July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

07/31/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Kai Mild (2)
Brush – Rubberset 400-3 with WSP HMW
Lather – MdC Fougere
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine L’Orange



Very good 2 pass shave this morning. Not BBS but pretty close. Finished off with a splash of Fine L'Orange and I am ready for the day.

 

Another monthly focus completed. I have learned several things this month. First I have confirmed that the Mongoose is a fantastic daily razor with any of the three blades I have used this month. The Super Pro is much more aggressive and gives a spooky close shave in 2 passes but even the Kai Mild this morning delivered a very close shave in 2 passes.

In taking a weekend off from the Mongoose and SE shaving, I discovered that my initial thoughts on the Slim were not correct. I was able to get two great shaves, one on 7 and one on 9. I guess that just shows that all these months of participating in the focus threads have improved my technique even more than I thought.

Thank you @Boojum1 , @david of central florida , @Darkbulb , @Drygulch and @SDK for your PIFs of the soap used this month. It was a pleasure to use the soaps and each proved to be a great soap. I would recommend any of them as a worthy addition to one's shave den.

Thank you @JR Reyes for the GEM Razors. These are great razors that provide a very close and comfortable shave. If you are interested in trying SE razors, I would recommend giving either the 1912 or FW consideration.

Thanks, Chris @Bama Samurai for putting these together. They work for both veteran and new wet shavers alike.

 

July 31th, SOTD (Shave 17 of this focus)
Two days’ growth
Prep: Hot shower
Razor: Cattaraugus Cutlery Co Green Lizard Model B54GL
Strop: Drygulch Chromexcel/ Linen (20 laps Linen/ 20 laps Leather pre and 10/10 post)
Soap: The Shave Den Lime with M-Bomb added
Brush: Quilted Maple Brush with Badger Knot
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: The Shave Den Aftershave Milk, Iced Lime with M-Bomb

Today’s shave was a repeat of Wednesday’s, with the exception that I did 10 laps on a pasted strop prior to the shave. I don’t know if it is my stropping technique folding the edge or what, but after 3 or 4 shaves, the pasted strop seems to wake the edge back up. Part of my June focus was to use up some of my soap and aftershave, and I am happy to say that I finally finished the TSD Lime samples I had. Got a BBS on my face, chin, and jawline, and a DFS plus on my neck. I started to chase the baby, but sneezed and cut my chin instead. Decided to call it good.

Enjoy the Blue Moon tonight. Anyone else have Earl Thomas Conley stuck in their head today? I will post my month end summary in a separate post.

 

July 31, 2015

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

Skipping my shave today...will be joining the 30-day August focus!


Another 95 degree scorcher in Seattle. Spending another day on Lake Washington to cool off!

This is time of the annual Seafair in Seattle, with its long-history of hydro-boat races on the lake and flying displays by planes of all shapes and sizes, including the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.


Blue Angels at practice above Lake Washington yesterday.

Thanks to all for a great July focus, glad to be part of it!
Stay cool all!
Cheers!
RT

 

Chris the Whipped Dog Boar is an excellent bowl or face lathering brush. I used my Captain’s Choice Bowl, and Mike’s Natural Soap today, the WD boar cranked out a ton of creamy slick lather. Set at 30 X 53mm, it has better backbone, a denser knot and softer tips than my Omega boars. It isn't a great looking brush but it is an excellent performer.

 

My goals for my July Focus:

1. Use my three newest razors exclusively for the month. I will be using each for 5-6 shaves.
2. Use my newest Badger Brush exclusively for the month. I got it on a giveaway on SRP, and haven’t spent much time with it.
3. Become more efficient in my shaves, to be as close as possible with a two pass shave. This will include changing my pattern of shaving, and following the grain more closely, along with finding the minimum amount of stropping to keep the edge maintained.
4. Hone one of my not shave ready razors to a working edge, using my 1K stone and Welsh natural stones.

One and two went awesome. The little caveman Catt is more of a specialty razor for trim work than a whole face razor. The Case and the Green Lizard are very different beasts. For my grain pattern, I think a two and a half pass shave is my sweet spot, if I go less, I get rough spots, if I go more I get irritation. Stropping, I bumped back up to 20 laps on linen and 20 on leather pre-shave, and 10/10 post shave. With a 3 inch wide strop that is 24 inches long, this seems to do a good job. As far as edge maintenance, I reached for a pasted strop three times this month, which seems high. At the end of the day though, I want comfortable shaves, and this got me there. Never did get the hones out.

What I learned this month:

1. If the shave gets difficult, try a few laps on a pasted strop. This smoothed things out a bunch. I thought I had to wait until the razor was pulling, but if it starts to skip or just gets difficult on my chin, it’s good to do this.
2. M-Bomb makes everything better.
3. Using 30 day focuses consistently will do more to curb your ADs than participating in NBJ, because it’s hard to work the new stuff into the focus.

I have really enjoyed this month’s participation. Seems like more jokes and off topic shenanigans going on. I can support that. Thank you to everyone who participated.

 

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

Shave #1 with 5th Gillette Silver Blue blade and last shave of my July 2015 focus. Fine BBS results, a great shave. Very close, really comfortable, no nicks, weepers, irritation or razor burn. My lather was good today although the brush started out wetter than I'd planned. After putting a dab of Proraso cream in the scuttle and while working my lather, I dipped my brush for more water once today.


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 almost had a BBS shave.
Lathered up those areas that needed touch up. I used stretching and some blade buffing to get the remaining few spots. I had to go over a couple of areas a little more than I needed to with the Lord Platinum Class. The Aqua Velva was quiet today.

I nice 2 pass BBS shave from the Gillette Silver blue. Although the July focus is over, I plan to continue my research to find the best blade for me. The Gillette Silver Blue is still in the running, but it has some challengers both past and present to contend with.

 

July 31

Gillette Fat Boy G3 (9)
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 had a fantastic shave today with the FB on 9. I plan to finish the weekend with this set up and then move on my birth quarter Slim for the August focus.

Have a great weekend!

 

Jokes and off-topic shenanigans?!!
Why sir, I resemble that!

 

30 Day Rule - July 2015
July 31st
Razor - Feather SS AC
Blade - (5)
Brush - Omega 10066 (BoS)
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold Water splash, Alum, Nivea


And that's a wrap! Another month in the books and it's hard to believe it's the end of July. What a great month of shaves and this thread was a lot of fun!! Let's go into August with a bang!! As for my last shave of my Artist Club Focus it was a rousing success. Again the BoSFat performed great, perfect lather for both passes. I was running a bit behind this morning so only did two passes and ended with a CCS. Considering that I nearly skipped shaving altogether that was a great finish. No blood and the irritation wasn't as bad as it has been. Of course, skipping a pass may have helped that. Put on the Nivea then splashed on the Veg to hold the heat at bay and went in for the final day of the month for sales. Landed a whale late in the day to pad my commission for the month so the entire day, from shave to final bell was a perfect ending to the month. See you all in August!

 

The unhijackable thread! This month was a good time. And the AD thing is a good observation!

 

Thank you! Technique let's us push equipment and really try it out. I think it is the mix of new and vet that really make it work, we all seem to learn something every month.

 

Thanks Mark! I am looking forward to the brush parade in August!

 

And another great thirty days in the books! Thanks Mark!

 

I love it when old things work out better. I find these rules have really helped my lather too.

 

The Wrap

30 Days of Maggard and MITA!
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1. I found differentiating between the blades quite difficult. To be honest, all 8 we ok. The surprises were ASCO and the Blue 7OC Gillette. GSB is still my fave, but Gillette Platinum, Rapira, and ASCO would all be justifiable as bulk purchases.
2. Stirling MITA, sample puck size yielded 30 shaves, maybe a third remains. This was all cold water face lathering with a 5-7 second load. I really like the sweet lime/citrus and menthol scent. The scent does not linger much, and I found the skinfeel to be excellent with no adverse issues. I would recommend this to fellow TSD members as a solid soap choice for the dog days of summer.
3. Maggard MR11 OC is also a recommend to anyone kind of razor. I know, I know...its OC and teeth are scary, but this is a very mild yet efficient razor. The razor handle is impressively machines steel, and was a treat to use as well as photograph. To be honest, I may not keep it in rotation, but that should not be taken as negative. This is a great razor for newbies and vets. It is sold on the Maggard razor web site and generously provided as a TSD PIF by @Bobcat. Big thanks!! I used 85% of his PIF box this month, there were 3 other sample soaps, I will work them in at some point!
4. I really enjoyed this month. The exchanges of knowledge and growth are something I look forward to daily. Thanks to everyone who posts here! I know I spend most of my time on rote fundamentals and those who are newer, but I read and very much appreciate all you vets who join in and makes this thread so much fun. It is your knowledge and efforts that make this work. From the culture of inclusion to the library of knowledge to be had for free, TSD is an example of how online communities should work.

 

I look forward to more great stuff! See you in August for more blades!

 

Chris-I am glad you had a good month and got to try all the fun new "stuff". All of those blades I included are in my rotation.

Enjoy the rest of the trip and thanks for giving us all your feedback!!

Bob

 

Summary

I used a birth quarter (G-3) Gillette Fat Boy for my introduction into vintage wet shaving during July, and I explored its range of aggressiveness settings. I tried three brushes: Shavemac two-band silvertip, Omega Pro 98 boar, and an Edwin Jagger Synthetic. I used A.J. Murray's Lincoln and Arko soaps, and Trumper's Coconut cream. I pretty much kept everything else in my set up the same, except that I didn't use my scuttle with the synthetic brush.

As expected, the brushes all perform quite differently. My favorite and easiest to use of the three is the Omega Boar. The EJ synthetic will be my new travel brush. I'll continue working with it and hopefully improve on its performance during August. I like the creams and soaps I used in this order (ranked according to performance): Arko, Trumper's, and A.J. Murray's.

What can I say about a Gillette Fat Boy that hasn't been said already? First of all, get one if you don't have one! The razor is rich in shaving history. It feels great in the hand, and the build quality is fantastic. I love everything about it. I used it on settings 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9. For me, it performs like three razors in one: mild to moderately aggressive (3-5), middle of the road (7), and then some (8-9). My two-pass shaves were best on settings 8 and 9 using a Feather blade. I wouldn't call any of the settings super aggressive. In fact, my shaves were good across the board; however, more attention is required on settings 8 and 9 - my sweet spot. The only downside for me is the size of the head, requiring more effort to navigate under the nose for a close shave.

My big surprise of the month was my three-shave detour using the Gillette New LC, a very generous gift from @Rufus T. This turned me on to a whole new class of vintage Gillettes. It provides every bit the same close shave for me as the FB on 9. The difference is that the shave is easier and comes with a tiny bit less irritation. I love the Depression-era history behind this razor as well, and I'm mindful of those that came before me that used New LC's out of necessity and not because they were cool.

Thanks again to Chris for organizing the monthly focus, and thanks to all of you for your encouragement, friendship, open sharing, and your wise advice. I thoroughly enjoy learning and having fun with each of you. However, I resent the thread hijackers and those who resorted to silly shenanigans. This is a serous endeavor, so let's give it our full and complete focus in August (or maybe September).

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Douglas, did you mean for this to be today's kit in the August thread?