January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

Thanks Charlie, Santa was very good to me this year! The soap, AS and brush were all from him!

I've only had 1 or 2 shaves with the Rooney (my first badger!) so I'm no authority on it. But it sure whipped up a lather quickly with this hard soap. (rub the puck on your face and face-lathered.)

Now that you called it out, I may just use the Stirling Synthetic on Tuesday to compare the two.

 

I didn't get an aftershave. I'm well stocked with those.

 

1/26/16

Phoenix Double OC
Gillette Silver Blue (1)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Pinaud Clubman Original



Another fine BBS shave with my Phoenix DOC loaded with the Gillette Silver Blue.
2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Very good reduction. Pass 2: ATG. Very good reduction also. Did a small amount of touch up with the lather already on my face. A cool water rinse and a small amount of touch up brought home the baby. The Clubman stung a little more than yesterday, but not bad. I had enough lather left over for at least 2 or 3 passes.

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

Thank for this, I think.

 

Straights Focus January 27:

Homemade PS Oil
Simpsons Commodore X3 Best Badger
Stirling Electric Sheep SS
Ontario Cutlery Co
Stirling Unscented PSB -- Mentholated
Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill AS

After yesterday's shave, I realized I needed to pay a bit more attention to potential rough spots. So, today I felt everything well after my first pass, and I had a little roughness on the jaw line again. A little clean up there, and I got a nice CCS. I am lemony fresh and off to start my day. Have a great Tuesday.

 

01/26/2016
AlumiGoose with Hempel Ti
Feather Pro (3)
Doug Korn DK7 with Druida Manchurian
Catie’s Bubbles Santal Sensuelle
Witch Hazel
Fine Platinum
Whipped Shea Butter


​

Another great near BBS work morning shave. Overall it was a great shave. Catie's Bubbles is a good soap but not in the top tier of soaps I have tried. While it's easy to lather, I just don't find it as slick as some of my other soaps. Finished off with a splash of Fine Platinum followed by whipped shea butter. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

I like this phrase! I was able to resist this morning and just do a WTG pass with minor touch-up on my neck. I wanted to go in a lather up and go for full second pass but resisted in the end. I'm smooth with a CCS. However my neck will feel better and not be irritated if I hold off and resist that "last" time!

 

SOTD
January 26, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Gillette Super Speed 1953 Y2
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: La Toja
Brush: Maggard Razors 24mm Synthetic Marble Handle
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Clubman Vanilla
Wondering shave. La Toja is great on the skin, easy to lather, Cbluman Vanilla is is my favorite low end aftershave, great smelling. Maggard synthetic brush is great! Worthy of the $15 I paid for it.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

I like that Rooney, really nice "bloom".

 

1/26/16
Today was my 22nd consecutive shave with the Blackbird and the 10th on the Persona Lab Blue blade. I continue to be amazed and astounded with this razor. 2 passes and near BBS and the blade shows no signs of being dull.

I sort of remember back in the late 70's and early 80's that we made a blade last a month. I wonder...

 

Hello TSD My shave today:



Day 2 of my Futur/Progess comparison. This time I used the Progress on setting 4 (5 is maximum, the Futur has a 6 setting).

The Mühle Synthetic brush lathered the Stirling soap effortlessly. A good amount of slick, creamy lather, more than enough for my shave. I'm beginning to like this brush, but I still think the WD synthetic is better. The smaller Mühle will make a really nice travel brush though - I'll just have to buy one of those handy travel tubes.

The Progress set on 4 did a great job today. Very pleasant, very gentle and at the same time very close shave. Seems as if I prefer the upper end of the scale with my Adjustables - provided that it's loaded with the appropriate blade. The GSB is still going strong - good for a few more shaves. I still prefer the overall feel of the Futur though.

Two passes, as usual, WTG and A/XTG, a bit of cleanup along the jawline. Nice BBS shave today, no irritations, almost no Aftershave burn. Straight A

 

.
Gentle and close, what more could you ask for in a razor?

 

You're right ... these two Merkur Adjustables are both fantastic razors and one could be happy with either of them as his only razor. Which one is just a matter of personal preference, i guess.
But I also love variation - as do most of you guys, I guess. And then there's this voice in your head that keeps telling you: "The next razor you buy might even be a little more enjoyable"

 

January 2016 Focus -- Blade search for the 1958 Executive

January 25

Razor: Gillette 1958 Executive adjustable
Blade: MEM Chinese knockoff then GSB
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Stirling MITA
Post: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel, Nivea Balm

Last night I decided to listen to my inner Neal, Ivan, Igor, Boris (you decide) and try a random blade out of China. As I mentioned in my last post, the tryablade.com website indicated these were being disposed of cheap because they appeared to be imitation blades. Well, I don't know what they were trying to imitate, but either they failed miserably or I never want to touch the original! This blade made the derby seem like a feather. Heck, this blade made a well worn shovel seem super sharp. I honestly am not sure it could slice through air, much less my beard.

First pass WTG. I started down my right cheek and after finishing the very first stroke realized this may not be the best idea. So I focused, made certain angle was right, and went forward. I should not have listened to myself. I finished the first pass and my face felt like it had rubbed raw. I figured there had to be good reduction at least, nope! I think I still had 75% of the beard growth sitting there and what little was gone I think was yanked out and not cut by the blade. So rinsed with cool water and got the fire on my face reduced. OK, a smart person would have stopped here. Well, I decided to go forward and start an XTG pass on my neck to see whether it would do any better. After a couple strokes common sense returned and smacked Ivan in the face. That blade went into the blade disposal bank and I grabbed a GSB to finish my shave. Finished with a DFS- shave salvaged from the miserable shave offered by the MEM blade. I am pretty sure I would have had a POS shave had I not gotten Ivan and the crew out of my head. My face was on fire and thankfully the M-bombed witch hazel and the Nivea Sensitive Skin Balm calmed everything down. This morning there was still a slight sting to my neck where I started the XTG pass with the MEM.

Next up for me will be a first time with the feather. Looking forward to using it after having used the Bolzano that was sharp and so smooth.

 

This effort just HAS to be honored with an imitation of the fight song

 

Focus - Hard Soaps
Today I decided to take one of my favorite razors for a spin. I loaded my Leresche 51 with a Nacet Stainless blade and did two passes with MWF. What a nice shave. No irritation and BBS. I like this razor!
SOTD
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Doug Korn brush
Leresche #51
Nacet Platinum (1)
Alum
St. John's Bay Rum

Have fun!

 

Malden always called his partner(then a very young Michael Douglas)"Buddy-boy", and was a huge 49ers fan.

 

Razor: Gillette Milord 1940
Blade: Gillette Silver Platinum (1)
Brush: Fendrihen Silver Tip 22/49
Soap: Route 66 Lumberjack
A:S Fine American Blend

Excellent 3 pass shave today. The Milord is an outstanding razor. Route 66 Lumberjack can not be spoken highly enough. The Fine American Blend is a perfect finish. Have a good day.

 

Fantastic picture Do we want to know what you did with that chainsaw?

 

In February I cut down some trees and prepare them for burning next year.