January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

Thanks Mark, apparently it's a yearly thing. I am good now. ☺

 

ok shave report.

Unmarked 6/8 straight
Proraso White
Semogue boar
Axe Shield
Gillette Fusion Cooling aftershave balm

First thing I had to find a small bowl because I had soap samples in all of the ones I had in the bathroom since I've been rotating my samples trying to clear out some room for later. I currently have 21 soaps and creams and all but 4 are sample size. Of those 4 I have made samples out of them so I have maybe half containers of them. And then I have an emergency stash of an Arko stick and 3 pucks worth of Williams. I don't count those since I have a partial arko stick in the rotation and Williams is Williams.

I found a clean deli cup and used it for my water cup that I soak my brush in and dip into to while I'm building my lather.

I had forgotten how effortless Proraso lathered and how fast it loaded up with the stiffer boar brush. My first and second passes resulted in lather dropping in clumps off of the brush and my face. I made a mess and it was fun. Great mild slick lather that reminded me to use proraso more often. I had a 3 or 4 day growth and cold dry weather so I knew my face wouldn't be forgiving to any nonsense. I did a full pass N/S rinsed, checked reduction with wet hands, found that I was most of the way to a CCS and relathered. After I dried my hands I picked up the razor and did a S/N pass on my neck and cheeks and an ears to middle pass on my goatee area. Wet face and hands and check for reduction again. Very good BBS on the cheeks but I needed an extra pass everywhere else. Since my face was very dry I did a WTG N/S on the goatee area with minor buffing and a tad more blade angle and very slight pressure to avoid irritation and nicks from ATG and an odd ears to center of the bottom of my neck pass with minor scything action on my neck. I was trying for a pass between XTG witch on my is N/S and ATG which is sides to center. I couldn't see at all on the right side because of the razor the scales and my Arm and hand so I missed a DFS by some extra stubble on that side of my neck. I am a one handed shaver and that was an odd pass I made trying to avoid some irritation while my face was so dry from the weather. It's a very fine shave for as much growth as I had. Minor irritation on the right corner of my mouth and 2 weepers, on at the bottom of my Adams apples and one high up on my right cheek. Axe Shield while my face was still wet from the warm water rinse then cleanup to let it soak in. I then patted off the extra and applied the Gillette balm. It is an alcohol balm but I couldn't tell because even with weepers and some redness I had no burn. It was a good shave but because of the right side of my neck I'm going to call it a CCS ++. BBS on the cheeks and really good everywhere else. I'll ha e to experiment with different grips to see if I can see better on the right neck so I can do better on the tricky days like today.

Have a good night and a pleasant morning.

 

I know how injuries like that are. Good thing it was a sharp chisel or it would have hurt more and been harder to close. My broken toe is alot like that doesnt really hurt until its touched and im able to walk with it fairly comfortable but its annoying to have it taped to the one next to it with the splint. Hope you heal fast, goodluck.

 

SOTD January 11, 2016
Focus Day 3

Prep: Stirling pre shave face wash
Razor: Wade and Butcher 5/8 hallow
Brush: omega 48 synthetic
Lather: Simpsons luxurious shave cream vanilla and something (it's a technical term)
Post: cold water splash, alum, TSD post shave milk

Epic shave tonight. Not sure if it's my better honing skills or the Wade and Butcher is such a fine shaver. 2 passes with the straight; N/S and E/W. And ATG with merkur progress number 3 setting, 7pm Gillett blade. The order of Simpsons came in from shoebox shave. Great deal - 7 dollars a can baby. Love this cream. So easy to work with.

 

Heal fast friend and get back to the straight life

 

That's a beautiful razor. Simple lines, very elegant.

 

Is it some kind of obligation to hurt one of your hands each year? But I'm glad you are doing okay. And it's very interesting to read about your straight shaving journey.

 

I am not sure what's happened actually, but it's two years in a row.

Thanks Eric! Turns out I used SR today! Streak intact!

 

Which Simpson's soap is the early favorite?

 

Broken toes are the worst... And you're right, at least it was sharp.

 

Not shown, but the mint rosemary is my favorite but I've been using it for a couple months but the vanilla I used tonight was pretty awesome. The lavender is pretty flowery. The sandelwood is better than tobs but not as nice as aos imho. I'll keep you posted but Simpsons cream is a really nice cream especially at 7 bucks a can!

 

Straights Focus January 12:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
Stirling Ben Franklin SS
Ralf Aust 5/8
Stirling Unscented PSB -- Mentholated
Stirling Ben Franklin AS

Yesterday's shave was a little better than I thought, as I woke up this morning not really needing a shave. I had a couple a rougher patches on my chin and neck, but the rest was almost a SAS without touching the razor. But since I work at a refinery (or at least that is the excuse I will use), I went ahead with my planned shave. I did decide to keep it to one pass, though. After working through a WTG pass. I was pretty smooth. The few patches I had noticed earlier needed a little touch up, so I spent a little time working those. I ended up with a CCS. The alum was very quiet as I wrapped up my shave with a little Stirling splash. My Tuesday is off to a great start, I hope everyone has the same.

 

1/12/16

Phoenix Double OC
Rapira Super Stainless (1)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
C.O. Bigelow cream
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Pinaud Clubman Original



Second shave with my Phoenix DOC loaded with a Rapira Super Stainless.
Used the C.O. Bigelow cream in anticipation of our upcoming trip to Florida. I hadn't used it since October. But I forgot to pull out the Frank Shaving Pur-tech Synthetic brush. I'll do that tomorrow. Did face lather and 2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Pass 2: ATG. Both with good reduction. Followed up my second pass with a medium amount of touch up with the lather already on my face. A cool water rinse and a medium amount of touch up in a few of my trouble spots brought me both a weeper and the baby. The Pinaud Clubman stung a bit today, but settled down quickly. The C.O. Bigelow left me with enough lather for at least another pass.

A nice comfortable BBS from the Phoenix DOC and the Rapira Super Stainless. C.O. Bigelow is easy to lather and pretty slick. It has the added benefit that my wife tried it while we were on our last vacation and really liked it. She wanted to use some last week, but the tube was empty. So, perfect excuse to stock up again.

Have a great Tuesday!

 

01/12/2016
Razor – AlumiGoose with Triad Ti
Blade – Feather Super Pro (5)
Brush – Shavemac Silvertip D01
Lather – Catie’s Bubbles Santal Sensuelle
Post - Witch Hazel followed by Captain’s Choice Sandalwood



I was up a little later than usual last night watching the College Championship Game so I am running a little behind this morning. Given that I decided to just go with a 2 pass shave, ATG followed by XTG. With touch ups in my usual spots, I ended up with a near BBS which is my normal for a work morning. Finished up with a splash of CC Sandalwood with menthol added. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

Only the Russian women use chisels, (heavier beards).

 

Blackbird
Persona (6)
Palmolive Lemon
Omega 10066
Old Spice

I continued with the 2 passes shaving downward only. Had a small touch up to the right jaw and chin and everything is great! 6th consecutive shave with near bbs results.

 

SOTD
January 12, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette Aristocrat Junior #49
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Crown King Sacré Bleu
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Macho Sport. Fine L'Orange Noir
Superb shave. I really like the RR Plissoft brush. Day 3 of my Brut/Brut knockoff experience. Today Macho Sport, a big 8 ounce bottle for $1. This bottle does not have a flow re-stricter and that was an issue at 4am. No sting or burn at all, nice lemony, woodsy scent, because there is no re-stricter I probably used more than enough. So much that after about 10 minutes I had to wash my face, head and arms with soap and water. I went with Fine L'Orange Noir. Of the 2 Brut aftershaves I tried this week, Attitude and Dominant, and the knockoff Brut, Macho Sport! Dominant was #1 followed by Macho Sport and Attitude.

Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

Third shave with the Merkur Futur - testing the limits



- RazoRock Mudder Focker
- Whipped Dog High Mountain Badger
- Merkur Futur set on 6
- Sputnik blade (#3)
- Pinaud Clubman (sample)

Now this was odd - definitely not what I had expected.

The Merkur on 6 was not noticeably more aggressive than it had been on 4 yesterday. On the contrary: I think ATG it was actually more gentle - and I have no idea why. Maybe the lather was a bit slicker than yesterday's, maybe I had a better angle or the stars aligned in a favorable manner. Whatever the reason might be - it was another enjoyable and very efficient shave with my new Merkur. Two passes, first WTG with some very nice reduction, next one A/XTG - no touchups necessary (at least I thought so). Wide open the razor gives some really nice audible feedback - a crackling sound as if you were walking over frozen snow I like that a lot.

Finished with cold water rinse and a nice splash of Pinaud Clubman. Another funny twist: My wife hated the scent directly from the sample vial but really liked it on me today. I like it too - but similar to the Lustray it seems to rather dry out than provide any skincare. But it didn't burn - that's something.

I would have rated this shave as a nice BBS one, but now, about half an hour later, I realize that I missed one of my trouble spots along the Jawline ... I can feel some roughness there ATG. So A- for smoothness and A+ for irritation today.

Have a great day everyone

 

30 Day Focus - Hard Soap
I'm on the road this week so I used my travel kit which includes Arko and my EJ DE89. I do like this soap. It face lathers like nothing else I've used. The lubrication is adequate as well. The only downside is that is makes my skin a little dry. I just finished off a tuck of Bic blades yesterday and I'm glad they are gone. Used a Feather today and remember why they are one of my favorites. Great shave today.
SOTD
Arko
AoS Pure Badger
EJ DE89
Feather (1)
MK Sport Cologne
Have fun!

 

I bet Frankie made a pretty good A.S.