August 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

I agree on keeping razors for at least a week. That is the basis for me doing only three razors in both July and August. Looking forward to your posts.

 

Well Herm though I'm pretty ugly already, losing a few layers of skin tomorrow was not on my bucket list. Plus my medical plan renews this month and personal disfigurement is not covered in my new plan.

So I'm gonna choose to go from 5 today, to 7 tomorrow and see how that goes.

I never approached the slim as having to get to 9, so if 7 gives me BBS in one pass then I'll be jumping for joy.

If not, I'll continue the quest through 8 and 9.

Heck, it's only the 6th, what would I do the rest of the month if I went right to 9 and a BBS? It's not like I have a whole bunch of other hardware to try out!

 

Fantastic! You're making some huge strides in the quality of your shaves. Congrats!

 

If 9 gives you a BBS in the first week of the month, then you have the remainder of the month of good shaves.

 

It's fun following the discussion on settings. Everyone has a different approach, and this is what makes the hobby so much fun. For me, week 1 will be on 3, week 2 on 5, week 3 on 7, and week 4 on 9. I'll try to keep most everything else in my routine constant. Kinda boring, but I figure it will give me the best overall feel for the razor's capabilities this month. I'm confident enough to go all the way to 9, but I'm sure it will take more attention to avoid nicks and irritation.

Vince, if you feel like you want to try 9 out of curiosity, dial it up and take one or two easy strokes on your cheek (or wherever your shave is easiest). Then then dial it back down to your 'normal' setting. You'll have the next 24 hours to evaluate that small area in relation to other areas of your neck and face. That would be a way to minimize the risk of overdoing it at a high setting. That's a cool thing about using an adjustable...you can even change the setting mid-pass. Just a thought. It's your shave...and you know the rest of that story.

It's early in the month, but I've already noticed an improvement in my complexion using the Slim.

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Yes, but not for an extended length of time. One blade, then off to another razor. Right now I own a 58 Fat Boy, 58 Executive, 65 Slim, 70 Short Handle SA and a 75 Long Handle SA. I'm looking forward to the rest of this focus month.

 

First, I'll get to 7 in due time. I've used an adjustable on a high setting, but just for an initial WTG pass, never for a full shave. So, I'm moving up from 3 to 9. Then I'll make a decision on which one I like the best and focus on that. You're right, I'm going to have to watch what I'm doing. On the Gem, I've heard about those and have only tried a Star SE, which wasn't too bad. Again, I'm probably not as brave as you!

 

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I agree, the two razors don't feel or behave the same IMO. I think Doug is right, if I had to pick a number it would probably be about 5 or maybe 6. I enjoy my Red Tip, but don't find it too aggressive.

 

Welcome to the "party"! It isn't an adjustable party, it's just that those of us using adjustables this month talk too much. I've said it before, I don't know much about straight razors, but that is one awesome looking razor! Please let people like me, those less enlightened in the finer points of straight shaving, know what you think.

 

Day 4 - 5 August 2015

30 Day Rule - Phoenix OC


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Day four went very well! The blade is showing no signs of degradation, and I am settling into a good pattern with this razor. The normal 2 pass shave did the trick. The Alum burned a little on my chin, but was pretty quiet everywhere else. Had more chores to do after shaving, so just some WH and a little Cetaphil. Back in the oven, made it to 95F late today with low humidity and full sun. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a Triumphant Thursday!
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August Focus - Slim and Feather AC
August 5
Razor - 1964 Gillette Slim (J1)
Blade - (3)
Brush - Vie Long 12705
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold Water, Alum, Aqua Velva Ice Blue

Slight change of plans today. I was planning on the Feather again but after yesterday's good shave with it I decided to get back to the Slim a day early. Broke out the Vie Long horse and Tabac. As usual these two worked well together. My new pony is still immersed in Arko to get that sweet horse aroma out of it. Lather was awesome and I always enjoy the Tabac smell when I break it out.

I set the Slim on 7 and went after the first pass. I see what a lot of you have said when you say it seems better at higher settings. I started at 3 on Saturday and while it performed well it seems better as I increase. A bit of feedback today which I like and the first pass was very smooth and effective. Lathered again for the XTG and definitely saw a difference, and felt it, from the lower settings. Only needed a third pass for the neck and finished very near BBS. The razor is starting to feel a bit more comfortable in my hand. The different head geometry from the 3 piece razors and even other TTO's has made it a bit challenging to get used to. I may get there yet.

My plan is to go to 9 tomorrow, then on Friday to change to a different blade and start back at 3. I want to put a few of my favorite blades to the test at 3,5,7 and 9 to see what may or may not work better. Then, to finish, I will go to 1 with the Feather and Kai just to see how well the super sharps do with what is obviously a super mild razor at that setting. Hope you had a good hump day and have a great Thursday!

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Hey, wait a minute, I resemble that!

 

Second day with the Slim with the usual Derby blade on its second shave. I dialed it down to 3, after a shower put on the usual Proraso Green preshave and Colnel Conks soap. Nice shave this time! Traditional 3 pass with some touchups for a bbs! Finished off with a cold rinse, Proraso preshave and Gabels Stay Cool.

I'll do Friday's shave and the next 2 or 3 with the setting on 3 and then go up to see if it was razor agression (probably not) or technique (more likely than not) that bit me the last shave. I really loved this razor today!

 

Day five with a focus on Feather blades.

Warm shower.
Mulcuto slant razor (2)
Feather blade (2)
AoS Pure Badger brush
TOBS Mr Taylor's cream
Three passes
Witch Hazel
Florida Water

This was a very nice shave. I'm learning something about Feather blades. I like day two and three on a blade much better than day one. If I'm going to have a small weeper, it's going to be on day one. Today was a smooth and easy day two. It will be interesting to see if this pattern persists through the month. BTW, I really like the Mulcuto. It's becoming one of my preferred razors.

 

I have a dilemma. I received the following as a gift today and it falls outside of my focus on Feather blades. I really want to try it this weekend and technically it is a Feather blade. The enablers in another thread are encouraging me to rationalize and use it. What say you?

 

Enablers? Rationalize? Why I would call them helpful friends who are simply pointing out the obvious It does say Feather on the box. You are focusing on Feather blades. And the Feather handle does hold a Feather blade. Even if you used a Kai blade it would still be a Feather blade (holder). I see no contradiction.

 

This can be justified any number of ways simply through earnest application of puffery

Enjoy the SS. I don't think it's possible to get a closer shave. I have an SS and a DX (both folders), the SS is my Dopp Kit Razor, and the DX (the Big Gun) gets brought out when I've skipped a few days shaving, mostly 'cause it's fun to annihilate an excessive beard in one pass with that bad boy.

 

We're not uptight about new shiny things. Jump on in! We have a groups doing SR stuff, DE adjustables. and even a strict rule or three. We do two things here--shenanigans and technique. Technique is the subject, shenanigans are largely the result. It's an unhijackable thread open to anyone who wants to work an any technique from prep to post shave. Feather blades it shall be!

 

Welcome to August! Do you use shavette/disposable as your main shaver?

 

Are you enabling rationalization or rationalizing the act of enabling?

Do you find the blade more rigid at a higher setting? A Slim on three felt dangerous to me. Nine was sweet though. You were writing earlier about the about the head geometry. The sweet spot on the angle seemed lower than a Flare Tip or MTO (both excellent shavers). It took me a bit, cap,riding definitely came into play.