January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

Bill, I just love your B&W photos. Your composition is great, and the details really pop out. You have moved from a learner to a skilled DE shaver in a short time. (If I have a lather question, I'm coming straight to you.) Your daily write ups provide some nice detail for someone wanting to learn more about your technique and the set up that you use. That DOC is a crazy-looking razor, and it appears you've mastered it.

 

Jim, this is a great write up, and I've enjoyed following your SR progress this month. I've learned a lot from you, and I admire how you were able to shave this way all month. I'm saving my straight razor for the weekends, initially. Thanks for the reminder to slow down and be more intentional with the strop. I've also enjoyed your SOTD photos, and you have the coolest TSD avatar of anyone here. Maybe you can build a straight razor out of popsicle sticks so your son can join in with you.

 

Beautiful setup today. I'm familiar with earlobe and cheek nicks, and I hope yours heal up quickly. Thanks for being a dedicated plasma donor.

 

Thank you!

 

01/31/2016
Razor – Ikon B1 OC with Triad Ti
Blade – Feather (2)
Brush – Rudy Vey with Shavemac Finest
Lather – TSD Yin Yang
Post - Witch Hazel followed by F&C Shambala



Since I was taking a motorcycle ride this morning, I went with a very quick 3 pass shave. Luckily the Ikon B1 OC is a very efficient and forgiving razor. Without really any thought I was able to end up with a near BBS. Finished up a very good shave with a splash of Folsom & Co Shambala. I hope everyone has a great Sunday.

 

Adam, it has been a blast following your SR journey this month. You have some sweet looking equipment. The details you've shared about razor honing have been particularly interesting. It appears to be a skill that takes years to master, but you are well on your way. It must be super cool to hone a razor yourself, and then strop it on one of your own beautiful strops.

I agree with you on Synthetic brushes. I want to like mine, but my natural hair brushes work better and are more enjoyable to use. I would like to get a shave cabinet too. I'm curious to see what you get. See you in the February focus, and I'm sure I'll have more SR questions for you.

 

SOTD January 31, 2016
Focus day 28
Shave Den Sunday!!

Prep: Warm water rinse
Blade: Schick injector
Razor: Schick Eversharp G-type injector
Brush: Escali badger
Lather: TSD lanolin bay rum
Post: Witch hazel splash, TSD Iced bay rum after shave, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG (neck and jaw only), touch-up

Received a big haul of TSD products yesterday. Wow!! This was a terrific shave! The bay rum soap is a heavy clove-influenced scent. It reminds me of the holidays. The lather is top-notch - exceptionally easy to load, rich, thick, cushioning - all the good stuff you're looking for. The Escali badger brush lost a good many hairs a couple of days ago but performed really well today. I had enough lather left over to do two or three more passes. The post shave feel after the cold water rinse was the best I've ever experienced. I am really pleased and impressed with the TSD soap!

The Schick razor was a gift to me and I've really enjoyed it. I will return to a Maggard DE tomorrow to begin a new focus, but the Eversharp will be close by and I'll use it off and on.

TSD's iced bay rum was a real treat. It stung a little bit at first and then the menthol kicked in and really cooled things off. I finished with Nivea balm.

All in all this was a terrific shave. I'm overly impressed with the quality of the TSD products! Now I see why so many of you sing their praises.

Have a great end to your weekend!

 

SOTD
January 31, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip TV Special 1958 D3
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Stirling Executive Man
Brush: Semogue 830
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Stirling Executive Man
Stirling Executive Man is a great soap and aftershave! Scent, slick, post, everything about this product is right on. The Gillette SS TV Special is an efficient razor, very smooth shaver.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

My goals at the start of the January 2016 focus were.

• Concentrate on 2 new razors, Cobra Classic & AlumiGoose, for weekday shaves with the goal of comparing both to the Mongoose by month end.
• Weekends will be free form on razors but I do want to use the Ikon B1 OC head arriving next week & my Mongoose.
• Use various brushes.
• Use various soaps working down the soap inventory.
• Participate weekly in The Shave Den Sunday thread.
• Embrace NB 2016 and enjoy the shave gear I currently have on hand.
• Provide advice and encouragement to new participants.
• Continue to improve my technique.
• Most important of all hang out with this wonderful group.

Overall I would rate the month as a success. I did split time between the Cobra Classic and AlumiGoose comparing the two razors. I will spend more time with both in February. I have the AlumiGoose dialed in at this point. Strangely, I prefer the Feather Pro blade in the AlumiGoose while I prefer the Super Pro in the Mongoose. I do need some more work with the Cobra Classic to get it dialed in. I am having problems becoming comfortable with gripping the razor. The very stylized handle looks cool but I am always afraid of dropping the razor. The grip issue only becomes worse when going ATG. I did get a couple of pretty good nicks from the snake while shaving. While the CC shaves closer, I prefer the AlumiGoose for work mornings, at least until I can get the CC dialed in.

I used the Ikon B1 OC razor one day each week this month. I bought the head on a whim when it was on sale and I am glad that I did. The razor has been a pleasant surprise shaving very similar to my Gillette New Deluxe. I look forward to spending more time with the Ikon razor this year.

Surprising myself, I have made it through the first month of NB 2016 without really a thought. I will keep trying to work down the soap inventory.

I enjoyed following the progress of the guys venturing into SR shaving. It seemed that all of you were quickly able to master the basics without many problems. Just goes to show that all the months of focusing on techniques were not wasted. I would hope that the newer guys recognize the benefits of spending the time mastering the technique. Once mastered you should be able to transfer these techniques to other razors.

 

January focus recap

This month has flown by! As usual....the days are long but the months and years are short. This forum and this thread have been a great addition to my hobbies.

I began the month as a newbie DE shaver and still am. I wanted to use all my razors and really dive in to all my soaps and products, but clamped down on a focus/rule hybrid. I used Proraso White a lot, used the same razor all month (with the exception of the past two days) and began to gain lots of confidence.

The clamping down of the razor and repeated use of the Proraso were the two key ingredients. I learned technique with that 3-piece razor and dialed in some fantastic lathers with the Proraso. My next month's focus will incorporate a few of these tenets with some alterations. It's going to be fun again!

Thank you gentlemen for an enlightening, fun, and engaging month of posts. I'm looking forward to joining you again in February!

 

I love that calendar with the photos, Clint! Really neat. How did you do that if you don't mind me asking?

 

Thank you. I us an app for the iPhone called Collect. As I take the daily SOTD photos I just save them to that day in Collect. At the end of the Month I just save the collection of photos as a calendar collage. Total extra time involved for the entire month is maybe 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Thanks Charlie, you're very kind. I enjoy your posts and photos as well!

 

Clint, you're one of my 30 day focus mentors. Following your Alumigoose and Cobra comparison this month has been very interesting, and your SOTD photos are always so well done.

Good luck on NB16! I'm right there with you on trying to work down my soap inventory. I'm 'using up' some of my less favored shave soaps by using them as facial soaps. I am down to one shaving cream, and once that's gone, I'm staying with soaps only. However, I am trying some new soaps and aftershaves for fun and variety this year.

 

Congrats, Perry, on completing your first focus! You've come a very long way, and I look forward to riding along with you in February!

 

Thank you, Charlie. I've really enjoyed your photos this month; they have been great. My son takes after his mother (luckily) and is much more photogenic than his old man, so the avatar was almost cheating. I hadn't thought the popsicle stick idea, but I will have to think of something like that. Great idea!

 

Thank you Charlie. I know I have learned a lot from you and the other 30 day crew over the past 13 months of the 30 day threads.

I haven't resorted to using the less favorites as bath soaps yet but that is a thought.

 

It has been fun following your progress this month. You have definitely come a long way in a short amount of time. Great job. Looking forward to what next month has for you.

 

I took a little more time this snowy Sunday and did a hot towel after shower with some extra pre-shave oil and bloom water. Can't say for sure it made a difference, but it seemed too. I got a new soap in the mail yesterday and really wanted to try it. I was afraid the scent would be too strong after opening the jar, but it calmed down nicely after lathering it up. I was hoping for more patchouli, but the grapefruit is the dominant scent. I still like it though, lathered up nicely.

My new found shaving bowl hold heat well. Put it in the sink with hot water before getting in the shower. Kept the lather warm through the shave.

It's been a very educational partial month for me. I feel like I understand the basics, now on to mastering them!

 

Thank you for another great month in the Focus Group. My goal was to learn to use hard soaps consistently. It was a success. I have been able to lather up several soaps that used to frustrate me, including MWF. In fact my new favorite cream/soap is a soap. Route 66 Sweeney Todd is now my favorite, replacing TOBS Grapefruit. Without this focus, I would have probably given up and just used creams. Thanks for being here for me. Time for a group hug!