January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

Thank you both

 

Thank you sir

 

A pasted strop and a regular strop will probably keep you going for a long time. The 12k stone will keep you going indefinitely. You can get by with using sand paper on a flat surface to lap the stone, but a used DMT is 15 bucks from Whipped dog.

 

I can't shave everyday without my neck turning into a red, bump covered mess. I typically shave 3-4 times a week to minimize irritation. Its usually made worse by the fact that if I am shaving every day for work, I am probably wearing a tie too, and the collar irritates it too. What I do when I have to shave daily is a single N/S pass on the neck with no pressure. I still do my two passes and touch up on my face, chin, and jaw, but I never expect to get a BBS on my neck.

 

Cool picture!

 

The shave went well. I woke up very early, sat in the kitchen drinking copious amounts of Irish breakfast tea and rereading the wheel of time series. I then baked the kids muffins right before it was time to wake them up for school. The cold Dr air we have had lately has been hard on my skin so my goatee area has been getting 2 WTG passes, neck 2 XTG passes alternating directions and the rest of my face getting WTG/ATG. I'm also skipping the splashes and sticking to the moisturizing balms.

WD unmarked 6/8 straight razor
Semogue 1438
Con Conk Amber
Nivia Sensitive

The lather was very nice. I may it extreamly almost too wet but it still dried out and I needed to hit my neck again with the brush by the time I got there to shave. First pass was comfortable and smooth. I noticed some hairs at the base of my neck not getting cut. Turns out they were growing just under the skin. A few seconds with the tips of the tweezers and they were cut down on the 2nd equally smooth pass. I hit some irritation between my mouth and chin which is normal for this time of year. I had a CCS after the first pass and if not DFS then the closest thing to it after the 2nd pass.

 

Thank you! You pics have been great.

 

+1 Drygulch. If forced by circumstance to shave daily, I just take fewer passes -- Hell, I used to just multi-blade zip zop in the shower, mirrorless, and call it good.

I find that even a semi-rushed shave with my DE razor beats my old shaves by a mile! (I'm no longer a shower shaver -- I need that mirror!)

 

No shave last night. I burned my corneas with contact solution that contained peroxide. Maybe tomorrow my eyes will stop watering but much better than yesterday.

 

My eyes are watering looking at that hope they better soon

 

C

Congrats on the good shave and definitely enjoy Harry Potter world. My fiancee and my daughter have been trying to get me to go for some time. We will probably make it down there this fall some time (since I don't think I will ultimately have a choice but to go).

 

Not being able to see? Straight Razor? What's the worst that could happen?

 

Hope you feel better soon.

 

I have used Proraso Red only and agree that it will sometimes become a little dry before I finish a pass. As @TomJ89de said, just add a little water to the brush and give it a quick swirl and hopefully it will liven right back up.

 

That looks painful. Hope you get better soon.

 

As others have said, keep the neck to one or at most two WTG passes and no ATG for a while to let it heal. Your goal is a clean comfortable shave and not BBS. Keep working on the technique, it will come but take time. I assume the blade you are using is one that is comfortable for the rest of your shave and not one that routinely chews you up even on the face? Finally, when I get some irritation (and especially at the beginning when things were rough) I liked having a more moisturizing product for after instead of an alcohol based aftershave. Something like the Nivea balm or the aftershave milk from TSD can go a long ways to helping with the irritation and keeping areas well moisturized.

 

Having done this with contacts before, I know how miserable that had to be! Hope they heal quickly!

 

January 2016 Focus -- Blade search for the 1958 Executive

January 13

Razor: Gillette 1958 Executive adjustable
Blade: Ladas (4)
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Stirling Sharp Dressed Man
Post: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel, Fine American Blend


I was feeling under the weather yesterday so decided to sleep late instead of shave. So today I had some extra scruff on my face. I chose to use the Ladas blade for a fourth day instead of moving on to the new blade just because I knew Ladas would treat me right even with the extra day's growth and I did not want to be prejudiced by having a new shave with extra beard to get through. As the past few with the Ladas blade, this shave was nice and smooth. Result was a very clean shave with no irritation. End result was DFS+. I have noticed that some of the shaves I have achieved with the blades other than GSB, just do not last as long, even if the shave is a DFS+ or BBS. The Ladas seems to last almost as long as the GSB, which is why it is still my second go to blade.

Next up for the blade round up is Bolzano SuperInox. Another blade that I have not used before but looks to be a pretty good blade from reviews I have seen.

 

Really enjoyed today's shave as I had to skip my head yesterday. I treated myself to a new blade, didn't have to but I thought why not? Getting much better at lathering. I've started using less as I was over doing it to ensure I had plenty. Feeling good about my progress with the 1924 Ive had 3 perfect shaves in a row with no issues. Could of had another bbs tonight if it wasn't for one tiny miss I've just discovered. It's a funny game this traditional shaving, you think your getting nowhere, then all of a sudden everything clicks. I just need a variety of soaps and aftershaves now I'm getting rather bored in that sense.