January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

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

 

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!!

 

Thanks for 'liking' the razor Charlie, I love the way this razor looks and handles.

To put how often I touch in context I have a tough beard and when using a DE I use the blade twice then toss it. For straights after refreshing off a stone I get 2 - 3 shaves then I will use a pasted strop, then another 2 shaves. The first weekend of every month I take out my finishing stone and touch up all my razors with the stone and pasted strops, then midway through the month I will use the pasted strops again.

I have a loupe I use to check the edges before and after touching up and I check with the loupe when I use just the pasted strop. After using the pasted strops and a regular strop I check with the loupe and tree top some of the hair on my arm.

 

Welcome to the 30 Day crew! Sounds like a great plan! Good luck!

 

I'm talking to him about some copper 30mm. I may have to buy several to get the price down on the one. So stay tuned...

 

Thanks William!

 

Thanks Charlie! It's gonna be a breeze for you when you try.

 

Kerry,
That doesn't sound like fun. Praying that you recover quickly.

 

Jan 9 Focus Shave 7

Saturday shaves are usually my best shaves, it's usually 27 hours since the last shave and I have allot of time. So I do not if that is why today's shave is such a success or was the edge? or was the stars?

Back to my roots, my first straight razor, a Whipped Dog sight unseen paired with a Whipped Dog 30mm silver tip. The razor was touched up on my J Nat then Dovo red/black pasted strop.

This razor is old, it's ugly but this old dog can hunt. It always seems to have a nice edge. I don't use it more because it is the smallest and lightest straight I have. I prefer larger and heavier. I alway seem to nick my nose and ears with this razor, I don't mean on the shaving surface but really nose and ears. It is just too light. Today was no difference, a small nick on my nose and just above the earlobe. The shaving surface was blood free.

The blade was smooth and sharp. The four passes went with easy and comfortably. BBS and the alum gave just slight feedback. Today was an excellent shave and the best shave to date when using the J Nat. Ironically the shave was similar to yesterdays, I can't really tell the difference between the Shapton and the J Nat.

Irritation A- Closeness A Smoothness A Keenness A

Vabobra Patchouli
Whipped Dog Silver Tip
Whipped Dog J Nat, Dovo red/black
Dry Gulch strop
Speick AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Dior Patchouli Impérial

 

Your first week was allot better than mine. Well done.