SEPT 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Never tried the older stuff.

 

I wouldn't sweat it...

 

that's my experience in just the short time I've been at traditional shaving.

 

Another great photo. The UFO handle looks great with the satin finish on the Mongoose.

 

I used both. I've never had problems getting a lather from Stirling, but the new formula does lather easier than the old.

 

1954 (Z1) Gold Tech
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Proraso Sandalwood cream
Aqua Velva Ice Blue

Shave #1 with the Personna Platinum (Israeli Reds) in my Gold Tech and #3 with this blade. A near BBS shave.
Face lathered, then did 2 full passes: Pass 1 WTG on my face and XTG on my neck (top to bottom today). Pass 2: ATG. A solid DFS at this point. Did a cold water rinse followed by a few rounds of targeted touch ups in my problem areas but stopped when I started to feel some irritation on my neck and realized that I just couldn't catch the baby today. The Aqua Velva screamed at me for a bit, then cooled off. For the first time in a while, I have a spot of irritation on my neck.

Another 99% BBS from the Tech and the Personna Platinum. This time with some minor irritation. This could have been avoided if I had not chosen to try for a BBS, but settled for a DFS. It appears this combination is not able to give me a true BBS shave.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

 

SOTD
September 21, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Mongoose B3 Dr. Bomber Handle
Blade: Feather Professional
Lather: Proraso Green
Brush: L'Occitane Plisson
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Proraso Green
IMO one of the things that makes Proraso a timeless classic is the tub it comes in, basic and very practical. Great shave. I woke up really early because it was hot and the fan blowing on me was causing me to cough.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE

 

09/21/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Triad SS Helix
Blade – Feather Super Pro (6)
Brush – Rubberset 400 # 3 with WSP HMW
Lather – B&M Latha
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol F/Extra



Another fantastic 2 pass with touch ups work morning shave. I couldn't catch the baby but I came about as close as I can get on weekdays. I am nearing the end of the tub of B&M Latha. I am not a fan of the scent but it does perform very good. Finished off with a splash of Myrsol F/Extra. I hope everyone has a great Monday.

 

Clint, I'm real close at being able to get a really nice shave with two passes. I think if I go with the Super Pro I can do it. Thanks for your guidance.

 

I can come really close with a Feather Pro as well. The trick I've found is to skip the WTG pass and go straight to XTG or ATG for the first pass followed by second pass in the remaining direction. As the blade gets some wear on it, this will just not work and I have to switch back to a traditional 3 pass shave.

Plus the Mongoose is gives such a smooth shave, that 3 passes are really not a chore.

 

SEptember Focus Day 20:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
Stirling Glacial Wintergreen
Injector Type G
Osage Rub
Stirling Unscented PSB
Barbasol Pacific Rush AS

After taking the day off, I went back to the Injector. I was rewarded with a great shave. DFS with no irritation. The Stirling Glacial Wintergreen was nice and slick, and it was very cold. It was just a great way to start my work week.

 

Very well said.

 

This is definitely the area as a newbie that I have had to pay the most attention to while shaving. With cartridges, you just stuck it to your face and went. There was no angle to worry about and you either got a decent shave or a horrible shave based on the razor and blades involved. Now with traditional shaving, angle is everything. And most important for me at least, consistency in holding the angle is key. What helped most here was @Drygulch suggestion about turning off the water and any other noise source then listening for and hearing the feedback. When I take my time and pay attention to the angle and keeping the angle, I can get a great shave and BBS shaves regularly with my familiar L6 razor. Even poorly performing blades produce a decent shave (as good or better than I ever got with a cartridge). So I completely concur that the focus for a new shaver definitely needs to be on finding the angle and keeping that angle consistent within a shave and from one shave to another.

 

I agree. This is something that the thirty day focus has helped me with. I am finding that bad shaves are my fault. Not all razors use the same angle and it takes a couple of shaves to find the sweet spot. I had Gem SE angles all wrong until this focus. I actually like these razors now

 

September 30 Day Focus--Blade Search

Sept 19 and 21 (Sorry for the ridiculously long post below!)

Razor -- Schick G Injector
Blade -- Schick (China)
Brush -- VDH Boar
Soap -- Stirling MITA and Lemon Chill
Post -- Cold water splash, styptic pencil and WH

I was going to say I took a little detour this weekend and today with my blade search focus, but I don't think it is a detour at all (definitely not @NCoxSTL and crazy Ivan stuff ). I finally received injector blades for the Schick injectors I picked up a couple weeks back at an antique store. The razors cleaned up very nicely and so I decided to given them a spin. I am definitely trying a new blade so it still falls in the blade sample search for this month, plus it allows me to join in a little on the SEptember focus.

I spent quite a while reading the posts earlier this month when everyone was getting going with their SE razors and the injectors in particular. Especially those by @Herm2502, @Rufus T. , @Bama Samurai and @Norcalnewb. My main take away is exactly what @Bama Samurai mentioned in a previous post . . . angle angle angle and no pressure. I really appreciated @Rufus T. post number 163. He laid out a good framework for getting started with the injector (and probably any razor).

So Saturday was day 1 with the G. I started off like was suggested with the head of the razor flat to my cheeks and started my pass. Slowly adjusting the angle and listening for feedback. I noticed it did not take much adjustment of the angle before feedback started. I continued slight adjustment until I got some good solid feedback. From there I continued with my shave as normal. The first pass WTG on face and XTG on neck was a constant work in progress to find and keep the right angle. Every pass I began with the head flat and then moved out to the proper angle. When I moved to the second pass, I was more comfortable with the angle. The second pass ATG everywhere seemed to do much better than the first in terms of removal of growth, and I think this is at least partially attributable to angle. I think I had cardinal rule number one down, find the angle and hold it.

One major difference as was mentioned but I really did not appreciate until using the G was the difference in weight between it and my L6 DE razor. The G is significantly lighter. Unfortunately, I think this meant I violated cardinal rule number 2, no pressure. I found myself multiple times pressing too hard because the razor just does not have any weight to it. Where the L6 DE razor did a lot of the work for me, and I was comfortable with it doing the work, I felt like I needed to help the Schick G along for some reason. Unfortunately, the added pressure resulted in irritation and one weeper right at the crease above my chin.

I did end up with a good shave. Did not do any touch ups because there was definitely more irritation than usual and that one weeper, but it was a good close shave. Probably DFS - so not great but definitely not bad.

Today's shave with the G meant applying the lessons learned on Saturday. ANGLE ANGLE ANGLE and NO PRESSURE!! I got up early so I would have time to be patient and really pay attention to what I was doing and how I was doing it. Lathered up with my Glacial Lemon Chill for menthol Monday and got going. First pass WTG face and XTG neck. I took my time on my cheeks to really pay attention to getting the angle. I did what worked for @Rufus T. and started flat, moved the angle until hearing velcro, and then backed off a bit. Proceeded to do the first pass in this manner. I really had to stop myself from applying pressure with this razor. I can tell this is going to be the hardest part for me. First pass went well, no weepers or blood and minimal irritation. Unfortunately it did not do the best job of hair reduction either.

On to the second pass, ATG all over. This time I decided to keep the angle where I heard velcro and not back off. This is the sound of the angle that works best for me with a DE razor so I thought I would try a similar sound with the G. The angle is definitely different but the sound is very similar. Again, made certain not to apply pressure. It is especially hard on my neck and chin which is my thickest and coarsest hair. I finished the second pass and checked my face after the cold water shave. The irritation was significantly reduced from Saturday and no weepers or blood occurred. The shave was very good and required only minimal touch up. Again, found the angle and no pressure. Finished the touch up on my jaw line and chin. Ended the day with a DFS to DFS+ shave! Very happy with this shave as it also had minimal irritation. It was less irritation than I got with my L6 using Derby or Personna Red blades, but not irritation free like the L6 with the Ladas or GSB blades.

My "detour" into the SE arena will continue this week. I really want to get comfortable with the G before moving back to try a few more blades on my L6. Just need to keep repeating to myself angle and no pressure, angle and no pressure, angle and no pressure . . .

 

So I didn't follow the thread this weekend, and had six pages to catch up on. Here are the highlights that stuck in my mind:

1. @NCoxSTL got two job offers, and finally found a good Chinese blade.
2. @Boojum1- Happy Birthday!
3. @Bama Samurai summarized that the angle of attack is the most important part of learning any razor. He also is going to try a straight razor.
4. @clint64 had a good ride in spite of his back. Sweet.
5. @Keithmax is going to Vegas! Enjoy!
6. @GDCarrington likes music.

Didn't skip anyone on purpose, those are just the ones that stuck out to me. I had a good shave on Saturday with a new to me razor. Cleaned it up and touched it up a little bit, and got a great shave. No new cuts, but I managed to re-open two cuts from Thursday. Going to take some time off of my spike point. Didn't shave today, as I woke up late, but hopefully that will give the cuts more time to heal.

 

just finished my shave. I used the body shop maca root cream with my Col conk badger and my semogue boar (more on that later) I used the Gem Bullet tip and a carbon steel gem blade that I hand stropped. I touched up with my razor foe the ball end tech with a mistake blade in it. I used a Kai that I had used then wrapped back up. Turns out it had been used too much and I wrapped it up because I had nowhere to throw it away safely while I was I FL last month. I had a companion in my shave den today. The always adorable Xander, my fiancé's 4 year old son. I choose the tech to touch up because he wanted to shave his like me so I let him use my Sterling without a blade. He lathered up with the badger and I used the boar. His lather was a bit thin so I gave it a shot but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't make the badger work for him or me so we gave up and both used the boar. He finished off 2 adorable passes and I did 2 beautify passes with the gem and then decided to murder my face with the tech and an old dull blade. Thankfully the bleeding stopped a few min later and I soothed some of the burn with Nivia sensitive post shave balm. And slapped a drop onto Xander's little mug too. Pictures to follow after I get them all uploaded.

 

What a great memory, not just for you but for him! Get him started on the wet shaving young . . . he will never regret it!