August 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

I didn't see that coming.

 

Glad you like the Fine L'Orange AS.

 

I'm going to let my wife smell my face. Then we'll see what she says. Thanks for the tip @clint64.

 

My wife and girls like the Platinum better but followed very closely by the L'Orange.

 

Yeah, that nice she said. We are in like Flynn.

 

Win win!

 

I love shave sticks!

 

Day 13 - 14 August 2015

30 Day Rule - Phoenix OC


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New blade today and it felt great! Did the usual two pass automatic smoothness. Easy shave followed by quiet Alum and some TSD ISZ and then a little Clubman. I heard somewhere that football is back. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a great Saturday!

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Speaking of which, I got a Palmolive stick in the mail today. Time to compare it to Arko.

 

I have yet to try Palmolive. I enjoy Arko and La Toja very much. The TSD sticks, I used one for all of last October, are great too.

 

August Focus - Slim and Feather AC
August 14
Razor - 1964 Gillette Slim (J1)
Blade - (3)
Brush - Vie Long 12705
Soap - Saint Charles Shave Sandalwood
Post - Cold Rinse, Alum, Nivea

Day 3 on the Ladas and it's with the Slim at 9. To recap this blade, 5 seemed to be the right number to start, 7 made it rougher by a bit and added a lot of irritation. 9 could be suicidal or it could somehow smooth out. The Saint Charles Shave soap has, so far, under performed for me, refusing to consistently produce a persistent lather for more than one pass. So, lots to discover.

Went to the bigger horse today with the 12705 for more water and added some water to the puck. The resulting load seemed to be thicker and better than before. The first lather was nice. Good coverage and persistent enough to count. The shave on the 9, however, was miserable. Opening up the Slim on the Ladas just made it a rough and uncomfortable shave. Bad enough, in fact, that I only did the right half on 9. I felt the burn starting before I was even finished. So, cranked it down to 5 for the second half of the first pass. Amazing difference. The blade stayed responsive and gave good feedback but the irritation was clearly less. Lathered again for the second pass and found the soap lacking again. By the time I had done XTG on the right side I had to lather the left again. It just would not hold up. The second pass was nice and smooth at 5 so I think I can confirm the settings for Ladas and Slim. It's a 5 for the butter zone, 7 can work, and I suspect 3 would be ok. Lathered the neck for a finishing pass there and again had trouble with persistency in the lather. Not enough product loading perhaps? Finished with a DFS and the alum confirmed worse irritation on the right side.

Other than fighting with the soap and that nasty first half-pass it was a good day today. Tomorrow I'm switching to a boar for the attempt to get STC to work and I'll switch blades too. Not sure what I'll go to. I'm thinking either Bic or Sharp Star.

 

Looks like you added a great brush too!

 

So, I woke up yesterday and decided not to wait a day to shave. I used the same details as today except for using my TSD Jasmine (I think) sample, bombed.

So, the Slim is set to 5. I have a light beard and for some reason the thought of making the razor more agressive concerns me, as I don't think for some reason I will get a good shave. As usual, I am wrong again! 5 works better than 3 or 4 did, and I can't wait for the one more shave on 5 to see if 6 works as well. I did promise myself at least 3 shaves per setting to get some kind of feel of each.

So, started with a hot shower, then the usual Proraso green pre-shave, Colnel Conk lime bombed for the soap applied with my AOS badger brush (my only brush so far, heck, it works!). Again I used the atg / xtg two pass shave with touchups, and once again caught the baby on most all of my face except for the very bottom neck line, which is dfs at least. Followed it up with a cold rinse and Proraso green pre-shave used as a balm. Here's the treat, however. We've been having a heat wave, so both yesterday and today I used Gabels Sta-Cool aftershave, which is a menthol, and bombed it with three drops. Nice face freeze! So good in fact that I took another dose and splashed it on the neck, shoulders, and head. Beautiful head freeze! Went out after to have a smoke and even though the temperature is playing with triple digits, my head and face felt chilly. I think I'm becoming a menthol addict...is there a 12 step program for that (not that I'm willing to stop, that is, lol).

 

You guys are using Fine so often it makes me wanna order some Platinum and some Orange.

 

If there is, I don't want to know about it! I love mentholated soaps (Stirling Glacial and MITA in particular) and M-Bomb!

 

I am enjoying this focus. I am really learning to work with the feather blade and getting great shaves. Today was day three on a blade in my Leresche #51 and the best shave yet. I really like day two and three on a Feather.

Tomorrow will be my second Feather Artist Club SS Saturday. After the bloodletting last Saturday, I am going to take it slower and concentrate more on the angle. Wish me luck!

 

I’m going to sneak in a shave with my new Gillette “old” type tomorrow morning. It cleaned up very nicely (it was in pretty good shape to begin with). I’ve never tried an open comb razor before and all of the Gillette New LC and Phoenix Double OC posts have given me the bug. I had planned on waiting until September, but I’ll do a preview of coming attractions tomorrow.

Speaking of attractions, TCM is having a Marx Brothers marathon tonight. Just finished watching “Duck Soup”, and they’re playing “A Night at the Opera” right now. I hope Rufus T had his DVR set up.

 

You chose a great razor. I look forward to your review.

 

Skipped the shave today. Not by choice, but because of a sick puppy throwing up all over the place. Will do a 2 day growth tomorrow, but that really is when the GSB blade really seems to excel! Looking forward to my usual with MITA, VDH boar, my Lord L6, and the GSB. Think I am going to cool things off with some m-bombed witch hazel and some ISZ AS

Everyone have a great weekend!!!

 

The steps for joining the Menthol Mafia :

1. Order Osage Rub.
2. Order a shave soap from the Stirling Glacial line.
3. Order Iced Subzero preshave balm and AS from TSD.
4. Shave using 2 & 3 together.
5. Put 1 on your scalp before brushing the high and tight.
6. Walk outside immediately afterward, 10F winter day preferable.

It's that easy. Enjoy!