This a great place to hang out. I don't think you will find another place where people are more helpful and welcoming.

Thank you Charlie. I just pushed things a little to far this weekend spending all day cooking and my back is paying the price today. I think my back will get better.

Please keep us posted on your progress through the blade sampler pack

Get well soon my friend.

Thanks Doug.

Menthol Monday, December 14, 2015

Alumigoose (not pictured) w TRIAD Rolling Hex Ti
Feather Pro #2
Doug Korn Taca 2 TGN HMW
@Douglas Carey Route 66 SS Frozen Margaritas
Alum, Sterling MITA Witch Hazel, Gold Bond Green Lotion
Chiseled Face Cryogen Aftershave

The Alumigoose continues to impress. Two passes plus clean up closeness A irritation A. Light as a feather, but still a Mongoose. Lather was a Christmas present from @Douglas Carey. Thanks Doug! Scratch one from the top of my list. @Salty Belle Route 66 Soap Frozen Margaritas is an outstanding performer, a medium face freezer with a great scent, some where between the Glacials and Krampert’s Frostbite on the ‘Menthol Monday Scale’. The lather was colder for the second pass. Note: TGN HMW has less backbone than TGN Finest at comparable lofts. My face was so cold I could barely feel the alum, the MITA Witch Hazel added more freeze, and the Gold Bond Green was a soothing chill down. Finished with a big splash of Cryogen. Ooo, la la! Have a good Monday and a great week all.

Indeed. Sorry if that rant was a bit much...it was focused on a specific group, and was probably a bad idea.

that is a nice looking set up I really like the look of the razor I'm getting a lot of razor envy here on TSD but I feel my murkur 34c is where I need to be while learning. my plan is to nail my technique by my birthday (feb 2016) and treat myself to a razor in the region of £150 am I right in thinking u listed the razor as alumigoose?

I didn't see it that way.

I should have.

The funniest part of the whole evening...should have rented a tux, but went with a black suit and tie instead. The CEO's personal assistant saw me walking in a black suit (6-5, 200, close cropped hair) and assumed I was with the security team. She tried assigned tasks and such, but no dice... It was a fun and awkward exchange, but provided some hearty laughs for a few people.

Take it at your own pace. You picked a great place to start. Mongoose pictured but I used the aluminum version.

The funny thing is, after your technique develops, blades will matter less, but the differences will be more readily apparent. Good plan! Astra SP is a fave blade of many on this forum, and absolutely capable of great shaves. If you simply focus on shaving well and good blade angles, you'll be amazed how fast it comes together.

Heal up quick!

I still haven't gotten a shave in. I do have my hones in a water bath to Lap my natural stone and see if I can get an edge on my straights. Maybe I'll have a test shave for a straight later today. I've been doing pretty badly with the well groomed thing the last few days. I have a 3 day beard and I haven't done much between bouts of illness. First stomach now some blood sugar issues. I'll get through it soon. Sorry for the short whine.

Thank you Chris.

Things have been crazy around here as usual during the holidays, so I didn't get to post my last shave. Lather was provided by WSP Barbershop, a great soap, lots of thick creamy lather and the scent is outstanding . The brush is the Stirling Li'l Brudder, my travel brush and is great. I used my F. W. Engels Leader for my initial passes and it was nice. Not nearly as loud as my Wade, but still a lot of audible feedback. I did some touch up with my birth quarter slim set on 6 and called it BBS- after I found one rough patch when cleaning up and splashing on the Witch Hazel.

Focus day 1
I've just completed what I am claiming as my first ever BBS thanks to the advice and guidance of this 30 day focus the palms of my hands have more hair on than my head and no irritation as of yet. I also had absolutely no sting from the alum bloc for the first time and I only did 3 passes with a touch up. I guess Astra sp blades were not to blame. My wife mentioned my head as soon as I walked down stairs saying that's the closest and most shiny yet. I have been struggling for a month and blaming equipment and in 24hrs of this group my shave has improved ten fold I thank you all. Key areas I believe I was making mistakes were moving the blade to fast and stupidly having music on during my routine like mentioned on TSD sound is of major importance I think having the radio on while shaving is for pros. I will continue my focus by improving on today's technique while being sure to not get over confident I will start my sample pack on the next focus using my new found skills. I am now happy with my modest but ample set up... For now!

SOTD 12/14/15 (Shave 7 of this focus)
Razor: Henkels Friodur Inox
Strop: Drygulch Leatherworks Forty Five Series Bridle/ Poly
Soap: Barrister & Mann Seville
Brush: Omega 1066
Post Shave: Cold Water rinse, Alum, Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue

10 hours post shave, still almost a BBS. Did a three and a half pass shave, N/S, XTG, S/N, and touch up with a scything stroke on the neck and jawline. Lather was perfect, using a few tablespoons of water in the soap while showering, then dumping it into the bowl. I load the brush, then whip the lather in the bowl with the water, and put it on a damp face. Had enough lather for six or seven passes. One cut on the jaw, but almost no irritation. Alum was quiet, as was the AV. A+ for closeness, A- for irritation only because of the cut. This kind of shave is why I switched to straights.

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 14

Razor - Rimei A2002
Blade - (2)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea

Finally, it's the WEEKEND!! Wait, not for you? Sorry about that. I'll keep the celebrating down. Monday morning and it's my weekly head shave ahead of the main event. Last week's head shave didn't work too well as I somehow managed to slice myself behind the left ear. Going to pay a bit closer attention to that stroke around the ear to see if I can avoid that. Still wondering how I did that. Merkur 23c and Astra SP along with VDH Deluxe soap and boar brush as always. And, other than a nick in a rough spot it all went well. However, it took some doing so I'll be changing the blade for next week. I usually go 3 shaves on the blade but I'm stopping after 2 this time. I feel like maybe I got a dud as it just didn't work as well as normal for the Astra SP. It happens.

On to day two of the Remei A2001 and Vincent blade from China. The blade was good yesterday, but again it's made in China for an American company, Sewicob. BoSFat for the lather and it really exploded into life today. First pass felt very smooth and I went into the second pass with high hopes of a DFS. Found some touch up work needed after the second pass and thought I had the high DFS. Afterwards, though, I discovered as I worked with the alum and Nivea that I can't call it that. I would have needed a third pass to accomplish a good DFS. The result is a barely DFS if I'm a bit generous. Still not a horrible shave but not what I thought as I finished. I'm blaming that largely on the Remei, however. It is a mild razor even with the blade a bit straighter than most. Just takes more work to get where you want.

My overall impression of the Vincent is that it is a quality blade. If the shavepocalypse happened tomorrow and all I could find was a stash of Vincent blades I'd be perfectly happy. Not thrilled, but happy.

Now, for those who are bored or want to pretend they're interested, here are some observations I have made over the past 14 days and 7 blades. I know I have 5 to go, and a couple of them, well more than a couple, are probably going to be horrible. But, I have noticed that so far I really haven't had a horrible experience with the ones I've used. Even the Gentle Man, wherever the hell it's from, wasn't bad enough to throw away. And, the Cloud from Shanghai turned out to be usable. Certainly more than any other Chinese blade except perhaps the Rimei blade. Is the improvement based on the fact I'm on a better batch of blades or is it something else? We know that the 30DC started almost a year ago in the belief that Technique Trumps Tools. The 3 T's that are our mantra here. The proven theory that if your technique is strong enough you can use any tool (razor, blade, brush, soap) in any combination and still attain an acceptable shave.......unless a tool is defective. Blades that aren't sharpened evenly, razors with broken parts (or just made in the Soviet Union), soaps that won't lather and stink like bug spray (Williams) and brushes that would rather shed than lather are all examples of potentially defective tools.

After nearly a year of working technique with a variety of razors, both good and bad (and a few horrid) as well as too many blades to count, and a solid month on the Feather SS AC, I have noticed my technique has evolved considerably. Especially after the pain stick I notice myself making minute angle adjustments with DE razors now. If a blade tugs a bit I will add or subtract a fraction of angle to try and find a smoother spot. My theory is that because I worked with the pain stick and its potentially 180 degree range of angles, which traditional straights and kamisoris also provide, I developed the feel for a blade on my face and how it is performing at any given angle. I also developed the ability to adjust that angle by the tiniest of degrees. With a pain stick you do that to avoid cutting your throat while still getting a shave accomplished. With the DE's I find myself doing it to try to smooth out and get a more effective pass. So, technique in varied types of razors and systems does translate to other systems and razors and helps develop the skills to truly accomplish TTT!

My apparent lack of self-survival instincts in using so many potentially horrible setups has been a grand experiment to see how far the three T's can actually be effective. And, the question that now comes to mind is "how defective does a tool have to be to be beyond the reach of TTT?" The answer, through trial and discovery, may be closer than you think........stay tuned!