August 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

How in the world did I forget March Madness?!?! Something tells me my mind blocked it. The stench of Williams during that month may have caused brain damage as well!!

 

I am learning a lot from this focus. It blows me away how much difference the razor can make in the performance of a blade. Up until this focus, I was all over the board. I might use a GSB in a Leresche today and an Astra in a Fatboy tomorrow. I was getting a little frustrated figuring out the correct combo. I have always liked my Grand Shave King but had previously used it with a Nacet and a GSB. I loved this razor with these blades. If I had started it out with a Festher, I would not have been as impressed. It was difficult to do better than a DFS without irritation. Today I switched to my Red Tip with the Feather and got an almost effortless BBS three pass shave. I am learning that I prefer the Festher in more aggressive razors.
SOTD
Gillette Red Tip
Feather (1)
TOBS Mr Taylor's cream
AOS after shave balm
Pitralon Classic AS
WSP Beard Oil

I am very happy with today's shave. Have a great day!

 

Thanks again for the tip and encouragement. I have tried pulling downward and it does little. I am actually trying the opposite now and pulling up at the jaw line while slightly tilting my head. Same concept though of trying to stretch the area of my lower neck as much as possible. I have thought about trying to pull to the side because the hair grows in several directions in my trouble spot, but mostly it grows from the center of my neck toward my ear. We shall see. Today's shave has to wait until tonight.

 

Just a shave of the day with a straight focus.

 

Razor: Gillette Fat Boy (1961)(6)
Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
Brush: WDC-4, Silvertip Badger, Butterscotch. (VIG) 24/67
Cream: Proraso
Bowl: Yokohama Studio (Hand Painted) (gift from my Wife)
A/S: Captain's Choice Sandalwood
Day 19

Moved the FB to #6 tonight and will use that setting again tomorrow. Had a great shave again and liked the Proraso cream. The FB has a great feel to it and it gives an outstanding shave.
3 passes.

 

Red Tips are great razors for sure.

 

Outstanding picture.

 

Now if you really want to challenge people, change your avatar to something beautiful or handsome, and watch as people try to reconcile the image with the CT.

 

It is tricky enough for some of us to figure out what all of the CTs mean, that could almost be considered cruel.

 

What do you mean change? I am handsome!

 

Especially those ears! What's not to love!

 

And such a sweet smile

 

AUGUST FOCUS - 1958 EXECUTIVE

Wednesday's shave with the Exec resulted in a really nice, close, comfortable DFS. I put the razor on 7 for all three passes (XTG, XTG, ATG). I was a little apprehensive because of my problems earlier this month, but Wednesday gave me the courage to try the higher settings again. So Thursday I try the Exec on 8. Guess I'm slow, or there's more of a learning curve than I thought.

 

August 19, 2015

Adjustable August Slim-apalooza
30-Day Focus - Gillette Adjustable Slim / Fatboy



Pre-dinner shave.

Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: Gingers Garden
Soap: Arko (homemade travel stick)
Brush: ? An unknown synthetic (no markings)
Razor: Gillette Fatboy (1961)
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (2)
After Shave: Proraso Green

Fatboy settings at:
5 - WTG
5 - ATG
No touch-up or repeat strokes. This is as much about technique as it is about finding the best settings on this razor for me.

Two days in a row of Arko face-rubbing, face-lathering goodness.

I like the heft of the Fatboy compared to the Slim. The shorter size didn't bother me at all. Clean, close, comfortable, smooth. Will go up with settings tomorrow to get more off on the first pass.

Cheers!
RT

 

You get a pass on this one!

 

Beautiful bowl! I really enjoy the traditional cobalt paint jobs.

 

I'll be interested to see how you compare the Fatboy to the Slim. After I really got the hang of using the FB, I liked the weight a lot and ended up selling my Slim. The Slim was a fine razor, but I liked the FB better and wanted some funds for something else (which ended up my Phoenix).

 

August Focus - Slim and Feather AC
August 19
Razor - 1964 Slim (J1)
Blade - (3)
Brush - Vie Long 12705
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold splash, Alum, The Veg

Day three on the Slim and Bic. The Slim was on 9, wide open and ready to go. Yesterday's shave was really great so we'll see if this blade can take another notch up in aggressiveness. I got the bigger horse out of the brush stable and lathered up the Tabac. Awesome scent. I need to get this up in rotation more. I'm actually down to a 4 soap rotation at the moment and may be increasing this one to extra shaves. Fantastic lather.

First pass was nice. Smooth, feedback, aggressive but not dangerous. Definitely a bit more bite than yesterday on 7. Finished up and went for the XTG and really got a nice result on the face. DFS/BBS there, still not quite DFS on the neck. Went another XTG and ATG on the neck and got a near perfect DFS out of it so I stopped. Usually if I push at this level I end up irritated. Alum proved my wisdom. Pretty hot on the neck, face just a slight burn. I think yesterday's result was actually the best when factoring in irritation. So, the result for Slim and Bic is to use it on level 7.

So far this month I have determined the following settings are ideal for the Slim. With Voskhod, 9. Feather, 3. Ladas, 5. Bic, 7. Tomorrow I'm going to the Sharp Star and we'll be back at 5 to begin.

Got a couple of packages in today. I'll get to the Haul shortly.

 

OK....if one of our 30 Day Focus Group participants were to happen to have a slip......It doesn't nessessarily mean that they were a bad boy....Right?.....Lol!
Look....ahhh....well......ahhhh
Ok, here it is....Today is Day 7 of my 30 Day Focus on my Schick E2, and I errr...I shaved with my Schick I2 ..
I was going to do another comparison and ahhh, It just kinda got out of hand....I couldn't help myself...

So come on and help me here....

I ended up getting one of those "Best Shaves of Your Life" kind of shaves from my 1955 Schick Hydro-magic today...
I was really thinking of doing a comparison but the HM was like Magic from stroke #1 and what could I do?

So I'm thinking of making this Focus about the E2 and the I2 and how they compare....What do you guys think? I do know, I dig the E2...and it achieves similar results in fewer strokes....But there is just somekind of indefinable magic that happens with the Hydro-magic....I think I need to get to the bottom of this...

Comments
1. 1st pass....like heaven, paid no attention to detail, and raced around my face with reckless abandon.
2. Rinsed relathered, and once again, raced around my face, tempting fate at every hairpin turn, Gillette Slide and Buffing
3. Buffing: forget it...this I2 is a buffing monster...I could just non stop do a rapid buffing move with my wrist and move it around my face and it would still be irritation free, but very close.

This Eversharp-Schick Hydro-magic was Eversharp's first real deviation from the original Injector design. They managed to keep Schick's design integrity, but make an improvement with the H-M lever for cleaning...and also the handle design really rocks. Razor looks like an Aston Martin. And the razor is mild, but still very efficient. Not as efficient as the E, but because of the mildness, moves like buffing, brings new rewards to the table... If I buffed like that all the time, with the E2, people who own stock in the StypticPencil companies would be celebrating and sending me letters of appreciation...

 

Hey NCN,
Funny you bring this up. Started thinking the same thing after my first shave with the Fatboy after spending about 3 weeks working the Slim for the first time. So I'm a long way from making decisions/ assessments yet.

What I know so far.
Fatboy heavier, I like that. Makes me more aware of needing no pressure.
I'm not aware of maneuverability benefit with Slim, as some shavers report, because I do not shave nose/lip area or chin due to mustache and goatee.

Technically, that's all I can speak to right now. Slim at 9 for me was a very close shave, comfort was dependent on factors beyond the razor itself - effective use of soap, and I only tried one blade - GSB. (Which is my preferred blade at the moment, but I've only been at this for 3 months.)

I'm sure I'll have a preliminary assessment at the end of these last days of August, but I'll probably hold onto both until I do additional trials.

So many razors, only 1 shave per day!

Cheers,
RT