OCtober-een!
October 12
Grand Blade Trials - OCtober shave
Razor - 1918 Gillette Old Style
Blade -
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Soap - Tabac
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Witch Hazel, Nivea
You can tell me I'm wrong, but I don't think there are many razors more aggressive than the Old Style. Mine is from 1918 and it hasn't lost a bit of its aggressive tendencies. That incredible blade exposure, those small and spaced out teeth and the feel of that thin head working its way across.....add pressure and just remove layers of skin with the beard. Every time I use this razor I'm reminded of how shaving was in the early days of the Gillette Safety razors. Better (safety wise) than a straight, but still plenty of blade feel and opportunity to draw blood.
Tabac courtesy of the Semogue 620 was very slick and cushy tonight which was good. I needed every bit of it. I focused on absolutely no pressure, just as I approached the Fatip yesterday. Let the razor do all of the work. Stay on the cap and hit that angle that keeps it from having a chance to bite. And feel and hear that reduction with each pass. Three passes, WTG, XTG, ATG and a very shallow angle Gillette Slide on the neck to finish with a BBS. No question the baby made it but he is quite irritable as well. And, as usual with this razor. Even the normally smooth Sharp Star can't stop the burn. I avoided the alum altogether in favor of the milder witch hazel. Then, Nivea original to calm it down. And yet, that burn remains to a degree and I LIKE it.......it reminds me I'm alive, and that I just did something very cool. I took a razor that was made when my Grandpa was in World War I and I used it to shave just like the first dude did 98 years ago. That's amazing.
Tomorrow it's back to the Grand Blade Trial. The Treet Falcon is up for three days. Carbon blade so we'll see how it fares. I've used it before and if memory serves wasn't overly impressed. More time for it to do its thing this time.
Speaking of the 1918 here's a blast from the past. Taken on January 5, 2015.....the fifth day of the inaugural 30 Day Thread. I had just been shaving about 2 months maybe, less than three weeks on TSD and decided to use the 1918 as my Rule razor in the setup depicted. I did the first shave as planned on January 1, then on through the 5th and then.........modified my setup by switching to the Gillette Aristocrat . As a newbie I was absolutely destroying my face with the 1918. I mean serious irritation and cuts, weepers, nicks, you name it I managed to go 5 days before throwing in the towel. I nearly called it quits, but with the Aristocrat I finished the month strong and headed forward to this very day when I can now pick up the 1918 and, yes it's still a beast, perform a BBS shave in three with nary a scar. A little Nivea and all is well. There's proof that the 30 Day Rules and Focuses work!
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