August 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

I haven't tried that yet.

 

30 day Focus - Day 22
MDC Lavender Face Lathered w/ TOBS Rose
Rapira Stainless Blade (Day 2 on blade, Day 4 on Rapira Swedish Stainless)
Slim Adjustable set to 8
3 passes

Yesterday's shave, combining MDC Lavender with TOBS Rose was so nice that I repeated it again this morning. Excellent 3 pass shave.

 

I found them to be slightly milder than the Pro's.

A little easier to use when learning to tame the Feather AC.

 

SOTD
August 23, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Mongoose B3 Dr. Bomber Handle
Blade: Feather Professional
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
Lather: MdC
Post: Alum. Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Folsom & Co. Black Powder
Great shave. Something that I continue to be mindful of is that I need to keep it at 3 passes only. Which can be difficult when I'm having so much fun. MdC is everything it's made out to be. The Mongoose is as smooth as silk. The Stirling synthetic is such a joy to use. I absolutely love F&C Black Powder. Today marks my 3rd year anniversary of wet shaving! It all started with the Edwin Jagger DE89dbl.

Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE

 

Thanks. Maybe I'll try them.

 

08/23/2015
Razor – Gillette New LC with Triad Helix SS
Blade – Feather (2)
Brush – Rubberset 400 with Omega Boar
Lather – Mystic Water Lavender
Post - Witch Hazel & Myrsol F/Extra



A great 3 pass near BBS shave this morning. I didn't try to chase the baby but just enjoyed the shave. Once dialed in Mystic Water is a truly great shave soap. Finished off with a splash of Myrsol F/Extra and I am ready for a relaxing day.

 

It's all about enjoying the game!

 

I agree! If it isn't fun, why do it? I really enjoyed being outside and pulling my clubs over riding in the cart. I haven't played in a good long while, but maybe someday. I still have my clubs. When I was playing I often had a good 9 holes but never 18. No apparent pattern though. Sometimes the front 9 were nice, sometimes the back 9, but never both. Glad you enjoyed your game!

 

Beautiful picture.. And shave.

 

Today I slipped a Feather blade into my recently acquired Gillette Double Ring and immediately noticed that blade alignment has to be carefully watched. Since this isn't an old three hole blade, there is play. I got the blade aligned, lathered up with one of my favorite creams and went to town. I let the weight of the razor do the work and had a BBS shave on my face in two passes. Here is where I made a mistake. I chased the baby on my neck and got a few weepers and some irritation. I should have known better than to try that with an aggressive razor and a new Feather. I still enjoyed shaving with a 104 year-old razor and will use this setup for a couple more days.
SOTD
Gillette Double Ring
Feather (1)
Omega Boar
TOBS Grapefruit cream
Nancy Boy AS Balm
Florida Water AS

Have a great Sunday!

 

Thank you.

 

Wow! Great shave! I love the Gillette Double Ring, might be my next razor. TOBS Grapefruit is one of my all time favorites, it's so good my son borrowed it and...well we know how that turns out.

 

I really enjoy the smell. Yeah, I know how that turned out

 

Phoenix Comparison Focus Day 22:

August 23 SOTD:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
St. James Black Pepper & Lime SC
Gillette Ball End Tech
Stirling Unscented PSB
Proraso AS

Today, I went with the Ball End Tech, and am, glad I did. A great shave this morning, as the razor is smooth and mild, but still provides a close shave. I also gave the St. James I picked up yesterday a shot today, and so far I am very impressed. The black pepper and lime scent is mild, but very pleasing. The lather was slick, thick, and yogurt like. My oldest picked out the Proraso, which put the icing on a nice cake of a shave this morning. Have a great Sunday!

 

August Focus - Slim and Feather AC - It's Soviet Razor Day!!!
August 23
Razor - Mladost II, age unknown (ca. 1960-80), origin unknown (possibly made in what is now Yugoslavia or Bulgaria)
Blade - (1) Come now, did you really think I'd risk my face to an unknown Soviet razor without this blade in it?
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea Original Post Shave

I've declared this a holiday from the Focus to have Soviet Razor Day!! Time to see what the Mladost II is capable of. Still can't find anything specific on it other than a range of possible dates and a couple of possible locations for manufacture. This is not a Russian razor in the sense some are, but is rather a Soviet razor, made within the former USSR during that era. And, the construction definitely screams Soviet made!!! I always check out blade gaps, blade alignment etc. when using one of these razors for the first time. Some are so far off that it makes you reconsider using them, though it has never deterred me. This is one such razor. A couple of bad pictures to demonstrate.

On the left you can make out the lather scuttles on the bottom. Notice on top - no scuttles in view. the blade is not quite centered and this was after spending quite a bit of time trying to center it. An open view shows the same problem. Scuttle on the bottom, none on top. Nothing changes this position of the blade. I tried to get a picture of the blade angle but it's so close to the blade guards it's like there is no gap at all. Very mild configuration with an uneven head. Great. This is going to be a glorious Soviet shave. Cold water and caviar anyone?

Gave up trying to center the blade. You can't do it. I'm beginning to think this razor is not adjustable, just built to look like one. I can figure out no way to make it change blade gap. And I certainly can't fix the slight misalignment.

Well, nothing to do but lather up, right? I used the Pro 48 and Arko combo for this event as I wanted to be sure of a consistent and thick lather. After using the smaller boar and horse as my daily brushes the 48 feels like a real giant. But man can it work up a lather.

First pass here we go. Two days growth for the razor and the first pass down the right side wasn't bad but did feel a bit tuggy. I was using the side with the blade overlapping the scuttles. The reduction on the pass was a bit light. Turned it around and did the pass on the left side where the scuttles were exposed. Ok, now that was a bit smoother it seemed. Yeah, clearly an issue with blade position. As I finished the first pass I also noticed that the pulling was considerably worse on the overlap side. With the mild gap and the overlap across the scuttles I suspect I was getting the whiskers caught between the blade and guard and that's a bit uncomfortable. Went XTG and found this to be consistent. I could tell which side I was using by the pulling. Managed to get near a DFS after the XTG on my face, almost a CCS on the neck. One more pass, ATG face and went XTG on the neck then went for the M-Slide to try and finish it off. Never try an M-Slide with the wrong side of the razor. It's basically just an exercise in pulling and tugging in ways that make you cuss. I was finally able to get a passable DFS with no cuts/nicks or weepers. Pretty amazing to accomplish that with a Soviet.

Now, with that much pulling and roughness and overall beating up my face how about the irritation you say? Rinsed with cold, picked up the Alum, got ready to suffer and.......well, that's shocking. Really no sting at all. Makes no sense, really, except for the fact I feel I accomplished the result more by just wearing down the beard rather than cutting it. As mild as the blade gap is it wanted to grab and tub more than cut. Yes it did remove the beard eventually but I don't think the edge of the blade ever really got solidly on my face to threaten the skin. It's about the only thing I can think of.

So, what do I think of the Mladost II? It's a great bit of past Soviet manufacturing, certainly worthy of their usual quality control standards. I am a bit surprised it didn't produce any blood but as mild as it is it might be impossible to cut yourself with it. Another tribute to the fine engineers of the former USSR! Probably the same guys who worked on their newest tank!

​

 

Tank! I have a Russian friend, ex-military, ex-police. That's about right.

 

Nice pic!

 

Thank you.

 

Razor: Gillette Fat Boy (1961)(8)
Blade: Gillette Platinum (7)
Brush: Fendrihen Silver Tip Badger Black Faux Ebony Handle 22/49
Soap: The Shave Den Coconut
A/S: The Shave Den Coconut
Day 23

Shave Den Sunday for me. Enjoyed both the soap and A/S. Moved the FB to #8 today, and as I was the 7th day with this blade it might not have been the best of ideas. Made it through the shave and it turned out pretty well. I will finish off Adjustable August with the Gillette Slim. I have preferred my shaves with the FB's over the Slim this month. Perhaps I just need a little more practise.

 

August 23 Shave 14

Three passes with the SR and all seemed well, just one small weeper. Then I did a fourth pass with the Lather Catcher. When I applied some alum there was more burn than I expected, I thought the shave was irritation free. Not terrible irritation but not as good as I have been getting lately. I think it might be from the Lather Catcher.

Proraso Pre Shave
Santa Maria Novella shaving cream
Rooney 3/2 silvertip
Ralph Aust 5/8 and Lather Catcher
Dry Gulch horse bench strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Alcolado Glacial (stored in the fridge) AS
Muhle ASB
Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur