DEC 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

+100 for me!

AND...that the core group that's here now was there at the time when I joined.

30 Day Rule Concept + 30 DayCrew = the best start any wet shaver can have!

 

You mean those of us who are just perpetually bored and come here to escape reality. Yep, that's us. Plus, the virtual couch is comfy.

 

and the cookies, and the popcorn and the SHENANIGANS!!!

 

Yeah . . . ALL that!

 

December Focus

The Twelve Blades of December!

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 3

Razor - '46-'47 Gillette Aristocrat
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie-Long 12601 - The Pony
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold water, Alum, Aqua Velva Ice Blue

Welcome to Thursday! Short day today for me as I transition to a new job (didn't I just do that?) and I needed a great shave today. So, of course, rather than switch off of the plan I'll just have to see if I can do it with the gear at hand. The Prime Platinum with it's classy looking moustache on the wrapper. Has to be a quality blade right? Well, it's made by our South Korean friends, Dorco. So immediately there is a bit of distrust. Now, full disclosure, I've never used a Dorco blade but common wisdom based on reading SOTD's and other reviews is that they are not a top blade. Not by a long shot. Some have expressed their satisfaction with them but the majority says no way. The Prime Platinum is a different offering than their standard ST-300 series though so we'll see.

The razor is the Aristocrat, the best DE I own, IMHO, and a solid performer in almost every case. If a blade can make the Aristocrat a bad shave it's saying how horrible the blade really is. The Pony and Tabac today for a great lather. It's all up to the Prime now. First stroke was surprisingly smooth, if a bit ineffective. Not horrible on reduction but no better than the Centwin. After the first pass it felt very similar to a mid-level blade like Derby. Not horrible again, but could be better. Lather up for the XTG and work through it and I'm still not DFS. Close, but not there. Full lather, full third pass to finish with a nice mid-range DFS. Nothing to be overly excited about but it's a solid, nice, comfortable shave. Like the Centwin (and the Derby) this blade delivered an acceptable shave with no discomfort, and the alum proved to be mild as well. All in all you can't complain about that. No fancy bells and whistles, but a journeyman shave in the Aristocrat. We'll see how it performs in its second day of use, but for now I can't complain. Three decent shaves in a row on a blade trial month? Didn't see that one coming!

 

Razor: Merkur 38C Barber Pole
Blade: Wilkinson (4)
Brush: Omega 10066 Boar
Soap: Route 66 Barbershop Hop
A/S: TSD Iced Barber Shoppe

Excellent shave tonight with this combination. The 38C gives a good shave, however, I'm not sure if I like how it feels in my hand. The Route 66 Barbershop Hop is a great shaving soap that building into a great slick lathe. TSD Iced Barber Shoppe is a very good A/S. I added a little M Bomb to it just for fun.

 

I normally don't go back and follow up on shaves but I wanted to revisit the Durham Duplex from Sunday and Monday. I was aware that the original blades with the razor are carbon steel, and in fact the razors were sold with a stropping attachment so you could strop the blade as needed to keep it going. Mine did not have the attachment with it, and most don't anymore as many were lost because, apparently, people forgot what they were and what they were for as safety razors took over the market. Since I used a new Personna Durham Duplex blade I didn't consider what it was made of, I suppose assuming stainless steel.

As you may recall I used the razor two days. I didn't remove the blade between shaves, but I did dry the razor and put it in front of the small fan on my desk to allow it to dry between shaves, and overnight Monday. I finally took it apart last night to put it away and here's what I found.



Talk about a rust machine! Wow. This may explain a lot about the quality of the shave, or lack thereof. Definitely not a high quality blade, and that kind of rust is almost a scary thing. I'm tempted to put in one of the originals at some point and see if they are equally low quality, but I suspect they were.

 

Congrats on a great start. What brush are you using?

 

this month I am learning how to wet shave with my merkur 34c

 

The 34c was my first DE razor as well. Please feel free to ask for advise or let us know if there is any way we can help.

 

Good razor. We'll love it

 

I've decided to rejoin the focus fray. I really enjoy reading all the opinions, impressions and ideas about all the different shaving products.

So for December I'm only going to use my Ikon 102 Slant. Possibly will switch up the handles. I got this razor in a trade with @RaZorBurn123 and have enjoyed every shave. But I haven't used it enough to really get to know it. So...


Two shaves this month with the 102 with a Gillette 7 O'clock Blue blades and both of them were BBS. With the OSS handle this razor is massively heavy and I love the heft. It is really hard to tell if anything is happening with this much weight. There is very little audible feedback and the feel is slippery smooth. BUT, the results speak for themselves.

 

Welcome back Hermey!

 

AND the finest razor I've ever had the pleasure of vacationing with!

 

And what a gorgeous vacation spot for a SOTD photo.

 

Welcome aboard!

 

It's December.... Bring back the elves!

 

Thanks Clint!

That was back in July when I took Neal's Aristocrat on vacation with me!
I'm pretty sure I put it and a bunch of other photos from that trip on SOTD and the July 30 Day thread.

 

Oh I remember how nice the photos were when you originally posted them.

 

I'd like to throw this out to the 30 DC

When I post my SOTD it's normally 15-30 minutes after the shave, when I post my remarks about my shave I'm going on a very short time table.

The other day Paul had asked my opinion on an aftershave, my initial summary wasn't favorable but as the day went on the aftershave mellowed out and was rather nice.

So, would you say that during the course of the early part of your day/night depending when you shave your shave changes? Irritation, razor burn, not as close as you had original thought, aftershave better/worse? Or after you are done things pretty much stay the same?

Thoughts?
Thanks in advance for your input.
K