January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Great photo. I really like your gym bag setup.

 

Route 66 Perfect Storm
B-400 Brush by Tom
Dubl Duck Dwarf
Lucky Tiger
Ogallala Bay Rum
Have a great Friday!

 

Another day and another outstanding shave delivered by the Blackbird Open Comb and a Feather blade - shave #2. It was pretty smooth and took care of 2 days worth of stubble in 2 quick passes.

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I love Arko. I love the scent, I love the lather, I love the price. It dries me out; badly in the winter time.

 

Jared, have you tried putting a drop of glycerine in your lather? I wonder if that would help the dryness. I also find Arko to be a bit drying, but man the slickness is comparable to soaps costing 10x as much.

 

I had a little time to chase it this morning, and I dang near caught the baby. No irritation, no weepers, just a really nice shave. It helps that my face is healed up enough that I can just shave it, instead of around a bunch of cuts.

I am about three weeks into this, and so far I have a few observations:

-A second WTG pass nearly eliminates the need to go XTG, and makes it easier to go straight to ATG.

-With some pretty hard core skin stretching and a little steeper angle (scraping JUST A BIT) I can clean up most everything without going ATG, but definitely not as long lasting of a shave.

-A little bit of pressure is beneficial to keep the blade from sort of hopping; mainly in reduction passes.

It's been a fun few weeks.

 

SOTD January 6, 2017
Route 66/Injector focus

Blade: Kai Captain Mild
Razor: RazoRock Black Hawk
Brush: Artisan badger
Lather: Route 66 Twisted Tweed
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Fine American Blend, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG

Tried the Black Hawk today for the first time. Really enjoyed it! It felt very similar to a straight razor shave. You can feel the blade a lot more than any other razor I have. I went with light pressure. First pass reduction was decent but then the second pass really cleaned it up. Smooth result in the end.

I think skin stretching with this razor would help a lot. I'll have to try that next shave.

Route 66 is amazing shaving soap. I'm really enjoying this month so far in trying new razors combined with Route 66 each shave.

Have a great day!

 

I honestly haven't, but it probably would help. I have done it with other soaps trying to increase slickness.

 

Love the black and white effect of the photo. Great Job.

 

Perry, the AC razors are different. I have found for me I just go straight to the XTG pass. This assumes that I have a newer blade in the razor. I think this strategy makes full use of the AC blades increased rigidity and excellent sharpness. Again YMMV.

 

I might give that a try on the next shave. Thanks, Clint. I found that razor very interesting and really enjoyed the first use.

 

Thanks, Clint! It is nice to get a few comforts of home when on travel or at the gym.

 

Great use of shadows, Troy!

 

I would agree with everything you have said. Now that I am a few hours past my shave, I still feel a bit dry. Still a great performer, so I won't stop using it because of this, but I will likely not skip the PSB again.

 

SOTN January 5th


Merkur 34c
Astra SP (3)
Arko
Satin Tip The Purest
Crown King scuttle
Homemade lime AS and Nivea Sensitive ASB

The combo of the Merkur and the Astra is almost as good as it gets. Super slick Arko lather, but since it's a little drying I followed up with my homemade lime AS and some Nivea PSB. Face is still feeling smooth 12 hours later. Have a great day my friends!

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I really enjoy the AC style razors. I look forward to following your journey with the Hawk.

With luck, I will be able to get some longer motorcycle trips in this year, so I am paying particular attention to what different folks use.

 

January 6 - PAL and brush focus

Rockwell 6s on plate #3
PAL Gold Thin Hollow Ground carbon steel (3)
NIB Surrey Premium Badger Shave Brush
The Eternal Tub of TOBS Avocado Cream ( croap )
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Lavender

The Surrey is a surprisingly big brush. The knot is about a 24mm, but the brush part is about 3 inches long and roughly the same diameter when bloomed. And it has approximately the same amount of backbone as a jellyfish. A lot of poof; no scritch. Despite this I was able to work the lather on my face after bowl lathering by applying a simple technique I recently read in an early 20th century barber's manual: instead of holding the handle and "painting" with the unsupported bristles, cradle the handle in the palm of the hand with two or three fingers outstretched along the "backside" of the bristles and then apply the lather to the face. In effect, the fingers supporting the back of the bristles become a rigid external framework, providing all the "backbone" necessary and requiring the bristles to provide only the poofy softness.

Used this way, the Surrey worked very well. I am not sure if it will wind up in my permanent rotation, but I am certainly prepared to use it for awhile before finally making up my mind.

The PAL carbon blade did very well in the Rockwell 6s set on a medium plate 3. There was absolutely no roughness or tugging today, just smooth sharp slicing of the stubble. That might be because it has smoothed out over the last couple shaves, but the feeling was so different from yesterday that I think it is due more to choice of razor. The Rockwell design seems to support the blade more rigidly right behind the cutting edge and also expose slightly less unsupported cutting edge than either the Tech or FatBoy. An extremely thin cutting edge like that on these PAL "hollow ground" blades therefore simply has less room to flex and vibrate in the Rockwell.

I should know more after tomorrow. I plan to use the PAL in the Gillette Black Beauty adjustable. If it is back to more tugging, then I will know the difference today was the razor. At the moment, however, it seems to me that these PALs work superbly in the Rockwell 6s, not too badly in the FatBoy, and are barely tolerable in a Tech.

For today in the Rockwell 6s, a single diagonal pass with the PAL gave me a DFS+ overall, approaching BBS in spots, with absolutely no nicks, cuts, weepers, irritation or complaint from the alum. Not bad for a 60 year old blade.

 

SOTD/ Cleaning Den Focus


Mongoose B3/ Kai Captain (2)
Whipped Dog 30mm HM
MDC
Thayers Lavender
The Veg

***Anyone who is interested on a review of this soap I did one here>>>> http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/martin-de-candre-original-review.51778/


Up on the chopping block today is Martin De Candre Original (Lavender). As I said my focus this month (possibly next month as well as I want my choices to be informed and all that good stuff) is to rotate through my soaps and see what will be staying in my den and what, once empty, will not be returning.


Overall great shave today. The MDC is almost fool proof to lather. I mean for Pete's sake it basically lathers itself. 15 seconds of loading the brush resulted in more lather then I could use in a week (ok not really but you know what I mean). 2 passes resulted in a drama free BBS. The shave went off perfectly. Great cushion and my stubble didn't stand a chance. The soap is outstanding.....but.... I get the same result from a stick of arko...or MWF....or Tabac...or any other soap that doesn't cost you an arm, a leg, and your first child's soul. While this is a perfect soap to me, my initial thoughts are once this tub is empty I am not sure if it will return. This one is still up in the air but right now it is leaning more towards a final farewell.

 

Thank you for the info about floppy badgers. I've got two that I want to like but lacking boar or synth like backbone they only get used for creams. Even then that paintbrush style of application isn't what I want. I'll try the cradle and support style next time.

 

January Shavette Focus

Route 66 BSHop & Ever Ready #150
Weck Sexoblade, Personna blade
'46-'47 Aristocrat, Voskhod blade
Alum block, S.C. Respect lotion


Highlighting an Ever Ready brush that a TSD member is seeking, this small boar with it's vintage knot produces plenty of Route 66 lather. A quick very warm water soak, load on moistened Barbershop Hop puck, and into the Japanese suribachi bowl granted just right slick, wetter is better, cushiony lather. I keep wondering when this shavette blade will tell me it's done. Made of injector thick steel it lasts longer than a 3-5 shaves DE blade. I'm getting brave on my jawline & chin as the handling becomes comfortable. Still trying to work in an East-West pass on my neck. The North-South I've got everywhere. Cleanup and buffing with the Aristo afforded a CCS that's my minimum goal. With cool temps reaching closer to The Gulf I'm appreciating lotions over alcohol based splashes. I may shop the matching Lime & Patchouli soap.
Good Shaves Y'all!