March '16 - 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion Thread

March 18 - Straight Shave 19
Friedr Schlemper Focus Spezial
PSO, hot shower
Jayaruh #40 Synthetic
Reef Point Dragon's Blood Soap & AS
Alum, Nivea balm

Really focused on a no feedback from the alum shave and succeeded. CCS. Love this soap, great scent!
Have a happy Friday!

 

SOTD March 18, 2016
March focus shave 16

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Personna lab blue (4)
Razor: Maggard MR1 with V2 open comb
Brush: Omega 10049 boar
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with knock-off Old Spice, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up



Fat Friday! MWF performed well again. The face lathering ended up more as painting than scrubbing. Part of that is the massive size of that Omega brush. But the lather was protective and slick and provides incredible post-shave feel.

I used to shave in short strokes, two to three inches at a time. But lately I've been starting my strokes at the top of the lather and pulling down all the way to my jaw-line in one stroke. That is helping in several areas - I can get irritation around my chin and this helps to avoid that. I've been trying to add in the longer strokes over time and I'm liking the results. I guess that is all part of technique improvement as well as figuring out our faces and our patterns.

All in all a nice CCS with this combo of gear. Personna Blues work great for me and the open comb razor is becoming a favorite.

Have a great day everyone!

 

Planned Day 78 - 90 Day Intro to SR
18 March 2016




Whipped Dog "Sight Unseen" 5/8
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Route 66 - Lumberjack
Alum
TSD ISZ AS Splash
Pinaud Clubman

Have a great weekend!
​

 

Razor: Gillette President Y 1, 1953
Blade: Gillette Platinum (5)
Brush: WDC-8, The Cub, Brass Handle, Whipped Dog Silvertip Badger. 24/65
Soap: Route 66 Retro Spice
A/S: Old Spice Fresh Lime

This brush is a smaller, lighter version of WDC-6 "The Bear". Along with the Route 66 Retro Spice I whipped up and outstanding lather.

 

Injector Focus.
First day with this beauty. Heading out of town again. Review to follow.
SOTD
Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Rubberset 400
Bunny V3
Chick blade (1)
Thayers Witch Hazel
Pitrulon Polar AS
Happy Friday!

 

SOTD
March 18, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Merkur Futur
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Catie's Bubbles Inspirazione Di Parma
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Rose Petal WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: RazoRock XXX
Great shave. The Merkur Futur set on 3 was perfect. Caties and XXX. Wow!
Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try

 

I am 18 hours post shave, and still a pretty decent DFS. That Case Brothers razor is amazing.

Edit: added awesome photo.

 

pretty good!

 

March into Artist Club Blades

March 18

Razor - Feather SS
Blade - (4)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea, The Veg

What a nasty near cut I had today. About an inch long, and why it didn't bleed more I don't know. Oh wait, that wasn't from shaving, that was from hitting my forehead on a shelf at work today! So all's well. And, at least I smacked myself on my head which is the hardest and least likely to damage area on my whole body. Lots of rock and fat up there.

As far as the shave goes it was a much better day. I worked on the angle as planned, watched the set downs and held the angle and ended with a two pass near BBS. I find it's a bit harder to get close to BBS with the Pro for me, mostly because I think I tend to back off a bit due to showing it maybe too much respect. More work with it will help with that. The alum was a bit hot today on the neck but not as bad as some so overall a good day with the pain stick. Now, to avoid plexiglass shelves that are hanging in front of me.

 

Catching up a bit as I'm behind due to work and a lot of packing and all that fun. Move is scheduled for next Saturday, the 26th. Lots to do.

Nice to see the CJB in your pic. And, nice to hear it's apparently going pretty well for you. I'll read backwards to find out why there's a can of goo involved. I'll withhold the angry scowl until then.

 

Still working backwards. Two weepers not bad with the pain stick in the early phases. Backwards I go.

 

I have cartel first responders standing by just in case. Just part of the benefits of paying protection.

 

Nice work! I wondered how it would feel to you since you started with TSR's first. It is a different feel, although the grip isn't too far off, just the pinkie is in a much different spot. The blade difference is rather startling. Since I started pain stick then went TSR I had a great time with the straights since it was a nice relief. The machine ground AC blades and the hardness of the stainless really does make the blade less forgiving on the pains. Nice to know major first aid was not necessary!

 

Well I just want to leave the shaving world a better place for all. And that does include making sure the superior quality of blades from glorious motherland never fall out of favor! Running the cartel isn't easy, but it is interesting. Just having Ivan around is enough to make it that! Hopefully my shaves will inspire others to take risks, try new things, develop great technique and allow that technique to trump even the worst tools! Or perhaps warn them to just take my word for it.....sometimes it SUCKS proving that theory.

 

I have Ivan and Yuri sitting by the mailbox everyday to make sure I don't miss it! Anytime someone asks me how willing I am to try something that sounds painful or dangerous you know it gets my adrenaline up!

 

Shave Secret PS oil, Arko
VDH boar, Suribachi bowl
WD 5/8 Brandt Round Point
Wild Country AS, Clinique PSH

Thought I'd "rub the stick on my face" but didn't have enough stubble to get a good load. Next option was rubbing on the textured ceramic bowl, much more better! For those considering joining The Dark Side a Whipped Dog is a decent vintage starter straight. It won't be as pretty as a restored or new razor. It will give good shave for a decent price. Larry will discuss your needs and wants and set you up. My shave was efficient and uneventful, but Arko left me feeling dry. Swipe of alum, rinse, & a splash of Avon AS. I grabbed a smear of Clinique post-shave healer. It has very little scent and a good dose of aloe.

 

Route 66 Black Pearl
VdH boar brush
CJB painstick
Kai mild blade
The Veg

I'm still loving this soap. It is so easy to lather and feels great on the skin. The brush I'm still undecided on. Its not broken in yet so its just preforming sub-par. I'm hoping it stops shedding at some point too. It lost 8-10 hairs today.

This is the 4th shave on the mild blade and there is still no sign of blade degradation. I chased the baby some and paid for it. 3 passes with scything, buffing and tilted blade passes to mimic a slant. I almost caught it except for a line right across my throat in the crease that forms when I look down. No blood but the Veg lit me up. SWMBO said it smelled great today.

The girl child has a neighbor sleeping over and we get her all day tomorrow while her parents are working. Errand day tomorrow with a pharmacy trip a stop by the post office to send some donations for the restarted nationwide box tour and a trip to the animal shelter to look at a dog for an emotional support animal for my fiancee who has PTSD from a past assault. Her doctor seems to think it will help since shes at the max dose of her anxiety meds and still has trouble around the public. We are hoping for this adult female feist mix named Lilo. Here's some pictures because, who doesn't like cute dogs.




These are pictures off of Petfinder. We haven't seen it in person yet but the shelter is having diminishing adoption costs due to a March Madness deal until April 4. Tomorrow is the last day for half price adoptions ($32) it reduces gradually down to $4 on April 1 and a pick your fee on April 4. Then it is regular price up to $65 again. I think we got this support animal paperwork just in time. No need for a specially trained animal for this but it benefits from the service dog rules out and about and in our apartment complex.

 

I hope everything works out, Lilo looks like a nice dog.

 

SOTD
March 19, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Merkur Futur (3)
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: The Strop Shoppe Russian Tea
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Rose Petal WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Fine L'Orange Noir
Man, fantastic shave. The Strop Shoppe Russian Tea is fabulous!! The Merkur Futur is a fine shaver, I'm very happy with this purchase. I going to dail it down tomorrow to 2.5. Fine L'Orange Noir is a favorite of my wife's.
Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try

 

SOTD March 19, 2016
March focus shave 17
Schick Saturday

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Schick G1 injector
Brush: Trader Joe's synthetic
Lather: TSD Tabac-type (sample)
Post: Witch hazel splash, Country Club Sweet Water after shave, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG, touch-up



Really close shave with the G1 injector. This little razor looks quite innocuous but is a tool to be respected. No nicks or weepers today. I had one little area right under my nose that felt a little raw, but it was okay in the end. I did two passes with touch-up today as I had more time. I would qualify this shave as DFS. There is only little area under my jaw around the point of the chin that could've used more touch-up.

The TSD Tabac-type soap was fantastic. I'm really bad at describing scents and I couldn't really put a finger on the main scent of this one. It was a little powdery? I enjoyed it immensely. The consistency of the lather is thick and yogurty, the slickness is great, and the protection is top-notch. I could only use TSD soaps and be happy. I need to get some more.

I'm trying to go with longer strokes as I shave. My previous technique was shorter strokes, perhaps two or three inches long. I've switched to a long stroke all the way down my face (on the first pass) and then back to the top of the lather and pull straight down again without stopping.

I hope you all enjoy your Saturday!