SEPT 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

I hope you find some relief for your back soon.

 

Thank you.

 

I hope the Dr visit helps.

 

Thank you.

 

SOTD
September 2, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Mongoose B3 Dr. Bomber Handle
Blade: Feather SuperPro
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
Lather: Catie's Bubbles Le Marche Du Rasage (LMR)
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Fine Platinum
Holy moly!! Sometimes we need a little encouragement in shaving to take the next step, thank you @clint64 for the blades and encouragement! I used a Feather SuperPro for the first time in the Mongoose, up until today I've been staying with milder blades. Three pass smooth as silk and as close as a shave I've ever had. Ever. I wonder if I'll need to shave tomorrow? The Fine aftershave actually stung when I applied it. I likey! Caties is a fantastic soap! Great value.
I hope you find relief today Clint at the doctors.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE

 

SEptember Focus Day 2:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
TSD Lanolin Pumpkin Spice SS
Injector Type G
Gem Micromatic
Stirling Unscented PSB
Clubman VI Bay Rum AS

Day two using the Injector, and I had similar results to yesterday. I finished up my first pass, and it just hadn't done much. I tried adjusting the angle from very shallow to somewhat steep. I felt it pulling a bit, and the sound was as if it was cutting down a miniature forest, but a lot of stubble left over. Since I am heading to the refinery today, I have to be clean shaven, so I picked up the Micromatic. This cleared everything very effectively, in fact it is near BBS if not quite there. I had a couple of small weepers, which I never felt, and I have a little irritation, which I am not sure is from the multiple passes or the razor, but all in all a very good shave.

I am going to set the Injector aside until the weekend where I can be a little rough around the edges.

 

Well day two of 30day and I am pretty satisfied with the out come except the lower neck is slightly irritated but I think it's because this morning was my first time going XTG and my mol was weeping a little bit to probably for the same reason.but with those set aside I'm off to a good start considering the tools I have.oh it was a 2 pass with a touch up pass.

 

September 30 Day Focus -- Blade Search Part 2

I re-started my search for the best blade for me yesterday (Sept. 1). Even though I have found the GSB to be an excellent blade, it never hurts to try others. I think I have about 12 different blades to try, but this month's focus will be on 7 or so blades. I gave a list earlier when I decided to do this focus, but I reserve the right to change the blades at any time.

First three shaves will be with the SuperMax Titanium. A blade that was sent to me to try. I used the GSB on August 31 so am still very familiar with how it performs and all blades will be compared to it as the standard.

Razor -- Lord L6
Blade -- SuperMax Titanium
Brush -- VDH Boar
Soap -- Stirling Gin and Tonic
Post -- Cold water splash and WH, TSD ISZ


First pass, the usual WTG on the cheeks and XTG on the chin. Seemed very smooth, audible feedback was a little less than the GSB (not sure if due to the titanium coating or if the beard growth was just not as much as usual). Finished the face and moved on to the neck. XTG went very well and seemed smooth and irritation free. Again, audible feedback not quite the velcro sound I am used to with the GSB, but still present and changing angle only decreased the sound so not angle related. Did my cold water rinse and felt around. Hmmmmm LOTS more left on the face than usual with the GSB. Appearance wise, it looks the same and looks like it shaved really well, but the touch test showed it just did not get nearly as close as the GSB.

Moving to the second pass. XTG on cheeks and ATG on chin. Pass went well again. Seems very smooth and no irritation. Moved on to the neck and did ATG. Very smooth shave, blade just seemed to glide across the skin. No irritation at all. Finished both passes with no nicks, no weepers, no blood. Cold water rinse, and yet again, not nearly as close as a two pass shave gives me with the GSB. So it was decision time. Accept a decent shave. Looked good, but felt bad and I knew better could be had. Or in the alternative, give it a go with a third pass ATG.

Decided to do a third pass. First two went smooth and no irritation. So started went for pass 3ATG and again everything was smooth and irritation free. Blade really is a smooth performer that just glides across. Face and neck both went really well. Took my time even though I was behind because of doing a third pass, I just did not want to rush anything. Cold water rinse. Everything was finally VERY VERY SMOOTH! Face felt great! Took me three passes to get there, but the face was as smooth as with the GSB (which of course only took 2 passes). Real test of the smoothness happened several hours after the shave when I met up with my fiancee. She gave me the stamp of approval with a touch of the face and the comment, "oooh that is a smooooth shave!"

So day one with the SuperMax Titanium produced a great shave, but it was a 3 pass and not a 2 pass shave. If I had stopped after 2 it would have been decent and looked acceptable but just not worthy of letting my fiancee run her hands on it. Since I was meeting up with her, I knew I had to do more. I am glad I did because it was still such a smooth irritation free shave and ended up so very smooth! I dare say the baby's bottom may have had competition.

Two more days with the SuperMax Titanium to see if it holds up being as smooth as day 1 and if it can produce a 2 pass DFS or BBS shave.

 

To true.

 

September 30 Day Focus -- Blade Search Part 2
Sept. 2

Continued my use of the SuperMax Titanium this morning. Tried a different lather this time, using proraso instead of the Stirling. Otherwise everything else was the same.

Razor -- Lord L6
Blade -- SuperMax Titanium
Brush -- VDH Boar
Soap -- Proraso Red
Post -- Cold water splash and WH, TSD Bourbon Vanilla


Another very smooth shave with the SuperMax. No irritation, no blood, no problems . . . except it still is not cutting nearly as close as the GSB. Finished my usual two passes lots of stretching, paying lots of attention to the shave. Still after two passes had work to be done. A decent shave, probably better than yesterday after two passes, but still not DFS or BBS. Just a comfortable acceptable shave. So I went for pass three again. Just like yesterday, I did an ATG pass all over. And just like yesterday, the blade produced an incredibly smooth shave with no irritation. After my cold water rinse I found that there was no need for touch-up at all. Not quite BBS today, at least not to me. So I will declare this one a DFS+.

I think this is a great blade for smoothness, but my guess is that it is not as sharp as the GSB which is why it needs 3 passes to do what the GSB can do in 2. This blade will go into my to be considered seriously pile if it can hold up tomorrow. They are cheap enough, and a good enough blade to have on hand, especially for days I know I will have some extra time to do that third pass.

 

I told you that the Super Pro blades will give a spooky close shave. You'll be surprised how long the shave lasts for sure. What I have found that works for me is to limit myself to 2 passes with the Super Pro making the first XTG and ATG. With a few touch ups I still end up with a super close shave but I can still use the Super Pro as a daily blade.

 

Hope all goes well at the Doctor's office. Drooling over the Wolfman.

 

Thank you sir. Doctor's visit went as expected with another spinal injection to be scheduled.

 

I hope it works!

 

It's nice to look forward to doing what used to be a chore. Keep hanging out here and it will get even better

 

Agreed... It's no longer "aawwww I have to shave today" its "Sweet lets get the day started with an awesome shave"

 

Day two with the Valet. I'm not liking this razor. No matter how much I experiment with angle, it feels like I am scraping my whiskers of rather than shaving. This was day two on a Feather blade. Any Valet fans out there with some advice?
SOTD
Valet
Feather (2)
AOS PS Oil
TOBS Grapefruit soap
AOS AS Balm
Old Spice AS
Have fun!

 

Thank you. I hope so too.

 

That is so true. Glad you are able to participate in the September 30 day Rule/Focus.

Also, thank you for your service.

 

I actually could have stopped after my second pass but I needed to clean up the side of my face, next to my ears. I was a bit nervous for the first pass because of the blade exposure, that blade is smooth.....
How you feeling?