January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

The brush is from this store: CNCBrushs(His spelling, not mine.) Yes, this lime is not sweet. I couldn't stand the scent of Pinaud LimeSec for that reason, so I wasn't sure what to expect on this one. Not a hint of life savers, just clean smelling.

 

SOTD 1/7/16
Prep: Hot Shower/ Nivea Original Moisturizing Face Wash
Pre-Shave: PAA Ice Pre-Shave Soap
Soap: Razorock XXX
Brush: Manhandled Wood Shop 28mm Finest Badger
Razor/ Blade: Merkur 1906/ Astra SP (3)
Astringent: Alum
Post-Shave: Eco Pure Man Aftershave Balm
Aftershave: Fine L'orange Noir
Fantastic shave last night! The finest badger whipped up a fantastic lather with the soft XXX soap. First time using the soap and it was truly incredible. Very slick with the tallow, easy to load, easy to lather, thick and creamy, and scent was incredible. A bright citrus/ oakmoss scent that really opened up nicely. Post shave was pretty good, nothing special but still good. My focus for this month is to use my Merkur 1906 and really get the feel for it. I absolutely love it--I'd rate it about a 3 for aggressiveness. It is perfect for daily shaving. Has a nice weight to it, but still balanced. I'm actually starting to enjoy it more than my Muhle R89/ Maggard MR5! Overall great shave, very happy and Fine L'orange Noir pairs well with the XXX and smells great. Hope you all have a great weekend! I will be driving from Southern CA up to Northern CA tomorrow and am stopping at the West Coast Shaving store on the way

 

Welcome to the thread! Lots of good advice and lots of fun!

 

The pinaud is exactly why I asked. I mean, it did not make me sick, but I did not want to wear it either. Glad to hear this one is not candy scented. Thanks also for the link. He has some neat handles.

 

Enjoy the store! Jealous of anyone with a decent store within a reasonable driving distance.

 

January focus-hard soaps
One of the joys of doing a soap focus is that I'm not limited on razors. I grabbed a few of my favorites last night to put them in the rotation because I'm already thinking of a February focus that will limit my razor choices. Today I chose my Mulcuto slant and Route 66 soap. I sure like this soap. Today's combo provided a very nice two pass irritation free BBS shave with almost no touch up. Nice way to start a day.
SOTD
Route 66 Sweeney Todd soap
AoS Pure Badger brush
Mulcuto Slant
Bic Chrome Platinum blade (1)
Alum
Nancy Boy AS Balm
Florida Water
Happy Friday!

 

That's a great mantra! And true in most things, it doesn't matter how cool your gadgets are if you don't know how to use them (it pains me to see people with really nice kitchen knives either use them incorrectly or never). Great tools are great only if you have the know-how to actually get your use out of them.

 

January 8, 2016

A 30-day focus with my Schick Type C1 - The Simplified Schick Automatic Razor.
My goal:

• Due to it’s compact design, build technique to use it exclusively as my travel razor
• Determine the best blade for my use with it. (I will test 5 different blades for 4-5 shaves each.

I’ll use soap and brush combinations that I will normally travel with.

Shave 4
Hot Shower
Soap: Arko Stick
Brush: Rubberset 300N 'Plastiset' Nylon 2-tone Brown/Amber Lucite
Razor: Schick Type C1
Blade: NOS Schick (Holland) (1) (Thanks to @Hodge )
TSD Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Proraso



Moved to the second blade in the trials, Schick blade from Holland thanks to @Hodge

2-day growth 3-pass shave. (WTG, XTG, ATG)

First pass reduction was very good. This seems to be a sharp blade.

This razor seems fool-proof and since I have already gotten used to the blade angle, I will use the rest of the month to build a solid two-pass shave routine with the C1. My business travel days are so packed that I’d like the travel shave to become automatic. My first four shaves lead me to believe it’s possible.

Today’s shave with the Dutch Schick was as clean as the other shaves but the Chinese Schick felt a tad smoother. I’l shave 3-4 more times with the Dutch to test that.

One thing for sure, this brush is a two-pass brush.
It is too small to hold enough soap for a 3-pass shave utilizing face lathering - which I prefer, especially on the road. No worries because using a soap stick, it’s easy to just reapply soap directly to my face between passes and do a quick relather, which Arko and LaToja are very capable of providing. Plus, I’ve already gotten a couple 1-pass ATG shaves from this razor when I have a 24-hour growth.

I’m loving this focus.

Cheers!
RT

 

Congrats on your first week with the straight! Great job!!!!

 

Congrats on your maiden voyage with the Feather! Great shave today and wise choice to get some experience under your belt before trying it.

 

Kerry, I hope you heal up and feel better soon! Glad you enjoyed a nice shave today.

 

Welcome! You found the right place to work on your technique and have some fun. We're all here to help each other.

 

Michael, congrats on your progress! You've done really well. That's a great looking brush you have, and the Fine L'Orange Noir is one of my favorites. Enjoy your trip tomorrow, have safe travels, and be sure to post photos of your new goodies! The poor souls on NB16 can live vicariously through you!

 

I like the handle! Pretty inexpensive for what you're getting.

 

I shaved my head! Used the same setup from this morning except for the razor, I used my Gillette Atra. I really needed this head shave. Thanks @Troy M for the inspiration! I already feel better. Or is it the...

 

Love that handle!

 

Got to get back to taking pictures. Sorry for the lazy streak. Anyway, good shave today. I was excited when the gods of random came up with Chizeled Face Sherlock today. What a great soap and great smell to boot. Maybe the only one I have that rivals Mitchell's Wool Fat. The gods seem stuck on Old Type #1 but switched it up with Rapira Swedish Steel. I'm really pleased with the Swedish Steel. I can live with it as my sharp blade and either Derby or Voskod as my smooth. (Still need to decide between the two.) Today was the Omega 48 Pro's turn. Interesting thing there: It's probably got half a dozen shaves on the 98, yet has much more of the boar smell left. Even more interesting in that I did the voodoo with the 48 and went straight to shaving with the 98. The base of my neck is beginning to complain about daily shaves. I haven't done that since the 90s when I still had a real job.

 

Thanks Tom! Spending a year getting really good at DE and injectors (per advice or SR vets like @HolyRollah ) has been of real benefit, and allowed me to understand the interplay of angle and pressure.

To be clear, I am nowhere near good at straight razor shaves yet. Every day that I pick up that blade, it's with a healthy dose of respect and a little prayer.

Thank you! I know...what's the worst that could happen?

 

Kerry,
Welcome back!!