July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Sheesh, lemme guess...too hot to sleep tonight?
You need your rest for the end-of-the-month grind tomorrow!

 

Air Conditioning is in tip top shape here. you can hang meat in the bedroom. Same in my office...I sit directly under a vent. So, by the time we walk the lot, find the car, drive it, and finally get back inside I can sit and at least get the outer layer dry before I have to go back out. I stay pretty damp until I get home. SWMBO has to wear her winter coat in the house.

 

Yes. I live out on the plains east of Denver, and this is normal here in July. The dry air makes the heat tolerable, but at 5190 feet, the cloudless skies make it UNBEARABLE to expose skin to the sun for very long. I grew up in Alabama, which is a different set of issues, and I prefer the near desert that I live in. On the other hand, I am usually on TSD at night before I go out to look at the night sky and meditate before sleep. The same conditions I complain about in daylight make the night sky here amazingly clear and dark.

 

Stay frosty my friend!

 

Living most my life at sea level, I can't even imagine!


I'd enjoy the stargazing though, great for the meditation!

 

Alabama. Just like Missouri. I avoid Alabama visits in May - August if possible. That weather does seem to make the drinks colder and the BBQ juicier.

And hang in tight at work and sell a bunch of cars real smooth like! Good luck on EOM.

 

I can really feel the difference in air when I travel to the low altitude coastal areas.

 

Humid in the East, as well in the West, though generally not nearly as bad as East coast.

 

Moving to CO ultimately led me to give up cigars in favor of the pipe. I am a perfectionist at times, and would not want to insult a fine cigar with iffy humidor conditions. I was a poor steward of my stash of cigars at times. They get crispy quick here.

 

Yes, the Mr Glo pre shave soap.

 

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

Shave #2 with the Lord Platinum Class blade. Very near BBS results. Mostly comfortable, but some irritation during the 2nd pass and after. No nicks, weepers, or razor burn. My lather was moister than it was yesterday, but still perhaps a little too dry.
2 Full passes: Pass 1: WTG on my face (N/S), and XTG on my neck (N/S). Pass 2: ATG. At this point, I had a solid DFS and almost a BBS shave.
Lathered up those areas that needed touch up. I used stretching, some blade buffing, and in one area j-hooking to get the remaining spots. The irritation started near the end of my 2nd pass as I worked on my neck. It continued through my touch up. I felt a couple of bumps start to form and decided to give up the chase today and reached for the Aqua Velva. It burned quite a bit but settled down.

A very near BBS shave from the Lord Platinum Class. While the shave was mostly comfortable, I still had some irritation and blade bumping. Probably due to somewhat dryer lather than usual.

Despite the less than great shave today, I'm still happy with my decision to switch to wet shaving. Today is my 60th day of DE shaving and 29 days with my current setup.

 

Phoenix Dbl OC Focus:

Homemade PS Oil
Simpsons Commodore X3 Best Badger
Pacific Shaving Co Caffeinated SC
Phoenix Dbl OC
Stirling Unscented PSB
Fine Fresh Vetiver

Another day, another good shave with the Phoenix. It is getting to the point to where I don't need as much concentration to get a decent shave with this razor, which was good this morning as my little boy caused a less than restful night for me. I was on autopilot this morning.

 

Congrats on the 60th DE shave. In today's world many things are just "push and go" but traditional wet shaving does require time to learn and master the technique. Good job for sticking with it.

 

07/28/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Feather Super Pro (13)
Brush – Rubberset 400-3 with WSP HMW
Lather – MdC Fougere
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine L’Orange



Another great very near BBS shave this morning. The blade's performance is starting to fall off but I am planning to push it thru Friday. Finished off with witch hazel and a splash of Fine L'Orange.

 

30 day rule - Day 28
MDC Lavender Face Lathered
Ladas blade
Slim Adjustable set to 8
3 passes

I set the slim back to 8 today. I was not seeing a better shave with it at 9, and it was more difficult to maintain the proper angle with the slim set to 9. So, I changed it back. It was a wonderful shave today.

 

Keep working at it. One exersize I have done with a number of soaps is to build lather in a bowl, and keep adding water until the lather collapses. You would be amazed at how much wetter you can get some lathers, which really helps your shave. Barrister & Mann soaps were really tricky for me for a while, and I realized I could add almost 4 tablespoons of water to what I thought was good lather. Using a little soap to figure this out can save some irritation. Two months, congrats! I am still glad I made the switch!

 

Razor: Merkur 34 C
Blade: Merkur Super (2)
Brush: Semogue 1305 Superior Boar
Soap: Proraso
A/S: Gillette gel
Day 28

This boar rush now seems to be performing well with an soap I use. Very happy to say that this months focus has been a real eye opener for me. DFS 3 passes.
Have to go out and it's nice to go with a cleanly shaves mug.
Everyone enjoy your Tuesday evening.

 

91*F with 51% humidity. Feels like 97*F.

 

Thanks Clint, I appreciate your words of encouragement. Cost pushed me in this direction, but the experience is keeping me going. I’m glad I had such good advice and a good dose of beginner’s luck to help me out of the gate!

 

Thanks for your insight Adam! It’s odd that something I thought I had down pretty well is the thing that popped up as an item that needs attention. Funny how it works out like that. Sometimes when you’ve been at something a while you think you have things well in hand only to find out your past success had a heaping, healthy helping of beginners luck!