January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

That description of the Voskhod doing its thing brought tears to my eyes. I called a five minute timeout from Cartel business just to let everyone on staff here (who was still sober) reflect on glorious blade of glorious motherland.

 

Cold and a bit rainy today, as those of you who watched the Winter Classic know. And, the Blues sent the Blackhawks back to Chicago after beating them 4-1. GO BLUES!! I watched the game while working on upgrading my blade sorting/storage. Here is the result so far.

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This is for any loose tucks or blades I have. I have the Russian 100 pack cards on my wall to my left as well as extras in a plastic storage box under my table. This is actually a thread box and the other side is identical so I have double the storage you see here. Should keep things organized a bit better. Anyone want to venture a guess which compartment houses the Tiger and Quick Tiger?

 

Ok, FINALLY here's my focus for this month. Still have lots of blades to trial in the Grand Blade Trial, but it will be a fill in during the month on days I decide. I'm changing my emphasis on that a bit after several months of it last year. Some new data emerged that I've been sorting through and figuring out. So, there will be an update on that process in the near future.

The main focus for this month will be shavettes, with a twist. I'll be using both pain sticks, the Greager and Feather SS with the Kai Captain Mild blade. And, I'll be using the Magic shavette with five different blades. Along with those shaves I'll also use the corresponding DE blade with the Fatip to see the difference in how the shavette version works compared to the DE version. Using the Fatip should provide an aggressive feel to more balance with the shavette. Should be a fun month!

 

My parents retired last year, and it didn't take my dad more than a day or two to call and rub it in that he wasn't working. It sounds like you have some good plans to keep busy. My parents are doing the same, and my fears that they would hate retirement and want to go back to work haven't come true yet. They have enjoyed every minute of it. I hope you do the same.

 

I have a smaller plastic box that I was keeping the loose blades in organized (more or less, mostly less) in the plastic sleeves that Jason uses from tryablade.com. Just got too out of control, especially as I kept adding more blades. Hopefully this will keep it in much better order. Thought about taking the cards down and putting the tucks in something like this too but I like the blades hanging there more than anything else SWMBO might put up.

 

The two that caught my eye were China Crap, which is self explanatory. And loose Russian, which brings this to mind:

 

Day 4 with my Thäter 2 band. Loaded up my Feather DX to get in the pain stick mood and theme for the month. AoS tallow soap and AoS sandalwood cream for a super lather. The lather was just awesome, not sure why I don't use this combo more

Four passes no blood, no irritation and BBS, just not the long lasting BBS so just short of epic but still most awesome shave.

Some thoughts on the Thäter brush. This is my top brush in terms of performance, it is dense but still releases the lather and has great flow through. I get frustrated with other over stuffed brushes that have no flow through and never release the lather. This is a big brush and given I am a four pass shaver it generates all of lather, more than enough for 4 passes. The tops are soft and it does not have excessive back bone. I also get frustrated with two band brushes where people gush over the soft tips and great backbone, to me they just feel like an over priced broken in boar brush.

No pic today

 

I checked the "loose Russian" compartment again. I like yours a lot more than mine.

 

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

El Druida D-7 Manchurian
Route 66 Sweeney Todd
RazoRock Black Mamba
Feather HS #3
Route 66 Sweeney Todd Aftershave Balm

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My second night with the toggle/BIC...toned it down to "4" and "2" across my throat. A bit too mild. Looks like "3" is the sweet spot, just like the Slim. Learned to not worry about getting *all* the stubble off my throat, too. I'm doing more irritating than shaving. At least stop going over the same areas repeatedly. Hafta work on my technique on those pesky sideways whiskers.

 

I too sometimes do not get it all on my throat. Lately I have been sweating it less. Really sharp Russian steel will do that for you(7 o'clock Greens, Voskhods).

 

Sorry so late to the party! Hope you had a nice Birthday!

 

A Journey on R66
2 January 2017





Parker SR1
Derby SS Saloon
Route 66 - Lumberjack
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Alum
The Mighty Osage

Flawless lather, smooth shave, and chilly finish...though I did not get nuts with it. The holiday season is finally winding down. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

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Rockwell 6S/R6 Plate/Voskhod (1)
Stirling 26mm Finest Badger
Stirling Gentleman Shaving Soap
Stirling Unscented Witch Hazel
Stirling Gentleman W/ Menthol Aftershave Splash

Great shave today. Decided my focus this month will be rotating through all of my soaps in an attempt to start finishing some off/putting a dent in some and decided what I will be rebuying and what will never grace my den again.

 

Today's BET (Beard Elimination Tools):

Feather Artist Club SS
RozoRock Plissoft Big Bruce
RazoRock Tobacco
Unnamed Alum block from my local Indian grocer's
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Clubman Pinaud

Got the new year rolling with the Feather Artist Club SS. I simply adore the scent of RazoRock Tobacco. It is hands down my favorite tobacco scent. I wish it were a cologne. I would wear it copiously. Plenty of lather with some left over. I managed a full face and neck WTG pass, then XTG on the face and part of the neck with no blood shed, and called that a win with the Feather. The face needed no touch up. I did clean up the neck a bit with the Schick G1 because my neck growth patterns are a real nuisance. The alum gave me a stern warning not to push things. The witch hazel shushed it a bit and told me it would be OK. All in all, a happy shave and nice start to shavette focus month. I did pick up a Magic shavette today so that all my DE blades don't feel left out. It will probably see action tomorrow. If the storms leave us with power, that is. I refuse to use it in the dark.

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I did thanks. Got to help Herself make supper and watch CFB with my son.

 

Happy Anniversary January!!

January 1

Mostly Shavettes

Razor - CJB Greager
Blade - (1)
Soap - Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum

And off to the focus we go! As I posted earlier, a lot of shavette time this month including the pain sticks and I'm starting with the Greager on a Kai Mild blade. I considered the Feather Pro but decided to stick with the Kai to make it a little less likely I'd bleed copious amounts due to mistakes. It's been awhile since I've used one of these for any length of time.

Sweeney Todd for the soap and the Semogue made enough lather for all of us. Very comfortable first pass and both hands performed well. I was taking my time and letting my left hand work at its own pace. Two passes to include XTG and I'm at a very high level CCS and totally fine with that. I plan to continue on with this razor for a few days to see if I can get DFS or better with 2 passes plus touch up.

Alum was quiet and that was a good thing. Overall a great shave and I'm happy to start the new month (officially) with a bloodless, irritation free shave. I don't imagine it will last the entire month.

 

Awesome about the shave and the Magic! Just fold the DE blades in half before unwrapping. They break easily with an audible snap. I think you'll have fun with it!

 

I usually shave in the evening because I like to take my time, and with a family of five in a small house, bathroom sink time is a hot commodity and in short supply. Because I was off work today, I shaved this morning. But my stubble grows hecka fast, and I had a pretty rough face by this evening. Storm warnings are out, tornado watches are on, sleep is elusive and tomorrow is the first day back to school for the kids. So I decided to get back on schedule and touch up tonight. I have a new Magic shavette (thanks for the recommendation, @Bama Samurai) that was staring at me, so I took advantage of wakefulness and went for it.

My first thought was that it felt very light and cheap. I grabbed an Astra SP blade and started the learning curve. I was nervous about trying to break a DE blade in half, but the fears were unfounded as it went off without a hitch. Inserting it was a bit tricky but I finally figured it out and got it ready to shave. My last experiment with a cheap razor from Sally's (a cheap DE razor) was a bloody affair so there was some trepidation. But I crave variety and experience in my life and I was bored. So I named the shave (yes, I name some of my shaves...I like stories) "Cheap Thrills" and forged ahead.

I knew I needed a soap that I could trust. A soap that would lather unfailingly and not flinch when I set steel to skin. So I broke out the Arko. Nearly instantly I had an ample supply of good, stable lather.

The razor fit surprisingly well in my hands. I had to adjust to the shorter blade as I have been shaving with the Weck and the Feather SS, bit it didn't take long at all. I found myself taking to it quite easily. It felt similar to the Weck in my hands, but the smaller blade exposure made it seem less intimidating. It may have been a head game, but I felt confident with it rather quickly. I ended up with a comfortable 2 passes with cuts, nicks, scrapes or blood.

To finish I slapped some Osage Rub on my face and let it burn while I cleaned my brush and dried my razor. Then I finished up with The Veg.

Cheap, loud, thrilling...A great shave all told. Shavette month is gonna be great (if the tornadoes pass us by)!

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