NOV 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

I am wondering how many blades I have given up on that we're really still ok. Seems like almost all of them.

 

If I were pressed to limit myself to one, it would be Soap Commander. The performance is top notch, the scents are great, and they're from Alabama, what's not to love?

 

Just googled their address. I more or less drive by it headed to my parent's home from the airport in Nashville. I never knew.

 

Yeah, I vote for that.

 

Well like I said, tomorrow may be the ER visit for the month, but today really fell into place even if it did sneak up on me.

 

Hospital visits are like a badge of honor, right?

 

Its a defined smell. Like nothing else. I noticed it because I didn't grow up with snow. Its really close to the oncoming hurricane smell but not salty.

 

Nov 18 Focus shave 18

Next up in the soap test is Valobra, which is purported to be the manufacturer of the AoS tallow soaps. I was worried that lather was to wet and a bit frustrated the brush didn't want to release the lather. I proceeded with my Shick adjustable wide open and with a new Chinese Chick blade. It is a bit frustrating have to rinse the razor so often due to the narrow head but the 4 passes went quickly and smoothly. The alum test and then..... nothing, no reaction at all the alum. The shave was also BBS. Tomorrow the R41 test.

Irritation A+, closeness A

Valobra
Simpson Duke 3 in Best
Shick adjustable
Speick AS
L'Occitane ASB
Le Labo Santal 33

 

Congrats Neal!

 

You're groovin'!

 

November 18

Feather Artist Club SS
Feather Professional (2)
Semogue 830
MdC scented
Two passes plus touch-ups
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and CC Bay Rum

Goals
Further develop my two-pass shave technique by practicing the basics
Break in and get more experience with the Semogue 830
Get more experience with MdC

Another good shave this morning, although I was a bit overconfident with touchups. WTG, ATG, and I'm DFS+ with no visible irritation. I'm approaching BBS in many areas. I had one tiny weeper on my cheek, but it sealed off with the cold water rinse. Alum was quiet except for the areas where I chased the baby a little too much. Overall, I'm pleased with the result.

Happy Wednesday!

 

11/18/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Triad Ti
Blade – Feather Super Pro (7)
Brush – Rudy Vey with TGN Finest
Lather – B&M Seville
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol F/Extra



This morning I went with a 2 pass shave, XTG & ATG. I really had to work the area around my chin to get a BBS shave. The witch hazel and aftershave let me know I almost pushed to hard. I believe the blade might near the end but I'll go with it for one more shave before rotating to the Wolfman OC. Happy Wednesday everyone.

 

11/18/15

Gillette Super Speed Y3
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
WSO (Wet Shave Obsesion) Signature
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Pinaud Clubman Original

WSO Signature soap and shave #2 with the 4th Gillette Silver Blue in my Birth Quarter Super Speed.
Put a few drops of hot water in the soap container to soften the soap while I showered. Afterwards, I poured the little that was remaining into my scuttle. Squeezed out my brush and shook it to remove as much water as I could, then went to the soap container to load up. I was able to get a good amount of proto lather and transferred my efforts to the scuttle. Things seemed to be going well, and I added a few drops of water at a time until I had a good amount of lather:


But when I finished taking the picture, it seemed that it had begun to thin out. I tried applying the lather to my face and it was very thin. Regardless of how thick I smeared it on, it seemed to dissipate quickly. I went ahead and did my first pass with it and it was just OK. I went back to the bowl and tried to thicken it up. That seemed to work, but once on my face it seemed thin again. I did my second pass with it anyway, but when it came time for touch up, the brush was empty - even the knot had nothing to give up. So, back to the soap container after rinsing out and shaking my brush. The soap was still soft enough and I swirled for about 20 seconds or so and got some more proto lather. This time, I went to my face for my lathering. I added a small amount of water as I lathered until the result went from a paste to a nice slick lather. It was still a little dry, but I wet my razor between strokes and it behaved pretty well for my third pass. A cold water rinse and some touch up and I thought I came away with a BBS. I wish I had rinsed out my brush earlier and went back to the soap. The second time was much better. I squeezed out the knot and took a photo. It may not look like much, but it was very slick. It behaved much better than the showy mound of soap in the first picture.


The Pinaud Clubman stung a bit, but nowhere near what it did yesterday. Its soothing properties kicked in pretty quickly.

Another near BBS from the Gillette Silver Blue in my Birth Quarter Super Speed. I'm calling it a near BBS because 45 minutes after my shave, I can start to feel hints of stubble in a couple of my trouble spots that will come out over the next couple of hours. The WSO behaved well once I got closer to the right soap/water mix. I'm used to Proraso cream and do fine with it, but I'm beginning to think I may need to go back to Shave School to learn how to lather soaps.

Hope everyone has a great day.

 

Aristocrat Focus November 18:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
Pre de Provence SS
Gillette Aristocrat
Stirling Unscented PSB
Brut Classic AS

Another two pass DFS this morning. It was the third shave on this particular GSB and it proved to be a great choice with this razor. I will say that since focusing on riding the cap, the variability between blades seems to be less. Tomorrow, I will try a Gillette Platinum and see how it goes with this razor. Have a great Wednesday.

 

It's not a shaving app, it's a note app. Notes Pro.

 

SOTD
November 18, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette Red Tip 1958 D4
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Klar Kabinett
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Barbasol Brisk
Really good shave. The Red Tip takes little effort to get a nice clean shave. Klar Kabinett is a soap I could use exclusively, next to MdC. Barbasol Brisk was hiding in my overstock box, it's okay stuff.
I banged my right elbow last night on the edge of my bedroom door, the same elbow that I've broken 4 times in 42 years. This morning shave was all left handed, I normally shave my left side with my left hand and right with right hand.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

Day 18

MdC lavender shaving soap
Essential boar brush
Schick type F razor

CC North
L'Occitane Cade edt

Another fine shave this morning. This is as close to an automatic BBS as can get. I palm lathered this morning to change it up a bit.

 

I started out DE shaving using TOBS cream and found it super easy to lather. I don't think I could mess up lathering the cream if I tried. My first real soap I tried was Stirling. It was much more of a challenge to lather than TOBS. I just got to the point that I loaded the snot out of the brush. Really I overloaded the brush before lathering. That cured most of my problems lathering Stirling. I tend to overload all my soaps even now. Then it just becomes an issue of adding water to get the lather the way I prefer. My problem with Mystic Water was just in loading enough soap into the brush.

 

Interesting! My first soap when I re-started DE shaving a couple of years ago was TOBS Jermyn Street. Easy to lather, great scent, and excellent for sensitive skin.

 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015
​

RazoRock Black Mamba
Feather #1
El Druida Black & Red Barberia
Al’s Shaving Sapone’ da Barba
Alum, Witch Hazel +Menthol, Al’s Shaving After Shave Balm
Fine American Blend

Today's shave was an outstanding 2-pass near BBS. The secret of the Black Mamba was revealed over on TSN. There are two shaving angles with this baby. I rode the cap to the normal cutting angle suggested by the head of the razor for the first WTG/XGT pass. I flattened the shaving angle close to parallel for the second XGT/AGT pass. The result was the closest shave yet using the Black Mamba. Al's Soap is a top performer with an excellent super slick lather. Al's ASB is a soothing moisturizer, love the floral barbershop scent. Finished a little later with a dousing of Fine's American Blend. Wow, my face is singing. I'm ready for the Rest Of The Story.


​