clint64 restored Rubberset 400 produced a huge pile of thick and creamy lather. Witch Hazel and Shea Butter followed by a generous spritz of cold Proraso Aftershave Lotion. Ooo Wee! Hope your Saturday shave was great. Have a good weekend all.

​

 

30 Day Rule - July 2015
July 24th
Razor - Feather SS AC/Gillette New LC
Blade - (7) (4 1/3)
Brush - Omega 10066 (BoS)
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold Water splash, Alum, Nivea

Welcome to a Friday morning, on Friday evening. Had time for a good shave this morning, no time to talk about it. An interesting day...check for my post in The Haul that I'll be putting up shortly.

BoS and Fat were again great this morning. Maybe I should just refer to that as the BosFat, or FatBoS combination. Possibilities. I'm ready to have the rule finish, though, so I can get back to the Tabac, as well as try some different brushes with both soaps. I feel like I'm getting close to a couple of brush/soap combinations that may become a daily go-to setup. I'll be looking at that in the near future I'm sure. As to the actual shave this morning I got a very nice pass from the Artist Club with no cuts/nicks so was happy with that. Did the XTG second pass with it as well with only a minor nick on my left neck. I think I'm getting there. Closer and closer every day. Went ahead and did ATG with it on my neck and used the Gillette New and Voskhod for final touchup down to a very nice DFS everywhere. Cold water, alum for the sting because that's what the Feather does, and then Nivea to finish up. Now, can I repeat that tomorrow or even improve on it? We'll see soon enough! It's getting late and Saturday meeting madness is getting closer by the minute. Hope you all have a great start to your weekend. Make a car guy happy...go buy a quality used vehicle this weekend! Or a new one for that matter. It's just that the new car guys aren't as much fun as the rest of us.

 

Day 24 - 24 July 2015

30 Days of Maggard and MITA!


​

Day 4 and the blade shows no signs of wear, and another great shave was the result. Took the MITA for the usual face lathered 2 pass automatic smoothness, albeit shoddy blade angle gave me a nick under the jawbone. No big deal, the Alum sealed it right up. I finished with some unscented TSD ISZ AS underneath a good blast of Myrsol Agua Limon. The hype surrounding Myrsol is true. It smells really good, and the skinfeel is superb. This has been a really good month as far as products are concerned. MITA, ASCO, 7OC Blue, Rapira, and Myrsol have all been most pleasant surprises. I'm sold on Myrsol, it goes from "try" to "buy"! (Kudos @Rufus T. on Myrsol and @Bobcat on the box of fun). This Maggard is hands down the most mild shaver in the arsenal, despite the comb. However, if applied at a very shallow angle and perfect pressure, delivers an absolutely smooth and comfortable shave. The MR11 handle is machined steel, and it has been fun to photograph the diamond knurling. Maggard sells mix and match style heads and razor handles, of good quality and value. This was my first time to use a Maggard OC razor head, and find it to be a solid razor choice, even for a straight up newbie. The head geometry is mild enough that it seems to benefit from sharper blades, though my selection and testing here was by no means exhaustive.

Spent the afternoon out in Denver with Mrs. Samurai, and checked out a new rooftop spot in old Denver proper. We liked the arepas very much. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a great weekend!
​

 

Hope you move a few cars tomorrow!

BoSFat, cause I think that's how they would say it in Soviet Russia. Or mostly because it sounds cool.

 

That pic looks like a catalog shot by a pro. Very Nice!

 

There's something quite beautiful about those warm cloudy days on the coast.

 

Mrs. Samurai has banned Old Spice because her Dad wore it. I am ok with this rationale.

 

Yeah I could do a few poorly imitated Russian pronunciations for that one too. I think it's a winner!

 

I can understand that as I've had a couple moments like that on TSD as well.

I was having a heckuva time with the hair on my jawline and a regular on here simply said - just stretch that part of the skin up to your cheek area by stretching it - DUH! Simply perfect and perfectly simple.

Sometimes I think we look for a complicated solution first.

btw - I truly had remembered reading the 'rub the puck on your face" quote somewhere on TSD. It all came back to me when you just respponded to my post!
Thank,
RT

ps - rubbing it on that way seeemed to have the scent stay with me longer during the day. Today I just used the brush to load and it didn't seem to linger as long afterwards...just a first observation. YMMV!

 

Your very fine photos of that razor Charlie, really work to show off its blemishes - specifically the second photo that shows the crack on the handle just above the top end of the knurling....and to think you still had a great shave with it! I guess that shows how well built these things were when "pride in manufacturing" was a given, not a marketing ploy.

I hope it serves you well or spurs you on to find a mint version. Can't wait to try the one I found.
Cheers!
RT

 

So glad you liked the Myrsol!
And thanks for the tip of pairing the unscented TSD ISZ AS with the Myrsol Limon. I have both and will give it a try!
Cheers!
RT

 

Saturday shave #14
First two passes were great and the third pass was pretty good too. I finished up with a DE for the fourth pass because I had an early ronuevuez but the shave ended up to my surprise with irritation and short of BBS. To add insult to injury I cut my finger drying the blade.

Proraso Pre Shave
AoS tallow - Castle Forbes Lime
Rooney 3/2
Hart 7/8
Dry Gulch strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Speick AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Guerlain Monsieur de Monsieur

Have a great weekend!

 

SR focus day 28.
15k whetstone
Strop: handmade
PS oil: AOS lavender oil
24mm WD HMB brush
AOS sandlewood cream
M-bomb menthol from TSD
Razor: dubl duck goldduck
Single pass. Smooth shave
Rinse and pat dry
AOS post sandlewood balm and
Clubman original

starting to really enjoy my SR ritual.