DEC 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Nope...don't need it!

 

How does it sit in the hair? I have thought about using it on my scalp, but I am not sure how my hair would react.

 

I'm think a nice CT for Adam would be "Made from scratch."

 

Tell me something. What is your opinion of Lakewood? Just curious for now. Thanks.

 

Second SOTD
I flew back home this afternoon and have an office Christmas party tonight. That's all the excuse I needed to break out my new Irisch Moos and load up a new Feather in my my birth quarter Gillette Slim. What a nice smelling shave stick. My wife likes it too. I finished with my St. John's Bay Rum and I'm ready for a night out

 

Dec 12 Shave 2.5

As usual I made way too much lather with the Castle Forbes, I could have shaved my head and body but I am not a head shaver and this is a family friendly forum... besides I was using my Dovo Bismarck. After three passes no blood, and allot of reduction I got the feeling this was going to be a great shave. Fourth pass went great but I got a small nick trying to go to low on my neck. There was still tons of amazing lather so I did a 'smooth down' pass. Alum test revealed only a faint tickle, no irritation..... and the faceturbation test, BBS.

Irritation A Closeness A

Castle Forbes Cedarwood and Sandalwood
Simpson Tulip 3 super silver tip
Whitehead scuttle
Dovo Bismark 2
Drygulch Leather Works strop
Speick AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Chanel Egoïste

 

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 11

Razor - 1918 Gillette Old
Blade - (1)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold water, Witch Hazel, Nivea

Leaving China for a two day trip to Turkey. Let's hope for an improvement. Turkey, of course, is the home of the famous, or infamous, Derby, depending on how you look at it. The blade I've chosen is the Concord which is, based on the seller, made by Concord in Turkey. What is interesting is that the coatings listed on that site are exactly the same as Derby, which are Chromium, Ceramic, Platinum, Tungsten and Polymer. On the blade, however, it simply says Platinum. So, not sure what to make of that. The description may be wrong, or Concord may just stamp it Platinum. Either way, if it's like a Derby it won't be too bad a blade. For some, though that would be horrible. I don't mind Derby all that much.

BoSFat for the lather today and the razor is my 1918 Gillette Old, the most aggressive DE I own and a favorite at times. When I randomize blades/razors I'm always concerned what blade this beast will draw. I'm thinking this isn't a terrible pairing as long as the blade is serviceable.


First pass ready to go and the first stroke is aggressive but not too bad. The blade is actually pretty smooth, as is the Derby. No dragging, just that on the edge feeling and sound the 1918 delivers. First pass finished fine and the XTG pass was also good and effective. Needed a third pass, though, as the blade didn't deliver a DFS in two, even in this aggressive razor. ATG and Gillette Slides finished it up. Alum was fairly hot as it always is with this razor, but not out of the ordinary for it. Nivea for the cool down and off to the day.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and seeing how it fares on its second day and I'm hoping to get a feel for it in comparison to Derby at some point. Seems similar so for some this might be a decent blade. For others, one to run away from. Have a great weekend!

 

It stripes the gel out but doesn't stay too greasy.

 

That is awesome!

 

Thanks Clint! I appreciate you're helping me along the way!

 

12/12/15

Gillette New LC
Rapira Super Stainless (2)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
WSO (Wet Shave Obsession) Signature
Pinaud Clubman Original

Fourth day with WSO Signature and the Rapira Super Stainless in the New LC and my first face lather with it this month. I put a small amount of warm water on the puck while the brush soaked. Spread the bloom water on my face and neck. I swirled the brush in the soap for about 45 seconds. This produced plenty of pre-lather, much of it was on the outside edge of the container. I captured all I could on my brush.


After working the brush a few minutes on my face with just a small amount of water added during my lathering, I had a nice thick coating of creamy, slick, lather.


2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Very good reduction. Pass 2: ATG. I did small amount of touch up where I could feel stubble and this left my face near BBS. Did a cool water rinse and a good amount of touch up in my trouble spots and picked up the baby. The Pinaud Clubman was milder today. The brush still had enough lather for another pass. I squeezed out the knot and it was still nice and slick.


A nice comfortable BBS from the WSO Signature and the Rapira Super Stainless in the New LC. The WSO lather was very nice today. It was good and slick and I had plenty throughout my shave and still had enough for another pass if I'd wanted it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

 

12/12/2015
Razor – Gem Damaskeene
Blade – Gem Stainless PTFE (3)
Brush – Romera Olivewood Synthetic
Lather – Soap Commander Renewal
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine Platinum



Continuing the December Focus on vintage razors with my maiden voyage with the Gem 1912 Damaskeene. Mike @Redfisher and I traded razors with him getting my Golden 500. Based off of his SOTD photos and comments and my shave today, I think it's safe to say with are both pleased with the trade.

Using the Soap Commander Renewal in shave stick form and the Romera Synthetic brush, I effortlessly whipped up a slick protective lather. With the first stroke I could feel the similarities to my 1912 but somehow if felt different. The Damaskeene seemed to provide more audible feedback and feel smoother. A three pass shave proved a near BBS shave. If I were more competent with Gem razors above my lips, I would have caught the baby. Finished off with witch hazel and a splash of Fine Platinum and I am ready for the day. I hope everyone has a great Saturday.

 

Saturday, December 12, 2015

King Cobra Classic
Feather Pro #1
Rudy Vey Red Chief
Knockout Shave Soap Cotton
Alum, Witch Hazel +Menthol, Cucumber Melon Whipped Shea Butter
Fine American Blend

The King Cobra Classic KCC swept away my whiskers in a 2 pass shave plus clean up. Closeness A+ Irritation A- The larger KCC with a longer handle made grip changes error free. The combination of added weight with the longer handle and a new blade led to a few weepers. I need to work on my KCC technique some. Bring it on! Rudy Vey Chief had no trouble with the great performing Knockout Shave Soap. The 2 Band knot has a full-face feel, soft tips and good backbone. Today the whipped shea butter felt, oh so good. Finished with a splash of Fine American Blend. The perfect scent for a Saturday suggesting memories of John’s Barbershop in Tenafly, NJ, way back when. Have a great Saturday folks!

 

SOTD
December 12, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Grafco-Merkur 3-Piece Open Comb
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Catie's Bubbles Inspirazione Di Parma
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: RazoRock XXX
IdP and XXX is Amazing!! One of the next combos I have. I love this razor! Love.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

My new straight came back from its honing by @gssixgun this week. I decided to do my first traditional straight razor shave with it this morning (my wife was very concerned).
Wow, I see why some of you are straight fans. This razor surprised me how audible it was. It was down right noisy. I did one WTG pass and cleaned up my neck with my Slim for a DFS. I like this razor! It just might pull me over to the dark side
SOTD
Drunken Goat soap
Rubberset 400
Otto Deutsch Hans 5/8
Pitrulon Classic AS
Have a great weekend!

 

My soap leftovers are waking up more and more.


Prep: warm wash
Lather: leftovers including Godrej round
Brush: TGN synthetic
Razor: Weber
Blade: Astra SP
Post: Clubman Vanilla (decanted into an Ogallala bottle)

2 passes with a slick and creamy lather leaves my face feeling smooooooth.

 

I haven't been shaving daily this month so far but I still managed to get 5 shaves done so far with the Fatboy. Getting more used to the different angle I have to hold the razor compared to the Feather D2 I was using for a long time.
First few shaves were on setting 5 for the face and on setting 3 for the neck. Have now opened the blade gap up to 6 for all as the previous settings seemed mild.
Aside from sticking to this razor for this month and next, I have decided that I will also not make any changes in the other setup ingredients. So, Fitjar Full heim shave cream, Mühle travel shave brush, Feather blade, Bloc Osma Alum and Musgo Real after shave balm in addition to the steampunked Fatboy by Delta Echo.

 

I like the industrial look of the Delta Echo treatment, very nice. I did a focus with my fat boy a couple months ago and finally settled on 6-7 as the sweet spot. 5 and lower seemed to mild, 8 and 9 too aggressive. It looks like you may be headed to the same spot. Have fun with it!

 

Thank you. The folks at Delta Echo have indeed done a stellar job.
Yeah it looks like I'll be settling around the 6, that seems to do the trick and I usually don't enjoy more aggressive blade gaps. I'll keep you posted here in the discussion